Going back to xenons

[hcbeck2689]

So here's the deal. I bought my car from my parents local mechanic after he fixed a bunch of leaks and bushings. I went and looked at the car and it had xenons from factory, but when I went to purchase the car after work was done he told me that he had driven it home one night and noticed the headlights were dim. So, He then bought new zkw halogen headlights and swapped them out. I decided to buy it anyways but regret not buying the xenon assemblies from him.

So, what is my best option to get back to xenon? I do not really want to deal with wiring up a ballast and have it hanging in there. It is my understanding that the factory xenons had the ballast built in. Could I just retro fit my assemblies and it come out just as good?


-Holden

[az3579]

So, what is my best option to get back to xenon? I do not really want to deal with wiring up a ballast and have it hanging in there. It is my understanding that the factory xenons had the ballast built in. Could I just retro fit my assemblies and it come out just as good?


-Holden


You should never put an HID kit into a halogen light assembly. You will blind other drivers, as well as get less-than-ideal light focus.
Your options are to either swap in factory Xenons and code the car or do a retrofit with a proper projector and ballast setup.

Lightwerkz does amazing work to retrofit it all, though you will probably pay a decent amount to retrofit. You're probably best off buying a used Xenon assembly on eBay that has AL projectors in it. Keep in mind that you will have to code the car so it knows it has Xenons.


I would go back to him and ask to have the Xenon assemblies, which will greatly reduce your cost. The ballasts aren't built-in, but they are mounted to the assemblies.

[Vas]

So here's the deal. I bought my car from my parents local mechanic after he fixed a bunch of leaks and bushings. I went and looked at the car and it had xenons from factory, but when I went to purchase the car after work was done he told me that he had driven it home one night and noticed the headlights were dim. So, He then bought new zkw halogen headlights and swapped them out. I decided to buy it anyways but regret not buying the xenon assemblies from him.

So, what is my best option to get back to xenon? I do not really want to deal with wiring up a ballast and have it hanging in there. It is my understanding that the factory xenons had the ballast built in. Could I just retro fit my assemblies and it come out just as good?


-Holden

I would go back and ask if he still has the original headlights. He probably replaced them because the bowls were burnt in them and the output was dim.

If he does not, take a look here
http://www.lightwerkz.net/photo/ajits-bmw-e46-morimoto-fxr-bixenon-projector-conversion/

They do a retrofit into a Halogen headlight assembly.

Or your other option is to find complete headlights and put them in. Then have coding done for the HID.

[cakM3]

Assuming the car is a sedan......

02-05 BMW OEM E46 HID XENON HEADLIGHT LEFT DRIVER

$155 & free shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/02-05-BMW-E46-325I-330I-SEDAN-DRIVER-LEFT-XENON-HID-HEADLIGHT-OEM-/131653699812?hash=item1ea72c08e4:g:bDcAAOSwKIpWB2s F&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/02-05-BMW-E46-325I-330I-SEDAN-DRIVER-LEFT-XENON-HID-HEADLIGHT-OEM-/131653699812?hash=item1ea72c08e4:g:bDcAAOSwKIpWB2s F&vxp=mtr)


04 BMW E46 330i 325i PASSENGER XENON HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY W/ BALLAST D2S BULB

$199.99 + $18 shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/04-BMW-E46-330i-325i-PASSENGER-XENON-HEADLIGHT-ASSEMBLY-W-BALLAST-D2S-BULB-/201466224156?hash=item2ee8529e1c:g:d1QAAOSwI-BWOT35&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/04-BMW-E46-330i-325i-PASSENGER-XENON-HEADLIGHT-ASSEMBLY-W-BALLAST-D2S-BULB-/201466224156?hash=item2ee8529e1c:g:d1QAAOSwI-BWOT35&vxp=mtr)

[az3579]

Assuming the car is a sedan......

02-05 BMW OEM E46 HID XENON HEADLIGHT LEFT DRIVER

$155 & free shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/02-05-BMW-E46-325I-330I-SEDAN-DRIVER-LEFT-XENON-HID-HEADLIGHT-OEM-/131653699812?hash=item1ea72c08e4:g:bDcAAOSwKIpWB2s F&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/02-05-BMW-E46-325I-330I-SEDAN-DRIVER-LEFT-XENON-HID-HEADLIGHT-OEM-/131653699812?hash=item1ea72c08e4:g:bDcAAOSwKIpWB2s F&vxp=mtr)


04 BMW E46 330i 325i PASSENGER XENON HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY W/ BALLAST D2S BULB

$199.99 + $18 shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/04-BMW-E46-330i-325i-PASSENGER-XENON-HEADLIGHT-ASSEMBLY-W-BALLAST-D2S-BULB-/201466224156?hash=item2ee8529e1c:g:d1QAAOSwI-BWOT35&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/04-BMW-E46-330i-325i-PASSENGER-XENON-HEADLIGHT-ASSEMBLY-W-BALLAST-D2S-BULB-/201466224156?hash=item2ee8529e1c:g:d1QAAOSwI-BWOT35&vxp=mtr)


Charlie,
According to the labels, those appear to be ZKW's. Not sure if those would be a good buy based on that premise since they'd need to be rebuilt anyway.

[hcbeck2689]

You should never put an HID kit into a halogen light assembly. You will blind other drivers, as well as get less-than-ideal light focus.

Lightwerkz does amazing work to retrofit it all, though you will probably pay a decent amount to retrofit. Keep in mind that you will have to code the car so it knows it has Xenons.


I would go back to him and ask to have the Xenon assemblies
Yea, I would never just put in hid bulbs, been there done that. I guess I was wondering what the best option is, retro fit, or sell my assemblies and buy new pen xenon.
I shouldn't have to code the car since it came with xenons and I doubt he coded it off.


I would go back and ask if he still has the original headlights. He probably replaced them because the bowls were burnt in them and the output was dim.


I plan on calling him, but that was 9 months ago so I'm sure he sold them off.
He told me as much, that the bowls were burnt and it was din lighting.


-Holden

[az3579]

Yea, I would never just put in hid bulbs, been there done that. I guess I was wondering what the best option is, retro fit, or sell my assemblies and buy new pen xenon.
I shouldn't have to code the car since it came with xenons and I doubt he coded it off.

Interesting... no bulb out errors with the halogens? Maybe he did code them off. Who knows. At least they'll work when you put them in, regardless of coding. :thumbsup




I plan on calling him, but that was 9 months ago so I'm sure he sold them off.
He told me as much, that the bowls were burnt and it was din lighting.


-Holden

Definitely worth a try.

[hcbeck2689]

My only hesitation with buying used is I might get a set with burnt bowls and have to do the rebuild still. I'm not sure if I would get much for used halogen assemblies to cover the difference. They are new though: <1 year/10,000 miles


-Holden

[az3579]

My only hesitation with buying used is I might get a set with burnt bowls and have to do the rebuild still. I'm not sure if I would get much for used halogen assemblies to cover the difference. They are new though: <1 year/10,000 miles


-Holden

The solution is to buy AL lights, not ZKW. Those just happen to be ZKW's, but you can buy AL assemblies on eBay as well. Those bowls will never burn out because they're made of metal.

[hcbeck2689]

The solution is to buy AL lights, not ZKW. Those just happen to be ZKW's, but you can buy AL assemblies on eBay as well. Those bowls will never burn out because they're made of metal.

Ok, i gotcha.
So would the retro fit be metal bowls as well? If so what would be best option, considering price and quality?


-Holden

[az3579]

Ok, i gotcha.
So would the retro fit be metal bowls as well? If so what would be best option, considering price and quality?


-Holden

Pretty much every single option you have other than E46 ZKW's has metal bowls, so as long as you don't buy ZKW E46 projectors, you're fine. The ZKW E90 projectors are made of metal as well, so you're fine to use those if you choose to retrofit those instead.

[hcbeck2689]

I only see 2 AL type assemblies on eBay and they are around $400. So it looks like a retro fit would be several hundred cheaper. Plus my assemblies are new and still fresh. Might need to put some protective film over them soon.

Thanks for the advice. I know there are lots of threads about this but didn't know about my particular situation.


-Holden

[cakM3]

Charlie,
According to the labels, those appear to be ZKW's. Not sure if those would be a good buy based on that premise since they'd need to be rebuilt anyway.

Good catch BP.... I didn't notice the ZKW stamp on both headlight assemblies when I posted the link... but yes, the idea is to acquire a set of AL headlight assemblies :thumbsup

[ELCID86]

I bought a set of xenons off e46f.


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.

[2wenty]

Not to thread jack but looking for help. Just bought a ZHP with factory xenon and you can barely tell the headlights are on. Has anyone figured out a way to restore the bowls or is anyone selling new bowls? Thanks!

[hcbeck2689]

Not to thread jack but looking for help. Just bought a ZHP with factory xenon and you can barely tell the headlights are on. Has anyone figured out a way to restore the bowls or is anyone selling new bowls? Thanks!

There is a burnt bowls thread somewhere


-Holden

[2wenty]

There is a burnt bowls thread somewhere


-Holden

Thanks. Got it.

[Vas]

Not to thread jack but looking for help. Just bought a ZHP with factory xenon and you can barely tell the headlights are on. Has anyone figured out a way to restore the bowls or is anyone selling new bowls? Thanks!

New bowls, used AL headlights or Lightwerkz retrofit.

[az3579]

Refurbished bowls = waste of time, IMO. It'll only do it again.
Do either a retrofit or an AL conversion.

[danewilson77]

If his refinishing process is identical to the BMW process. Is it? Same materials?

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

[az3579]

If his refinishing process is identical to the BMW process. Is it? Same materials?

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Well considering the bowl is still plastic... yes. From what I understand he just re-plates (right terminology?) them, which in itself is an expensive process if he's following the OE manufacturer method.

I did some research on it today when Caesar at Lightwerkz told me that the reflective surface in the high beam bowls on the spare headlight buckets is in rough shape and that it may flake off. I thought it was a simple matter of spraying on another coating of reflective paint, but I later found out that the factory actually uses a process where they "lay" the surface on it, and it is an expensive process. I would think the projector reflective material is the same kind of process as the halogen bowl. Either way, the material of the projector, which itself is the problem, doesn't change, so it will still be a problem down the road.

[2wenty]

Thanks. Not sure what to do about this. None of the options really seem that great. Surprised no one came up with a metal sleeve that fits inside the bowl. That seems like the best option. Maybe I try and do the AL swap. Not really sure how to go about finding them or what mods are needed. I hear you just swap over your lenses in the AL and they are better.

As a side note. I just got my ZHP so Im still kinda new to how things work. Are the constant high beams (push level forward) just the xenon's just opening the shutter? And are the halogen high beams only when you flash your high beams (pull the lever back)?

Thanks

[az3579]

As a side note. I just got my ZHP so Im still kinda new to how things work. Are the constant high beams (push level forward) just the xenon's just opening the shutter? And are the halogen high beams only when you flash your high beams (pull the lever back)?

Thanks


Precisely correct. Xenons handle the permanent high beam (with a shutter movement) and flash to pass uses the halogen ones.

[2wenty]

Thanks az

[ELCID86]

Precisely correct. Xenons handle the permanent high beam (with a shutter movement) and flash to pass uses the halogen ones.

This guy knows his lights (and these cars).

Welcome "2". Did you post an intro thread?


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.