[RockDriver]

So obviously my halogen lights are so ridiculously bad, it's like one of those anecdotes where you have to actually check if they are on.

I almost never use high beams, so I've been looking at upgrading my low beams. They are the standard lens projectors (or whatever you call them) that the W166 comes with.

I found these VLAND aftermarkets: 12-15 Mercedez Benz W166 ML-Class HID Edition 3th Gens Vland OE Styles Headlights Without Control Unit
They seem to be certified, but it doesn't say if you can swap the standard halogen headlights with them. I would assume so, because otherwise what's the point? They look exactly like the factory Xenons.

VLANDs are out of stock though, so because I have to take off on a long trip in a few days, I've been looking at the HID conversion kits and LED bulbs. LED bulbs seem to be a straight forward solution and if the right ones are used, apparently no dazzling is caused. Some retrofit LED bulbs are already certified in France and Germany as far as I know, so the legal adoption is spreading.

I was thinking about these or similar: Philips Ultinon Pro9100 LED H7 I PowerBulbs UK
Not sure if some sort of additional bracket is needed though. Also, some of these bulbs can trigger some CANbus error, whatever that is?

Anybody got experience with the above?

Ultimately I'd like to get my hands on the VLANDs though, but in the mean time I need some short term solution.

 

[Yazovets]

The car would have needed to be re-programmed to tell it it's got real HID, along with the up/down/left/right functionality. Since these are only $650 a piece I am hazarding a guess that they come ready with integrated HID ballasts and HID bulbs. Hopefully the projector lens has been replaced too because if you just put a retrofit HID kit into your existing halogen lights you will scatter a lot of the HID light uselessly upwards and in a narrow band.

Before you pull the trigger on these try to get some pictures from the manufacturer or existing users so you can see the beam cutoff pattern. Next, try to find out what sort of bulbs are in there, color temperature and whether ballasts are the standard 35W high voltage or higher wattage. If they're 50W then the longevity will be limited without a relay harness.

If you find that the cutoff pattern on those $650 lights is no better than your existing ones then you're better off with a HID or LED conversion kit from here:

2014 Mercedes-Benz ML350 with Halogen Headlights Custom Lighting Upgrades for Headlights, Taillights, Fog Lights, Bulbs, HID, Projector Retrofit and Off-Road

www.theretrofitsource.com

 

[RockDriver]

The car would have needed to be re-programmed to tell it it's got real HID, along with the up/down/left/right functionality. Since these are only $650 a piece I am hazarding a guess that they come ready with integrated HID ballasts and HID bulbs. Hopefully the projector lens has been replaced too because if you just put a retrofit HID kit into your existing halogen lights you will scatter a lot of the HID light uselessly upwards and in a narrow band.

Before you pull the trigger on these try to get some pictures from the manufacturer or existing users so you can see the beam cutoff pattern. Next, try to find out what sort of bulbs are in there, color temperature and whether ballasts are the standard 35W high voltage or higher wattage. If they're 50W then the longevity will be limited without a relay harness.

If you find that the cutoff pattern on those $650 lights is no better than your existing ones then you're better off with a HID or LED conversion kit from here:

2014 Mercedes-Benz ML350 with Halogen Headlights Custom Lighting Upgrades for Headlights, Taillights, Fog Lights, Bulbs, HID, Projector Retrofit and Off-Road

www.theretrofitsource.com

Yep, I'm aware that programming would be required. Well, these are made in China, so the price is not surprising. They do at least look like the real deal which is also an option and can be acquired used for twice the price: MERCEDES ML W166 A166 LED INTELLIGENT SET HEADLIGHT A1668207559 A1668207459 RHD | eBay
Right now VLANDs are not in stock, so I will continue doing my research. It's a bit disappointing though, I thought there'd be more aftermarket options to choose from.

 

[Yazovets]

For cars with "passive" headlights there are indeed aftermarket options. What I mean by that is cars with fixed, non-moving HIDs (e.g. Infiniti Q50) or LEDs (e.g. Toyota Corolla, and many others). The 2016+ ML/GLE cars had both standard passive LEDs and the active LEDs. But before 2016 the standard headlights were fixed halogens or you could get the active HIDs. Hence for the 2012-2015 MLs the aftermarket world had to contend with replicating a new active HID unit with embedded LED turn signals - a tough feat!