WTB AL xenon or retrofitted ZKW headlights. ZHP sedan.

[Driver08]

Looking for a pair of assemblies in good working order to replace my burnt ZKW’s

[cakM3]

Welcome to ZHP life . . . there is a good DIY for this. I have rebuilt several AL headlight assemblies and transplanted ZKW lenses into them for both ZHPs and my M3 as well as helped a few ZHP owners locally with theirs. If you can source the AL headlight assemblies from eBay you can transplant the ZKW lenses from your current headlight assemblies into the AL headlight assemblies you source. Then all you have to do is properly aim your headlights and you're done.

With my current ZHP, this was one of the first things I did when I got it home.

[Driver08]

Thanks. I recently purchased and installed the morimoto projectors. The installation instructions are weak and include nothing regarding the wiring. Granted it looks pretty basic but the projectors aren't working. I have found loads of information for the physical retrofit but nothing on the wiring and customer support from The Retrofit Source has been nonexistent.
My frustration has me ready to just pony up to purchase used AL units unless I can figure this out.
In case you (or anyone) has advice on this: one headlight makes a loud click when connected to power but the projector does not come on. The other side indicates no change when connected to power. I am plugging the pigtail that came with the kit directly from the projector to the plug that used to go to the back of the headlight assembly to power the burnt but functioning ZKW units. Both plugs are supplying 13.8 volts when the car is running. The halogen flash to pass high beams work as normal.
Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[sillieidiot]

Thanks. I recently purchased and installed the morimoto projectors. The installation instructions are weak and include nothing regarding the wiring. Granted it looks pretty basic but the projectors aren't working. I have found loads of information for the physical retrofit but nothing on the wiring and customer support from The Retrofit Source has been nonexistent.
My frustration has me ready to just pony up to purchase used AL units unless I can figure this out.
In case you (or anyone) has advice on this: one headlight makes a loud click when connected to power but the projector does not come on. The other side indicates no change when connected to power. I am plugging the pigtail that came with the kit directly from the projector to the plug that used to go to the back of the headlight assembly to power the burnt but functioning ZKW units. Both plugs are supplying 13.8 volts when the car is running. The halogen flash to pass high beams work as normal.
Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Are you going from halogen to xenons? Post links to your products so I have like a visual of what you're working with.

[Driver08]

Hello. No re the halogens. I'm replacing the zkw Xenon units with morimoto mini D2S 5.0 Bi-Xenon projectors. Retrofit source did fianally reach out but I haven't had a chance to spend any time on it this week and they said it sounded like I had them hooked up correclty. I figure there are 3 possible issues at play- the igniters, the control module and the bulbs. I ordered an inexpensive set of bulbs that I can use to to possibly eliminate that from the equation. I would love to not have to start blindly throwing money at those parts and getting back in the housings. I know it sounds like "the dog ate my homework" but both headlight worked when I remved them, just very poorly.
This is the kit:
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/morimoto-retroquik-bmw-e46-zkw-repair-CRK-RQ-E46?quantity=1

[sillieidiot]

Oh, so it's just the projectors. I thought you replaced everything else as well. Since the projectors are just the mechanical parts. The only thing you could do wrong there is the bixenon shutters.

It does sound to me like you have that wrong. The pig tail is for the shutter which is activated when you turn on the high beams, so it should be plugged/spliced into shutter plug or high beams. All the other connections should go into the back of the headlight like it was originally since you kept everything else the same.

How you have it right now, sounds like it's connected to the shutter (since you hear the click), so there's no power going to the low beams at all.

[Driver08]

Thanks. I wish the seller could give me a definitive answer. I think the point of their most recent kit is for it to be more plug and play based one their description and the provided pigtail which includes the specific plug that mates to the protector coupled with a connector that (sort of) mated to the female socket coming from the car. This seems to suggest to me that it’s not supposed to splice into the shutter. I honestly don’t even know which wires operate the shutter and/or if that is part of what I removed. I’m trying to upload an image of the pigtail but I keep seeing “an error occurred”

[fredo]

... I’m trying to upload an image of the pigtail but I keep seeing “an error occurred”

Please resize the image and try again.

[sillieidiot]

Thanks. I wish the seller could give me a definitive answer. I think the point of their most recent kit is for it to be more plug and play based one their description and the provided pigtail which includes the specific plug that mates to the protector coupled with a connector that (sort of) mated to the female socket coming from the car. This seems to suggest to me that it’s not supposed to splice into the shutter. I honestly don’t even know which wires operate the shutter and/or if that is part of what I removed. I’m trying to upload an image of the pigtail but I keep seeing “an error occurred”

Yeah what you linked me is just the projectors. So all the HID components used would be your factory ones. So the low beam plug has to plug into the factory location. Those pig tails are usually used to activate the high beam shutters (brown and white wires with a 9006 connector on one end). I would just cut off the 9006 connector and splice it into the shutter wires inside the headlight. I don't remember the wire colors, but it's usually a small 2 or 3 pin connector that you had to remove at the bottom of the factory projector.

[Driver08]

It looks like I have this resolved and thanks to those who chimed in. It's very simple at the end of the day and it would be equally simple for the sellers of this kit to include ANY wiring instructions. The confusion came from the set of wires that come with the projectors. The sockets on the end of these wires fit the progector plug on one end and the socket from the car on the other. Because these were included in a kit billed specifically as a plug and play ZKW e46 retrofit I made the assumption that these wires were specific to the application. Wrong. DO NOT use the provoided pigtails. Rather, only use the socket for the new projector, splice it in in place of the factory projector socket and plug everything back in the way it was. Throw away the other ends. It would have been so easy for the seller to tell me that I had wired this the wrong way when I finally got a response from thei tech support.
Here is an image of the wires that come in the kit. All you want are the little black sockets:
3975139752

[sillieidiot]

glad you got it resolved :thumbsup