upgrading headlights

[vonkr]

Does anyone have experience with H4 headlights?

I've seen some stuff on the internet, but I don't know if it's working, fits, etc.
I see two different sizes: 5 1/2 inch (modelyear 1968/69/70 ?) and 5 3/4 inch
(modelyear 1971-1974 ?).

I've also heard of H1 lights, which fit in our regular lenses.

[wshawn]

Sorry I can't remember the size but I converted my 412 to use H4 bulbs on the outer lights leaving the inner pair as spot lights. This means that the outer H4 ones operate on both high and low beam whereas they used to be low beam only.

To do this I rewired the lights using 2 new relays, one for high beam and one for low beam, located in the front luggage area wired directly to the battery. The relays used the existing headlight wiring to switch them on and then feed each light in turn.

The results are greatly improved night time visibility.

[sharkskinman]

they are 5 3/4" lights


and you can put what ever you want in there
Most Motorcycles like Harleys are either 5 3/4" or 7"

i actually have 1 of a pair of old Benz D240? yellow fogs for my 411
they are for the newer bulbs and the inside of them is yellow not the lens




they are shells with H4 holes in the back with the little metal spring clip
just like this



so what im saying is
go to a junk yard and look for a pair off a Benz
if they are Quad and are Round
they are probably 5 3/4"
most are sealed beams
But if you get lucky
you can find a pair of H4 shells
and get them for like 10-20$
i pulled the one i have off and gave $5 for it
Bulb and all


And i dont know about you guys
but my outers are Low/High and the inners are High Beam

you can get Low/High H4 bulbs
but if you only have just lows and just highs they will work the same way
Why Would you have to add another Relay??

[wshawn]

I added fresh wiring to eliminate any voltage drop from 38 year old wires. I also wanted to add high beam to the outside pair of lights which where originally just low beam, as such I didn't wish to overload old wiring and risk melting it with the extra current drawn from the extra lights.

[raygreenwood]

Actually on this continent...all type 4's came with outer lamps as dual....high and low beam. The plug should be a three prong one on the outer lamps. The inner lamps were high beam only.
The outer ones were 45/55 watt lamps. The inners were 55 watt high beam. I went to 100 watt high beams with no problems with no wiring changes. I went to 55/65 watt outers with no problems but will be changing to 65/100's and upgrading wires and adding and extra relay.

The outers are Hella H-4's. The inners are hella HB-2 Par-46 (landing lights and industrial lamps...clear lense) . Ray

[vonkr]

The inners were 55 watt high beam. I went to 100 watt high beams with no problems with no wiring changes.

so here you only changes the lamps itself, not the lenses.Clear

The outers are Hella H-4's

But did you change the lenses also?

Here in Europe we can buy H4 lights (without changing lenses) but that will not pass the yearly inspection, because the lenses are not designed for the lights and the light will "spread" to much (of course you can change them just before the inspection). So the best solution will be changes lenses and lights, but I still don't know what will fit
(5 1/2 or 5 3/4 inch).
I will measure a set of headlights which I have in my house, because the car is already put away for the winter

[vonkr]

here is some of the stuff i found:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HALOGEN- ... ccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HALOGEN- ... ccessories

[raygreenwood]

The inners were 55 watt high beam. I went to 100 watt high beams with no problems with no wiring changes.

so here you only changes the lamps itself, not the lenses.Clear

The outers are Hella H-4's

But did you change the lenses also?

Here in Europe we can buy H4 lights (without changing lenses) but that will not pass the yearly inspection, because the lenses are not designed for the lights and the light will "spread" to much (of course you can change them just before the inspection). So the best solution will be changes lenses and lights, but I still don't know what will fit
(5 1/2 or 5 3/4 inch).
I will measure a set of headlights which I have in my house, because the car is already put away for the winter

By lenses...i assume you mean the "lamp unit" itself. Yes...all four of my lamps are not stock. On American cars, all cars came with "sealed beam" headlamps....meaning when a lamp burns out you replace the entire lamp assembly. The bulb unit is not replaceable seperately.

So...I eplaced my outer stock sealed beam, gh/low units with Hella H-4units....that have changeable lamp assemblies. The inner high beam only lamp units I replaced with Hella HB-2 units (H-2)....that have a changeable single wattage lamp assembly.

It just so happens the type of lamp assembly I used for my inner lamps were a Hellas Par 46. They are designed to throw light a really long distance with very little surround (close-by) light. They have a sharper angle on the reflector and totally clear lenses. Much more like spot lights. They are frequently used for heavy equipment spotlights and aircraft landing lights.

those lamps in your e-bay link...are sealed beam units. You cannot change just teh bulb...you must change ...as you say....the lense and bulb together. they are halogen...but not H-4.

Ray

[sharkskinman]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BLUE-5-3 ... 53e475a751
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/5-3-4-5- ... 53e49a2f7a
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bosch-He ... 20b119294e

i think these would be cool with the 4th wire for the fog lights?
maybe running lights?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VINTAGE- ... 588b21a1a4
or these they are super cool



and i will say this again
THey Are 5 3/4"
look at the reference pic above!!

[vonkr]

On American cars, all cars came with "sealed beam" headlamps....meaning when a lamp burns out you replace the entire lamp assembly. The bulb unit is not replaceable seperately.

Ah,that explains a few things, here in Europe you can change only the lamp and/or the unit (lens and reflector)

I don't know how popular the mercedes W123 serie is in America, but here there are a lot... meaning even prices
for second hand stuff is high (complet unit, left and right, 100 euro, about 130 dollar).
For that price I prefer to buy some new stuff

[sharkskinman]

mine came from a D series
but if the Ws are plentiful why are they that expensive

im going to find som eH4 housings for all my lights

[vonkr]

but if the Ws are plentiful why are they that expensive

because a lot of people needed stuff... more question is raising the prices...
(and because of the quality of mercedes, they kept on driving, instead of
going to the graveyard...)