DRL Lights on a Mercedes

Hi
    Saw on a web site DRL lights for a Mercedes has any one fitted them,seems quite a nice kit any other upgrades that you have fitted to your favorite toy cannot wait picking mine up Tuesday
 cheers Alan

Hi Alan, any more info please as it is a mod I would like to do as AS couldn't run the extra few £ to have them as standard 

(What are you picking up Tuesday ?)

Hi
   I am picking up I hope my new to me Autosleeper Surrey from AEG at Stourbridge ,re DRL lights I put in a search in goggle and a proper kit for the Mercedes came up they fit in the Fog Light aperture,cost around £90 ,have you done any upgrades on your Mercedes
   Alan

Hmmm, me thinks you are probably right Peter 

Alan, the only upgrade on the Merc side so far has been mud flaps and headlight protectors. Have had mixed reviews on the benefit of headlight protectors but for 40 odd quid I personally think they are worth it. Got a girt big stone chip on a protector already (much cheaper than a MB headlight assy) plus they are handy for my elec tape euro beam deflectors and the use of wd40 to remove the sticky afterwards 

Be aware that the DRL or fog light which "fit" the bumper apertures, don't. The bumper cover fitted does not have the necessary fittings on the rear to accept these lights. MB do sell an alternative bumper in order to fit the lights when ordered as OE.

Jaytee, 
Can you remind me where you got your headlight protectors from and are they a good fit?
Liam

For info: the "face-lifted" Sprinter, from early 2014 on has DRLs as part of the headlamp unit. They are filament bulbs, not LED but are usefully bright. It is possible to switch them off, if you want to test your brakes more frequently.  ;-)

Liam wrote:Jaytee, 
Can you remind me where you got your headlight protectors from and are they a good fit?
Liam

They are made in Oz and very good fit, good quality, very easy to remove and clean etc and no drilling or screwing required. 

UK importer is Auto Styling Truckman, www.autostylinguk.com 08456444704.


All best John

John,
Thanks, must now order and fit before the inevitable chip occurs.

Cheers,
Liam

The LED kits sold by Ledcom (N.Wales) for the X250 and the Fords are a perfect fit for the bumper locations - I have fitted both.  This company is also very good on support should you need it.

These from Ledcom for the Sprinter will fit, they clamp between the front and back molding.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251848516135?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Hi Peter and the rest of the Mercedes Gang
    They are the ones I have been looking at as they are made especially for the Mercedes ,I think they may be slightly cheaper direct instead of going through EBay
  regards Alan

Yes, £111.20 bought direct inc delivery. Not sure about the colour, does not looks Arctic white.

Hi Peter
  they call it warm white who is going to first to buy one.I have just bought Garmin Sat Nav from Aldi so my pockets are a bit strecthed at the moment
 regards Alan

I volunteer Peter Brown, he is handy with his hands. 

As Pete Taylor said above, Quote:- For info: the "face-lifted" Sprinter, from early 2014 on has DRLs as part of the headlamp unit. They are filament bulbs, not LED but are usefully bright. It is possible to switch them off, if you want to test your brakes more frequently.  ;-)

Thanks Pete, my Sprinter's DRL's were working when I received it new, they were able to switch on/off too.

However, following the shenanagins of the central locking system failing because of A/S's improper wiring, causing a Merc electronic SAM unit to blow up and subsequent "back to the factory" for rewiring, then getting A/S to pay for a new SAM box to be fitted by CityWest Merc, Exeter, it seems the DRL's (2 x 21w = 42w) no longer worked on my Sprinter, but the headlights worked as DRL's instead (2 x 55w = 110w!) and I could switch them on/off via the "M" button as per handbook.

Having realised this, I got CityWest Merc to take a look today. Much head scratching took place, Merc at Germany were contacted a couple of times and a software download took place (but that didn't work, either!) It seems that when the SAM unit was replaced the DRL's stopped being "seen" by the vehicle's changed software.

Because A/S purchased the new facelifted cabs with the old model's dashboard (with no steering wheel buttons etc) a clash of software between the old and new model equipment took place, affecting the Merc's DRL's. At the end of the day, I now have my Merc DRL's working at all times but I am unable to switch them off as per Merc's handbook instructions. I know of at least one other ASOF member who has the same set-up. Are there any other persons who would like to confirm this, or are we two members on our own? Also, I'm contemplating changing the filament 21w bulbs (w21w glass bayonet fitting) for LED's. Any comments out there would be much appreciated, please?

Thank you A/S for making a financial saving without informimg me. I would have paid a bit more cash for the later dashboard, steering wheel etc, had I been aware of the hassels I've been put through over the last 14 months, thanks a lot! (Grumbles and expletives off stage).

Commiserations and best wishes to all the Mercedes Gang, Barry.

Commiserations Barry, feel for you. I think I have been lucky with the last of the 2013 models. Not going to touch any buttons or do any mods, just in case.
Hang in there 

Barry,
I'm not absolutely certain about this (the vagaries of can-bus wiring are slightly over my head) but I suspect that changing from filaments to LEDs might thow up an "alarm" signal, for want of a better word, due to the LEDs not drawing the same amount of current as filaments.

I have an LED trailer lighting board and every time the indicators flash I get a beep from some mysterious place in the van. I borrowed a filament light board and this did not happen.

Thanks for the very interesting info, Pete.

As an experiment, I diconnected one of the DRL W21W glass filament bulbs and started the engine. No alarms, beeps etc, all seemed to run normally, and then refitted the bulb. Again, all ran normally. I assume the Merc DRL's being operated from an "old school dashboard" might not be canbus?

I've ordered a pair of led bulbs for only £10.00 from my pension. I will try them out when I receive them and let you know how I get on. Ditto ref the mirror covers (that'll be in a number of weeks after I get back from our travels in France.)

Regards, Barry.

stoneb,

AS when ordering the base chassis for my van, and I presume others, specify Option JW2- Lamp Failure Indicator Deactivation, which is probably why you didn't get a fault signal. They also delete Parking light function for some reason - Option L94.

Input your VIN in this web Page to get your original chassis build information.

http://carinfo.kiev.ua/cars/vin/mercedes

I have said it before and will say it again, when will manufacturers get the message that someone paying £70K for a van expects the proper cab with the same options as Bob the Builder gets and not the cheapest spec they can get away with.... and many are prepared to pay that little extra for it. Not good enough I am afraid and it isn't just A/S either.

We have the ancient 2012/3 cab, it has an option for the headlights to run as DRL's but I have never switched it on, other extra comforts fitted to the cab area, chrome grille bars, mudflaps, leather steering wheel (proper one!) Alpine audio, over mat, heated seats (that bit A/S did manage), seat covers.... thinking about chrome mirror covers but would like to see some first as fear they may be a step too far!

Groundhog, My 2010/11 Merc doesn't have heated seats, how did you get those?

Mirror covers fitted with Grille trim.

Just asked Marquis Plymouth and they had them specified on the build, odd that they could do that but couldn't do anything else!!