I thought we killed this subject one a long time ago .... let me dig out my notes and post them here again ......

PS: Your best bet is to bug the pigtail adapters, then it is just a matter of

   1. old ones out, new ones in

   2. Pigtail adapters to old harness

   3. SDS enablement for newer ML's

(528323061027200594237PM.jpg)

(4294504550812004100851PM.jpg)

(Headlight Assembly.gif)

(pigtails a.jpg)

(pigtails.jpg)

528323061027200594237PM.jpg (75KB - 31 downloads)

4294504550812004100851PM.jpg (27KB - 20 downloads)

Headlight Assembly.gif (15KB - 22 downloads)

pigtails a.jpg (19KB - 17 downloads)

pigtails.jpg (36KB - 16 downloads)

1998-2001 without HID is wired as follows (colors listed are for the WIRING HARNESS OF THE VEHICLE):

A/pink - low beam
B/orange - n/c
C/blue - n/c
D/none - n/c
E/brown - ground
F/green - city/parking/standing
G/white - high beam
H/grey - fog light

The MY2002+ bixenon comes wired as follows (colors listed are for the WIRING HARNESS INSIDE THE HEADLIGHT):

A/brown - ground (city/high beam)
E/brown - ground (low beam)
F/white - high beam
G/grey - city light
H/yellow - low

On the new headlights, pop off the connector and push the pins out, and replace them in their new positions.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=61546&posts=5

scorchie
(I've had to send several cars in FOUR TIMES for programming, each time being assured that the bixenon setting was set to "PRESENT" and it wasn't...)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=33578&posts=21
Drew
Here is what Robert Exconde and I came up with way back.


Plug:
12
34
56
7

In the original wiring outlay, the low beam wire is in position 1. The retrofit requires that this (low beam) wire be moved to the position 2

OLD:

1 is low beam
4 is the high beam
7 is the ground

NEW

2 is low beam (Xenon power)
4 is the high beam
7 is the ground
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=25824&posts=19
Birger
Euro foglight setting - more on Bi-Xenon internals

No, Drew

I actually didn't have to do anything - Euro-spec (or at least Belgian-spec) ML's have their foglights (and the AUX circuit) wired so that the foglights can be used with all kinds of lighting, ie. city, lo-beam, and hi-beam.

I usually use the FF50's as DRL (this is frowned upon in Germany, but as a matter of fact I translated a proposition for a EU regulation on DRL's a while back, and this allows for foglights used as DRL). With the standard headlamps this has the disadvantage that (like Chris pointed out) the flash-to-pass feature isn't very evident.

With 50 cms between the foglights and the hi-beams you note the flashing.

As regards the internals of the Bi-Xenons, I think there's a hint to how it can be done in Wolfgang's excellent Bi-Xenon document:

'2002 BiXenon internal wiring

off
halogen H7 bulb 12V--------------o
--------o---------------high beam connector
high beam shutter 12V------------o ||
magnet on ||
+--RELAY--+
| |
low beam xenon 12V--------------(---------+--------------low beam connector
|
ground--------------------------+------------------------ground connector

ground low beam------------------------------------------good ground


This BiXenon lamp can simply be plugged into the standard 3 pin headlamp
wiring harness in the ML. The ML's wiring switches on low beams and
switches on the highbeam in addition to the low beams when the high beam
is activated.

If the low beams are off the relay is in the 'off' position and when
turning on the high beam with the 'flash-to-pass' the halogen H7 is turned on.

Alternately, if the low beams are on, the relay is in the 'on' position
and when activating the high beams the high beam shutter will be activated.

It should work fine with DRL, and non-DRL systems.

This is as-is with no warranties or guarantees.



M-Class headlight connector pinouts

All MY2000 M-Classes I checked have these two headlight connectors
Some versions may not have all of the wires/pins in the connectors

Eight position connector with two rows of four
==============================================
pin A pink wire low beam
pin B orange wire range adjustment motor
pin C blue wire range adjustment motor
pin D - not used
pin E tan wire ground
pin F blue marker lamp (sometimes called city lights)
pin G white high beam
pin H gray foglamp


Three position connector with single row of three
=================================================
pin A tan wire ground
pin B blue wire standing/parking lamp
pin C green wire turn signal lamp'.

Unfortunately, it's not done just by disconnecting the wire between the low beam supply and the relay - in that way you will obtain halogen-only high beams, which is not the idea!

- but I still think that it might be easier just to hook up an external relay feeding off the hi-beam wire on the adapter. Hopefully, we'll see later this week ;-)

Birger
http://www.whnet.com/4x4/bixenon.txt

M-Class BiXenon Headlights

Circuit diagram

Mercedes M-Class 2002 BiXenon headlight internal wiring 

=======================================================

high beam shutter motor 12V-------------------------+

                                                    |

                           off                      |

halogen H7 bulb 12V---white--o                      |

                            ------------o---white--+-----high beam connector

                           --o      ||              

                            on      ||               

                                   ||              

                                +--RELAY--+

                               |         |               

                               brown     yellow      

                               |         | 

xenon ballast 12V--------------(----------+---------------low beam connector

                                |   

xenon ballast/relay ground------+-------------------------ground connector 1

shutter/H7 ground-----------------------------------------ground connector 2

12V DC leveling motor ---------------------------------- \

                                                          |

12V DC leveling motor ----------------------------------  |

                                                          |

                                                          | to dynamic leveling

                                                          } contoller under the 

position sensing pot.  +--------------------------------  | dash on the  

                       |                                  | driver's side 

position sensing pot.  \-(var)--------------------------  | 

                       |                                  |

position sensing pot.  +--------------------------------  /

This BiXenon lamp can simply be plugged into the standard 3 pin headlamp

wiring harness in the ML (some pins may have to be relocated, depending 

on version, model year, prior mods etc; or adapter harness).  The ML's 

wiring switches on low beams and switches on the high beam thusly:

A - If the low beams are OFF when turning the high beams on with 

    "flash-to-pass" stalk the halogen H7 is turned on. 

B - Alternately, if the low beams are ON when activating the high beams 

    the halogen H7 will not be turned on; unless modified by bypassing

    the relay, pulling off the two white wires, and connecting them.

Works with DRL, and non-DRL systems.

M-Class headlight connector pinouts

MY2000 M-Classes without factory HID I checked have these two headlight 

connectors.  Some versions may not have all of the wires/pins. 

Eight position connector with two rows of four (ML wiring harness)

==================================================================

pin A   pink wire   low beam

pin B   orange wire range adjustment motor (halogen version, manual leveling)

pin C   blue wire   range adjustment motor (halogen version, manual leveling)

pin D   -           not used

pin E   tan wire    ground

pin F   green       parking/standing/city light

pin G   white       high beam

pin H   gray        foglamp   

Three position connector with single row of three (ML wiring harness) 

=====================================================================

pin A   tan wire    ground

pin B   blue wire   parking/standing/city light

pin C   green wire  turn signal lamp

Eight position connector with two rows of four, headlamp dyn leveling

=====================================================================

See Andy Fracica's pictures

As-is with no warranties or guarantees.

Written in 2002.

Birger's photos

Installing Bi-Xenon Headlights on 2003 MY ML by Andy Fracica

shoptalk

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=17172&posts=10

 

Birger
Headlamp wiring - and a city light tip

Hi,

over the past weekend the weather was good enough to get a closer look at the wiring leading to the headlamps of my 270 CDI, and at least the colors to the main plug exactly match what Wolfgang describes in his document www.whnet.com/4x4/bixenon.txt, that is:

Eight position connector with two rows of four
==============================================
pin A pink wire low beam
pin B orange wire range adjustment motor
pin C blue wire range adjustment motor
pin D - not used
pin E tan wire ground
pin F blue marker lamp (sometimes called city lights)
pin G white high beam
pin H gray foglamp

I also got a couple of closeup photos, but have not yet had the time to upload them (slow connection at home, and NT here at work = no USB compatibility :-( - maybe tonight I'll get around to it).

However, I'm a little puzzled as to the smaller connector. As you can see from the accompanying photo, I also have three wires leading to this connector; one pink, one green, and one tan. This is a little different from Wolfgang's document:

Three position connector with single row of three
=================================================
pin A tan wire ground
pin B blue wire standing/parking lamp
pin C green wire turn signal lamp

As you know over here the orange turn indicator bulb has only one filament - I wonder why we still have three wires leading to this connector.

Unfortunately the weather did not permit me to perform any testing with a multimeter to see which of those wires actually carry any current.

To those of you who are considering adding European city lights, but worry about actually drilling into the reflector itself: An alternative placement of the small W5W bulb could be somewhere in the chromed 'extension' of the hi-beam reflector. Of course the effect will not be exactly the same, but it would be feasible, and you would not touch the reflector itself (I've seen it done on NA-specification cars over here). And instead of drilling, as this piece is 'ordinary' plastic, you might consider carefully melting a hole with a small soldering iron - in that way avoiding that something falls into the reflector. To avoid fumes from staining the reflector, use a vacuum cleaner while heating through the plastic.

Drive safely everyone,
Birger

PS: I'm still considering getting the NA-spec Bi-Xenons from PP if I can get this pinout question solved..... Orange side lamps are as exotic over here as city lights in the US ;-)







Attachments
----------------
BenzworldInfo.pdf (667KB - 14 downloads)

would be appreciated...cheers guys..

Extremely easy. Do a search and you will find pictures. (1) Open the hood. (2) Remove the body trim below the light by squeezing the tabs located by the lower inside corner of the headlight (visible when the hood is open. (3) Remove the nuts behind the body trim and the bolt on top. (4) When you pull the headlight out, you will see the wiring and where it plugs/unplugs--unplug it. (5) Replace with new lights. (6) Upgrade fuse. (7) For 2000 and newer, you will likely need to have the dealer change the AAM setting from halogen to xenon.

I installed E-code bi-xenons on my 2001 ML. It is a very easy thing to do WITHOUT the adapters - all it requires is:
1. Buy a set of bi-xenons for 400-600EUR on ebay.de
2. Inside the headlights, connect the two brown grounds at positions A and E together (the bi-xenon has two ground circuits and your 2000 lights have one).
3. Move around the pins on the headlight connector in the headlights to match the wiring in your 2000 ML; that part is pretty easy once you know the differences in the wiring (see below - that's what I worked from. Your father's wiring may look slightly different so verify first).
4. Install the lights and you are away.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy adapters from North America and install them in a German ML. The adapters sold by a number of sources in North America are not configured for your city lights to work (no wiring).

Headlight connector on E-code bi-xenons:
| A H |
| B G |_
| C F |
| D E |

POSI..HARNESS........DESCRIPTION

A.......brown..........ground
B.......not used
C.......not used
D.......not used
E.......brown..........ground
F.......white..........high beam
G.......grey...........city light
H.......yello..........low beam

Headlight connector on 2000/2001 halogen:
| A H |
| B G |_
| C F |
| D E |


POSI...HARNESS.....DESCRIPTION

A........pink........low beam
B........orange
C........blue
D........not used
E........brown.......ground
F........green.......city light
G........white.......high beam
H........grey........fog light

I installed E-code bi-xenons on my 2001 ML. It is a very easy thing to do WITHOUT the adapters - all it requires is:
1. Buy a set of bi-xenons for 400-600EUR on ebay.de
2. Inside the headlights, connect the two brown grounds at positions A and E together (the bi-xenon has two ground circuits and your 2000 lights have one).
3. Move around the pins on the headlight connector in the headlights to match the wiring in your 2000 ML; that part is pretty easy once you know the differences in the wiring (see below - that's what I worked from. Your father's wiring may look slightly different so verify first).
4. Install the lights and you are away.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy adapters from North America and install them in a German ML. The adapters sold by a number of sources in North America are not configured for your city lights to work (no wiring).

Headlight connector on E-code bi-xenons:
| A H |
| B G |_
| C F |
| D E |

POSI..HARNESS........DESCRIPTION

A.......brown..........ground
B.......not used
C.......not used
D.......not used
E.......brown..........ground
F.......white..........high beam
G.......grey...........city light
H.......yello..........low beam

Headlight connector on 2000/2001 halogen:
| A H |
| B G |_
| C F |
| D E |


POSI...HARNESS.....DESCRIPTION

A........pink........low beam
B........orange
C........blue
D........not used
E........brown.......ground
F........green.......city light
G........white.......high beam
H........grey........fog light

bi-xenon upgrade wiring

Do a search and you will find pictures.

(1) Open the hood.

(2) Remove the body trim below the light by squeezing the tabs located by the lower inside corner of the headlight (visible when the hood is open.

(3) Remove the nuts behind the body trim and the bolt on top.

(4) When you pull the headlight out, you will see the wiring and where it plugs/unplugs--unplug it.

(5) Replace with new lights.

(6) Upgrade fuse.

(7) For 2000 and newer, you will likely need to have the dealer change the AAM setting from halogen to xenon.

4. Install the lights and you are away.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy adapters from North America and install them in a German ML. The adapters sold by a number of sources in North America are not configured for your city lights to work (no wiring).

Headlight connector on E-code bi-xenons:
| A H |
| B G |_
| C F |
| D E |

POSI..HARNESS........DESCRIPTION

A.......brown..........ground
B.......not used
C.......not used
D.......not used
E.......brown..........ground
F.......white..........high beam
G.......grey...........city light
H.......yello..........low beam

Headlight connector on 2000/2001 halogen:
| A H |
| B G |_
| C F |
| D E |


POSI...HARNESS.....DESCRIPTION

A........pink........low beam
B........orange
C........blue
D........not used
E........brown.......ground
F........green.......city light
G........white.......high beam
H........grey........fog light

Two points come to mind here. Firstly the bi-xenons have 2 ground connectors in the 2002+ wiring loom, which are then fed into the single ground in the pre-2002 wiring via the wiring adapters purchased from PP or modified in the bi-xenon itself. Secondly, older ML's needed a fuse upgrade from standard 7.5A for the bi-xenons to not go down.
When considering the mod, I read that no significant changes occurred to the wire guage from '98 to later models. Yes, the pinout changed. I used the PP pigtail adapters, and bumped the fuse to 20a. The draw at start-up is certainly higher, but on-going wattage is less, so I don't think heat build-up would be significant.

just did 04 Bi-Xenons on my 2000 ML. The new Benz assemblies were $850. No adapters needed here. I made a slight change by moving a pin in the new bi-xenon and then made two easily reversable wiring changes in the harness behind the light assembly. They work great. It is the difference between nite and day. We have the xenons in our E Class and have enjoyed them a lot at nite.
Mark

I have a 2003 ML350 Inspiration with the halogen headlight assemblies. I ordered and received the Performance Products model year 2002 Bi-Xenon headlight upgrade. From what I can tell from a purely visual inspection, the Hella Bi-Xenon assemblies are direct replacements for the halogen assemblies. So, I have a couple of questions....

1. Do I need to use the included adapter cable that Performance Products ships with these kits? I am assuming that these adapter cables are only needed for 2001 and prior model year vehicles, and are NOT needed for 2002 and on (like my 03 model) ML's. Can someone confirm this for me?

2. The Bi-Xenon kits have the auto-level feature integrated into the assembly. The plug is there on the assembly ready to accept what appears to be power and ground (it's a three pole recepticle). The only problem is that there is no readily apparent cable assembly in the wiring harness to connect to the auto-level component. Does anyone know if in fact MBz actually assembles the car with different wiring harnesses depending on whether you order Bi-Xenons or not? I hope this is not the case. If not, is there a cable assembly part number that can be ordered and plugged into the existing harness? If no cable harness exists, does anyone have a wiring diagram to know where the auto-level feature is plugged in and how it is wired? Finally, if there is no way to wire the auto-level feature, do I cause problems for myself by NOT using this feature?

3. Once I get the headlights installed, I am assuming that I need to get to the dealer and have them re-program the car's management system so that it knows that Bi-Xenons are installed instead of halogen lights. Is this an easy procedure and will the Service guys really know what to do? I use Park Place MBz here in Dallas, and they are pretty good, but you never know what kind of service tech you will come across.....

If you guys can offer suggestions and tips on this, I would really appreciate it. I can document my installation and take pictures and post the results if anyone is interested. Thanks to all for your help on this.

Congrats on your new vehicle and welcome to the forum. Regarding the Bi-Xenons, the problem has to do with version coding with the computer modules. Only MLs with factory installed Xenons have the necessary computer settings to allow the Bi-Xenons to function properly. Since the modules are ordered by VIN, they are coded by the factory and hence the dealers have no idea which settings have to be changed in order to have the lights functional.

Thanks for the welcome.... this is a great place to unearth info. Regarding the dealers, I'm getting my dealer (ParkPlace here in Dallas) to check their info tomorrow. I did some investigation this afternoon, looking for the wiring for the Auto-Level feature. There is a fuse in position F23 called "Dynamic Beam Control". It's a 15 amp fuse, and I'm guessing that this is for the auto-level feature. If I could get my hands on a factory wiring diagram for the 03 ML350, I bet I could figure out the wiring requirements.

Regarding the control module updates, the Service Tech I spoke to at Park Place yesterday DID seem to know what was required to re-program the module. He locked on to the need right away as I was explaining what I wanted to do. He also had the assemblies right in front of him as we talked about the process. I'm going by on Monday to get my salesman (he's supposedly the number 1 guy) to get me plugged into the best tech at Park Place. He (my salesman) and two other sales types both volunteered to me that so many of their customers ask about this upgrade that perhaps I can really get their assistance. We'll see. I'll post what I find out tomorrow evening.

As for the auto-level requirements, I did look at one ML500 with Xenons yesterday. There is a group of wires that feeds back into the wiring tray along the top of the fender well. Since these wires are merely housed (not bound by tape) in the tray, it should be a relatively easy thing to get the wiring done back to the fuse panel. If I can just get my hands on a wiring diagram, I bet we could collectively figure it out.

Anybody know how to get this info from Mercedes??

Again, thanks for the welcome. I'll work my end to see if we can get this worked out so more folks can undertake this upgrade.

...is indeed the auto-leveling system. However, it is not something that you want to retrofit because of the massive costs involved. You need to run new wiring from the axles, and a couple more expensive control units and sensors. As such, you don't really need a wiring diagram afterall.

Well, I spent an hour at Park Place-Dallas today talking with the Service Tech Supervisor. When I explained to him what I was wanting, he fired up his browser and went to the internal MB site and was all set to download the wiring diagrams for the halogen and Bi-Xenon 03 ML models. Then he discovered that he didn't have a web plug-in to display the diagram. He is downloading that and will print them off for me tomorrow. Just so you know, there are four separate wiring diagrams for the headlight setups. One for regular ML and AMG ML's with halogen and one for regular ML's and AMG ML's with Bi-Xenon. One step closer perhaps. There is also a wiring diagram for the auto-level features, but I dont know if that also includes the part numbers for harnesses, control units, sensors, etc...

I also spoke with the Hella Customer Service folks in Atlanta. They know about the wiring issues and indicated that Performance Products sells a specific adapter for the late mode (2002 and later) upgrades. He gave me the part number, and I promptly left it at work! Sorry...... I will post it tomorrow. The Hella guy also said that there was no need to wire up the auto-level feature unless I simply wanted to blow my money down a rat hole.

Now for the really interesting part... I called Performance Products and I talked with Joe in the Technical Assistance center. He looked all over and could not find anything about this part that Hella mentioned. Joe was going to investigate some more and get back with me. But, he (Joe) is of the opinion that the lights may not work on 2002 and later because they haven't figured out the wiring adapter yet.

Soooo, I think the Park Place guys are willing to dig in on this and help me out. They also know which codes in the control module need to be set to activate the Xenons. They at least are willing to look this stuff up and help out. I have another meeting with them set for next Thursday, so hopefully I will have a positive update.

Why don't you ask your Hella rep to point his browser to this page. I wonder if he go the memo?

http://www.hella-press.de/search_detail.php?language=e&text_id=189

This will explain, straight from Hella GmbH, why you need to add the autolevelling and headlight washeing features to all HID equipped vehicles.

I realise that this information only relates to Europe and not to the good 'ol US of A, but come on. Why not do it right, since you can, and not blind people on the road?

Jus because headlight washers and automatic levelling aren't require for the US, Merc still put them on. Ever driven towards an Acura when their HIDs are dirty and they have the back end weighted down? Glare city!

Hi Toby,

(Scochie)
I recently looked into adding the autoleveling feature to my ML. I got all the part numbers and prices (both retail and wholesale) that I could find.

You can view my list and my cost approximation on this thread:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/messages.asp?messno=50705&id=21

Hope this is more helpful than people trying to tell you that you shouldn't do it. :D