[Englevakten]

Heh... t'wasn't me, but my step father has installed HID lights on his '86 420 SEL with excelent results!
the difference is suficiant enough to pay the price! he say's it was a quick fix - easy to install.

I think he would grately apreciate feed back!
Engle

he doesn't have the time to post pics, so I'll do it for him:

this is day time - with HID installed in the fog lights

This is only HID's in the night

This is the HID's with the normal US spec '86 Brights

This is only low beam

This is only HID's

This is HID's pluss Low Beam

Here are some other pics aswell.

In this pic he hadn't yet lowered the front

 

[jhodg5ck]

Looks sweet..!
I didn't know ya'll got stuck w/ US spec lights up there..??[]

Jonathan

 

[Englevakten]

heh...

my stepfather w/mother live in Indiana.

They own and run a Mercedes Benz undependent repair shop in Bloomington, about an houre from Indianapolis.

 

[cyberdrakon]

Foglights are unshielded, so the Light will be pointing straight towards oncoming traffic, won't it?

 

[bronze560SEL]

what kinda wheels are those in the last pic i like them

 

[Schmohey]

I have a question about HIDs. Each bulb needs it's own ballast? If you want to install HIDs on headlight and fog, you would need 4 ballast?

 

[Naomilla2.0]

Based on what I know about HID lamps for residential and commercial lighting applications I know they require ballasts (big ones), they need time to warm up and when turned off inadvertently they cannot be turned back on immediately. On the other hand, they have very efficient light output, and their color rendering capabilities are unparalleled.

Do the HID's for auto application suffer from similar drawbacks or because they are small, can they be 'fired up' right away?

I live in a deer country and I'd welcome any means to augment light output without jeopardizing oncoming traffic.

 

[dtkw]

I had the kit installed and the ballast did gone bad on one. I gave the kit to my MB Tach at QIS.[] He and I shared a lot of things in the car as far as I remember. Our cars are the same year and his is a 420SEL and mine is a 560SEL. When I had the kit on the first time, I did got flashed due to the brightness of them. So I had to lower the aim a bit. When one of the light gone bad, I decided to upgrade to Euro headlight so I asked the guy if he wanted it and he did.

 

[JR_Rider]

naomilla - 2/11/2005 11:19 AM

Based on what I know about HID lamps for residential and commercial lighting applications I know they require ballasts (big ones), they need time to warm up and when turned off inadvertently they cannot be turned back on immediately. On the other hand, they have very efficient light output, and their color rendering capabilities are unparalleled.

Do the HID's for auto application suffer from similar drawbacks or because they are small, can they be 'fired up' right away?

I live in a deer country and I'd welcome any means to augment light output without jeopardizing oncoming traffic.

Some of your information on Hid lamps is correct. They do require ballasts to ignite the xenon gas within the bulbs, but the ballast are not big at all. In fact some ballasts are about the size and thickness of cassete tape. (Hella generation IV ballast, but they have seperate igniters.) And is detrimental to the life to the bulbs and ballasts to turn them on and off w/o giving them time to cool, but seeing as how they are designed to burn for 2000 hours, I don't think you will have any problems with a quality ballast any time soon. I have Hella Generation IV ballasts and Audi A6 bixenon projectors, by the way, in my 300sd.

 

[Englevakten]

bronze560SEL - 2/11/2005 1:34 AM

what kinda wheels are those in the last pic i like them

dont know the brand and make, but they are like new with brand new tires on

and they are also for sale, as he has just purchased new carssons

here is his thread:

http://benzworld.org/forums/view-profile.asp?action=view&uid=30748

Engle

 

[Schmohey]

Was the installation hard? Which brand did you get? Does it produce a lot of glare?

 

[dtkw]

It's the Japanese made Polaris (sp?) brand. Not hard to install if used only low beam which is very bright already. Be careful with the aim after installation.

 

[janos_z]

you're aware that those fog lights are meant for use in the fog, right? they're not supposed to be used as 1) augmentation for the regular headlights, 2) scaring away deer, or 3) blinding other drivers [B)]

 

[jhodg5ck]

I've wanted to install HID's in my driving lights on my SEC. I figure w/ those I can aim them so they won't blind everyone but should add a good bit of light along w/ my Euro lights.

Jonathan

 

[dtkw]

If you already had Euro light on, the xenon kit would be overkill IMO. I use PIAA extreme on my Euro, they're almost as bright as the low beam on the kit. Plus I have high beam now if needed.

 

[JR_Rider]

Definently not overkill!! Euros do not compare to HIDs, trust me, I know. And mine are Bosch euros.

 

[Schmohey]

Which HID kits do you recommend? Are they really plug and play?

 

[Storm]

bronze560SEL - 2/11/2005 12:34 AM

what kinda wheels are those in the last pic i like them

They look like Anteras.

 

[JR_Rider]

Schmohey - 2/13/2005 8:44 PM

Which HID kits do you recommend? Are they really plug and play?

I would not recommend any kits, because they are poorly designed and terribly unreliable. But if you really don't want to cut up your headlights, like I did, I would recommed that you run some Hella Generation 3 ballasts, or comparable oe units with intergrated igniters, maybe Denso, Kioto, or Matsushita. Also go with factory bulbs either Philips or Osram 4100k of course. You will need some h4 casper shields if you are putting them in euros. You will also need a high quality wiring harness to run directly off the battery.

 

[cyberdrakon]

Why do you need to run it directly off the battery? Xenons, draw less power than regular bulbs.

Where do i get these 'casper shields'? i've been looking around, haven't seen any. I assume these are the things that get rid of the high-angle glare?