Updating Lighting on my Pre Facelift. Held off long enough. LCM 4, G4 Bi-Xenon, etc.

[Kershaw]

They should fit fine, but you will likely need to mess around with the sealing boot on the back side and maybe mess with the spacing of the standoffs. If I had stock headlights worth rebuilding, I'd just rebuild those and not mess with these. Get new lenses and adjusters.

I want the late model headlights. The headlights are the last item that needs updating on my 97. The rest of the car has been updated to a m-sport/m5 trim.

[tmvE39E53Z32TT]

philly, I have those COB LED AE rings on my M5. They are a good choice. RAV4 also has a modified aftermarket headlights on his E39 LS-swap Touring.

[philly98540]

Those do look good and so does your car! I'm sold.

[auaq]

I finally started working on upgrading my lights today too and mine are the non-bakable headlights. I know it says 2001 but I swapped in my 2003 530i headlights in to my M5. Will make a thread soon. Also going with G4 projectors, have Morimoto high and low bulbs 5500k, AE LED rings from eBay, new better adjusters, and new lens too.

[philly98540]

Sounds like a good plan. I'd like to compare markings on what your new lenses say vs my set. I just bought those cob rings so I'm on hold till they ship. I'm debating 4500k vs 5500k for the hid's.

[cnsorial]

I bought the ECS euro lenses and they just say "DJ Auto" on the inside corner closest to the grill


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[cnsorial]

I finally started working on upgrading my lights today too and mine are the non-bakable headlights. I know it says 2001 but I swapped in my 2003 530i headlights in to my M5. Will make a thread soon. Also going with G4 projectors, have Morimoto high and low bulbs 5500k, AE LED rings from eBay, new better adjusters, and new lens too.

Replacing your oem angel eyes with the eBay ones? Looking for brightness?


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[auaq]

Sounds like a good plan. I'd like to compare markings on what your new lenses say vs my set. I just bought those cob rings so I'm on hold till they ship. I'm debating 4500k vs 5500k for the hid's.

My understanding is the stock ones are around 4300K to 4500K. Ruskie39 did his light bulbs long time ago and went with 5500K which looked pretty bright white in the dark. I was told 6000K+ would start to look a little bluish.

I'll let you know what lens do I have. I bought mine from ECS for about $159 I think.

[blackknight530i]

4300K is stock and provides much more light output than even 5000K. I have 4300K in my wagon and 5000K in the sedan.

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[auaq]

Replacing your oem angel eyes with the eBay ones? Looking for brightness?


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Yep. I was initially looking into V2 or V4 prions from Umnitza but they are expensive, so I decided to get something from eBay and got one for around $30 or so with free shipping. Came from Hong Kong.

- - - Updated - - -

*Orions

[auaq]

Just checked my euro lenses and it also says DJAUTO on the side.

[philly98540]

OK. Here whats on these lenses.

20170413_074715_resized.jpg


So, they are not the same as the DJ's, well at least the marking are not. Who know if its the same damn factory and they just change out the lettering? Or maybe these are total crap and will yellow and fade in a year LOL. Time will tell.

[cnsorial]

I have a feeling the DJ Auto lenses will fade quickly too. Debating putting clear film on them or letting them fade then sanding and re spray with a couple coats of 2k clear.


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[philly98540]

4300K is stock and provides much more light output than even 5000K. I have 4300K in my wagon and 5000K in the sedan.

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Yeah, thats my understanding too. The morimoto stuff comes in either 4500K or 5500K. I'm leaning toward the 4500K atm and going with 35 watt ballast for longer life. Not sure if going to CBI bulbs is worth it.

I think just going from halogen to 35 watt HID will quite the upgrade for me, but I'm new to this sort of stuff. Any recommendos are appreciated. I'll be buying HID stuff in the next couple days.

[cnsorial]

Yeah, thats my understanding too. The morimoto stuff comes in either 4500K or 5500K. I'm leaning toward the 4500K atm and going with 35 watt ballast for longer life. Not sure if going to CBI bulbs is worth it.

I think just going from halogen to 35 watt HID will quite the upgrade for me, but I'm new to this sort of stuff. Any recommendos are appreciated. I'll be buying HID stuff in the next couple days.

I retrofitted morimoto h1 projectors in my 09 accord and went with the morimoto xb 4500k bulbs and 3 years later they are still fantastic.

I was pretty intimidated by messing around with headlights at the time. But I've done a few retrofits in multiple cars over the years and have grown to enjoy it. The first time you turn those new headlights on you'll be so amazed that you'll never want to drive a halogen car at night again.


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[cnsorial]

I retrofitted morimoto h1 projectors in my 09 accord and went with the morimoto xb 4500k bulbs and 3 years later they are still fantastic. 5500k is more white but 4500k may provide slightly more light. I actually only chose the 4500 because they were ok close out at the time--I think you'll be happy with either one.

I was pretty intimidated by messing around with headlights at the time. But I've done a few retrofits in multiple cars over the years and have grown to enjoy it. The first time you turn those new headlights on you'll be so amazed that you'll never want to drive a halogen car at night again.


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[philly98540]

I retrofitted morimoto h1 projectors in my 09 accord and went with the morimoto xb 4500k bulbs and 3 years later they are still fantastic.

I was pretty intimidated by messing around with headlights at the time. But I've done a few retrofits in multiple cars over the years and have grown to enjoy it. The first time you turn those new headlights on you'll be so amazed that you'll never want to drive a halogen car at night again.

Good the know! Did you go 35 watt?

[cnsorial]

Yes. 35 watt. The 55 watt actually drowns out the color (so if you wanted 4500k you'd up it to 5500 with a 55 watt ballast to get 4500 color temp). I think it's really overkill and creates too much heat.


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[dannyzabolotny]

So having nice-looking white lights that match my white angel eye LEDs will actually give me less light output? Bummer. Oh well, I don't really have any trouble seeing at night so for now I'll go for style over function.

[auaq]

I'll be keeping the stock ballasts.

I thought I bought Hella lenses but oh well. Will roll with it. I looked at Lamin-x protective films a while ago and they make pre-cut films specific to your car's headlights for about $60.

[blackknight530i]

So having nice-looking white lights that match my white angel eye LEDs will actually give me less light output? Bummer. Oh well, I don't really have any trouble seeing at night so for now I'll go for style over function.

I have 5000K 35w bulbs in my sedan with 6000K Umnitza VXX and they match beautifully. Tried 6000K bulbs at first and they didn't match, go figure. 5000K is still very good light output with these Hella G4 projectors, but 4300K is just a bit better.

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[dannyzabolotny]

I have 5000K 35w bulbs in my sedan with 6000K Umnitza VXX and they match beautifully. Tried 6000K bulbs at first and they didn't match, go figure. 5000K is still very good light output with these Hella G4 projectors, but 4300K is just a bit better.

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Yeah, those are the angel eye LEDs that I have. So I'll get 5000K bulbs then, thanks for the tip! I still have the stock facelift headlights but they have mismatched bulbs with different color temperatures and light outputs so I want to get some new bulbs to freshen things up and get everything matched.

[cnsorial]

So having nice-looking white lights that match my white angel eye LEDs will actually give me less light output? Bummer. Oh well, I don't really have any trouble seeing at night so for now I'll go for style over function.

I think it's like a 100 lumen difference. I can't really tell either way. I may actually go with 5500 on the 540. Haven't decided yet.


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[auaq]

Go for it. I don't want to be alone with the only 5500 guy here.

I think it's like a 100 lumen difference. I can't really tell either way. I may actually go with 5500 on the 540. Haven't decided yet.


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[Cracker]

Glad to hear that blacknight530i's post(https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ghlight=hella) may HOPEFULLY get brought back to life.

Don't mean to threadjack, but got my full refresh done. New lenses(Helix which are DJAUTO), Hella G4 from blacknight530i(big thank you sir), metal tipped adjusters, 3M butyl window sealant(from rear vapor seal repair), and smoked ambers/corners.




I don't care too much for the chrome corners because I REALLY like the little side light and have not seen anyone smoke the ambers. Besides, the ones that came in the lenses were poorly chromed and had some light scratches. For the smoked ambers, I taped the outside and sprayed the inside with DURATRAX Polycarb Window Tint with 2 coats. Would have liked them to have not turned out so dark so may try again next winter on another set of ambers.