Glatzos

Hey,

i've searched and searched on multiple forums in addition to this one for an install guide to these headlights but have come up with nothing. my question is this, i got the headlights off and went to put on the new '03+ headlights but found myself with an extra harness. can anyone identify what i need to do or maybe have to purchase a harness? pics below

these are the OEM plugs behind the 2001 s500 headlight..








here's what the back of the new headlight looks like, there is only room for one plug..the longer one. any ideas or help is appreciated.






thanks again.

ironcheflam

in the second to last pic theres the black and red wires sticking out of the projector they should be connected to that one since the second plug is for the xenon lights

Glatzos

so how would i go about configuring the wiring from the OEM 4 pin plug to the '03+ projector wires? thanks for the help so far. anything is appreciated.

thanks,
george

raymond g-

perchance your car came equipped with HID....and that the headlight you're
trying to install is halogen? i've not handled OEM HID headlight, nor do i have
any MBs with OEM HID. my gut says the spare plug on your car is for the
autolevel telemetry. que?

Glatzos

ok, so assuming the plug is for the autoleveling feature, is there any way to utilize it? i attempted to plug in the longer plug in and left the 4 pin one aside and the headlight did not turn on. this is an HID to HID conversion. the new bulbs say H7. any suggestions?

thanks,
george

raymond g-

hmmm, trickier than i thought then. i presumed that the pinouts would be
straight forward and match one-for-one.

no, if your headlight does not have connection for autolevel, then there is no
realistic, cost efficient method to retrofit.

another thought just occured: if your car was originally set up for HID, then
what you're attempting is really HID to halogen. so am now guessing (WAG)
that the version coding needs to be toggled back to non-HID lighting.

probably should contact board HID guru Zam2000 to see if he has any ideas....
or any MB techs.

why are you giving up the lighting qualities of an HID system and going back
to halogen? you'll lose lighting. does the 01 S500 have fluted lens and the
new headlights have clear lens (ie going for the modern look)?

Glatzos

yea the new ones are clear lenses. the new bulbs are HID's. the bulbs and ballasts are included. i will attach images when i get home..probably be up by tomorrow. thanks for everything so far.

thanks,
george

Vader55

That extra plug is for the auto-leveling feature, The lamps I bought had both plugs.

Glatzos

so basically, what you guys are telling me is that i was sold headlights without the auto-leveling feature. correct? is this common on the non-HID headlights? was the pair that was sold to me a customized set of halogen headlights with HID bulbs and ballasts?

also any reason why the bulbs would not light up after plugging in the longer plug. does that 4 pin plug have anything to do with delivering power to the headlight aside from auto-leveling feature?

thanks again,
George

Vader55

It seems that you bought a lamp for a non-hid equipped S. As far as the lamp you bought there can be a variety of reasons how they were put together. They look like non-hid type lamps with an hid retro-fit or they could have come from the maufacturer that way.. I will tell you that you want the Lamps that have the 2 plug style which is an exact plug n play upgrade.. Take those back for a refund or sell them to a member here with an S430 or S500 that has a Halgon setup and wants to upgrade. It is also possible that there is come ac needed from that plug and that is why they do not fire up.. I believe they would be plug n play if you did not have an hid setup. They are probably wired to fire up for that one plug for a non hid S430 etc.

Vader55

What Kind of hid bulb is in there ? The D1S has a square type ignitor box connected to it. and the D1S has small round plastic base that has a square ignitor box that is seperate and plugs into it.

raymond g-

that's exactly what i'm starting to believe, yes. you bought halogen fixture
with an HID kit. hope you had a chance to view the beam in action first.
generally speaking dropping in an HID bulb/kit into a halogen fixture results
in some degree of uncontrolled glare. this is because the focal point of
halogen v D2S bulbs are just different enough that out-of-focus beam is
the result. but if you're lucky, this may not be the case.

in any event, you no longer have auto-leveling feature capability. just adjust
the light a scootch lower than normal so that the regular bumps in pavement
wont toss the beam up into other drivers' eyes.

p.s. D2R vs D1S

pps seems to be designed originally for H7

fusion2007

get a refund!!!!if u can ...

Vader55

You guys see that little green letter A in Glatzos new lamp pic ? Well that little nubb to the right of it is where the wire that would have that male connector on the end of it for the auto level etc.

Also the high beam takes an H-7 but the non hid lows do take an H-7 so Raymond could be right... But I just noticed that the ballast is not connected to the bottom of the lamp ? Did you remove it from tha lamp ? If that ballast is not connected/fixed to the bottom than it is a definite retro-fit

Glatzos

definitely sounds like a retro fit to me as well. anyone have any pics of an OEM halogen lamp taken from behind the headlight? just for confirmation purposes. other than that ill take your word for it. thanks alot guys, you've been a great help. i appreciate the feedback.

ill let you all know what the turn out is.

raymond g-

snort....duh, that's right. clearly i had too much irish whisky tonight. okay, the
cap is back on the bottle

Glatzos

ok guys, here a some pics i took this morning of the HID ballast along with the bulb configuration..looks retro-fit.







so to sum it all up, the action that needs to be taken is to either exchange for the correct headlights or refund..correct?

thanks for all of the information and advice, very helpful.

-George

raymond g-

tuh dah......

you bought a pair of halogen headlight assemblies,

probably D2S bulbs rebased for use in H7 halogen headlights. this kit prob has
a street value of approx $2-350 is my guess. dunno about the headlights.

Vader55

+1

ps.For someone with a non-hid reflector setup to go to a projector hid retro-fit is still pretty cool and those lamps are worth an easy 500.00 ? What did Glazos pay ?

ironcheflam

I almost got tricked into getting one of those i'm in the middle of doing my retro. also with that aftermarket headlight the "shield" that makes that distinct cut off of the hid light is pos it will cause glare like no other mother... and there is so much leakage of light. waiting for my parts right now i got the e46 projector and i'm trying to retro that into the headlight will post more pics when i get the chance.

S500 Man

i have self leveling hid's on my 02'' s500 but i want to know, would i get good lighting if i bought newer looking headlights that have their own hid kit??

Vader55

Yes ,the ones that cost around 1200 a pair.. Make sure the low beam hid bulb is an actual non-modified D2S or D1S bulb and the lamp has the self leveling and that the lamp has two separate connectors per lamp. If each lamp has only one connector then do not buy it because that is for someone who has the halogen and wants to the hid conversion "no" self leveling. My lamps that I bought had all Phillips bulbs, ballast etc. which is really good. I got them from procarparts.com and paid 1400 about a year and half ago. I could not be more pleased and the light output is brighter & crisper than my old reflector hid lamps. No comparison

These right here look right and have the self leveling.. e-mail them to find out what kind of HID bulb is in there.. make sure it is not some rebased d2s bulb into an h-7 base.. they need to be actual d2s or d1s bulb.. and ask what brand the ballast is ?.. If it is Phillips than these will kick butt.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-04...spagenameZWD1V


http://www.procarparts.com/store-det...=onlinestoreDB

tgood

I'm sorry this didn't work out for you. I hate to say that you just saved me getting into a big mess. On my 2001 W220 I have HID's and was just going to buy the non-hid projector headlights and sacrifice the lighting. But this thread has made it very clear that I basically need to buy the OEM HID projector headlights. So once again, I'm sorry it happened to you but I'm glad you made this thread..

Mark_K

benznodubz,

I have decide to try and find and then buy used OEM HID head lights with leveling from a junk yard.

I have a 2002 S430 with OEM non HID lights.

What should I be loooking or asking for when I call the junk yards?
For example, should I ask for a specific range of model year?

What will I also need to get if the OEM HID's have two sets of plugs on them and my current projector harness only has one plug? Should I even try to do this?

Vader55

Mark, If you just bought a hid lamp itself with self leveling, that would not solve it.. Your car has to be equipped with the self leveling hardware as well I believe... The easy thing to do is forget about self levleing and get an oem projector headlight (halogen) and do a retro fit and just get them aimed right. Or buy something like Glatzos has. those are the two best reasonable options period. unless you want to spend a fortune.