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  • Changing headlights and adding xenons

    I'm currently on a small mission to de-chrome the MC and that led me to the projector headlights that were discussed in this post.

    Are the ones selling on ebay the same as you guys bought? EBAY LINK

    And also, what HID kit is the easiest to fit / most reliable? Do I need a retrofit kit designed for the Z3 or one that uses H1 bulbs (and presumably splice the wires from the original connectors)? Are there any specific reputable suppliers?

    Thanks,
    Mike

  • #2
    Mike,
    I got my HIDs from Evolve. They fitted them as well but dont believe the wiring is complicated!
    p.s. going to see you in France soon, pm me if you are coming?

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    • #3
      Originally posted by miketheman2k View Post
      I'm currently on a small mission to de-chrome the MC and that led me to the projector headlights that were discussed in this post.

      Are the ones selling on ebay the same as you guys bought? EBAY LINK

      And also, what HID kit is the easiest to fit / most reliable? Do I need a retrofit kit designed for the Z3 or one that uses H1 bulbs (and presumably splice the wires from the original connectors)? Are there any specific reputable suppliers?

      Thanks,
      Mike
      Yep those headlights look the same as the ones I've got fitted. They are H1 bulbs for both dipped and mains. They are plug and play (they have HB3/4 connector wiring with them), so in terms of HID conversions the new headlights don't cause issues; just get a H1 HID conversion and the H1 HID bulb will replace the H1 halogen bulb. There are no "car specific" conversions; it's all to do with the bulb type.

      **You need to modify them slightly for a HID bulb to fit (file out the bulb opening a tiny amount)** Also they benefit from a little bit of packing to the base of the bulb to get a better light spread when using HID bulbs (as halogen equivalents have ashorter bulb head the light is spread differently and these units are designed for halogen). I've bought my HID kits in the past from Hong Kong, there are quite a few big sellers on ebay, usually around £35-45 delivered.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by z3m jason View Post
        Mike,
        I got my HIDs from Evolve. They fitted them as well but dont believe the wiring is complicated!
        p.s. going to see you in France soon, pm me if you are coming?
        Thanks mate - yes hopefully, need to recover from my recent 'ring trip first but definitely plan on another road trip this year!

        Originally posted by c_w View Post
        Yep those headlights look the same as the ones I've got fitted. They are H1 bulbs for both dipped and mains. They are plug and play (they have HB3/4 connector wiring with them), so in terms of HID conversions the new headlights don't cause issues; just get a H1 HID conversion and the H1 HID bulb will replace the H1 halogen bulb. There are no "car specific" conversions; it's all to do with the bulb type.

        **You need to modify them slightly for a HID bulb to fit (file out the bulb opening a tiny amount)** Also they benefit from a little bit of packing to the base of the bulb to get a better light spread when using HID bulbs (as halogen equivalents have ashorter bulb head the light is spread differently and these units are designed for halogen). I've bought my HID kits in the past from Hong Kong, there are quite a few big sellers on ebay, usually around £35-45 delivered.
        Thanks Chris. So they have a converter from HB3 to H1? Do you know if the S54 has any bulb sensors that might sense xenons as a blown bulb and what the work-around would be?

        Are you still happy with the quality of the housings? I had a read on the US forum and one guy posted pics of big stress fractures in the plastic lense, but I see that some people run a 3M-type film to protect them from stone chips. Also, do you still like the look of them? Has anyone commented or do they blend in?

        Finally, £40 for a HID kit?? And it's been reliable? The ones from the UK/US are around £100+ and always say "don't buy Chinese". But for £40 if they haven't gone wrong, I'll go for those instead!

        Oh and one more question - what type of indicator bulbs do they take, offset or opposite pin?
        Last edited by miketheman2k; 10-06-2009, 08:42 AM.

        Comment


        • #5
          I fitted the ones we bought as a group buy (projectors) and havnt had any problems..i need to put my hids back in sometime but as chris has said they need a bit of adjustment first..i origanly bought them to replace my pitted lamps..as buying new ones wer a lot more expensive !

          Comment


          • #6
            Yep, I've bought several HID kits from HK/China for around £40, as have friends and none of us have had problems. The UK kits should now be well under £100 as prices have come down...and let's face it, whatever they tell you, they are all the same kits that come out of China but reboxed depending on the seller. The build quality is good and wiring is all plug and play. There are now brighter variants around (50w HID kits) so I would go for that if you can over the older, but still bright, 35w HID kits. I've used "diane_shop" and "omg_so_cool_car" on ebay for HID kits. They usually arrive very quickly too (3 working days once!). Don't think it will throw up any error codes as they don't have them on the Z3M.


            The quality of these headlamps is OEM IMO. In fact some aspects are better than the OEM headlights, namely the adjusters which are notorious for siezing and breaking on the factory units. Everything has been thought off down to the inclusion of them accepting the OEM eletronic beam adjusters. Indicator bulbls are offset from memory; look much better with silver bulbs.

            Often, some modifications you do to a car you think look good but then later down the line you change your opinion of them; however these headlights I believe modernise the car and still look great IMO. In fact, when I see M Coupes without them I think they look "wrong" or dated. I think it gives a more aggressive look to the front, and at night you get rid of that yellowish blurry look that the factory lamps have.

            Last edited by c_w; 10-06-2009, 10:26 AM.

            Comment


            • #7
              Nice one Chris, that's good to know. Your car looks awesome, very clean looking front-end. I probably will go for the 50w versions. What temp are yours? 6000k? I hate the overly blue ones that you see on the chavved up ricers.

              Comment


              • #8
                Yea mine are 6000k, a lot of places mainly sell these only as they're the most popular. They look a bit blue on first start up but when warmup up after a minute or so they got a bit whiter; still slightly bluer than some OEM HIDs, but stuff like new 997s have quite blue IMO.

                4300k is supposed to be factory colour, but I have seen some of these that are still quite blueish tinged.

                Def don't go higher than 6000k though.

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                • #9
                  55w, 6000k ordered.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    i actually purchased a kit off ebay my self around 3-4 months ago and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

                    But after i decided to go for this:
                    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/E46-BMW-Bi-xen...3%3A1|294%3A30

                    The difference in looks and visibility is a massive difference...

                    it might be worth a try to have a look at this...

                    By the way that is my car in the advert as i was one of the first to try this..

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by c_w View Post
                      Yep, I've bought several HID kits from HK/China for around £40, as have friends and none of us have had problems. The UK kits should now be well under £100 as prices have come down...and let's face it, whatever they tell you, they are all the same kits that come out of China but reboxed depending on the seller. The build quality is good and wiring is all plug and play. There are now brighter variants around (50w HID kits) so I would go for that if you can over the older, but still bright, 35w HID kits. I've used "diane_shop" and "omg_so_cool_car" on ebay for HID kits. They usually arrive very quickly too (3 working days once!). Don't think it will throw up any error codes as they don't have them on the Z3M.


                      The quality of these headlamps is OEM IMO. In fact some aspects are better than the OEM headlights, namely the adjusters which are notorious for siezing and breaking on the factory units. Everything has been thought off down to the inclusion of them accepting the OEM eletronic beam adjusters. Indicator bulbls are offset from memory; look much better with silver bulbs.

                      Often, some modifications you do to a car you think look good but then later down the line you change your opinion of them; however these headlights I believe modernise the car and still look great IMO. In fact, when I see M Coupes without them I think they look "wrong" or dated. I think it gives a more aggressive look to the front, and at night you get rid of that yellowish blurry look that the factory lamps have.

                      C_W, what size tyres are you running on your car? Are those the standard 17 inch OEM rims?
                      2010 Z4 M Coupe Interlagos Blue, Sepang Bronze Light
                      Ex 2000 Z3 M Coupe Estoril Blue, Estoril / Black

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        No, they're Rondell alloys. The rears are 255/40/17 and fronts 245/40/17. Reason the rears probably looks so wide is the wheel is 10J.

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                        • #13
                          You need xenons AND projectors.

                          Otherwise xenons look rubbish.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by mcoupe mus View Post
                            i actually purchased a kit off ebay my self around 3-4 months ago and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

                            But after i decided to go for this:
                            http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/E46-BMW-Bi-xen...3%3A1|294%3A30

                            The difference in looks and visibility is a massive difference...

                            it might be worth a try to have a look at this...

                            By the way that is my car in the advert as i was one of the first to try this..
                            Is the E46 kit the one that fits our MCs too ? That does look really good. I've got the Projectors from the bulk buy last year, but I removed them 6 months ago and put the OEM one's back in. The Angel Eyes were never really bright enough on them.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              aggree with you david on the Angel eyes but i think the benefit of the projector + hids outways that small problem also gives the car a sharper look ! only my opinion not a row !

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