Help With Headlights..

[SW530]

I wanted to start a thread about headlights in the hope I can learn a few things:

1. Are these OE for a 2003 540i/6? If not, how are they different?:

2. The lenses are stamped with DJAUTO which I understood to make decent light assemblies at one time? Can anyone who knows please tell me what they know? Especially:

a. Interested if what I have are complete DJAUTO assemblies
b. If so, is the leveling mechanism better/worse/same as OE? Specifically, if I go to the trouble of rebuilding them should some time of retrofitted leveling mechanism be substituted?
c. I understand my OE lights probably didn't have the easily replaced lenses. If what I now have are assemblies I should be able to replace the lens covers? Everything works, they're just on my list to go through before they stop working and to put new covers on.

3. These are Xenon/HID and throw a nice beam. Based so far on what's in this thread when you get to it, are there better projectors for the highs or lows?

4. If I wanted to preemptively replace the ballasts which ones would you recommend?

5. Any other information I've failed to ask..

Thank you very much..

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[crdiscoverer]

1. They look like full DJ Auto assemblies (lens + housing) which were the closest attempt to replicate real Hella facelift headlights.

2.
a. See #1.
b. That's a good question. I'd say they are probably better than the crap BMW used to make their adjusters, but if they are plastic they will still eventually fail. If DJ Auto used the exact same design for their adjusters you can try and source aluminum ones.
c. DJ Autos were bakeable, so you can sleep better knowing that at any point you can buy new clear lenses and replace them.

3. You can't easily replace the high beam reflector bowl. It can be done but it's a very involved process. What you can do is replace the low beam projector with a better one. The EvoX-R 2.0 from Morimoto is a 1:1 replacement for the stock Hella one. You would be navigating unknown paths finding out if DJ Auto also used the "E55" projector standard that Hella used. If you're in luck and that's the case, those Morimotos are bi-xenon, meaning that the same projector will do low and high beam via a servo that moves the cutoff shield away.

4. OEM ballasts are the best. There are different revisions and you can Google which ones are more durable or minimize warm up times, etc. Basically any D2S ballast from BMW, Toyota, Nissan, etc. would work because they follow a wiring standard (always stick to D2S). The Morimoto ballasts are pretty good too, but not as good (Morimoto also sells OEM ballasts on their site if you want to get some ideas).

5. Open the hood and show us some photos from the top and back to really be able to tell what those are.

[SW530]

Thank you Eric! My car is put up in storage for the winter, a bit early this year but I've been playing with my new truck and it was just sitting there.. so put her to bed. I'll get up there in the next day or three and grab some pics. Would it be better to remove them? If so, what tools do you think I'll need? Thanks again. Really appreciate the help.

[300kplus]

*Following*


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[Dking078]

Those are DJ auto headlights modified by Umnitza.

Simply put, when they crap out, take em out, & Chuck em in the trash. Maybe save the angel eyes, they look to be one of the later Orion models which are bright A.....F...

DJ auto was probably the best replica of the OEM hellas. They technically work, but if you were to open one up, my god. It aint OEM quality that's for sure. The lenses though, pretty solid. I used them on many many MANY headlight refurbs and when properly protected, can last forever.

I think you get a replica E55 projector, which can be "okay". I can't recall if they offered EVO-XR retrofits back in the day when doing builds. Which this miiiiiight have. definitely not the original projector based on the pic.

https://www.m5board.com/threads/oem-bi-xenon-projector-installation-hella-rs6-projectors.608415/

[SW530]

Thanks, your reply and reading/watching your link I learned a lot. But there's so much I don't know.

Would you agree that with the current lights, that work great so far for several years, throw a great beam low or high, and the only issue I've had was replacing the low beam on the driver side with one of these, (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F6Y3QYF?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1) that I just polish the lenses, cover them with a UV PPF (and if so where do I get it?), and use them till they stop working and in the mean time look for a set of original Hella's to refurbish?

And if that's a affirmative can you link me to any good pictures f&b I could use so I know what real Hella's look like? And would you look for 2001-2002 Hella's so they can be baked off for sure? Sorry for all the questions, not sure what I know or don't know..

[crdiscoverer]

In my experience, the 2001 = bakeable, 2002-2003 = permasealed hasn't been an exact science. I've seen some permasealed 2001 assemblies and some 2002+ with butyl (mine for example). My guess is that different batches from different factories used one sealant or the other. It could be that in the US this year separation is 100% accurate and that'd be your best bet if you're going to get something used. I have photos of mine from pretty much every angle. If you want to see something specific, just ask.

How to tell the real ones apart:
- Real Hellas have a small Hella logo, bottom center in the plastic lenses (unless the lenses were replaced of course)
- If you are dead set on facelift, there several minor revisions, mostly due to US regulations and changes to the turn signal reflector (see below)
- US headlights have an oval opening in the amber side reflector to allow light to shine through when the parking lights (halos) are on. Euro lights don't have it
- Clear (no amber) Euro lights have a chromed cosmetic piece instead of the amber reflector
- Some lights have a multi-reflector turn signal (painted amber), others have a small fresnel lens
- They could be HID or Halogen and may or may not have an adjuster motor for cutoff height
- The halos are always warm light and have a uniform look (on and off)

Here are the most common versions:

Euro clear:
https://i.postimg.cc/2yGh2nWY/image.png (https://postimages.org/)

US with multi-reflector turn signal:
https://i.postimg.cc/2yYcJdXX/image.png (https://postimages.org/)

US with fresnel turn signal:
https://i.postimg.cc/m25qZ9ch/image.png (https://postimages.org/)


Some tips on how to detect the closest-looking replicas:
- If you see headlights with a "geared" shroud around the low beam projector
- If you see headlights where the turn signal reflector is not level with the main beams (sits lower)
- If you see a lot of text (regulatory stuff) written on the lenses
- Anything with full chrome and/or LEDs

These are the ones I see most often and from afar could be mistaken (the DJ Autos - yours - did an even better job but are rarer and NLA):
https://i.postimg.cc/7YQHvXSR/image.png (https://postimages.org/)


Surprise quiz! Are these real?

https://i.postimg.cc/KvQbPf9z/image.png (https://postimages.org/)

[SW530]

Wow.. thank you. I think I learned a lot here. Is Hella only stamped on the lens, not on the back casing anywhere? Are part numbers telling?

I like the Euro style. Not sure why, but I like them. They look cleaner. Can the US models change out the amber turn signal casing part?

Which one is generally more desirable for a 2003 540i/6?

Now I can see some differences on my own lights. It looks like the low and high are set forward of the turn signal fresnel lens and it looks like the high is actually over lapping the turn signal? Do they have any value if I sold them on ebay? It would be easy enough to polish the lenses and PPF them. When you turn them on the self leveling does its cycle, they do it together evening in that one light isn't faster, more, or ahead of the other. All the lights work, nothing is broken, and they're HID/Xenon that come on quickly and again evenly.

What does "may not have an adjuster motor for cutoff height" mean? And "bi" xenons? Is this where two lights are in the one? If so, what function is the other hole serving?

Quiz: Fake. The turn signal is lower and the reflector panel is black and not silver or amber and overlaps and isn't smoothly melded. Also, the low lens seems wrong, not smoth/has ridges, and isn't clear.

I've always liked proper HID's, they seem to give a lot of light but seem less reliable than Halogen but if parts are available they seem a bad choice. I recently have experienced my first set of factory LED's in my new TRD Pro and man they're impressive in how they look, function, and the beam they throw. If a person was going to just go with aftermarket, what would be the best choice and what woudl be the cost? My car is a 170k car and I'm not sure it's worth going overboard on the lights but I want something I won't have trouble with if I take it out of town on a trip or whatever, and the rest of the car is original so I'd like the lights to not be too far from that. My interior is very good, just had new bottom front foams installed and have a standing appointment for this spring to get all my pillars and rear deck redone, runs/drives perfectly, I'll do brakes all the way around this spring as well, but I do need to fix a couple cracks in the rear bumper and then repaint both bumpers and the hood because 170k worth of chips and road wear needs some help. The wheels aren't damaged but the PO powder coated them. So not sure what the car warrants in way of headlights but it is a decent example. No deferred maintenance.

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[crdiscoverer]

The "quiz" assemblies are actually real Hellas (Part: 1EL 008 052-581). It appears those supersede the earlier euro clears. They changed the turn signal and added a white reflector with the US corner light on the sides (I doubt these will ever be sold in the US, so it's probably because Hella is cutting down on machinery). I have never seen an E39 with them, probably because nobody is buying these lights new anymore.

Not sure how much a set of used DJ Autos could go for. I know folks with pre-facelift cars wanting the new look (without paying $1k+) jump whenever some long lost batch goes for sale somewhere, but we're talking new. Search on eBay/CL and see if there are some for sale and adjust your price accordingly.

The cutoff motor is integrated into the back of the assemblies. It is connected to the suspension in most E39s (and manually operated via a dash switch in old ones) and basically compensates for added weight in the back of the car which will raise the low beam cutoff and could glare oncoming drivers. In the US, facelift headlights that came with halogen low beams don't have it. Here are some pictures of it from an old thread: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1841973-headlight-rebuild-failure-E39-newbie-ish

Bi-xenon is exactly that, two different beam patterns into one projector. There is a cutoff shield inside the projector which has a servo or solenoid attached to it. Once you flick the high beams stalk, the servo/solenoid moves the shield away and the projector becomes your high beam. No E39 came with bi-xenon from the factory hence why there is a separate reflector bowl for high beams. However, it's very common when you're restoring Hella headlights to go with Morimoto's EvoX-R 2.0 projectors which are bi-xenon. In that case you have 3 choices: 1. Don't connect the solenoid so you have just the stock highs. 2. Disable the stock highs and use the bi-xenon projector only for low/high beam. 3. Use both the bi-xenon and stock high beams in combination.

Here's a very simplified side view of a projector and cutoff shield: https://retrofitlab.com/blogs/news/two-types-of-hid-projectors

I despise the apparent low CRI of LED. I have attempted to retrofit LEDs in 2 of my other cars and came away seriously disappointed, especially compared to the Evos in my E39 with Osram Laser HID. I guess it could be my tired eyes but I can't see colors well with LEDs (weirdly, discharge lights like xenon supposedly have even lower CRI). I don't care how bright a light is, if I can't tell apart brown from green or gray, to me that's dangerous, and I have made sure to get only proper LED bulbs, not Amazon crap. I got a pair of Osram street legal bulbs, which are somehow even sharper than the halogens they replaced. There's no stray light and the beam pattern is spot on, but even though street signs and road markings do pop out a lot more, I just don't see that well.

My old 'rolla has 7" Koito headlights (best halogen reflectors I've ever seen) and I'm in the process of retrofitting mini D2S 5.0 HID projectors to my Pathfinder.

[umnitza]

1) No, they are made by us - umnitza.com
2) They were the closest OE replica at the time, company sold the molds to another company in China, the Chinese company broke the molds, and no one has been able to make anything resembling the OE since.
You have one of the most unique lights on the market now.
a) yes
b) some of them didn't have leveling mechanisms, some did. as long as they were stable and not broken, you really didn't need the leveling mechanism
c) 2001 are replaceable on OE lights, 2002+ are very hard to do for most people
3) You probably have Bixenon FXR or FXR V4, or a G5R that we put in there if the beam pattern is good, if it's "euro style" then no.
4) www.umnitza.com - luxen ballast
5) you have Orion V2 for these, so it's possible you have Euro pattern projectors. You can open the lights from the back cap and snap a photo and email us - info@Umnitza.com we can identify

- - - Updated - - -

Disagree, do not check them anywhere, the lenses are easily replaceable.

[SW530]

Thank you. Learning a lot in this thread. I was at my storage today and took some pics since I was there and will post them below..

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[SW530]

1) No, they are made by us - umnitza.com
2) They were the closest OE replica at the time, company sold the molds to another company in China, the Chinese company broke the molds, and no one has been able to make anything resembling the OE since.
You have one of the most unique lights on the market now.
a) yes
b) some of them didn't have leveling mechanisms, some did. as long as they were stable and not broken, you really didn't need the leveling mechanism
c) 2001 are replaceable on OE lights, 2002+ are very hard to do for most people
3) You probably have Bixenon FXR or FXR V4, or a G5R that we put in there if the beam pattern is good, if it's "euro style" then no.
4) www.umnitza.com (http://www.umnitza.com) - luxen ballast
5) you have Orion V2 for these, so it's possible you have Euro pattern projectors. You can open the lights from the back cap and snap a photo and email us - info@Umnitza.com we can identify

- - - Updated - - -

Disagree, do not check them anywhere, the lenses are easily replaceable.

Thank you for helping me learn about these lights. By back cap do you mean the rubber piece that protects the back of the bulbs? I'll probably go back to my storage next week and will take more pics. These seem to have very good beam patterns but it would be great to know for sure.

When these are working properly.. gosh how to ask this.. on a scale of 1-10 with Hella Xenon's being a 10.. what would the DJ's rate in terms of beam quality and reliability? And would you consider them worth improving with newer parts and if so how?

Are there any more DJ lens covers out there? If not what would you recommend?

Thank you again. I'm systematically going through the car with an eye for reliability first and function second, as a 170k car its never going to be a prize.. but I would like to get the lights as good as I can without going past the general worth of the car if that makes sense.

[umnitza]

Thank you. Learning a lot in this thread. I was at my storage today and took some pics since I was there and will post them below..

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Last photo implies you have a D2S adapter going into the rubber boot, that is likely that you have the FXR bixenon - v4 maybe, really depends on when the lights were purchased. But could also be the EVO-X bixenon projectors.

- - - Updated - - -


Thank you for helping me learn about these lights. By back cap do you mean the rubber piece that protects the back of the bulbs? I'll probably go back to my storage next week and will take more pics. These seem to have very good beam patterns but it would be great to know for sure.

When these are working properly.. gosh how to ask this.. on a scale of 1-10 with Hella Xenon's being a 10.. what would the DJ's rate in terms of beam quality and reliability? And would you consider them worth improving with newer parts and if so how?

Are there any more DJ lens covers out there? If not what would you recommend?

Thank you again. I'm systematically going through the car with an eye for reliability first and function second, as a 170k car its never going to be a prize.. but I would like to get the lights as good as I can without going past the general worth of the car if that makes sense.

From experience:
If Hella is considered a 10 fit and finish on the DJ Auto are a 6-7, DEPO are about 5-6, and most all the eBay junk is 1-2 and OEM are 2-3.
However, a retrofitted Bixenon is an 8 out of 10 for output (what you have) vs a 4-5 of the OE hella - even the Euro are 5-6. Max output these days would be a bi-led setup.
So, I wouldn't do anything except buy a solid high quality HID D2S bulb - Osram CBI on our web site are great so are the Nightbreaker units.
www.umnitza.com - that's all I would do.

now if your lenses are tired, and they don't appear to be so, I'd get some new OE quality lenses (also on our site) and just replace them, since these headlights are easily bakable.

[SW530]

Last photo implies you have a D2S adapter going into the rubber boot, that is likely that you have the FXR bixenon - v4 maybe, really depends on when the lights were purchased. But could also be the EVO-X bixenon projectors.

Thank you! Really appreciate the advice and help you've given me. Your answers prompt my questions.. sorry.. :P)

If these are bixexon and I'm looking at the low beam, will I see anything move when going from low to high beams? CRDISCOVERER mentions a cutoff plate? And if both the low and high means are coming out of a 35w bulb.. I thought high beams were in the 60-65w territory? Apparently I put in a pretty cheap set of bulbs compared to the ones you recommended, will I see a big difference? Assuming I will but thought I'd ask. And does this mean the high beam are on at the same time, or off? Can be either way, and if so how do I set that setting? Is there a retrofit LED projector that will provide an increased light output? And I'm assuming if it did, it would only be on high? And do you have a PPF cover on your site you'd recommend? I put E39 PPF in your search bar but didn't see anything but some cool suspension parts. I didn't know you sold suspension pieces. I've already rebuilt my suspension other than for my shocks and struts, those are on my list for this spring. Or maybe xmas.. On a 2003 540i, and I really enjoy cars that corner even at the expense of a harder ride, what would you recommend to replace my shocks and struts?

I'm sorry, feels like I'm abusing your good nature asking all these questions but this is stuff I've been wondering about forever. THANK YOU!

- - - Updated - - -

[crdiscoverer]

If you have bi-xenon, you won't see any metal shield moving, as it's inside the projector body, sandwiched between its lens and its reflector bowl. What you can see is the beam pattern changing when you switch your low/high beams (you may have to temporarily disconnect your factory high beams so you can more clearly see your projectors switching).

There is no change in bulb wattage because: 1. Xenon bulbs are plasma arcs and besides their ignition phase always draw the same wattage (usually 35W) and 2. Brightness is not changing, only beam pattern (thanks to that cutoff shield). Incandescent, halogen H7 bulbs that E39s use for high beams are 55W. Some incandescent bulbs have two filaments that switch between 55/60W or 55/65W (low/high), but that has nothing to do with xenon and these dual filament bulbs are not used in E39s anyway.

If you do have the FXR bi-xenon projectors, then you should stick to xenon bulbs. Don't install LEDs in there. Not only can the HID ballasts kill them, but you will get terrible output and glare everybody. Listen to Umnitza and get some good quality D2S like the Osram CBI or Nightbreaker Laser (my favorite). xenon bulbs dim as they age. If you have never replaced yours they could have years on them already so maybe a simple bulb replacement is all you need.

To recap:



You seem to have bi-xenon projectors. Those use D2S xenon/HID bulbs. If they are wired correctly, they will act as both low and high beams. You should NOT replace those bulbs with LED.
You have H7 halogen high beams (stock E39 bulb). Those are incandescent 55W bulbs. You can replace those with LEDs but it's unnecessary.
If you want to take your headlights apart and upgrade the projectors (what you have are pretty good ones), the only significant upgrade would be the Morimoto M-LED which are $400+ and not plug-and-play.

[SW530]

Thanks for setting me right on this. My brain leaps from one area to the next and then bounces around settling somewhere in the middle.. but now I knjow so much more about what I have and what I need than when I started this thread. All that's left is to find some decent PPF, polish them up and apply.. when you apply PPF do you polish and apply a clear or just the PPF?

[crdiscoverer]

I would lightly wet sand them (800->1000->2000 grit, maybe start lower depending on how bad they are), then polish and then PPF. I strongly advice against clear coating headlight plastic. A lot of clear coat paints out there are not meant for headlights and will bond too hard, stress the plastic until it cracks internally (crazing) and will permanently damage the lenses. This guy does a very good job at explaining why you shouldn't just pick any clear coat and finish your headlights with it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4VoNAfiGNQ

There are good products out there, but honestly, pros vs cons PPF will always come out ahead, so there's absolutely no point in painting. There is a reason headlight manufacturers don't do it. UV-resistant PPF is the closest there is to the factory applied UV protection.

[marcmo60]

I ordered replacements from this site, they were advertising on a Chicago BMW e39 group. https://europowermotorsports.com/

(https://europowermotorsports.com/)OEM Facelift Headlights-Xenon (Euro Spec)


$925 for the pair, they look great. I still have my OEM pair but haven't decided whether or not I want to sell them or keep them around for backup yet.

--Marc

Marc, You can’t post an image that way, it may look OK on your computer but to the rest of us it’s 10 pages of code.




(https://europowermotorsports.com/)

[SW530]

Where do you get it? I found large quantities but it seems like someone would sell pre-cut sheets?

[crdiscoverer]

For PPF the default was always Xpel, but they stopped making their pre-cut kits for E39s.

Wasn't this you who posted this link to an Amazon kit? https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2473937-2003-BMW-E39-Headlight-Restoration&p=30871192#post30871192

That seems to be the same kit here: https://lamin-x.com/bmw-5-series-01-03-headlight-covers.html

That'd be my choice given Xpel abandoned us.

[SW530]

Damn, forgot about that.. it's been a tough year.. :) thanks.

[claylakem6]

Where do you get it? I found large quantities but it seems like someone would sell pre-cut sheets?

I’ve used Laminate-X, Xpel and most recently Weathertech on my new Euro headlights.


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[theWalkinator]

I just used 2k clear coat spray and it holds up pretty good.

[SW530]

I’ve used Laminate-X, Xpel and most recently Weathertech on my new Euro headlights.


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Do they make those in E39 cutouts? Studying this PPF.. it's expensive. $60ish for two headlights is crazy expensive. If I can get some E39 cutouts reasonably I probably will.. but I am tempted to get a roll of quality PPF and use it to put on my new truck and maybe on my E39 after I repair the paint next spring. Unless it's like doing window tint.. I can't do decent window tint to save my life.

[crazy4trains]

I put custom fit Lamin-X on my e39 headlights purchased from Scamazon.

[Jason5driver]

I put custom fit Lamin-X on my e39 headlights purchased from Scamazon.
LOL ...
I also have Lamin-X on my Euro headlights with clear corners .
It's a bit thick , but stout , and can take a beating , especially for the way I drive , and how low my car is ...
I bought the kit for the headlights and fogs .