Hey Guys!

So, history is repeating itself I suppose. In 2004 I started off with an anthracite 3G TL directly out of college. Two years later, I got bored and decided to get a car from my Dad (employee pricing ftw). It was a 2006 E350 luxury with premium 2/leather.

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/new-e-klasse-343263/

After that in 2008 I purchased my first home and needed to downgrade a bit so I got another used 2005 TL. I prompty got to modding her into outter space (so much for saving money ): https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-photograph-gallery-96/ludachrisvts-build-picture-thread-im-baaaack-697340/

Then this happened:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-photograph-gallery-96/my-car-fell-off-tow-truck-what-did-you-ever-do-your-life-805150/

That coupled with high mileage and major service points approaching made me think, perhaps it's time for a new car. My pops agreed. He recommended leasing, especially since I'd be making payments for the next two years either way - and then would actually NEED a new car.

So let it be done: 2012 E350 Sport, premium 1 package in Iridium Silver/black interior. I love this car!

My only qualms are that you don't get HID unless you go for the premium 2 package which is $6450 on top of an already expensive car. They didn't have any cars with p2 available anyway. The 2012 sedan just came out 2 short weeks ago so stock is currently limited.

I'll just get an aftermarket HID kit. Any suggestions would be welcome!

I'll take some better pics later this week:

 

Something as simple as HID's should be standard on those, although im sure it isn't as simple as just new bulbs and ballasts, etc. You probably get dynamic projectors and all that mess.

Nice car though!

 

I totally agree about the lights.

 

Nice pick up!!

 

Nice ride... you'll love it!! We have a W212 as well and we absolutely love it. Didn't get P2 either b/c Mercedes is out of their mind. Next spring we'll probably add the HID kit for a few hundred and be done with it. Other then that... it's such a sweet ride.

Enjoy!!

 

Nice pickup! At first I was not a fan at all of the square front restyle but have grown to love it. Hope you have a garage to keep her in

 

Nice pick up, Chris. Although I dont recommend using kits but knowing you I know you wont be willing to spend the money to do a retrofit. If you are going to get a kit then I'll suggest using TRS ones.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...oducts_id=3893

Your car uses H7 application.

 

i really like the front of the car but it seems liek the back is lacking.

 

Congrats!

 

Suite. Congrats! Love the new look E- and C- series cars myself.

 

Congrats! Great looking car.

 

damn, I really love how this generation of the E-class looks. congrats on the purchase and enjoy!

 

Nice pickup. An acquaintance of mine picked up a coupe a few months ago. Very sweet ride. The W212 marks the first time that I find the MB to be better looking than the 5-series.

 

Nice upgrade! Love the new E Class!

 

Congrats. Can't believe HIDs aren't standard on a car like this, though.

 

Nice car man! well the TL can be long forgotten with this beast.

 

Sweet ride, i didnt get P2 either, but you can slap HIDs right in those projectors and youll be fine

Get some DDMs or whatever and get the error cancellors, but just as a word of warning, if you reverse the polarity on the bulb the error cancellors will violently explode on you. Since Merc is kind enough to not label them red and black, the side with 2 black wires is the ground FYI.

Since the lights are housed in a weird "halogen" projector even if you put HIDs in them you wont be giving off obnoxious glare to your fellow motorists, and they actually produce a semi-decent cutoff on their own

Enjoy your new car!

 

Congrats, nice pick up.

 

Nice car.

I wonder why MB feels the need to charge outrageously for features an RL has at a price cheaper than the E350 base.

 

+1 on DDM HID's. i have them on my mazda and they work great. plus they're only $30-40

 

Nice ride. Use it in good health!

 

Why would we need a retrofit when the stock housings have projectors already? We're looking to do an HID kit ourselves and a retrofit doesn't make sense with these headlights. With my FJ, yes, I did a retrofit... but shouldn't be necessary on a W212 MB unless I'm missing something...

Oh and yes, TRS is the only place I'd get them from. I had a DDM set in my FJ before the retrofit and it worked fine, but the quality of the TRS stuff is just second to none... and no way I'd put a DDM kit in a MB...

 

Thanks everyone. Juniorbean, why wouldn't you put a DDM kit in a MB?

I'm leaning heavily towards just trying a kit installed by a reputable shop.

KillerG, any shots of your cutoff?

 

^ As I mentioned in the post above... having had a DDM kit and a TRS kit... the quality is just apples and oranges. For my Toyota, no problem with a DDM kit... but on a higher end car like the MB, TRS is all I'll put in.

 

Nice upgrade! That thing looks and I'm sure it drives amazing too.

 

Congrats, silver E-classes look so classic in MB's

 

Very nice!

 

Congrats! I love the new aggressive styling from MB.

 

Sadly, this is how every person who is in the market to upgrade their lighting set up thinks .

Putting an HID kit in halogen projectors is like bolting a turbo onto a moped motor and cracking the boost upto 20psi. Granted the ride would be much faster than stock but it definitely wont last long before that small motor explodes. This example is a little extreme but you get the point .

Since pictures explain things much better I'll post a few.

Here are comparison pictures of HID projectors and Halogen projectors.

Halogen projectors are from an 06 Acura MDX.
HID projectors are from an 09 Acura MDX.

Both headlights are made by Stanley/Koito and both are OEM.

Halogen projectors use materials for the reflector bowls that are made to withstand heat levels produced by halogen bulbs and not HID bulbs.

Reflective material on the inside of he bowls is not as good as for the HID projector bowls hence if you install an HID kit in the halogen bowl it will not only burn the chrome right off of it over time but also may cause the bowl to burn down completely since the bowl is made out of lower quality plastic.

HID bowls are made out ceramic based material which tend to hold them self pretty well against heat and heat damage to the chrome is non existent as the chrome is of much higher quality.

























As you can see, the halogen bowls speak about their quality them self. I have seen Valeo, Bosch and Hella projectors ( European companies that make headlights for MB, BMW, Audi etc) over the years as well and the same is true in their case as well. HID projectors =/= Halogen projectors.

 

Thanks for the reply. Figure if anyone knew it was the AZ headlight guy

I was under the impression that projectors were projectors. Now that I know, when the time comes, we'll probably do a retrofit for the MB as well...

 

Actually, to save time/money you can always use a good quality halogen bulb to get better light output at night. Bulbs such as Osram Sylvania Silverstar Ultra and or Piaa xtreme white would do the job just as well.

 

^ We are actually going to try the Silverstar Ultra first. The rep from MB suggested the same thing. I'm actually picking up a pair tonight so I can get the mail-in rebate
If that doesn't do the job, we'll go HID. From what I've been reading/hearing I have a feeling it will do the trick though...

 

I have the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra in my high beams. Next to the HIDs they are a joke. I had them in Legend #1 and could see a big difference in output and color (much more white), but I was very disappointed when they were next to the low beams in Legend #2.

 

In a car of that class and money, HIDs gotta be standard! I really don't like the LED DRLs taking the spot of where the foglights supposed to be. Great looking car though except the wheels!

 

i would also recommend GE Nighthawk halogen bulbs

 

Sweet. Congrats on the new ride.

 

Congrats on your new ride, man....enjoy!

 

So, after much research, I've found that in fact the HID kits will *probably* not cause damage. What usually causes damage are the super intense HID "look" bulbs that people use. They are usually rated at 100w+.

The biggest issue with HID kits is glare. I'm not entirely convinced that we will have much glare since many people on the merc forums have done this and say they haven't been flashed much. I know that isn't conclusive but thats my postulation.

 

FYI, I had a DDM kit in my FJ and got flashed all of the time. I even adjusted the headlights down more... still tons of scatter. At that point I just bit the bullet and did a retro-fit. WHOLE different ballgame with HID projectors and the full TRS kit behind it.

Also, I picked up a pair of the Silverstar Ultra's last night. Won't be able to put them in till next weekend since the wife is out of town with the car through Sunday... so we'll see. For $40, figured it was worth a shot. I'm sure it will be a huge improvement... and it will buy me some time before spending the money on an HID kit. But when I do put them in, I'll let you know what her feedback is...

 

Thank you sir. I'm thinking more and more that I will go for the TRS kit.