G-Wagon LED Headlights

The original headlights in the 80's era G-Wagons are pretty pitiful by today's standards. The best headlight technology of the time was halogen bulbs. Don't get me wrong, I am old enough to remember the old incandescent sealed beam headlights and the halogen bulbs were a huge improvement. It is just today we have HID and LED. 

HID was go to lighting system for luxury cars until recently. LED has taken over. 

High Intensity Discharge or HID are those bulbs that take a while to reach full power. They use an arc to excite an inert gas to make light. They are a huge improvement over Halogen because they are more efficient and produce whiter light but over time they tend to change color and loose some of their intensity. 

Light Emitting Diode or LED lights have been around since the 80's but only recent advancements have allowed them to be used as a light source. The are available in a wide spectrum of colors (see what I did there?), use less power and last longer than HID, halogen or incandescent systems. 

HID systems are effective, can be expensive but the biggest issues is they are complicated to retrofit into the G-Wagon. I got an HID kit and sent it back after reading the instructions and I majored in electrical engineering. So I started to consider LED as an option. Most folks think that if you want LED headlights you will need to replace the entire assembly. I tired one, it was expensive, did not look that great and was not all that bright. BUT THERE IS A BETTER WAY!


It took some time but I found a bulb that can replace the standard halogen bulb in the existing housing. It requires no special electrical knowledge and is basically plug and play. Or rather plug and drive. There are several out there, but I choose the GP Power 6400LM kit. As of press time they are less than $30.00 on Amazon.

If you are an owner of a military version of the G like a Puch or Wolf, then make sure you use a LED solution that supports 24V. Some LED solutions support a range of power from 8V to 27V. I' can confirm the GP Solutions 6400LM does work on a Puch 300GD at 24V.

If you know how to change bulbs just stop reading, order them and install them. They pretty much just fit. If not, read on...

First removed the rubber or plastic bezel around the lights. Just unscrew the single set screw at the bottom, gently pull the bezel out at the bottom and slide up. It will just come off. Once removed, you will see a metal ring holding the light in place. There are 6 screws on the ring three hold it in place and three are for adjusting the light. Remove the three screws indicated by the arrows.  

Careful the light will come out toward you. Unplug the socket from the back and if you are lucky enough to have the EURO version unplug the parking T10 light at the bottom. If you have a sealed beam headlight, you are screwed. You will need to upgrade to a Hella 002395991 7" H4 Light  a removable bulb.

Take the housing over to a workbench or table. Remove the rubber trim from the back to reveal the spring loaded wires that hold the H4 halogen bulb into place. Push the pins down and squeeze them together so they come up and hinge back out of the way. Then simply remove the H4 bulb.

Now take one of the LED bulbs and install it into the housing. The bulb will only fit one way, make sure to line up the three tabs properly. The fit is TIGHT so take your time and gently pry the metal housing out if necessary. You may want to put a little silicon bead on the housing prior to installing the light to keep water out.

Once installed the housing with the new LED H4 headlight will look something like this. NOTE: Don't try and install the rubber water guard you removed above. 

You may want to take this opportunity to replace the parking light with a T10 LED so it will have the same color. Once complete take the new headlight back to the car and install it in the housing. Make sure the headlight fits into the three tabs on the housing. Put the ring around the light (the DOT stamp goes on top) and install the three screws. Test your lights before putting the black trim back on. Adjust the beam using the other screws around the headlight as necessary, mine had to come down a bit. 

Once complete, they worked perfectly with a slightly wider pattern on low beam, whiter light, more distance on high beam. One bonus, on high beam the low beam lights still work. They are so intense, you may find you no longer need the fog lights. All this for about $30 and 20 minutes of time.