How to Remove Upgrade Install New Projector Headlight on S-Class W220

Last updated: October 24, 2026

This article shows how to take the headlight assembly out of a W220 S-Class or C215 CL-Class and put a new or upgraded one back in. In less than 30 minutes, you can replace the headlight assembly with a new one or upgrade to Halo projector headlights.

If the car has xenon headlights, read this first

The part numbers listed further down this page say HID XENON, which is a reminder that many W220 and C215 cars left the factory with gas discharge headlights rather than halogen. That changes this job in one important way: a xenon headlight has an igniter that strikes the bulb with a very high voltage pulse, far higher than anything else in the car, and it is behind the same connector the steps below tell you to unplug.

So before anything comes apart, switch the lights off, turn the ignition off and take the key out, and give it a moment before you unplug the assembly. Do not probe or bridge the igniter or bulb connector to test anything while the system is live. If you are handling the bulb itself rather than swapping the whole assembly, do not touch the quartz part with bare fingers, because skin oils bake onto it and shorten its life, and remember that a bulb that has just been running is hot enough to burn.

A halogen car makes this a much simpler job. The quickest way to tell which you have is to look at what is behind the lens and at the part number on the old assembly before you order a replacement.

Instructions to remove/replace/update the headlight assembly on the Mercedes-Benz W220 S-Class.

Tools Required: 8 mm socket

	Open the hood.
	Remove the 8 mm bolt on top of the headlight assembly
	Remove the 8 mm bolt on the side of the headlight.
	Remove the bolt to loosen the front bumper. You do not need to remove the front bumper to remove the headlight assembly.
	Remove the electrical connector from the back of the headlight assembly.
	Pull out the old headlight assembly.
Video:	Reinstall the new headlight or upgrade the headlight assembly in reverse order.
View on Amazon →	Upgrade Headlight Assembly with Projector Clear Euro HID Assembly.

After it is bolted in: aiming, and what a different assembly brings with it

“Reinstall in reverse order” covers the mechanical half, and these are the parts that are easy to leave undone. Plug the connector in before the assembly is pushed home, because it is awkward to reach once the unit is seated. The bolt that was removed to loosen the front bumper has to go back, and the fasteners here all thread into plastic, so they want to be snug rather than tight. Then turn the lights on and look at the assembly from the front before the hood comes down, so a connector that is not fully home shows up now rather than on a dark road.

Aim the headlights. A replacement assembly does not arrive aimed for your car, and an upgraded one of a different type almost certainly does not. Park square on to a wall, measure where the beam cut off falls, and set it with the adjusters rather than guessing: headlights aimed too high dazzle oncoming drivers, and aimed too low they give back less road than the old pair did, which makes a new set feel like a downgrade. If the car has the self-levelling system that goes with xenon lights, anything disturbed in that circuit can leave a fault stored even when the lamps work.

One thing to check before buying an upgrade assembly. Rules on gas discharge headlights differ between countries, and some jurisdictions attach requirements such as self levelling and headlight washing to them. If you are putting a xenon or projector assembly on a car that did not come with one, find out what applies where the car is registered and inspected before the parts arrive, not after.

Part Numbers:

03-06 MERCEDES W220 S430 S500 RIGHT PASSENGER HEADLIGHT HID XENON 2208202861 OEM

2000-2002 Mercedes Benz OEM S500 S-Class W220 Right Front Head Light Part 220 820 18 66

Applicable Models: S430 S500 S600 S350 S55 Years: 1998-2005