On Jun 5 2006, 1:43 pm, "MB" <inlandvalley... (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

I've successfully retrofitted HID into the W210, as have a number of
others. We
pooled our experiences on MBWorld and have basically used the
following
(in a nutshell)....

- Depo projector based H7 headlight ($250-400 pair)
- D2S Philips/Osram 81522 bulbs ($100 pair)
- OE ballast (Hella, Denso, Mitsubishi... $2-300 pair)
- E55 or RS6 bixenon projectors

the sequence is roughly as follows.....

1 - remove all removable parts from Depo
2 - heat oven to 250ºF - turn off
3 - place Depo inside for 10+ mins to soften lens adhesive
4 - remove large outer lens
5 - remove Depo projector and toss in garbage
6 - mount HID E55 bixenon projector to Depo (minor fitting involved)
7 - splice bixenon solenoid to high bem leads
8 - reheat oven to 250º and insert Depo to soften adhesive; reattach
outer lens
seal outer lens with RTV silicone
9 - reattach all small parts into Depo
10 - relieve back cover for high tension ballast lead
11 - install inline fuses to ballast input leads
12 - connect all wiring, mount ballast

Going the HID kit route is dangerous to other drivers as it nearly
always
results in uncontrolled glare. The kit is rarely calibrated to the
projector
or reflector the owner has on their car. It is an inexpensive one-
size-fits-all
answer for the vendor and those too cheap to care about beam quality.

Though technically not legal, the above described retrofit uses bona
fide
HID calibrated projector, bulbs and ballasts....and simply retrofits
them into
the Depo housing. The results will put a smile on your face.

aesthetics, before/after http://i9.tinypic.com/2zi2928.jpg
after
http://i14.tinypic.com/33tgk2d.jpg
some beam shots http://i14.tinypic.com/4ggs0so.jpg

The other Taiwan, off-shore brand projectors are even more cheaply
made,
and as Daniel Stern has opined, all have extremely poor optical
engineering.
Some even use smaller halogen bulbs. The Depo is the only one which,
through
serendipity, has projector mount nearly identical to the E55 and RS6
HID
projectors. This makes for extremely easy drop in with a minimum of
fitting involved.

Total labor time can be as little as 48 hrs, though my first retrofit
took at least 3 weeks

I do this for fun and dont take orders so do not email me, but I am
happy to help give
you tips on your own installation/retrofit. Note that another person
on MBWorld and
Benzworld boards does take orders so you can search and ask him.

The overall cost is 2-3x that of HID kits but quality of lighting is
200x+ better....and rivals
OE lighting in quality (natch, since we're most using factory parts).
This retrofit is about
1/2 the cost of OE....but note that MB does not make projector based
lighting system
for W210s. You will not have autolevel feature found on factory HID
MBs so you should
aim your light a scootch low to minimize impact to opposing drivers.

raymond- avi8tor01 at yahoo dot com or waltermitty01 at juno
dot com

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/2107865-post14.html