Hello everyone,
Recently one of my friends acquired the front grill and headlights to a 1990 E30 325i and has given it to me. He wants me to turn it into an art piece that he can mount on his wall. Unfortunately I do not have much experience with wiring, especially car headlights. I’m trying to get some information on if this is possible and if so how to do it. The end goal is to have all four lights plug-in to a 120 V home outlet. They don’t need to be the full brightness but just be used for effect.
Let me know if anyone can help. Thank you!
Well for starters I think you'll need a 120VAC to 12VDC power supply. Then it should be as simple as wiring up the headlights. I've never owned an E30 but I'm p sure you you just need the a proper gauged wire from +12V going to the low beam terminal and the other to ground. Wire them up in in series and put an inline fuse that has the same rating as the one found in an E30.
I have the same E30 grill awaiting a similar treatment. If sealed beam auto headlights you'll need a pretty hearty transformer as they draw significant current. If you are using lights with replaceable bulbs you could substitute much lower wattage(probably desirable indoors) or LEDs and get away with an inexpensive transformer.
Also curious to see the result as I've been too lazy to do mine.
Last edited by ross1; 10-08-2020 at 02:49 PM.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
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