Vehicle: 2001 E430 Sport in Desert Silver and 2002 C320 Sport Wagon in Arctic White
Location: Germantown, Maryland
Posts: 1,510
Quote:
Originally Posted by raymond-
P-
OEM HID is a system which requires that auto-leveling telemetry hardware be fitted
into the undercarriage. This is, for the most part, always done at the factory and
rarely....rarely done afterwards, aftermarket, or even at the local/USA dealer. the
labor is cost prohibitive and even the famed Steve K who tours the continents per-
forming MB mods does not tackle this. Parts are extremely challenging to locate
and your best bet is at an auto wrecking yard.
If you were to disregard AL part, it is still possible to plug in the OEM HID into your
MB. It is a reflector HID, with fluted lens.....not the clear lens projector design. It is
unlikely to be plug and play, though it is not too difficult to install. There will be
connector(s) on the headlight shell which will remain unused, as they receive info
from the auto-leveling system in the suspension.
The vast majority of the time, folks just aim the beam low so as not to blind opposing
drivers if their car hits a bump and aims upwards.......where the autolevel would have
jumped in quickly to take over and auto-dip the beam.
Going with OEM HID sans AL can be an economical way of getting an HID system into
your car if you can find a salvaged pair of OEM headlights inexpensively. I tend to see
these used for approx $800.
They use D2R bulbs.....vs the projector's D2S bulbs. Ballasts are the same/similar
Hella brand. OEM bulbs are about $75+- a pair and the ballast avg $150-350 or
so, depending on which generation and brand.
It is possible/likely that you will need to take your never-had-MB-HID car into the
dealer so that they can tweak the setting to "HID PRESENT".
I was lucky. The Hella gen3 ballast I used only sets off the annoying "BULB
MALFUNCTION" message about 3-4x a year. I've not had to bring my car in
for the HID PRESENT adjustment. (but am not using OEM HID, rather DEPO
plus E55 bix projectors)
What is this??? (OEM HID is a system which requires that auto-leveling telemetry hardware )
What is this??? (OEM HID is a system which requires that auto-leveling telemetry hardware )
it's a mechanism that levels itself to the ground/gravity. If I come down to the bottom of a hill and it's a stop sign, the lights will level by themselves so the angle of the light is more "balanced" to shoot forward than pointing down like the angle of the car. It's pretty cool. When you see them it looks like the lights are "floating" ...
Vehicle: 2001 E430 Sport in Desert Silver and 2002 C320 Sport Wagon in Arctic White
Location: Germantown, Maryland
Posts: 1,510
Quote:
Originally Posted by E420SportGT
it's a mechanism that levels itself to the ground/gravity. If I come down to the bottom of a hill and it's a stop sign, the lights will level by themselves so the angle of the light is more "balanced" to shoot forward than pointing down like the angle of the car. It's pretty cool. When you see them it looks like the lights are "floating" ...
Do I have this on my 2001 E430 Sport with OEM xenon?
yes, if your car came from the factory with OEM HID. if it was an add-on after it left
the factory, chances are slim you have the undercarriage connections. you can dbl
check by looking at the rear of your headlight assembly and seeing if there are two,
large (2+") electrical connector blocks exiting the housing. one would be for the
bulbs, the other for the autolevel. i believe all cars equipped with HID fromt the
factory have washers as well, but not all washers have HID (may be incorrect here).
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