[MJD]

Greetings, had our Metris for about 8 months now and one of the first things I do to all our vans is swap the conventional halogen lamps out for the Sylvania Silverstar's. But for some reason this Metris van keeps "eating them" .... right one went out in January after about 4 months and now the left just went out over the weekend. Would love to do a HID bulb kit conversion on this van but with this new style plug in bulb holder/carrier it uses it would not be a simple plug-n-play swap like others.

Anyone else have issues with their Metris consuming headlamp bulbs, factory,aftermarket or otherwise? Or has anyone done a HID conversion kit to theirs, and if so details on it?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Greenmanedlion]

Sylvania silver stars are crappy lights to begin with. I'd stick with the factory lights. The high beams are plenty bright.

 

[MOWO]

Way to show a new member some respect and assistance.

 

[Road_Ghost]

Brighter/stronger bulbs will burn out quicker and then you'll have to replace them in pairs. Just halogens in general wear over time, so if you have a bulbs that are a year old and you replace one, the difference in brightness is apparent.


In my former JGC it was like that. Replace one light and a month later the other one went.


Just stick with stock / factory specs. If its too common of them burning out, get it checked out under warranty.

 

[howvood]

From the reviews that I have read, the Sylvania's, although they don't last as long as the lower output bulbs, have a one year warranty so you may want to contact Sylvania. Others said that they did that and were sent replacements promptly.

 

[MJD]

Thanks, I have been using the Silver Stars for several years now (in both my personal non-HID vehicles) and have not had any issues with them in the other vans we run in the business (Sprinter, ProMaster, and Econoline) not sure why this Metris is hungry for them.

 

[RobbMeeX]

Have you used them regularly in a Benz?

 

[vwracer00]

I currently have a set of HID in my wife's VW Passat. I bought the H7R bulbs due to it being in a reflector type housing. The shield on the bulb stops the glare that blinds oncoming traffic.I have had them in for 2 years now with no complaints from other divers. The Passat also has the same style bulb holder as the Metris. I bought a pair of these adapters. I was wondering if someone has factory set available to compare? My van is currently in transit and I don't have it to compare.

 

[DKTVAV]

I bought the exact set last year, no need adapter for it, but ended returning them because it requires a ballast while I thought it's just the bulbs only. Good timing for 15% or 20% off coupon to buy these. Waiting for you to try them out to see where you hide the ballasts.

 

[vwracer00]

OK, I had some time today and I took out the headlight bulb to see how I'm going to install HID's. I noticed that it has the same bulb holder as my wife's 2013 VW Passat. I currently have HID's in her Passat but still had the stock light and holders sitting in my garage. I took the VW holder and I was able to insert it into the Metris turn the lights on and worked. I'm going order another kit for a Passat because the kit comes with the needed adapter to get power to the ballast. Also, the bulbs have a glare shield to run in reflective housing. I have the same one in my Passat and have no glare and no one has flashed me for blinding them.

Here is the link. They currently have a promo going on with 15% off Promo code j15 they also come with lifetime warranty. I have bought from them and they are great with warranty replacements and fast shipping.

http://deautokey.com/product/passat-b7-slim-digital-h7-hid-headlight-kit-full-set

 

[vwracer00]

I'm installing the HID's this weekend and wanted to know if I have to remove the bumper to take out the headlight?

 

[Greenmanedlion]

You access the lights through the wheel well. It's a really easy thing.

 

[vwracer00]

OK, I had some time this morning and I installed HID's in the fogs and Headlights. Also installed yellow DRL bulbs and an LED Star. LED bulb also installed in reverse lights. No splicing of any wires and no tap connectors. I included a picture of the wire used to power the LED Star. I just pushed out one the empty plugs on the driver side headlight plug and put the wire through the plug and bent the wire into the next pin which powers the head lights. LED star turns on when the car is unlocked/headlights are on. HID's are plug and play. No errors on the dash. I also installed an LED bulb on the rear hatch courtesy light.

I will start a new thread once I get some night shots. I will post all links of where I purchased everything.

 

[Tree95]

I like the custom license plate.

 

[flacaproductions]

Can you give me a little more detail about how you're powering the star?
Ideally, I'd love for mine to be powered when the fog lights are on but am having a tough time accessing a hot line at the light itself. Can't seem to get clean access. It also doesn't appear that there is 12v at the dash switch.

 

[Greenmanedlion]

There isn't power at the switch- it's a CANBUS switch. They don't have any physical switch connection to anything. It's like pushing a key on a keyboard.

 

[flacaproductions]

Yes - I know it's CAN Bus but actually there is power at the switch - just not 12V like I said. 4V is what I've found - but that isn't enough to accomplish what I need. And they do have a physical connection to SOMEthing...just not a direct connection to the fixture like it used to be.

 

[vwracer00]

Yes - I know it's CAN Bus but actually there is power at the switch - just not 12V like I said. 4V is what I've found - but that isn't enough to accomplish what I need. And they do have a physical connection to SOMEthing...just not a direct connection to the fixture like it used to be.

I used the power from the driver side headlight. I wanted it to light up when I unlocked the vehicle. I didn't want to splice any wire or use T-taps. I attached a picture which shows the plug for the driver side headlight. If you look in the back of the plug you will see a few empty holes to use. I used a paper clip to push out the plug and inserted the wire and bent the wire into the next slot/pin which is the yellow wire pictured and just plugged it back into the headlight. Hope you understand.

 

[MakerMark]

So your star is lit whenever the headlights are on, I'm assuming tapping into the fog lights in the same way will give flaca what he's looking for.

 

[Greenmanedlion]

Yes - I know it's CAN Bus but actually there is power at the switch - just not 12V like I said. 4V is what I've found - but that isn't enough to accomplish what I need. And they do have a physical connection to SOMEthing...just not a direct connection to the fixture like it used to be.

What I meant is that there isn't 12v power related to powering the lights at that switch. It just sends a 4v signal input to the computer, which in turn sends signals to the correct relays that then switch on the power to the light. You want the power from the relay.