One of my headlight bulbs just burnt out and I figure since they're about as effective as a long match at teh end of the hood attempting to light up the road I would replace both.
What's the best bulb I can buy with the, sigh, stock North American headlights?

Appreciate the input fellas.

__________________
-Sam
93 300D
210k - Sold, but not forgotten.

BUMP no one?

__________________
-Sam
93 300D
210k - Sold, but not forgotten.

bulbs should be replaced in pairs. I have found that Sylvania makes a Long Life bulb which produces 20 to 30% more light. They also make a Silver star bulb. This buls Produces bright white light which tricks your eyes. The light spectrum is different and you think you see more. The Long Life is my personnal fav. Which is also considerablly cheaper. Hope this helps

I recommend the Sylvania Silver Star bulbs ... significantly brighter than the OEM bulbs. Walmart sells them in pairs ... best price I've seen anywhere.

__________________
Fred Hoelzle

The correct bulb for the '86 - '93 US spec w124 is the 9004/HB1. This is a transverse (horizontal) filament bulb, not to be confused with the HB5. It's pretty clear you are using that type of bulb, especially since you mention the light is as bright as a match at the end of your hood.

Just my 2¢ worth here. If you can afford it, upgrade to the E-code/European spec headlights. I did so with my '86 300SDL, which has similar headlights, and the difference is remarkable. Of course, you can read all about that on a multitude of other posts on this site. I suggest going with the regular Sylvania bulbs (do replace both) and skipping on the Silverstars. They are a great product, but with the 9004 bulb, like they say, "You can't polish a t*rd." I'm not knocking the Silverstars - in fact I have the Osram version in my car and they noticably increase output. However, since the US spec headlights have a miserable light pattern, putting more light into that won't help anything.

If you haven't already, I suggest visiting Daniel Stern's website: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

Lot's of good information there. I hope this helps.

- Casey

__________________
Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]

As you can see, opinions differ on the utility of different bulbs in the stock reflectors. For what it's worth, I switched over to Sylvania SilverStars 2 yrs ago and won't ever go back to regular bulbs. They do burn out faster than stock bulbs, so there must be SOMETHING different about them other than just a different color light...

I have convinced myself that their illumination is noticably better than regular bulbs and not just an artifact of a whiter color light.

Of course, upgrading to Euro lights is the best possible option, but personally I didn't want to go to that amount of time and expense. The other point against going with the Euros is that your "bulb out" warning system won't work with Euro lights (although I have read that there is an aftermarket solution to this, which adds yet more $$ to the upgrade).

To me, having a system which is idiot-proof and lets me know when my brake lights don't work is a VERY important safety feature, esp. when you look around at the number of folks on the road driving around blissfully without brake lights (at least in NE -- no state inspection...).

__________________
Steve
'93 400E

With regards to the Euro spec headlights and the "bulb out" warning, I have a couple of comments. In my car, I simply changed the units out and modified the plug. The bulb, which is H4/HB2, is 55/60 watts, is the same wattage as the 9004 bulb. This setup in no way affects the "bulbs out" indicator. Consider they have this in non-US cars.

There is a situation where adding the E-code lights does have an effect - briefly, this is the setup from the oft-quoted article from The Star. In this case, the owner wanted to put high wattage bulbs in, which meant the use of relays. It is these relays that foul up the "bulbs out" sensor. Personally, I'm very pleased with the regular setup and I have no need for high-wattage bulbs, and I suspect most other drivers don't.

Of course, there could always be something I don't know that I don't know about this. However, I've been driving with this setup for close to two years and I haven't had any issues with my "bulbs out" indicator. Personally, I'm glad to have it - like 400E says, this is an important safety feature. FWIW, that's my experience and my take.

- Casey

__________________
Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]

Good point! Didn't think about that. Almost makes me want to do the change-over after all. One last obstacle--the need to modify the headlight wiper brackets. Was this an issue for you?

__________________
Steve
'93 400E

Funny you should ask about the headlight wipers. There is a different set of panels for the European versus the US spec. However, it's possible to modify the existing wiper motors to work with the Euro spec headlights. Here are some options - each progressively a little more complicated. Given your concern about retaining the existing plates, the second option may be the best. My other caveat is that I've done this w/ my W126, but I don't know if it entirely applies to the W124.

• Leave the wipers off, altogether. There are primered fascia plates readily available at the dealer. This is a much cleaner look, but may not look cool and it requires getting the plates/panels painted to your body color. Alternatively, you can do what I did with my dad's '91 300E: don't put the wipers back on and leave the existing plate. The holes are at the top of the plate and not terribly noticeable. A suitable temporary solution.
  
• Use the existing wipers and motor with a metal plate. The E-code lights have different mounting points for the wiper motor; the shaft on which the wiper arm goes is centered under the main headlight rather than being centered under the whole assembly. Adding an 18 gauge metal plate, with holes drilled at the mounting points allows the offset. Capitol West has this kit for the W126, but I'm not sure how the W124 works out.
  
• Same as above, but use the "Euro" wiper arm (This is what was used for the '94-'95 W124s). This requires switching the wiper motors, as the Euro wipers go from inside to out rather than outside to in. It won't wipe your whole lens, but does that really matter?
  
• Either do as above, or purchase a wiper set for the E500 ('94-'95), but add a fascia plate with the correct holes. This is the most optimal, but also the most expensive. AFAIK, there is not much issue with using the existing wiper motors - in fact, this saves a lot of $$.

I'm going to try the last option with my W126. However, I'm hesitant to put the wiper arms back on - d*mn kids broke one off, threw it at the car, and chipped some paint. Which is a compelling argument for option 1. Hope this helps.

Casey

• item 1
• item 2
• done

__________________
Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]