Author Topic: LED replacement headlight bulbs  (Read 6133 times)

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Offline GermanKiwi

  • S Class
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  • Posts: 1
  • Gender: Male
  • Engine: 2.0L
  • Fuel: Diesel
  • Transmission: Manual
  • Trim: Sport
  • Year: 2006
LED replacement headlight bulbs
« on: September 13, 2016, 09:08:36 pm »
Hi all, I've got a 2006 1st Gen, and I'm looking at ways to make my headlights as bright as possible (legally), as they don't really light up the road as well as I'd like them to.

I've been looking into LED replacement bulbs for the foglights (H3) and possibly even as a replacement for my D2S xenon bulbs, as I think some of the LED bulbs might even be brighter than the xenons (according to the advertised lumens). My xenons are really not that bright.

For example, I've seen these H3 bulb replacements:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01I4J7ACO
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E8MIMGO

Both of them provide a lot more lumens than any halogen H3 bulbs can.

And for the D2S bulbs, I've seen these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018IJEIHK - they also claim to output a lot more lumens than my xenons do (as far as I can tell), and the reviews suggest they are a reliable and legitimate product. The description says they are a "direct replacement of HID Xenon" bulbs.

However, with all of these LED bulbs, they are much longer than the halogen/xenon bulbs they would replace - primarily because of the big heatsinks at the back of them. So the would stick out further at the back of the headlight housing, and I suspect that the plastic headlight housing back cover plate won't fit on behind these bulbs as a result.

My questions are:

1) How important is it to keep the plastic headlight housing back covers in place? Is it okay for me to remove the covers and not use them at all? What would the consequences be?

2) Does anyone have any experience with using this type of LED bulb as a replacement for the stock bulbs, and could give me any feedback or advice?

3) Does anyone know if it is even street-legal to use such LED bulbs here in Europe?

Thanks!