WANTED Does anyone need 500E "Euro" headlight lenses?

[gerryvz]

I have the opportunity to get two sets of new "Euro" 500E headlight lenses while I'm here in Germany (it's all I want to carry back). They are 147 Euros apiece plus tax.

Does anyone need a set? These are "comm blocked" in the US and would require shipment if ordered from Europe (which is not cheap), so I can at least save you shipping costs because in the US the shipping costs are cheap for me to send to you.

Let me know ASAP.

 

[gsxr]

I am tempted... but what kind of "tax" are we talking about here? Euro list price with VAT is only €135, how much further above €147 are they going to be?

http://partssearch.mercedes-benz-classic.com/parts/A0008201266

Also, you are referring to 000-820-12-66 and 000-820-13-66, correct?

 

[gerryvz]

It's 19% VAT but I have that eliminated (refunded) at the airport so in reality no tax.

Yes 12-66 and 13-66 (pre-facelift Euro lenses). The facelift lenses are a bit more, not too much.

I can get mirror boots too - one is over EUR 200 and the other is around EUR 160ish, need to go downstairs and get the prices I got from my dealer friend.... seems not such a great deal now that the US lowered the mirror boot prices.

 

[Klink]

I have the opportunity to get two sets of new "Euro" 500E headlight lenses while I'm here in Germany (it's all I want to carry back). They are 147 Euros apiece plus tax.

Does anyone need a set? These are "comm blocked" in the US and would require shipment if ordered from Europe (which is not cheap), so I can at least save you shipping costs because in the US the shipping costs are cheap for me to send to you.

Let me know ASAP.

PM sent
Thanks!

 

[Jim]

Gerry,

On my face lifted car I need the passenger side glass Bosch part number 1 305 621 618.

I am not sure if these are the originals or changed as part of the face lift?

Jim

 

[Christian_K]

Gerry,

On my face lifted car I need the passenger side glass Bosch part number 1 305 621 618.

I am not sure if these are the originals or changed as part of the face lift?

Jim

You come to our meet in Germany dont you?
If so, i can tell Bernard to get it for you and you can pick it up here

 

[bing]

Gerry,

On my face lifted car I need the passenger side glass Bosch part number 1 305 621 618.

I am not sure if these are the originals or changed as part of the face lift?



Jim

Perhaps from a US Model ? AFAIK Euro facelift lenses are Hellas , part numbers Driver side - 124 820 57 66 (MB), 9AH 144 819 01 (Hella), passenger side -124 820 58 66 (MB), 9AH 144 820 01 (Hella).

Note, both are for Right hand traffic.

Left hand traffic (i.e UK) are NLA i believe. I guess obtaining RH traffic ones are not a problem if you're happy to mask them for UK use (?).

 

[Jim]

Thank-you for the help Christian, Bing,

I have written to Chris Baldwin at MercMan to see if he has a lens since I have to get the MOT done soon. (EDIT...Chris does not have a lens...but it seems that it is not an automatic MoT failure provided the beam pattern is not affected).

Price is 97 GBP from MB but availability seemed problematic...as in having to scour dealers around Europe.

Jim

 

[gerryvz]

I brought back both sets of lenses and they arrived undamaged in my luggage. I paid EUR 147 apiece for them (including 19% VAT) and it's going to cost me around $25 per set to properly pack and ship them. I did not get the VAT refunded so I am selling them for USD $163 + $25 x 2 = USD $376 per set, shipped.

That is exactly my cost (probably less than it should be for the packing and shipping as I have to buy boxes and peanuts to pack them, and then ship the box for probably USD $20 of that $25 cost). The lenses were delivered a few days ago to Mercedes dealer Kratzmeier GmbH in Dachau, Germany (north of Munich). The dealership is owned by my friend Michael Kratzmeier.

Both folks who responded first have been notified that they have a set of lenses waiting.

This was a big investment for me and ~$700 up-front cash outlay tied up on parts that I could have used for my vacation, which is why I didn't purchase more sets of them for folks. Sorry that I couldn't get more sets for folks. I will be going back in September and may try to grab a couple of more sets, we'll see.

Hopefully the photos below are GSXR-approved as the "real deal" .... Yurro 500E headlight lenses.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[biohound1975]

I would be interested on acquiring a pair on your September trip.

 

[savmjv]

Gerry, if either buyer backed out on these, I can use a set. Just let me know and we can meet up for the hand off.

 

[savmjv]

Also, i can pre-pay for a September set or I think I'll be in Munich for Oktoberfest again if I can get my own.

 

[thebrinksman]

I'm interested as well. Can pay up-front.

 

[superstar]

+1

 

[gerryvz]

OK, if I do return to Germany in mid-September I will order 2-3 sets of the headlight lenses, and I can be more prepared to bring them home in my luggage. I'll know more in the next month or so as the trip comes together.

 

[mbzgurl]

Ya think?​

 

[gerryvz]

FYI -- those lights appear to be facelift, but not E500 lights.

 

[superstar]

OK, if I do return to Germany in mid-September I will order 2-3 sets of the headlight lenses, and I can be more prepared to bring them home in my luggage. I'll know more in the next month or so as the trip comes together.

When you return to Germany in mid-September, would you ship one set locally in Germany?

 

[mbzgurl]

The car is a 1992 500E. I think the hood, the lights, and the grille are not original to the car.
I need to buy some parts...hood, grille...uh? So, the Euro's won't fit?

 

[Maui]

If that's a '92 it has '94 lights and hood.

 

[mbzgurl]

If that's a '92 it has '94 lights and hood.

It came with the wrong lid, lights, & grille. It has a salvage title, no accidents, just vandalized, except for the headlight lenses and the grille, thanks to me So, does that mean Gerryvz's Hella's won't install on my car ?

 

[gerryvz]

The Hella Euro lenses really need to be installed on Euro headlights. The US headlights would probably work from a physical fit perspective, but the US lenses are bonded (glued) onto the lamp housings and so are not easy to get off.

These lenses are mainly intended for owners with Euro lights -- either as spares, or replacements for lights that are cracked/sandblasted with age/use.

I am sure they will physically fit on US lights, but I (personally) would advise using them with Euro-spec headlights. The facelift US-spec headlights are far better than the pre-facelift US headlamps, but if you used these lenses then they would look funny without a pre-facelift hood and grill due to the modified curvature of the facelift hood/grill area.

 

[mbzgurl]

The Hella Euro lenses really need to be installed on Euro headlights. The US headlights would probably work from a physical fit perspective, but the US lenses are bonded (glued) onto the lamp housings and so are not easy to get off.

These lenses are mainly intended for owners with Euro lights -- either as spares, or replacements for lights that are cracked/sandblasted with age/use.

I am sure they will physically fit on US lights, but I (personally) would advise using them with Euro-spec headlights. The facelift US-spec headlights are far better than the pre-facelift US headlamps, but if you used these lenses then they would look funny without a pre-facelift hood and grill due to the modified curvature of the facelift hood/grill area.

I'll have to look at it to see what's going on with the lamp housing. Is one more square than the other? Can you explain to me the differences? I'm a little confused because I know what's on my car isn't the correct look, and I didn't know they modified the E500 front ends. If you have pictures of both, please pm me a photo of the 92' vs the 94' lamps so I can see the difference. That would help me a lot. Or tell me where I can find the specs for each. I couldn't find good enough pictures on google images.

Maybe I should wait before I spend any money for the headlights until I replace the hood and grille. Though, once I start replacing stuff, I'll want to replace everything, the tail lights, the side lights, the rims, the paint, etc....

 

[gsxr]

Assuming you want to keep the late/facelift/1994 hood, you'll need proper 1994 E500 lights (either USA or Euro). Given the probability that your car has standard 124 lights (not E500 lights), you'll need to replace the entire headlight assemblies, not just lenses. And at that point, it will be easier/cheaper to just buy new USA-spec E500 lights from your favorite discount dealer (~$900/pair, last I checked). The standard 124 lights can be found much, much cheaper but they would not be correct for the car, and you would end up with 4 fog lights and 2 high beams, instead of 2 fog lights and 4 high beams. (Plus, the correct E500 lights look much nicer, IMO!).

 

[mbzgurl]

What do the correct 500E headlights look like? Sounds like I'll be spending more than I thought. I figure to do it right (not including the hood and grille) would cost me upwards and over $2,000. From a investment point of view, it might not be worth spending extra money on my particular car since it is a salvage title. It's not a good investment car if I can't get the value from it vs if it had a "clean title".

 

[gsxr]

The photo in post #24 show correct E500 lights/lenses. Pics below show them next to "standard" facelift lenses.

MB Northlake has the E500 headlights for $441/each... MSRP is $630 (ouch). 124-820-07-57 and 124-820-08-57 for USA lamps.

http://mbnorthlakeparts.com/parts/i...4-820-07-57&action=oePartSearch&siteid=217496

 

[e500.org]

I've got a pair of pre-facelift 500E specific headlight lenses sitting around if anyone really needs a set.

 

[captruff]

I've got a pair of pre-facelift 500E specific headlight lenses sitting around if anyone really needs a set.

I'm interested. Pm me a price assuming you are willing to ship to the states.

Jeff

 

[gerryvz]

I've got a pair of pre-facelift 500E specific headlight lenses sitting around if anyone really needs a set.

I'm interested. Pm me a price assuming you are willing to ship to the states.

Jeff

Are they UK-specific (right hand drive) or appropriate for US and European cars?

 

[Klink]

Are they UK-specific (right hand drive) or appropriate for US and European cars?

Gerry's question is causing me to ask this question. Did they make any right hook 124.036?

 

[e500.org]

Good question Gerry - they are indeed for LHD countries (i.e. Europe and US). These have the incorrect beam pattern for the UK and other RHD countries (inc Japan).

I bought these in Germany, they are from 2009, in good condition with original MB boxes.

 

[gerryvz]

Did they make any right hook 124.036?

 

[e500.org]

Gerry's question is causing me to ask this question. Did they make any right hook 124.036?

LOL, no, but they did indeed supply LHD E500E's to RHD countries (officially) - i.e. officially 29 units entered the UK. More popularly, all Japanese E500E's will have RHD headlight lenses.

 

[MRV]

Good God I had no idea headlights could be so complicated!!! = )

 

[Klink]

LOL, no, but they did indeed supply LHD E500E's to RHD countries (officially) - i.e. officially 29 units entered the UK. More popularly, all Japanese E500E's will have RHD headlight lenses.

Got it. Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense to me now. I failed to consider left hook cars operated in right hook countries...

 

[gerryvz]

It's well known that MB ONLY produced left-hand-drive 500E and E500 models ... and imported these to RHD countries such as the UK and Japan. They would have been equipped from the factory with RHD headlight lenses so as not to blind oncoming drivers in those countries. If I remember correctly, it wasn't too long ago that these RHD country E500E specific lenses went NLA from MB......

 

[500AMM]

It's well known that MB ONLY produced left-hand-drive 500E and E500 models ... and imported these to RHD countries such as the UK and Japan. They would have been equipped from the factory with RHD headlight lenses so as not to blind oncoming drivers in those countries. If I remember correctly, it wasn't too long ago that these RHD country E500E specific lenses went NLA from MB......

Here is the P/Ns on Euro headlights & lenses, taken from the EPC.

The complete facelift headlights are the same as the facelift headlight units, which mean they don't deliver the headlights W/O the lense anymore (..if they ever did?..). This explain the missing P/N for the pre-facelift then.

The complete RH facelift headlight for LHD-traffic is questionable, it doesn't comply with the P/N for the RH headlight unit. However, this is what the EPC came up with.

-a-

 

[Melville]

hey guys,
i'm trying to figure out what to do as well.
i can't stand looking at my beautiful car with the standard euro headlights.

what would the total cost be by performing this E500 to pre-facelift headlight?

Is it worth buying the right side, which is still available, and doing the conversion on the left side, which is NLA?

+1. My first cosmetic project was getting EVO IIs. The second and final thing is Euro headlights. I understand the proper 500E euros are NLA but people have mentioned the E500 to pre-facelift retrofit but I'm not sure what is involved with this.

Any chance that 500E euros will become available again in the future? It seems like some parts are NLA for a while and then a new batch appears.

 

[gsxr]

Re: WTB: 500e Headlight (pre-face lift)

Any chance that 500E euros will become available again in the future? It seems like some parts are NLA for a while and then a new batch appears.

This happened once before... however, with the new MB management philosophy, I think it's a lot less likely to happen again. I'm sure I'll be proved wrong and they will re-appear, but the other question is, if they do re-appear... what will the new price be?

 

[600Eric]

Re: WTB: 500e Headlight (pre-face lift)

This happened once before... however, with the new MB management philosophy, I think it's a lot less likely to happen again...

If I were a betting man (which I occasionally am) I would 100% agree with GSXR on this issue. I have not been in this game that long but with all the parts we have bought for my car over the last year or so it sure does not seem like MB really has any interest in continuing to support their older models (i.e. 124's) but instead just lease you a new car. "Why would you want to spend $X dollars on a part for that old P.O.S. when I can get you into a brand new CLA for zero down and only $299 a month..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omkJmE1NwDc




Edit:
PS: A/C condenser is the latest to be added to the NLA list...

 

[gerryvz]

Re: WTB: 500e Headlight (pre-face lift)

I think it's going to be north of USD $1,200 all told. At least you can sell the E500 Euro lenses (which EDIT: 8899 Ntrepid said he would do with with me so I can have a set of spares) after removing them from the E500 Euro light assemblies and replacing them with the 500E Euro lenses.

Melville, it is very very straightforward to remove the lenses from a set of Euro lights, whether they are 500E or E500. They basically just unclip, and with a brand-new set of lamps the involved housing plastic for the lens clips is going to be much less brittle than an older/original pair of Euro lamps, just from age and exposure. You all know how brittle plastic and rubber gets with age and use....

For some of the 500E/E500 specific items, I agree that the market is small enough that MB probably would

1) try to supersede the part wherever possible with W140, pedestrian W124 and R129 parts, like they did with the ETAs and EZLs, for example

2) produce only a single color/texture of a part, requiring customers to paint/finish the generic part, involving extra time and cost to do this

3) replace with a much and visibly cheaper parts, as they did with the fan clutch bolt that I recently bought vs. the "original" cad-plated bolt that was finely crafted

4) outright just not bother to reproduce the part anymore, because there is little to no demand for it

We are lucky that really SO MUCH of our cars share chassis parts with the everyday W124s and share drivetrain parts with the R129 and W140, of which many more were made.

So while there are going to be difficulties in some things, you have to look at things on the bright side ... it could be MUCH worse.....

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[Stevester 500E]

Re: WTB: 500e Headlight (pre-face lift)

Good thing is that there are plenty of .034 and all that is need is a bracketry swap, I believe.

If I were a betting man (which I occasionally am) I would 100% agree with GSXR on this issue. I have not been in this game that long but with all the parts we have bought for my car over the last year or so it sure does not seem like MB really has any interest in continuing to support their older models (i.e. 124's) but instead just lease you a new car. "Why would you want to spend $X dollars on a part for that old P.O.S. when I can get you into a brand new CLA for zero down and only $299 a month..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omkJmE1NwDc




Edit:
PS: A/C condenser is the latest to be added to the NLA list...

 

[mbzgurl]

I've got a pair of pre-facelift 500E specific headlight lenses sitting around if anyone really needs a set.

I think that's what I need for mine. Mime confused.

 

[gerryvz]

It's looking like my trip to Germany is going to happen in September. I will let folks know definitively when I know "for sure" my dates, but looks like I'll be in the Fatherland from about September 18-23 or so. And Bing, I'll be in London the 14th through the 17th, so hopefully we can get together again.

I'm happy to pre-order new sets of headlight lenses again for the "Euro" 500E lamps. This time around, I will go up to 5 sets of lenses.

All sets will need to be pre-paid in advance, so that I can pay the dealer at the time I pick them up. Base cost will be approximately the same as I quoted above, but because I underestimated shipping costs significantly in one case, and I had to buy shipping boxes and bubble wrap to ship them properly, overall costs will be increased to around $400 a pair, shipped. Each box will require about $8 in packing/packaging materials, and between $15 and 40 for shipping Priority Mail in the US depending on distance.

That is if MB doesn't change the price on thee lenses between now and then.

The good thing is that you won't have to pay international shipping prices, and you get a US "comm-blocked" item. So, I'll probably be kicking off the formal "group buy" in late August or so. Delivery of the lenses would be expected around September 30 or so.

I can do more than 5 sets if I get that many orders for them. But 5 sets seems to be about the number of folks who contacted me wanting them, after I'd already sold the two sets I brought home.

So start saving your shekels, and please confirm now (or soon) if you want me to put you on the Group Buy list.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[Melville]

I will probably want to be in on this action. I should be able to tell you for sure pretty soon.

 

[ghm]

Please add me to the list too.

 

[spaceman_west]

hey gerry,
i'm looking to do the E500 to 500E headlight conversion, so I will definitely need a set of lenses.
Please add me to the list.

Can others recommend the best place to buy the E500 headlights?
Can they be bought in the U.S.? Best price?
Thanks!

 

[nocfn]

Lionel or Tom (MB GAINESVILLE or classic center) can get at least the right side facelifte headlight assbly.

 

[gsxr]

Can others recommend the best place to buy the E500 headlights?
Can they be bought in the U.S.? Best price?

Euro headlights can not be purchased in USA. You can buy from Europe (speed-autoteile.com) or possibly buy in Canada.

 

[tomhanson]

The RHD lenses are discontinued.