Need an opinion Headlights. OEM ZKW Vs. Depo W/ Angel Eyes

[ZHP_Brandon]

I purchased my Imola Red ZHP from Pensacola, Florida (45
Minutes away from Mobile, Alabama) from Pete Moore VW, it must have been a trade in by an enthusiast of some kind. The car had semi new Alcantara Boots, Aftermarket headlights & Tails amongst other goodies
Its Imola Red/Black Leather/6MT

The car has decent mileage and now I'm looking to get into modding it moderately.
I have OEM ZKW Headlights off of my crashed Black Metallic ZHP Sedan, and I want to know from the outside looking in what I should do from here

The car has DEPO HEADLIGHTS, mounted and wired almost perfectly & has normal 4500K Bulbs from the looks of ots yellowish/white appearance. They must be a few years old because the Angel Eyes are very, very dim & the leveler on one side is broken

Now moving on, I want to know if I should just invest money into my OEM ZKW headlights - the bowls are completely burned, the "Glass Eye" or projector Lens is very foggy and looks super hazy
I've found that on TheRetroFitSource.com that the kit is available for 240$ after shipping & will take minimal hours to do the work to get perfect headlights

Or should I just get aftermarket bulbs, new lenses & new angel eyes for the depo headlights?

Im still teeter tottering on what I should do.
I have to invest money into either one so I'm just looking for some guidance.

I wish I had AL Headlights! 😭22306

[Vas]

Personally I would get rid of the DEPO headlights.

I have a similar problem with my ZKW headlights. The projector bowls are burnt and do not provide adequate output. As far as fixing it, you can do the retrofit yourself using the kit in the link you posted. Or you an source AL headlights like some members have.

The third option is to send your lights to lightwerkz. They do a complete retrofit using new projectors. Cost of labor is $285, and the projectors run $140 for this application. Cost is $425 plus return shipping.

[az3579]

Ditch the Depo's. The overall quality of them is garbage. I'd do a proper projector retrofit on the OE ZKW's instead.

BTW, the angel eyes on that particular set of Depos were never good, even from new. Looking at those, the rings are CCFL, not LED, so the lighting is uneven and not nearly as bright as LEDs, which is why they look like that.

[ELCID86]

My car had Depos also. I replaced with OE from a seller on e46f.


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.

[KevinC]

Depo is Chinese garbage.

[Sockethead]

I got my ZKWs rebuilt by LightWerkz. Fast turnaround and great output. All I had to do was install assemblies and aim using the instructions on their website.
They can put in angle eyes at the same time.
A good alternative if you don't feel like doing it yourself...

[Vas]

I got my ZKWs rebuilt by LightWerkz. Fast turnaround and great output. All I had to do was install assemblies and aim using the instructions on their website.
They can put in angle eyes at the same time.
A good alternative if you don't feel like doing it yourself...

Out of curiosity, how much did they charge? I got a quote from them and thought it was a bit high.

[Sockethead]

I think it was $425? I can't remember exactly, it was a few years and a few kids ago. That was for FXR conversion. They also swapped my angel eyes over.
To me, I was fine with that price because I was just too busy to figure it out and do it on my own and everybody has to make a living.... but yea, you can save money by purchasing on the Internet for cheaper and doing it yourself, if you have the time.

[Vas]

I think it was $425? I can't remember exactly, it was a few years and a few kids ago. That was for FXR conversion. They also swapped my angel eyes over.
To me, I was fine with that price because I was just too busy to figure it out and do it on my own and everybody has to make a living.... but yea, you can save money by purchasing on the Internet for cheaper and doing it yourself, if you have the time.

Since it has been a couple of years ago, how are they holding up? Still the same as day one?

I was quoted $510 plus return shipping.

[Sockethead]

Yep no issues at all and still bright as ever :)

[Vas]

Yep no issues at all and still bright as ever :)

I think I will be going down this line as well. Thanks

[az3579]

Since it has been a couple of years ago, how are they holding up? Still the same as day one?

I was quoted $510 plus return shipping.

$510 for projectors, possibly bulbs (?), and all the labor to retrofit, for lighting with better output/pattern/cutoff/whatever than OE...

$1000+ each side for new OE lights.


$510 sounds like a bargain to me. :dunno

[Vas]

$510 for projectors, possibly bulbs (?), and all the labor to retrofit, for lighting with better output/pattern/cutoff/whatever than OE...

$1000+ each side for new OE lights.


$510 sounds like a bargain to me. :dunno
$510 plus shipping is just for labor and projectors. Labor is $400 of that amount.

No bulbs included.

Other option is to find used AL headlights or do the retrofit yourself.

[az3579]

Other option is to find used AL headlights or do the retrofit yourself.

You could, but... I've seen FX-R lighting in person before. It's worth the premium to me, which is why I have a set of FX-R 1.0's sitting in a box ready to go in. I'll probably have it done before winter. :)

If you're on a tighter budget, then the AL's do the job just fine, though by the time you end up buying a set of AL headlight housings, you could potentially be close to the price of a retrofit anyway, depending on who's smoking what when they list their headlights (pricing). You could just do the projectors, but that is a lot more work that you have to do yourself. It's a balances thing, as with anything... convenience or price.

I have the M3 AL's, and the lighting is nice overall, so you can't go wrong with those either.

[jiggz]

You've got the ideal situation in that you've got 2 sets of headlights - you can still drive your car while either shipping your ZKW's out, or doing the work yourself and taking all the time you need.

I shipped my ZKW units to Lightwerkz and had them do the FX-r retrofit + new bulbs. Highly recommended. Noticeably better than AL's as well, which I had on a prior E46.

[Vas]

Yeah finding a used set of AL headlight is somewhat difficult and the price is closer to the FX-R. I am leaning towards that since it is all new parts. Plus the cut-off line on the FX-R is pretty awesome.

[Sockethead]

I don't know if they put new bulbs in mine... They never mentioned it that I remember

[Vas]

I don't know if they put new bulbs in mine... They never mentioned it that I remember

They told me I would use my old bulbs. But I have a member here that is letting me borrow a set of headlights so I can send out my current ones to get fixed. Looking forward to being able to see.

[jiggz]

I don't know if they put new bulbs in mine... They never mentioned it that I remember

I doubt they'd just put them in :) I paid an extra hundred some dollars as I recall for the OEM replacements.

[Sockethead]

Agreed...

[Sockethead]

Another option is to replace the bowls with the refurb OEM bowls from Clemsone46...
I probably would of gone this route if he had them available when I did mine

[az3579]

Another option is to replace the bowls with the refurb OEM bowls from Clemsone46...
I probably would of gone this route if he had them available when I did mine
Only to have them go bad again?

sent from my Droid Turbo

[ZHP_Brandon]

TheRetroFitSource.com offers a full rebuild kit for like 280 shipped - angel eyes
Theres an E46F Member selling his unopened kit for like 190 because he ordered the wrong kit and doesn't wanna deal with the sky high restocking fee.
Should I buy it and rebuild them slowly then buy new lenses and angel eyes?
And if thats a yes, what brand angel eyes should I buy? I trust you guys as a strong and serious repository for info so let me know!
Im hoping to install my old LCM module from my Black Metallic ZHP, along with the auto leveling sensors into my Imola ZHP to see if i can get that Auto Leveling function that my old ZHP had and I LOVED.

I don't know if its plug and play with my LCM module from my black car, or do i need to get my "Computer flashed" to properly have it happen?

I'm kinda new to significant upgrades like this, so bare with me on my lack of knowledge lol

I have plenty of questions, so feel free to respond openly and constructively !

Best,
Brandon !

[az3579]

Any LCM change will require VIN and Mileage coded. The dealer is NOT able to do this for you so you'll need to find a local enthusiast who has the appropriate software to do so.

I can do it if you ship me the LCM. Just cover shipping both ways.
Why are you swapping LCM's though? You shouldn't have to unless you're swapping in a v4.0 or higher one. Otherwise, it's not worth it.

sent from my Droid Turbo

[anandoc]

Is this your thread on E46F?

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1090205

Just installing the auto-leveling sensors on the control arms wont work. You need to have the wiring in place, both from the control arms to the LCM and from the LCM to the headlamp assemblies. In my opinion, its really not worth the effort to install auto-leveling if you did not have it from the factory. Just go with the bixenon retrofit and make sure you align the projectors properly so that you are not blinding oncoming traffic.

I have my factory auto-leveling disconnected because every so often the passenger side beam would get un-aligned.

I did a FX-R 3.0 bi-xenon retrofit in my car along with which I also have Khoalty brand angel-eyes and I have coded them to by my DRLs. The FX-R 3.0 projectors have an amazingly sharp cut-off and a very wide beam pattern. I could even say that they are better than the stock ZKW projectors (un-burnt) and lenses.

[ZHP_Brandon]

Any LCM change will require VIN and Mileage coded. The dealer is NOT able to do this for you so you'll need to find a local enthusiast who has the appropriate software to do so.

I can do it if you ship me the LCM. Just cover shipping both ways.
Why are you swapping LCM's though? You shouldn't have to unless you're swapping in a v4.0 or higher one. Otherwise, it's not worth it.

sent from my Droid Turbo

Im not sure what Version my old LCM is but, that old lcm is the module that was made to accept auto leveling so i assumed it would be a plug and play function. I've heard of some of the programs to to do the VIN and Mileage change but I'd be interested if what I'm thinking is correct that it will allow me to have auto leveling

BTW, I would love to have OEM M3 Mirrors like you do, it looks perfect :drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:d rool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:dro ol:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool :drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:d rool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:dro ol:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool:drool :drool:drool:drool:drool:drool

[ZHP_Brandon]

Is this your thread on E46F?

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1090205

Just installing the auto-leveling sensors on the control arms wont work. You need to have the wiring in place, both from the control arms to the LCM and from the LCM to the headlamp assemblies. In my opinion, its really not worth the effort to install auto-leveling if you did not have it from the factory. Just go with the bixenon retrofit and make sure you align the projectors properly so that you are not blinding oncoming traffic.

I have my factory auto-leveling disconnected because every so often the passenger side beam would get un-aligned.

I did a FX-R 3.0 bi-xenon retrofit in my car along with which I also have Khoalty brand angel-eyes and I have coded them to by my DRLs. The FX-R 3.0 projectors have an amazingly sharp cut-off and a very wide beam pattern. I could even say that they are better than the stock ZKW projectors (un-burnt) and lenses.

Yes it is mine! I'm looking for any info I can get, but now I'm just discouraged to even try the retrofit of the auto leveling

I didn't even know that the wiring was necessary for the function, I figured it was just sensors and the LCM being coded to accept the function :eeps... yeah I'll deff just be wiring the ZKW's with new internals and setting the projectors to one fixed position in that case. Thats kind of a shame, I really miss that function I didn't think it would be that difficult to do. I'd assume the wiring job would look like spilled guts on the floor lol

Too many wires, not enough knowledge :dunno:help:help:help:help:help:help:help

[330i Lover]

Another option is to replace the bowls with the refurb OEM bowls from Clemsone46...
I probably would of gone this route if he had them available when I did mine

I'm having ClemsonE46's bowls installed in the next few weeks. I'm waiting on Umnitza to call me back to make sure I'm getting what I need with my setup. I'll be sure to give feedback afterwards. My bowls are so shot! It's dangerous to drive at night without the fog lights on! :(