[Darrylks]

Hi everyone, I'm new here so I don't know if this has been asked already or not, but what do I do about the headlights in my 84 300D? I have a set of 7" trucklite LED headlights laying around from my Jeep build. I was planning on swapping them into my W123 but I've read conflicting information. I know I'll have to do some modification to get the LEDs situated properly in the housing, but I've read that some people have gotten blown fuses from LEDs. Out of frustration and decision fatigue, I purchased a set of Sylvania Silverstar H6024 from Autozone. But I'm ready to return them if I can justify the LED (which I would prefer)

Can anyone help me?

 

[ianrandom]

Welcome!

 

[Darrylks]

Welcome!

Thank you! I feel welcomed

 

[ianrandom]

Thank you! I feel welcomed

Sorry that's all I've got to offer 🤣

I dunno about the LED thing. Beam pattern would be my concern I think.

 

[pt_700]

i've never heard of blown fuses from installing leds, they tend to draw less wattage. as long as it's less in your case (don't see that on their site), they should be fine.

you might simply try plugging them in, to see if they work and then decide if it's worth the modifications to mount them up.

 

[Darrylks]

Sorry that's all I've got to offer 🤣

I dunno about the LED thing. Beam pattern would be my concern I think.

Thank you I'm appreciative nonetheless.

What do you mean by beam pattern?

 

[Darrylks]

i've never heard of blown fuses from installing leds, they tend to draw less wattage. as long as it's less in your case (don't see that on their site), they should be fine.

you might simply try plugging them in, to see if they work and then decide if it's worth the modifications to mount them up.

Yeah I'm thinking I'll just trial and error it. I mean, how hard is it to replace a fuse?

 

[ianrandom]

Thank you I'm appreciative nonetheless.

What do you mean by beam pattern?

The 'throw' of the light beam. So it does most benefit to driver but without blinding the oncoming cars. It's an inspection item here anyway.

 

[Josh]

Amazon.com: GENSSI 7 Inch Round Projector LED Headlight DOT Approved Low High Beam Black (Pack of 1) : Automotive

Buy GENSSI 7 Inch Round Projector LED Headlight DOT Approved Low High Beam Black (Pack of 1): Headlight Assemblies - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Those above look awful in an older car like this, but if you were going LED/HID, then purpose built housings and projectors would be the way to go. What Ianrandom is referring to is that some folks with the European glass housings with replaceable bulbs (as opposed to the sealed beams you have, and most other North American Market cars from that era have), will swap in something other than Halogen bulbs, and the light isn't dispersed correctly by the "pattern" in the glass.

Again, if you are going for a projector setup, where the cutoff is correct, you can aim them properly, blinding oncoming traffic is no longer a concern. If you are putting LED/HID bulbs in traditional glass housings, the light beams will scatter all over, and there is no way to aim them correctly.

 

[Josh]

As an example, I ordered clear headlight housings without any patterns with the explicit purpose of doing a projector retrofit for my '98 Dodge Durango. The original plastic housings have lines in them to help disperse and direct the light from a traditional halogen bulb that is reflected by a mirror.

The original is on the right, and the crystal clear lens with projector is on the right. Then parked on level ground for proper aiming:

LEDs and HIDs work differently than halogen or other traditional bulbs. They don't use a mirror to reflect and then a patterned lens to disperse the light, they require a proper projector.

The benefit of this project has been far better light output than the original housings (even after I once removed the yellowing), and no one is flashing me that I'm blinding them because they can actually be aimed correctly.

 

[kevdupuis]

If the round led's you have are Truck-lite 27270c's they should be a direct drop in with no mucking around, I personally run the 27004 halogens in mine which have an adapter harness for newer style bulbs that were used in Ford applications.

 

[Darrylks]

If the round led's you have are Truck-lite 27270c's they should be a direct drop in with no mucking around, I personally run the 27004 halogens in mine which have an adapter harness for newer style bulbs that were used in Ford applications.

Yes that's exactly what I have.

 

[kevdupuis]

Here's a quick shot of my 85 300 TD with the 27004's,

It keeps the old style look with better reflector optics.

 

[tsharkey]

What Ianrandom is referring to is that some folks with the European glass housings with replaceable bulbs (as opposed to the sealed beams you have, and most other North American Market cars from that era have), will swap in something other than Halogen bulbs, and the light isn't dispersed correctly by the "pattern" in the glass.

or people import LHD lenses (or whole cars) and they throw the light into oncoming traffic rather than more to the LH verge.

It keeps the old style look with better reflector optics.

That look great .... I am still old school as I use H4 round lenses instead of LED (as the fade in / out of incandescent lenses matches the car). However, I am up to my elbows doing an EV conversion on a 72 Triumph Stag and will use LEDs all around to conserve battery power (where as I am not so worried about the drain of the alternator attached to an OM617A when 2 x 80watt H4's are on high beam).

 

[kevdupuis]

However, I am up to my elbows doing an EV conversion on a 72 Triumph Stag and will use LEDs all around to conserve battery power (where as I am not so worried about the drain of the alternator attached to an OM617A when 2 x 80watt H4's are on high beam).

Now I've got to ask, What year and is it a coupe or sedan.
I love the early to mid 70's Stag's and would like to find one on this side of the pond.

 

[ianrandom]

Stag is only a coupe convertible. There's a lovely large saloon from that era but that's called the Triumph 2000.

 

[kevdupuis]

I stand corrected, I thought the sedan/saloon was also a Stag.

 

[tsharkey]

At the risk of hijacking this Headlight thread, the sedans shared a lot of design themes with the stag and some parts so I can understand mixing the two. What they did not share was the engine, on which you will get a tsunami of responses from google about water pumps placed too high and V8 head bolts not in symmetry causing many of them to have failed. Jeremy Clarson has a great youtube video on just that. I bought mine cheap sans engine specifically for the EV project. They were in North America for a few years until US DOT requirements and poor engines killed the business case. LHD versions were built for Europe. You'd have to be a fan of the marque to hunt one down and import it - I believe MSGrunt has a Triumph in his stable ...

 

[ianrandom]

Lovely cars. I'd probably rather the saloon 2.5 but they're all pretty gorgeous and nice to see them being appreciated these days.

 

[Roger's CLK]

If your intention is to preserve the classic appearance of your car and improve the performance of your headlights at night, then there is nothing better than either Hella or some other brand of true European headlights. They offer the European beam pattern which is flat cut-off across the trunk of a car being followed with a 15-degree rise on the right shoulder to illuminate pedestrians and/or bicycle traffic traveling there. High beams are a massive, focused beam of light that lights up both sides of the road and to a distance of at least 1/2 mile. I may well be the only person on this thread of drove your year Mercedes at serious night when the car was new, but I can say that compared to standard American headlights the difference was astounding. American headlight regulations existed in the dark ages (pun intended) up until earlier in this century. You can get really good detailed information on all sorts of lighting systems for your car on Daniel Stern's excellent consulting/sales pages on the Internet. You also can price Hella German-made headlights that will fit your Mercedes on other sites like FCP Euro.