Has anyone had success with a LED replacement for the H4 bulbs that are the high - low headlights?
LED's on the market now appear to be compatible, but I find no reference to using them in any 202 forum.
Put another way, does anyone know of any reason these LED's made to replace an H4 will not work in our cars ?
Are you trying to replace the headlight unit, or only the bulbs?
If you're going to replace the headlight units with those projector-type LED units, I can't really say anything due to a lack of experience.
If you're going to replace the bulbs, DON'T DO IT! The refractive lenses do not work well with LEDs, so the only thing you'll accomplish is to blind all oncoming traffic. You will not see any better; in fact, you'll see worse. You need properly designed projector lenses with purpose-designed LEDs.
Having aimed several headlights for people that have swapped out the oe bulbs or headlight assemblies for aftermarket led or hid, I can tell you that I have yet to see a retrofit kit or aftermarket assembly with hid or led bulbs that actually improved the lighting. Lots of them look cool, but if you want better quality light, you can't get better than oe. Most of the kits actually put out less candlepower, especially the LEDs, and they all have absolutely horrible beam patterns. And if it's the eyeball style light with the led rings, most of the eyeballs are fog light lenses, and are too small to be used as a headlamp. But that doesn't stop all these companies from making them anyway.
These aftermarket kits were never designed by or for the car manufacturers themselves, so they don't need to comply with regulations. Too bad those regulations sometimes work...
If you had a facelifted W202 (post '98?) you could have tried to install MB's own HID units. (Left 2028203761, right 2028203861). But IIRC, the facelift headlights don't fit too nicely on our older models. Of course, it's not just a headlight unit - you need the entire system. (Or you could get the headlight units, and an aftermarket HID kit.)
I tried to post photos, but for some reason they do not attach.
These LED bulbs are made so that the LED's are in the same position as the H4 filaments, and the beam patterns are quite similar. For anyone interested, there are photos of the LED bulbs in the bay ad.
I wish I could have added photos of the comparison in my own car - LED on one side, and old halogen on the other, but again, the photos would not attach.
I have a hard time really testing them as all the streets around here have streetlights, and so it's difficult to really see the light beam pattern on the road.
The bulb change was easy, and for the moment, I am happy to give these LED bulbs a try.
Well if extra light output is what you want, there are 98 ways of being a douche, only 2 ways of doing it right. Way #1 is to do an OEM HID retrofit, but as mentionned, they do not fit quite well in the pre-facelifts. This can also get expensive to do correctly. I considered this for a while, but then I dropped that idea. I still would like to retrofit the headlight cleaning system, but have it working off a button on the center dash (like on the W210 e-class with HID). I would have to do some custom circuitry for that, but I can easily rig that up.
Way #2 is invest into some more expensive halogens, I replaced my main bulbs with Sylvania ZXE bulbs, and I really love them! They have a slight blue tint on the bulb, giving off a whiter light, and they are brighter than my outgoing Sylvania silver stars (they were only 1 year old when I changed them). Afterwards, read the user's manual on how to aim the headlights. Personally I found they were aimed a little bit too low, but once you know the correct procedure it's easy to raise them and readjust the horizontal aim. Make sure the edge of the bubble inside the vertical aim sightclass doesn't exceed the scale, otherwise you will be shining light into oncoming drivers' eyes.
Every other method is a waste of time and money. Including LED bulbs, HID retrofits, cheap projector housings, etc.etc. Not to mention you will get less light where you need it.
The positioning of the led elements in the bulb is exactly that of the filaments of an ordinary halogen. The patterns projected on a wall are nearly identical. Having driven at night, I have not been flashed by oncoming drivers to indicate I might be blinding them. The white-blue of the LED's pleases me. The only real test I have not been able to perform is to see if these LED bulbs deliver enough light onto the road. Where I live, the streets are all lit, and finding a dark area is actually difficult. Mostly these serve me as better DRL's Look at the photo, seems these bulbs put the LED's where they should be. Now there may be a problem of the light interacting with the glass headlight covers?? All I can say is that the wall patterns in high, and low beam are very close to those of the old Sylvania halogens. Sure wish another member would try these to confirm what I have experienced. PS I am not a seller of these - simply looking for a bit better lighting. These old W202's do not have great headlights !
I have a really hard time believing that bulb puts out the same light as a good halogen bulb, but if your happy and no one is flashing you then it doesn't really matter what I think. The reason why I say that is because the halogen can produce light in a 360 degree arc, then they use a reflector to control the angle. The led cannot and this one doesn't seem designed to produce a very wide pattern, and in general LEDs are much more directional without using a lense to disperse the light. Then if you do use a lense to disperse the light, the output is going to be less because it is being divided out over a wide range.
I'm surprised to hear you say that you don't like the oe headlights. But then again, I always drive with the running/fog lights on as well, and that combo seems to provide the best lighting I have ever seen in a car. I don't know if your lenses are scratched or beat up from rock chips, but mine were and I replaced them, and it seemed to make a bit of difference.
I'll agree with George on that, I find the OE headlights excellent. One of my lenses + housings were totally beat up because a chip in the glass had flooded it with crap. I bought a used headlight from ebay, it made a huge difference. On top of that, I spent quite a lot of time aligning the headlights, and I deviated from the standard procedure here. I have them pointed further away and slightly more to the left (not to be blinding anyone). Even just having the low-beams on I get much better lighting than most cars on the road. I only turn on the fog/driving lights if I'm driving on an unlit highway, and yes, then the lights are just better than anything out there. Those combined with the high beams are just superb. My bulbs are Sylvania ZXE.
Still, if the LED bulbs are well engineered, who am I to complain? If you are still unsatisfied with how much light they produce, I'd reckon you need to align your headlights. The best place to that in is a large unlit parking lot, or maybe an unlit flat road at night (stay safe though). Than again, there might be a reason why these things are only sold on ebay...
Great advise. Thanks, George and Patman. Since I rarely drive at night, and if I do it is local and on lit roads, I really am not sure about how much light I am getting out of these. I am impressed by the engineering of these bulbs - placement of the LED elements is correct vis a vis the placement of the filaments, and the addition of a small fan right within the bulb housing to cool things down is very impressive. The fans however are audible once the engine is turned off with the lights still on. A bit eerie ! Maybe I am just seduced by the whiteness of the LED's compared to the halogens. Please see photo - it's pretty clear which side is the LED and which is the halogen. I got very good halogens, but forget now which brand. My C280 is a 96 that I bought just after Hurricane Irene that destroyed my previous car. At that time it had 13,800 miles, and has just shy of 52k now. NO rust. Runs sooo well ! I took off the original Sachs shocks for gas type. Put on a sport roll bar (nice addition, stays flatter in curves) Just had the sagging headliner replaced WOW great job. Paint has stayed very very good. A joy to drive.
Nope, the right light is the LED bulb. Sure wish someone else who lives in an area that does not have lit roads would try a set of these. I simply cannot drive on a non-lit road anywhere near where I live, and so seeing the true lighting capacity of these bulbs is difficult. One thing for sure, I do not blind oncoming drives on low beam. Not one flash of protest ! (Around here, there are so many elderlies driving their Lexus with their high beams on permenently that people may have given up trying ! Gotta love Lexus drivers ! )
I just meant it looked like the factory HID in how it looks, the color of the light and how it only comes from the top of the housing.
Here lots of people forget to turn their lights on at night, and just run on the DRL at night, how can they not notice?
Or audi drivers who always leave their blinding rear fogs on. I find even the regular led rear tailights are way too bright on a lot of newer cars, especially audis. When you are behind one at a stop light, it's like staring into the sun.
For those who leave their high beams on, I have the auto-dimming rear view mirror, so I'm good if they are behind
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