Hey all,
I have been plagued with the same issue that plagues every plastic bowl ZKW HID headlights for E46’s. Because you cannot buy replacement bowls alone, the solutions currently for burnt bowls are either living with dim lights or retrofitting projectors. The retrofit is a good solution but involves cutting and irreversible modifications to the headlight housings. After much research and connections through work, I have found a solution.
I have acquired some extra bowls for testing and as is the common case, they are yellowed, cracked, and lack the “mirror finish” plating. The bowls are plastic welded to repair the crack damage and then re-plated correctly using the same methods to plate them from the manufacturers. Below is a series of pictures documenting and comparing the before and after. The results yielded the increased output of a brand new set of headlights.
Bowls before:
Bowls after:
Headlight output before:
Passenger side bowl replaced, drivers side original (notice light output increase and depth of beam):
Both bowls replaced:
Before and after:
Headlight dis-assembly for headlight bowl replacement:
1) Remove trim piece and headlight washer cover below headlight using a flathead screwdriver wrapped in a towel (to alleviate damaging paint)
2) Remove (4) bolts securing headlight with an 8mm socket
3) Unplug all leads to headlight (high/low beams, auto adjusters, etc)
4) Remove headlight from car
5) Remove access cover behind low beam secured by two flexible tabs
6) Remove bulb from headlight bowl
7) Remove (4) torx head screws (not sure what size) securing headlight bowl in place
8) Remove plug for headlight shade motor located on headlight bowl
9) Carefully orient headlight bowl to remove from headlight housing
10) Installation is the reverse of removal
Here are short reviews from other members of other forums who purchased these:
“They're mine, quality is great and far superior to how ZKW made them plastic out of the factory for some reason?
Max did a great job with them, and why I got them was because they were the OEM bowl. I did not want to do any retrofitting or get any fault lights, etc etc. just wanted a straight replacement.
I would not hesitate especially for those with horrible lighting (which is all of us)”
"I just received a set of recoated bowls from clemsone46; these things are amazing. They cost a little more than the retrofit projectors, but they're a great option for those hoping to stay OEM.
The difference in visibility is incredible. I don't have pictures, but as a comparison, I used to need my foglamps just to see at night; now I can't even tell when I turn them on.
Again, cannot recommend these enough. I'll follow up in a while and we'll see how they hold up. Thanks clemsone46."
"I was greatly disappointed that BMW did not even recognize this as a problem. I feel lucky to have made contact with Clemsone46 and found a great solution to my headlight issue. The output of the lights is as good as I remember from when the car was new. I also received excellent service and support to accomplish the fix. High praise, thumbs up and five stars !!!"
I am going to be providing this service for any individuals interested. However, the lead time is lengthy if I don’t have any completed so it will be just 2 or 3 individuals at a time. There will be an included core charge of $30 that will be refunded upon receiving your old bowls (this alleviates individuals having downtime on their cars). Bowls can be sent with or without the auto-leveling motors and shades, new bowls will be sent as requested with or without the shades (shades are an additional $15). The total price will be $260 + $30 core charge + shipping, $290 + shipping if no core provided. Shipping will be done using USPS flat rate boxing in the US ($17 + $3 insurance).
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Max
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Originally Posted by midlandtech
