xenon blue lights conversion

[theforce]

Hi Guys

Is there a recommended conversion / bulbs for the head lights , I love the deep blue color?
something like the photo attached

Thanks

[Pelican Parts]

Check out the below link - it's not for your E31, but you should get a pretty good idea of what's involved. You'll just have to find the xenon bulb series that emits the blue hue (something like the 3000 or 4000 or 6000 series, I forget which one it is). Best of luck!


Installing an HID Lighting System on Your BMW


-Dmitry

[rotomoto712]

You'll need an HID kit with 6000K bulbs for the blue look, 5000K for white with a hint of blue, and 4300K for most cars OEM look. I would highly recommend Morimoto (theretrofitsorce) for the HID kit.

[theforce]

according to their site they dont deal with BMW...

[radlaw]

Check out the below link - it's not for your E31, but you should get a pretty good idea of what's involved. You'll just have to find the xenon bulb series that emits the blue hue (something like the 3000 or 4000 or 6000 series, I forget which one it is). Best of luck!


Installing an HID Lighting System on Your BMW


-Dmitry

The link refers to the 101 Performance Projects for the 3-series. How much cross-over is there in this book with the 8-series?

[theforce]

I have no idea
no one upgraded / changed his headlights?

[Timm]

I don't think the photograph shows a true representation of the headlight colour - all the street lights are the same colour!

[theforce]

agree timm but this is the color i am looking for

[spikec]

6k oughta do it on the color, but you'll give up some illumination from the 4300k oem bulbs. But then again I'm old and my night vision is starting to wane :-)

[Timm]

[theforce]

Thanks Timm

where can I buy a kit?

[e31bev]

You want a nice blue I suggest 8000k. Mine are 6000k which are pretty white with a hint of purple. I'll be replacing them with 5000k's pretty soon for better visibility.

[theforce]

ok
any recommended brands / shops who sells a good kit?
thanks

[toomanyparts]

4300 is ideal. Really can't understand why anyone would want anything higher.

[Timm]

Xenon's are (without any filter) around 4500K - the manufacturers add blue filters (or purple filters for the boy-racer bulbs) - these obviously reduce the light output. So, any temperature above 4500K has reduced light output, and the higher the temperature the less light you get.

The second problem with Xenon's for the low beams is that the shape of the bulb is different shape, and that means the light is thrown in the wrong direction causing glare for oncoming drivers - that is the reason that (in the UK at least) they are illegal unless they are OEM fitment AND that they have lens cleaning and auto-levelling. That being said, there are thousands of drivers out there with retro-fitted Xenons happily driving on UK roads.

You would have more luck with LED's - they can be used for fogs and main beams where the beam pattern is not so important, but not for low-beams.

[theforce]

ok
so which LED kit would you recommend ?

[Timm]

Your headlight assemblies use a completely different bulb to us in the UK - I have H1 LED's which will not fit the US units.

[ltbrett]

I put in generic Chinese HID bulbs and ballasts about a year ago. It looked to me like one factory in China made most of the kits. That may or may not be true, but the generic ones failed within 6 months. I went with Morimoto, and I must say that while they haven't failed yet, their quality control is questionable. They sell canbus error free kits and I bought two. Upon installation, one package (2 per pack) of igniters was bad. Also, at least one of the resistor/capacitor modules was bad because I get a low beam failure alert. I haven't had the patience to pull apart all my work to figure out which one. As for color, I went with 6000k because I want white light. The Morimoto rep explained to me that their 6000k is pure white, which does not match the standard color chart. However, it is indeed pure white and matched the 5000k bulbs I removed. So my recommendation is a canbus error free kit, perhaps from Morimoto, but definitely make sure everything works before nesting it all neatly away. And plan on rewiring your headlight wiring harness if you haven't already.

Brett

[theforce]

anyone? any kit recommendations?

Thanks

[tangcla]

Go with quality Chinese-made ones like the genuine Cnlight bulbs and Xylux ballasts (again, make sure you get genuine ones, not copies). Most kits (I assume Morimoto included) use variants of Cnlight/Xylux combinations.

[UNEEKONE]

So for my 97 with euro headlights would I want to purchase these from the retrofit source with the canbus option or the HD relay option?

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hi...oto-elite.html