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SPYDER Headlights

114K views 374 replies 80 participants last post by  Bill Feliciano 
#1 · (Edited)
UPDATE: Click here to see a new post I added on page 3, which resolves the gap problem discussed in the thread, and shows off the black version of these lights.

As some of you may know, SPYDER are currently testing out several new headlight units for different Mercedes models. I was hit up by the guy who offered his C-Class for the test install to SPYDER to see if they could use my SLK to test their new R171 offering.

We installed it last Wednesday at their facility in Industry (in the greater Los Angeles area) and I will be testing these lights for the next several weeks for them.

The lights replace an older version which is still listed on their website. This is a new and improved version specifically for the North American market. The lights are still in the R&D phase and they are taking suggestions from people with respect to styling etc. They are also still getting improved versions from their supplier and I will actually be going back in the first week of April to get my set swapped out for a new one that is supposed to have better light output.

As such I was asked not to post any "garage door" style pictures of the overall shape of the light output yet, as it will change in the next iteration. I can say that like the OEM lights for SLK these lights have an asymmetric shape to their light pattern which improves street sign readability.

In keeping with the topics discussed by AZN Optics in his C-Class post I will kind of go over some of the major points.

Fitment: I feel there is a slightly larger gap between the lights and the hood on the insides but it is tough to say for sure because I didn't have the opportunity to see the old and new lights installed one on each side. It is not apparent unless you know what to look for and it is definitely not an issue. Very good for aftermarket lights.

Installation: (EDIT: Rewrote this section because I got installation video link from SPYDER.) I was not present during the installation (liability issues on their end I guess). Installation requires the bumper to come off which is probably the majority of the work. Once that's done it's a matter of a bunch of screws and some electrical connectors. You need to move over the low-beam, ballasts and headlight washers from the OEM to the new lights. After that it's a matter of putting the whole thing back together again. I would say you should be able to do it in a few hours. Here's the video showing the entire process. This might be useful in general for people needing to take their bumper off!



Bulbs: The OEM headlights have 4 bulbs: low-beam, high-beam, parking and blinker. The SPYDER lights have low-beam, high-beam, blinker and a strip of 6 LEDs that take the place of the parking light. The unit comes in two versions (actually 4 if you count colors), one is for non-Xenon and the other is for the Xenon version. I had the latter and during the install they only transferred over the low-beam bulb, the other 3 bulbs are replaced with lamps and LEDs that come with the unit. I am not clear on what the specs are on the bulbs since I haven't had a chance to open up my wheel-well and take them out. I will update this thread once I get more information. The stock configuration comes with an amber turn-signal bulb which I will be replacing with a stealth bulb as soon as I figure out the correct type. I suspect that besides the low-beam which transfers over, none of the other bulbs are the same type as stock. As you can tell from my pictures, the Xenon low-beams are practically the same color as the LED strip which looks very good. The OEM fogs are much more yellow and now that I've seen the combination of everything I'm itching to replace the fogs with some kind of LED contraption. Something to research.

Color: They offer two color variations of the housing unit (which together with Xenon/Non-Xenon makes for 4 different types total). The one I have is chrome but they also have a black version. Forum user jameslk350 has the black version of the existing line so you can look at his pictures for comparison. Note that these are not the new line yet so the styling may change compared to what James has. One thing you notice on the black version is that they are not all-black, but have reflective areas behind the turn signals and the high-beams. This is to be in compliance with DOT regulation and unlikely to change just because we asked them :D. The OEM headlights are a silver, brushed-metal look on the inside, and post-facelift they have a colors bottom section. Initially I found the chrome on these SPYDERs a bit jarring, but I very quickly got used to it. I have received a lot of positive comments on the lights in the week since I've had them and everyone really seems to like the color. I personally wouldn't mind if they came out with a silver/brushed version as well but perhaps that would mean too many SKUs, raising the price.

Style: I have put some side-by-sides for quick comparison with the original OEM lights. The OEMs are more of an "empty" light. They have a large "floor" with nothing going on except the slightly raised non-shiny area. The SPYDERs have the LED strip going on at the bottom, but the other sections of the light are also protruding more forward than the OEMs so they look quite "full" inside the housing. They do not have an eyelid (unlike the C-Class version) and this prevents them from looking too busy. I'm curious if people would actually like to have an eyelid at the top of the lights to give it more of an R172 look. I'm not really sure on this one.

That's about all for now. You can see from the pictures that I purposely left the car outside in the (fierce) rain all day Saturday to test water tightness. The lights passed this test with flying colors. The last picture shows that the lights project a small darker area in front of each of the lights. This is not an issue but just an interesting thing to note. In general these lights give vastly more useful light output than the OEMs do. Not sure if this is because they are more reflective because of the chrome, but the difference is quite impressive.

What SPYDER wants to see is feedback from the community. What do you think of these and how would you like to see them improved.






Old vs. New.



Rain test.


Lighting them up.




 
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#2 ·
I agree with too much chrome. Does the side "gills" light up also, when the low beams are on? Can the LED strip be used as DRL (with low and high beam off)?

I'll reserve any opinion until I see it in person this Saturday.
 
#3 ·
I agree with too much chrome. Does the side "gills" light up also, when the low beams are on? Can the LED strip be used as DRL (with low and high beam off)?
The gills don't light up; it's one solid surface unlike the OEMs.

The LED strips can be used as DRL. My first picture after the one in the rain was supposed to show that but it's not very clear I guess. The LED strip takes the place of the parking lights as far as the master light switch is concerned. They come on together with the lows in Auto mode, but if you select the left+right parking light setting (the setting between Auto and On), only the LEDs light up.

Regarding the chrome, yeah I'm still a bit torn on that. Out of everyone that's seen them so far (friends & family, no other picky SLK owners as of yet), I seem to be the only one with this concern. I'm just not that into chrome :D. I think on my car they would look better if my wheels were also chrome, but that ain't happenin'.

Next time I'm at the SPYDER facilities I'm going to check out the black version from up-close. They don't have one of the new Xenon prototypes in black yet, but they offered me to swap them out once they obtain a set. I'll have to see them first though. Black lights on a black car without black wheels may just be the wrong combination. And just like I don't see myself getting chrome wheels, I don't think I'm getting black ones either.
 
#5 ·
You think so too? Yeah, I didn't even notice it until last night when I took the pictures with the old lights on the boxes next to the car.

I know when you take the bumper off, there's those stops that can be adjusted. I can't tell whether those might have gone back on incorrectly.

This weekend at the mbjunkies Orange County Benz meet, I'll take some measurements of other people's hood gaps (the one between the bottom of the pointy part of the hood and the top of the bumper cover) to see if my stops are adjusted wrong.

EDIT: I found this old picture that seems to be the correct angle to compare. On this one I would say that it does look like the hood is adjusted further down. More to follow this weekend after I get a chance to compare.

 
#6 ·
They look great ! The gap around the light doesn't seem to be too excessive , on the photos anyway . Love the built in leds / dlrs . Would be interesting to see he durability/fading of the lenses compared to the originals , speaking as a sufferer of yellowing lenses .
 
#10 ·
IIRC there are four.

Do you have to loosen the anchoring bolt before turning the stopper clockwise to lower it?
 
#9 ·
I don't mind taking credit for the video, but I just provided the car :D. I agree though, SPYDER did a really nice job on it.

The gap problem is not solved. I thought perhaps the hood stops were set too high, but after I posted this morning I screwed them all the way down and the hood doesn't really move at all so it's already all the lowest point. I will try to see if there's any other adjustments I can do to the lights this weekend. I plan to open the car up to look at what types of bulbs are part of the new unit so I can get a stealth-bulb for the turn-signal, so I'll poke around then.
 
#13 ·
When I saw the SPYDER setup on Durk's car, I agree the chrome is really too blingy on a black car, but I do like the LEDs especially since they double as DRLs. The "gap" is there but not very pronounced unless you are pretty close to it. To sum up my take on this...

Likes: LEDs as DRLs

Dislikes: Hmmmm!!! not much to be hung up over, I generally like it. For the chrome ones, may not work well with dark-colored cars... lighter tone cars will be OK, imo.

Wants: Lighted gills, gill placement as in OE, darkened lens to cover up the amber turn bulbs, affordable ($$), and dibs on the ones on Durk's car after swap-out :)
 
#23 ·
I'm guessing they would be? Forum user Klinh put a kit from these guys in his SLK. I know the headlight socket is compatible with OEM and that the high-beam bulb comes with the light. So you'd have to get an OEM-compatile low-beam bulb in addition to the ballasts to complete the kit. Alongside the bulb, the rest of the HID bits were transplanted from the old lights to the new, so I assume you could do the same with an AM HID kit, assuming they're US CANBUS ballasts (which the ones from hidextra are).
 
#24 ·
:tu:Just read this thread this evening. Guess I previously passed on it due to the title. I've never seen a set of aftermarket light assemblies that could match factory fit and quality. Also, many leak water and have issues with condensation. The Spyder assemblies look very interesting. I especially like the idea of transferring the factory MB components, xenon bulbs, igniters and ballast to the Spyder assemblies. That will ensure some degree of high quality components.

Like others, I'm not big on chrome, as in headlight assemblies, wheels, and most other accessories. I agree, some variation of internal black assemblies would look the best. I was surprised to read that a third variation of the Spyder headlight assemblies are on the way. Hopefully, they're both improved and refined from the first two sets. Wouldn't want to purchase a set only to find them shortly superseded by something better. Three sets released in what time frame?

I really like the recent rash of factory LED lights. My Lexus IS 350 has them. One of my favorite features. Spyder did a good job of incorporating the six light LED strip in their version of the aftermarket R171 SLK light assemblies. I'm interested in their next set pending release.
 
#25 ·
I just took the turn-signal bulbs out to see what kind they were. I decided not to mess with the high-beam bulbs because there is not a lot of room to work there. They are hard to get to, and it's not like I plan to replace them.

So as suspected the turn-signal bulbs are PY21W (bayonet fitting with 5 o'clock pins). I've included a picture of an OEM front turn-signal and the one I extracted from the SPYDER light. The second picture shows the position of the bayonet pins at 12 and 5 o'clock.

I just ordered a chromed set from stealthauto.com. They call these 7507A. If you order these just by selecting the make/model/year of the car, be sure to say they are for the rear, not the front, otherwise you'll get the funky OEM socketed ones.

When these come in I'll post some pics of the new chromed bulbs in the light units. I think they will look very nice.


 
#26 ·


Sorry I didn't post earlier. The gap is normal-it just depends on the angle you are looking at the car. As long as the hood aligns perfectly with the fender and bumper, you're fine.

Yes, the new front turn signal bulbs are now the same as the stock rear turn signal bulbs. The chrome headlight version is OK but definitely switch to black if it's on Spyder. It is a night and day difference. Also the chrome turn signal bulbs are a must for aftermarket and stock headlights. Nice strut bar too! :biglaugh:

In terms of Spyder offering more styles, it's really hard to say. Maybe offer the OEM headlamps in blackhousing if people do not like the LED look.
 
#52 ·
That would also be my main interest. So far it looks like an upcoming mod for me, once SPYDER finalizes the design.
It's not even that for me, looks great as is :tu:

I'd get it once they close up that gap... :td:

Thanks for the pics Durkathon. Loving the stealth bulbs! How come in the last picture though the bulb looks clear as opposed to tinted from the front :confused: are they the same bulb?

As for black-headlamp :tu::tu:
The best part is it is not overly dark, just a toned down version of chrome so you don't have obnoxious bling-bling. This way, you won't blend in with the Hondas who paint their own headlights with 0% output + all black. This is light and elegant IMHO.

Can't help but to say again though James, love your car. :rockon: What wheels are you running? Those the Avant Garde M310s?
 
#42 ·
OK, I got a chance to install the chromed bulbs from stealthauto.com last night and took some pix then and this morning on the roof of the parking structure at work for direct comparison.

The first pic shows the original light as it comes from SPYDER (I also posted this one on page 1 of this thread).



The bulbs: packaged, installed (chrome) and blinking (orange!).





Some daylight pix. I really like these builds!! Much improved without the giant orange reflection of the stock bulbs. Sorry about the dirty wheels :D.



 
#44 ·
Thanks for the pics and write up!
I love the idea of having LEDs but honestly it just looks like a slab of chrome (I'm allergic to chrome).
Maybe if they make different treatments to it, adding detail by coating some sections in satin like the OEM ones, and adding refractive lines to the lens too...
The black ones look a LOT better and I'd get them in a second if I had a black car.
 
#46 ·
I love the idea of having LEDs
:tu:Me too.
(I'm allergic to chrome).
:tu:Me too.
The black ones look a LOT better and I'd get them in a second if I had a black car.
:)Not necessary. The R172 with sports package has them. Other manufacturers are using the black accented headlight assemblies. Looks good with every combination in my opinion. As a minimum, most would agree the black headlight assemblies are better looking, and more modern looking than all chrome.
 
#56 ·
I've had a bit more trouble screwing in the Xenon controllers onto the back of the bulbs. Almost like there is a tolerance issue with the metal bracket that holds the controller in place. This step is already a bit of a pain on the OEMs but even worse on these. Other than that they have been very nice.

Some people have had problems with them although all the trouble I've seen has been on R170 lights. I think that might be because there are simply many more people that have those, as opposed to R171 owners. Most of the trouble seems to be with adjusting the direction. There is a limitation here compared to OEM in that you cannot adjust high- and low-beams independently, so if there is a problem with the relative position of the two you cannot calibrate that out.
 
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