OceanView

Hey guys,

Just wanted everyone to know that ZAM2000 is a great guy.
I bought some of the new style projectors and a month back and Zam has helped me to install new ribbed lens and Xenons. He was one of the first to modify his own lights and be a guinea pig.
But thanks to his inginuity, it all works flawlessly.

For those that are interested in the new projector lights, they are worth it.
And for those that want to go the extra step to get them converted to Xenons, it is far superior to the Halogens.

By the way, I don't have the Check Engine Light.

Alexbenz

any pics????? btw, he wasn't first to install these...

OceanView

Not sure who else installed these but from what I have read on this board, no ones else has on the 96 - 99 models.

Anyway, I am very happy with these and he did a great job. That's all that matters to me.

I don't have any night pics yet but I will take some in the next few days.

ruffrob

Very,very nice,Ocean,how long did the install take???

Alexbenz

nice, actually i was the first person to custom install the 2000+ into 96-99 w210....richard023 was the first to do it and i know theres a couple out there that have done it as well

BT320

Looking good there OV.

ruffrob

Looks kinda like mine..

Hank

lol... who cares who done them first... fact is, they be played.

Alexbenz

hank, whats going on with your ride? are you done

OceanView

Thanks ruffrob,

Your ride looks sweet.

The Xenons took about 2 hours to install.
Took less than it should have because ZAM prepared the them in advance at home. So add maybe another hour to that.

BT320:

Love your grill!

OceanView

I didn't know that. Now I do. Cool.
I really haven't seen too many people with the Xenons on the older W210's in Cali. Especially with the projectors.

Hank

i've been done w/ my car.. quite frankly, i'm bored w/ the 210s. anybody wanna buy my kleemann?

Alexbenz

hmmm, i'll pull a mike... how about 2,000?


lolololol

cody

Is eveyone using the same projector housings?

zam2000

AlexBenz,

Are you running with the projector lens that came with the light set ? The Depo lens is very low quality lens. I've seen quite a few who fit xenon into the projector headlight, but so far, none have changed the junky Depo lens/projector into something better (Hella, Valeo, Bosch, Stanley...).

Having bright light is one thing, having bright light distributed properly is another.

I highly recommend lens/projector retrofit first, it's even more important than xenon one. The optical element (lens) is the MOST important factor in lightning, just as w/ camera. You can find a set of Hella/Valeo H7/90mm projector here and there, and the lens is pretty much fit in the projector housing. Fitting a xenon set w/ Depo lens is pretty much like stuffing an E55 engine into a C230 w/ standard transmission: you get some extra, but is far from extracting its full potential.

I've tried out couple projector, all are H7/90mm (with same bulb), and would rank them as follow (combination of even distribution, cut off sharpness, brightness). Amazing to see how same light source (bulb) could look so vastly difference w/ difference lens...

- Depo/InPro: 2/10 (after market)
- ZKW: 4/10 (after market)
- Hella: 8.5/10 (Mercedes, BMW, Nissan..)
- Valeo: 9/10 (Audi, BMW)
- Bosch: 10/10 (Porches, BMW, Range Rover, Jaguar ??)
- Stanley: 10/10 (used by Honda S2000 ???)

I hardly seen anyone retrofitting projector in the Benz forum, but in the BMW forum (E39), lot of people have done this (buying aftermarket Depo light w/ angle eyes & clear cover, then replacing the crappy Depo projector w/
some reputable German/Japanese ones).


Here's another take on the BMW forum

Lens/Projector comparision

007

just put in blue visions last week. brighter than from original bulbs from autodynamic.

zam, u got any lens from hella or bosch leftover?

Alexbenz

zam2000, no doubt the quailty isn't the greatest but i have no problems seeing at night... i even have 8000k hid's in both the headlights and fog lights and i live in some dark areas up here...i agree on the quailty of the lens and i am working on changing them out but i love the look.......

Hank

stanley is some good shiet.

Shane C

oceanview did you replace the projectors with 90mm in the w211 style headlights or just upgrade your new lights to xenon?

zam2000

He has the Hella 90mm projector lens pulled from Audi A6 (thread lens). The ballast & bulb came from Acura TL.

Almost identical to my setup: Hella 90mm projector lens from W211 and ballast & bulbs from Acura TL

It's quite some work to retrofit the lens into the current projector housing, since we didn't want to take out the front cover lens.

zypher84

im new to this board (new w210 owner as well) and after lurking for a few weeks ive decided that upgrading the lights on my 97 e320 is the first mod i wanna do. a couple questions though,
1) i get them at auto dynamic right?
2) where can i buy bosch or hella h790mm lens that fit into these lights?
3) will my local dealer be able to retrofit these lenses into the lights
4) do you have to upgrade to xenon or can you keep the halogens
5) anything else i need to know? i heard the in pros need to be sealed with silicone, is this true for the depos?

thanks, im glad i found this forum, looking forward to future mods....

and apologies for being such a n00b

JY

BT320

Second that question about how to retrofit the Hello 90mm lenses into the projectors. Will it fit any projector or is there a specific brand/model that's needed?

zypher, I found a place that you can buy the 90mm Hella lenses from:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/90m...m%20Fog%20Lamp

I've heard of them before, but never ordered anything so I can't attest to how reputable they are.

zam2000

Yes, they are the one to go with.

You can find them on eBay or forum for xenon/HID. Price range from $100-200 for good pair of H1 90 mm projector. You don't really need bi-xenon projector, since the W210 have separete bulb for highbeam. Stick with reputable brand (Hella, Valeo, Stanley, Bosch, Philips). You can either retrofit the entire projector, or just swap lens (pretty much same end result, since most 90mm projector have same focal point, and the rest is just metal). Either way require quite some work.

No, and they probably will tell you that it's impossible too.

You can go with either. To me, retrofit the projector/lens is more important. I almost got into accident w/ the Depo lens (due to my eyes weakness added with beam created by Depo lens). If you decide to stay w/ halogen, get some good bulb (SilverStar Osram, BlueVision Philips ). For xenon, avoid aftermarket, go with brand one (mostly OEM kit), namely: Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Stanley, Hella, Valeo, Bosch, Denso, Philips (Hella), price vary from $200-400 depend on condition. Only use Philips or Osram xenon bulbs. Anything at or bellow 5000K is good. Beyond that, light look purple (standout), but brightness sucks (~20% lumens drop compared to previous temp for every 1000K raise in temperature)


Yes, you should seal the light housing w/ silicon to avoid condensation. Not much else, if you want to have a pro doing the job, it'll probably cost as much as the part itself, which too me is probably not worth it (I rather get an OEM reflector xenon set). If you could do the job yourself, after $700-900, you have a xenon light set that's way superior (and nicer) compared to OEM xenon set. Retrofit xenon kit is easy. Retrofit lens/projector is quite some work.

zypher84

wow thanks a lot zam, very informative. i may have to stick with the depo lenses though, since you said retrofitting better lenses is difficult and my dealer wouldnt be able to help me. maybe when i save up some $$ for xenons i could pay you to do it?

JY

BT320

Ditto that, thanks for all the info zam. I took a look on eBay and there are tons of HID upgrade kits for sale anywhere between $150-$300. I'll probably want to upgrade the cheap Taiwanese HID job on my car with new ballasts and bulbs sometime soon.