tai230k

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After seeing all the HID installs on people's car I finally took the plunge.

I just spent 3 hours getting my HID install done and I only had enough time to finish 1 side. Here's the 1/2 finished product. Definitely a lot brighter with the 4300k HID system.

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GREAT. How tough was it to swap out the headlight assemblies (three hours)?

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tai230k

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I thought it was going to take 2-3 hours AT MOST for both lights but the drilling, dremeling, sealing and putting the wheel liner back in was dreadful. Next light should take no more than 1 hour since I know where everything is and where exactly to drill, dremel, and seal.

etyu

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Looks very nice Tai230K

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
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Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant., EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

ghostdunks

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just out of curiosity, what did you drill, dremel and seal?

I second the notion about the wheel liner, first time I tried to put it back in, it took ages..now I know which parts to line up first, etc... its much faster.

etyu

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How about a tip? Which part do you line up first when replacing the front wheel liner?

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
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Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant., EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

tai230k

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I dremeled the retaining clip, and then drilled a whole through the light assembly cap, and drilled into the bottom of the assembly to hold the ballasts. I also used cold weather electric tape all over, zip ties, and some weather adhesive to seal up the grommet. I also bent a number of metal bars to further support the ballasts.

ETYU, after all said and done, I think the best way to reattach the wheel liner is to line up the holes to the preset screws that stick out (there are three: 1 top; and 2 directly inside behind the brake rotors). Also make sure that the 2 silver tabs on the bottom are set inside the bumper cover.

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I thought you were replacing the factory headlight assemblies with factory xenon assemblies. Nothing wrong with a good HID kit, definitely cheaper, just more work. You'll achieve the same overall result.

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tai230k

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Hopefully. I'm trying to stick with the OEM look as much as possible without the hassle of going to the dealer.

When I'm finished with the install I'll show side by side pictures of my sibling's Xenon factory lights vs. HID installed lights.

ghostdunks

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Think I realigned to the 3 preset screws first, same as Tai... first I aligned to the two at the back(behind the wheel), then I aligned to the one at the top. Then I made sure that the bit where the front wheel liner meets the back wheel liner(if there is such a thing) is aligned, because have to screw through the hole(which sort of overlaps the two liners), and if this is not aligned, no way to screw through it. Last thing I did was to pull and cajole the wheel liner so the bottom two silver screws at the bottom fit. If all that fits, that the two black screws on the side should fit as well.

hope that helps

ghostdunks

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ahh, that makes sense now..was trying to figure out why I didn't dremel or do as much...I do remember drilling a hole through the dustcap, and putting the grommet through. I skipped the dremelling of the retaining clip by cutting the wires instead and reattaching them once they were past the clip(mileage varies depending on the kit). And I skipped the drilling into the bottom of the assembly by just screwing the ballast brackets straight into the black portrusions coming out of the light assembly at the bottom. Think Dan said this was how the factory ballasts were secured, so I just went with that. I was contemplating drilling into the bottom as well, but didn't want to drill into something accidentally

looks like a good job..I love reading about other people's HID installs because I went through it as well. and now...WE ALL SEE THE LIGHT!!!

SLKDawg

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Tai - which kit did you use??

etyu

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Thanks for the tips. I would suggest to drill a small pilot hole with a smaller diameter drill bit. This makes threading the screw in easier and probably less chance of cracking the plastic housing. The depth of the hole can be controlled by measuring and wrapping masking tape around the drill bit at the appropriate depth, so one stops drilling as soon as the mark is reached.

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
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Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant., EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

tai230k

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I took some pictures for comparison. Factory Xenon vs HID retrofit (MTEC).

SLK on the left (Silver) = Factory Xenon
SLK on the right (Black) = Xenon Retrofit



Notice the cut off of the factory xenon is more focused.



As opposed to the HID retrofit; however, the HID's "seem" brighter. Perhaps because the factory xenons are 2 years older.

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What temperature are the aftermarket HID bulbs?

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tai230k

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HID's bulbs are 4300k and the Factory xenon should be 4300K as well.

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I agree, they look to be the same color.

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noregret4life

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Well done. HIDs look great. The color does match. The only difference seems to be the cutoff line VS stock. However thats not something that is easy to balance out on aftermarket... and not that you actually need to either.

In our SLKs the cutoff is based on both the bulb design and the bulb holder, not just the projector itself. So if the capsul that actually contains the gas that ignites aka burner is located further up or down the bulb is what provides the extra spray of light around the sides. also the stock bulbs are balanced to be a specific distance away from the projector lens, to produce the cutoff. I saw some adapters out there for real serious lighting experts, but not looking at your setup, i think it would be silly to mess with all that when you have perfectly 99% stock looking HID headlights.

Thanks for the side by side... i always wanted to see that.

now time for the HID foglights... yes?

tai230k

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Thanks everyone. I don't think i'm going to put HID fog lights in as I rarely turn on my fogs. Are there any benefits in getting HID foglights, i.e. better visibility?

If anything I think I'll change some of my wedge bulbs in the car.

noregret4life

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I love my HID fog lights. The beam patterns become super wide and cover extra hidden parts of the road. If you do a lot of night driving, i think its a great upgrade. Really makes the night turn to day... but hey, thats just me