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Thread: e34 - opinions on custom headlight replacement

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    1992 BMW 535i

    e34 - opinions on custom headlight replacement

    Hey Everyone, I've been following this forum for years, but only recently got a 1992 BMW 535i. My BMW is definitely a project car (previous owner drifted it and Fed it up in so many ways I can't even explain). Due to this and my past work with project vehicles, I know I'll upset some of you in what I am doing. However, I would still like your opinions and advice on some changes I plan to make.


    The PO installed a set of aftermarket headlights with a sketchy HID kit for the low beams. The low beam connectors are literally just two wires with single female prongs that slip over the male prongs on the low beam connector on the headlight assembly (no plastic at all, and therefore randomly fall off when I'm driving on the crappy roads where I live). The PO also destroyed the low beam glass on the driver side during a drifting event, so for a temporary solution I just replaced it with a glass lens from a junk car. Summary: headlights and HIDs are crap.

    I've been toying with the idea of finding some motorcycle LED headlights and creating a mount for them on the e34. However, most motorcycle headlights are 7" in diameter and the e34 headlights are roughly 5.5" in diameter. So my question: Should I make something unique with the motorcycle headlights, or should I just buy replacement headlights and a new HID kit for my e34?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Neverland
    Posts
    1,834
    My Cars
    E34 525i
    Just buy replacement ones. For what it sounds like youre trying to do depo would be a lot higher quality.

    I will warn you, some HID kits can mess with the electronics. Heres a video of my HIDs messing with the tach, This was not the worst it would sometimes not go past 1k, and other times ever 1k rpm was a full revolution of the needle. Which is weird to see the needle stop, turn around full speed and keep going upwards as if it never stopped.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGSwqmXVEjE
    Fix was to do a relay installation. If youre handy with electrical bits its not hard at all to make yourself. Or just buy a premade one. Another thing youre gonna want to do is modify the LKM to remove error codes. Its a heck of a lot better than messing with relays.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    1992 BMW 535i
    Thanks for the info Hofmeister!

    Wow, thats a really strange issue to have with your tach just from installing HIDs! Luckily I started modding car electronics before I started learning about the mechanics, so I can just install a relay to switch on the HIDs instead of using the stock wiring.

    And yea, after thinking about the headlight replacement for a few months, I'm starting to lean towards just buying the depo headlights. However, I really want to see someone put LED motorcycle headlights into a BMW just to see what it looks like and how they function.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Japan
    Posts
    54,654
    My Cars
    11/88 E32 750iL+98 E36M3
    you can install LED conversion kits into the standard headlights, but you have to do some modifications on the CCM , LKM Modification For LED Exterior Lighting https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...3#post29998123
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    1992 BMW 535i
    Thanks for the info Shogun. I ended up buying new headlights for the e34, but haven't installed them yet. I'll definitely look into the thread to install the LED conversion kit, as I have those on my other cars and have found them much better than HIDs.

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