Hi
Does anyone know if there would be any problems fitting two H7 100w halogen bulbs to my E class 320, are there any drawbacks or any disrecomendations. I know of the benifits, brighter, clearer lights.
TIA
Si
Both 100w bulbs will draw 15 amps (200watts/13.5volts). Check that your head lights fuse and wiring can handle this amperage.
Wiring may be marginal. I have heard that some wiring/switches, relays have in fact been damaged due to the high current flow. If you do make this change make sure the lights are adjusted correctly and you do not blind oncoming traffic. (my major gripe with jerks that run around town with superbright headlights and offroad lighting systems) The life you save may be your own. Peter
If you're at all in doubt of the ability of the factory wiring to handle the load, I'd suggest you run heavy-gauge fused wires directly to the battery for the headlamps, as well as separate heavy ground wires. Connect the original headlamp wiring to a relay to control the power from your new wires to the headlamps. This way, the factory wiring only has to handle the tiny current required to turn the relay on and off, while the heavier wires you install will handle the current for the headlamps themselves. A typical Bosch SPST or SPDT relay is designed to handle 30 or 40 amps of current, so higher-wattage headlamps will be no problem for them.
As an added benefit, your headlamps will be receiving full battery voltage, whereas the factory headlamp wiring usually has some losses in it.
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