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e46 BMW Xenon projector HID headlights


zedevan

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nice man, i was thinking they were exactly what i bought but without the bit i dont need, but then saw some motor and read what they were, thats going to be good as, i was just driving around on roads with no lights and when your going down a dip its kinda bad coz i have no idea whats up ahead really as the cut off means there is such a blinding contrast!

 

i just put the other one in last night and the sections where you can only see the light from one headlight looks dull compared to where light from both is shinning! its nuts

 

and we dont get angel eyes as the bmw's we got them off dont have them, although they are availible for them as an aftermarket option...

 

hopefully one day i can find a wrecked e46 that had the bi-xenons and pull that motor bit off it, or i could ask bmw how much it is but :S

 

just so you know the only hard/annoying bit about installing them is mounting the electonics for them, and i cut the back of the 240z metal light holding bit and thanks to my primative tools it took quite awhile. to mount the lense and globe holder bit i just took off the lense section and put longer ones of those 4 screws though it so the screw head was on the inside of the relector to hold it on (drilled holes though the reflector for them) but i dont know how the bi-xenon motor would effect that, i'm guessing it'd be easy to get around, but you'd be able to see why i couldn't just make some motor/solinoid bit to move it away easily. well since my discription makes little sense i can take some pics if you like, but i'm sure you could work it out and i'd be interested to see if someone can come up with a better way...

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ok i've hit my first major problem, the lights are no longer working! :'( :oops: at one point they didnt turn on at all but now they flash, i'm working on it slowly, hopefully they work once more!

 

my advice is never turn them on without globes plugged in

 

and seal them up really well so there is no chance of water getting near them

 

i'm thinking one of these has stuffed them but i'm sitting here hoping they work again, as in the mean time i can't drive at night, which isn't a prob the next few days so...

 

if i really have blown them up i'll be buying some bi-xenon ones (delaying comfy seat purchase), when i bought these i was ignorant about the differences but now i think its worth the extra easily, and i could never go back to normal sealed beams thats for sure, even h4's in my parents vx (recentish commodore) suck in comparison and i used to think "if only my lights were like this" i miss them already...

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just incase anyones interested, i got quotes on electronics for the lights from the local bmw dealer, so didn't even bother trying to get trade ones as even they would be $$$, the main boxes, the controller i belive its called your looking at AU$936, then the igniter depending on which yr its from ranges from AU$328-$906...so i'll be buying bi-xenons if i can't get them to work, sure its all been a waste of money but the end result is worth it as they will do me atleast 1500 days or so, so all in all its not that much per drive...yep thats how i'm justifying it...

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Guest 280ZForce

or u can go w/ something like mine...lol...these Bi-xenon mothers r the sh*t. mine r ece/dot spec tho, so i get better lighting outta them then USA made projectors. mine were 1 off tho imported from germany.

 

but i highly recommend the HID projector upgrade. this is my 2nd car i've done a HID retrofit to and both turned out awesome.

 

Here's my Z w/ the Bi-xenon retro projectors...

 

retro before paint...

retro painted...during install

top view

installed...no headlight cover

light cover on, side view, lights off

lights on...top view

low beams...inside view

high beams...inside view

side view on...daytime, lights on

top angle side view...daytime, lights on

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Guest 280ZForce
What on earth did that round part come off of that you installed the projector into?

 

I've never seen a round' date=' clear looking 7" headlight like that before...[/quote']

not sure, they were made to house that projector, so i'm guessin they fabbed up that round cover part. otherwise u r really limited in spacing behind the light cuz of tire clearance. so better to have projector be extruded than to have it sit back more in the tire well. the stock backing fits right onto mine w/ no probs. i just drilled out a bigger hole to fit the h4 connector thru the back, since it's all plug in play.

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well mine are working again so i'm happy, the only thing i can think of is i put a screw back into the controller box to mount them back on the car, as i thought i'd go back to the setup where they last worked

 

in a way i'm kinda disapointed now as i dont have an excuse to go and buy bi-xenons, but i'll just get my driving lights working and have them pointing beyond the xenons for when i'm going down a dip

 

i reakon you should paint your whole bucket black 280ZForce, the connector for my lights do sit out behind the normal holder thing but there is still plenty of room before it's in trouble of hitting the wheel, but i do need to make up an inner fender thing to stop them getting wet and stuff, dont want to risk it!

 

do your bi-xenons take awhile to flash on? i'm interested to know how fast the motor removes the bit in the bmw ones since they still have their normal high beams for when they wanna flash someone

 

mine are DOT spec too since i'm in australia, i didn't know there was a difference, but i did notice when looking on ebay america they plugs between the controller and ignitor are different to mine

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Guest 280ZForce
well mine are working again so i'm happy' date=' the only thing i can think of is i put a screw back into the controller box to mount them back on the car, as i thought i'd go back to the setup where they last worked

 

in a way i'm kinda disapointed now as i dont have an excuse to go and buy bi-xenons, but i'll just get my driving lights working and have them pointing beyond the xenons for when i'm going down a dip

 

i reakon you should paint your whole bucket black 280ZForce, the connector for my lights do sit out behind the normal holder thing but there is still plenty of room before it's in trouble of hitting the wheel, but i do need to make up an inner fender thing to stop them getting wet and stuff, dont want to risk it!

 

do your bi-xenons take awhile to flash on? i'm interested to know how fast the motor removes the bit in the bmw ones since they still have their normal high beams for when they wanna flash someone

 

mine are DOT spec too since i'm in australia, i didn't know there was a difference, but i did notice when looking on ebay america they plugs between the controller and ignitor are different to mine[/quote']

no, mine come on right away no problem. i had a stock wiring problem b4 that made my lights turn on and off @ their own will..not good when night driving! so i ran a simple switch to turn the headlights on/off. my bi-xenons r nothing like the bi-xenons in USA or anywhere. I have the good sh*t from Germany. The USA/most worldy bi-xenon or normal projectors r foggy appearing in the lense and have a hi/low feature known for failing and the flap getting stuck open or closed. Mine is a clear projector lense and also has high and low beam magnetic feature, the complexity of the projector allows it to give off more light than our projectors here...also the projector is one that isn’t even produced in the US (well except mine..hehe). i'm running Valeo projectors, Osram d1s 4300k bulbs, Osram sealed ballast.

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hmmm magnets hey, my dad was saying we should hook a solinoid up to the metal bit on mine to remove it but i dont see that being an easy thing to do at all!

 

wouldn't most of the bmw stuff be made in germany? i know mine say they are, just wondering what the differences actully are between like the US bmw stuff and the stuff over here in Aus/europe, guess thats something for the e46 forums...

 

just outta curiosity how much did your lights set you back? is the whole assembly one offs? if so how did they make it all, as it looks pretty dam nice! have you got any pics of it open so i can have a peak at the bi-xenon controller magnetic bit?

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Guest 280ZForce
hmmm magnets hey' date=' my dad was saying we should hook a solinoid up to the metal bit on mine to remove it but i dont see that being an easy thing to do at all!

 

wouldn't most of the bmw stuff be made in germany? i know mine say they are, just wondering what the differences actully are between like the US bmw stuff and the stuff over here in Aus/europe, guess thats something for the e46 forums...

 

just outta curiosity how much did your lights set you back? is the whole assembly one offs? if so how did they make it all, as it looks pretty dam nice! have you got any pics of it open so i can have a peak at the bi-xenon controller magnetic bit?[/quote']

i paid i believe $1400 just for the light fixtures and harnesses alone, not including bulbs/ballasts. yeah, the whole assembly is a 1 off still i believe. they were prototypes actually, but i dont know if they ever went in2 production. i've had them for about a year now. sorry, no pics of it open, i only had the front cover removed for painting...this pic is prolly best i can show internally. u cant see in a normal projector like that!

IMG_0061.jpg

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true, and i guess the dispersion of light though it being foggy or something isn't that important if the projector itself is made accurately enough, and your light pattern sure is sexy ;)

 

how come you didn't go for 6000k bulbs? one popular bmw upgrade seems to be running 55watt projectors instead of the stock 35watt ones, but they are illegal for on road use...but then our lights probably are anyway

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Guest 280ZForce
true' date=' and i guess the dispersion of light though it being foggy or something isn't that important if the projector itself is made accurately enough, and your light pattern sure is sexy ;)

 

how come you didn't go for 6000k bulbs? one popular bmw upgrade seems to be running 55watt projectors instead of the stock 35watt ones, but they are illegal for on road use...but then our lights probably are anyway[/quote']

ive thought bout upping to 6k bulbs. the 55w upgrade is the ballast, not the projector. i've heard bout it, i would need new bulbs and new ballasts for this upgrade to get 20-30% more light output i believe. but i think it's still fairly new mod and a wee bit pricey if i heard correctly.

 

u know the cost in the upgrade for 55w osram sealed ballasts/55w 6k osram d1s bulbs?

 

maybe if i can get a really good deal on them ill upgrade in the near future.

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i made an inner fender out of an old plastic folder to help prevent the lights and electronics getting drenched! and also sealed the electronics in a box, so hopefully water doesn't get near them

 

when i was swapping the lights over to see why one wasn't working the connectors were wet, but i think the controllers are smart enough to recognise a short and turn them off...but i dont really want to test this out!

 

inner_fender_147.jpg

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i made an inner fender out of an old plastic folder to help prevent the lights and electronics getting drenched! and also sealed the electronics in a box' date=' so hopefully water doesn't get near them

 

when i was swapping the lights over to see why one wasn't working the connectors were wet, but i think the controllers are smart enough to recognise a short and turn them off...but i dont really want to test this out!

 

[img']http://www.viczcar.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/files/inner_fender_147.jpg[/img]

That looks nice. Even looks better than the factory one IMO.

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yeah rust aint good at all, i might do it the whole wheel arch but dont have a peice of plastic big enough, but it did cross my mind. it does rub on the wheel when they are on full lock, but i can live with that for now.

 

well here's some pics, (sorry about the size) i need to fix up the light going straight up, but not a huge issue. my plan is to put a cars side indicator up there to cover the hole and put an array of leds down where the parkers are, just need to find some indicators that fit.

 

on_ramp_small_128.jpg

 

underground_small_349.jpg

 

cut_off_159.jpg

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