Euro light conversion

[Sam 300SD]

I recently purchased a set of euro lights for my 79 300SD, to replace the stock ugly ones. I snagged the lights on ebay for a mere $42ish including shipping. They even allegedly came from a 79 300SD. Anyways, I was wondering what I should expect with the conversion. Do I need to buy more wires? What do I do with the old fog lamps? Any help would be appreciated. I'll post pictures when I borrrow a camera.

[BAR]

The headlamp units house:
1. Parking Lamp [small globe]
2. Headlamp [high / low beam H4]
3. Fog Lamp - inner lens unit

You can still use the driving lights which are mounted under the bumper

[OzBenzHead]

I recently purchased a set of euro lights for my 79 300SD ... They even allegedly came from a 79 300SD.

Sam: I empathise with your sense of aesthetics. However, unless some 300SDs were imported to the US with Euro lights (which I doubt - from my understanding), those that you've bought - although they may at some time have been fitted to a 300SD - are unlikely to be original 300SD fittings. It's my understanding that W116 300SDs were made exclusively for the NA market, and that all NA cars were fitted with the US standard twin round lamps - not Euros. (I stand to be corrected by anyone who knows otherwise.)

Regardless - good luck with the changeover. It will be an aesthetic improvement, IMO.

[raftel]

A word of caution about installing those lights on a 300 SD.  Because this model was only sold in the US, Mercedes routed the air intake near the headlights.  Euro conversions compromise this ducting, and can cause problems.  I think there is a detailed writeup in the Mercedes Technical Compantion, published by Bentley and writted by the MBCA.  I strongly suggest you look into that before proceeding.

[Sam 300SD]

What should I do, then? Re-route the current system? Get a new air intake? Perhaps a cold air intake?  Eventually, I'm going for the entire euro setup, lights, bumpers, and all, along with the AMG bodykit if I can find them.

[Sam 300SD]

Oh lord. The lights came in today and I've realized I don't know ANYTHING about them. All the wires are cut off or taped together, one of them seems to be missing a lamp... Some of the wires have been soldered... Can anyone give me some help with this?

[michaeld]

Raftel said it right: there IS a how-to article in the Mercedes-Benz Technical Companion, and it is a book worth having.  The title of the article ought to say it all: "Installing European Headlights on W116 300SDs."  It has a by-the-numbers sequence of steps to take, and it even be having pictures!  I would put the wrench down, slowly back away from the car, and leave those Euro lights alone (well, okay, now and then you may look at them longingly!) until you get that book.
Mike

[Tomi]

The headlamp units house:
1. Parking Lamp [small globe]
2. Headlamp [high / low beam H4]
3. Fog Lamp - inner lens unit

You can still use the driving lights which are mounted under the bumper

Just being a little picky here: the above is not true, in the W116 the fog light is the outer lens unit of the light. And this is the only mercedes chassis with this configuration , with the exception of the unique 500 E of chassis W124.

[Sam 300SD]

Okay. I've taken off all the electrical tape and cleaned up the lights so I know what I'm dealing with. One of them is missing the part where the bulb goes on (the part with the spring on it), and all the wires have been cut. They have different numbers of wires coming out of the little black box, and one of the boxes appears to be new. Does this book have pictures of how the lights are wired? Can I buy the springy part that's missing?