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For many years, I have enjoyed the look of deep-Amber on my MB w124. For those that may not know, both Bosch and Hella turn signal lenses on w124s employed a deeper level of amber on models sold overseas vs. models sold in the USA. Please observe thusly:
After repairing the electrical socket for my car's right-side headlight assembly and adjusting the front under-bumper cheek fitment, I had become quite familiar with the aesthetics of the front end. I decided to change things up a bit. I presumed that Porsche RoW Hella turn signal lenses would be similarly deep amber. So, I purchased a set -
993-631-061-00
993-631-062-00
I started with this:
Clear Signals with Colorless Bulbs
and ended up with this....
Amber RoW Signals
Hmmmmm..... This was not what I was looking for. The picture above was much more yellow than I had expected. Aesthetically speaking, I don't think this shade works at all with Aventura / Aventurine Green, which explains why I replaced my yellow/gold colored hood badge with a monochrome one years ago.
I decided to compare the RoW Hella Turn Signals to Mercedes Euro Deep Ambers:
Comparison - Porsche Hella RoW Amber w MB Hella Euro Amber
Very Disappointing. I looked around the intrawebz and to my surprise, Singer has noticed the same thing. You can see that they have endeavored to make the signal less yellow and more deep / dark orange:
Then I found a potential solution --- folks restoring their amber lenses were using "Duplicolor Metalcast 305" to restore an orange color to their lenses. I was initially dubious, but when I read that this was an approach that was also recommended by Daniel Stern (those of us old enough to have followed Stern's advice in halogen lighting will recognize the name immediately) I labored to try it.
Finished Product Comparison with MB Euro Hella Amber
I followed this up with a couple coats of clear coat, and now I have this. I am quite pleased at how this turned out. For what it is worth, I prefer the two images on the right - Clear Signals with Orange Bulbs, as well as Intensified Amber Signals. This concludes our little mindless / superfluous posting of the day. :-)
I like the orange turn signals much more than the clear ones on almost every car.
For Mercedes W124 the clear ones are good if the car is facelifted. For W126 Mercedes SEC the clear signals absolutely RUIN the car. It looks what it is... a cheap mod. Those clear ones don't BELONG to that car.
However on 993 the clear ones were used in Carrera 4 (if I'm not mistaken). I have a 1994 Carrera 2 with clear turn signals and all red rear lights. I've been thinking of replacing them with original orange ones too. But on 993 it's not that big of a deal.
Generally orange turn signals look great especially when the car is darker color. Creates nice color contrast.
I like the orange turn signals much more than the clear ones on almost every car.
For Mercedes W124 the clear ones are good if the car is facelifted. For W126 Mercedes SEC the clear signals absolutely RUIN the car. It looks what it is... a cheap mod. Those clear ones don't BELONG to that car.
Yes I agree on the Mercedes observations. Since I have an MOPF1 w124 (non-facelifted) I really appreciate the amber turn signals on that car (I am using Euro-spec lenses on my w124). I agree that clear ones look terrible on a MOPF1 w124 as well as *any* w126. What really surprised me is that Mercedes saw it fit to specify two different intensities of amber for RoW/USA, whereas Porsche only specified ONE color. These two cars were contemporaries. Perhaps this is because Mercedes was flush with cash in the late 80s/early 90s and was at the height of its "superb engineering reputation" prior to its merger with Chrysler, and Porsche, during the late 80s/early 90s was struggling, almost near death.
Originally Posted by By-Tor
However on 993 the clear ones were used in Carrera 4 (if I'm not mistaken). I have a 1994 Carrera 2 with clear turn signals and all red rear lights. I've been thinking of replacing them with original orange ones too. But on 993 it's not that big of a deal.
Generally orange turn signals look great especially when the car is darker color. Creates nice color contrast.
Yes, the clear ones were used on the c4 993 - I will mention that I do enjoy the clear lenses on the 993 provided that the bulb itself is orange, thus giving some orange reflections to the look. For my tastes, clear bulbs in clear lenses don't look as good.
Yes. Funny thing though... my friend bought a R129 600 SL just recently and it had been originally bought from Florida, USA... and then later imported here in EU. The US models have extra orange layer on the turn signals which makes the car look MUCH better from the front.
European model. European facelifted R129 versions have all clear turn signals.
Now look at the US model. Orange on the edges. Looks much better, imho.
I noticed this same on W212 facelift Mercedes (which I used to own). US versions have extra layer on the edges of the turn signal (although there is no turn signal there on the 212 lamps at all). Maybe it's some kind of US regulation.
Yes. Funny thing though... my friend bought a R129 600 SL just recently and it had been originally bought from Florida, USA... and then later imported here in EU. The US models have extra orange layer on the turn signals which makes the car look MUCH better from the front.
European model. European facelifted R129 versions have all clear turn signals.
Now look at the US model. Orange on the edges. Looks much better, imho.
I noticed this same on W212 facelift Mercedes (which I used to own). US versions have extra layer on the edges of the turn signal (although there is no turn signal there on the 212 lamps at all). Maybe it's some kind of US regulation.
Yes what you observe on the r129 is US regulation that requires an orange reflector. The addition of an orange reflector s most noticeable when the rest of the lens is white/clear. However, if one looks at prefacelift w124 and r129 models with all-amber lenses, one will notice that the US versions have the additional reflectors as well ….. and unfortunately the US lenses are yellowish compared to the Euro deep amber……
That same guy found a PRISTINE low mile W140 S-class too and he likes his R129 US model so much that he ordered US turn signals for the W140 too.
Man I love those old Mercedes models just as much as I love old Porsches. Those are so overengineered and absolutely AMAZINGLY built cars.
PS: We had plenty of those 124 diesel-models here in Europe as taxis. There are many with over one MILLION kilometers on the clock. If you just made the rust protection to them, they last forever. Great, great cars.
That same guy found a PRISTINE low mile W140 S-class too and he likes his R129 US model so much that he ordered US turn signals for the W140 too.
Man I love those old Mercedes models just as much as I love old Porsches. Those are so overengineered and absolutely AMAZINGLY built cars.
PS: We had plenty of those 124 diesel-models here in Europe as taxis. There are many with over one MILLION kilometers on the clock. If you just made the rust protection to them, they last forever. Great, great cars.
Heh, I know what you mean. Those 80s/90s Mercedes models are so well put together. It might be sacrilege to say it here, but I find my w124 to be at least as satisfying to own and run as my 993. 😱. The reason is because the depth of publicly available tribal knowledge on the maintenance of the w124 is so incredibly vast.
@Jlaa very interesting. What exactly are you painting orange to change the color of the turn signal? The reflector inside?
As per Daniel Stern in the linked instructions, I “painted” the outside. Those of us old farts remember Daniel Stern from 20 years ago being an expert in the lighting field. The clearcoat, which takes a week to cure, lends durability. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ght_color.html
If I were really motivated, I think I would increase number of coats of VHT Hi-Temp Clear from 4 coats to maybe 8 --- and then I would wet sand and polish. But, to be honest, the very slight orange peel from the clearcoat doesn't bother me. I quite like the ever so slightly matte finish.
02-20-2022, 01:47 PM
Yellow Amber Turn Signals vs. INTENSIFIED Amber Turn Signals - Mercedes Inspiration
And now thinking to finally change it up 
