1999 Halogen -> 2002 Hella Xenon Angel Eyes - search results are not helpful

[pyite69]

Sorry if this question has been covered a billion times already, but there are too many different ways to do this.

I spent some time trying to find the best way to put my 2002 M5 headlights into the 1999 540i, but I haven't found the right instructions. Either they only talk about a xenon to xenon AE change, or how to un-glue the halogen lights to insert LEDs.

From what I can tell, there are two steps to this:

1) Halogen -> Xenon, which means different connectors and finding a way to power the ballast. One video implied that you can just plug the normal headlight connector into the ballast and then plug the ballast into the Xenon light, is this true?

2) Xenon ->AE which means finding another power source for the ring and another connector.

Can I just cut the pigtails for all of these connectors from the donor M5 wiring harness and solder them onto the existing wires, replacing the halogen connectors? One of the videos implied this. Most instructions talk about wiring to the DME and also running wires to the junction box under the passenger seat.

What is the basic procedure? Is any coding required?

Thank you!

[MotorMouth93]

IIRC your car will have a 9006 connector on the body harness which will plug right into a Hella gen3 ballast which is what came on the HID-equipped E39s. (and is arguably still the best HID ballast even 25 years later) So no need for cutting anything there. The high beams use a 9005 bulb on both the old and new lights, so just plug that right in too.

The troubles start with the corner turn signal lights, but fortunately BMW has you covered with 63120025499 which is an adapter harness to let you plug in the old style body harness to the new headlight turn signal.

The tricky part though is this harness only gives you the turn signal connector for the new lights, but not the running light connector which we need to power the angel eyes. For that you'll have to splice into the looped wire to power the angel eye, then splice the other angel eye into the ground wire used by the turn signal.

Here's a picture of wiring up my xenon facelift lights into my MY2000 car. The adapter harness at the bottom right is what I'm talking about, sadly I don't have any better photos on hand. The grey plug is to the angel eyes but your plug will be different for stock angel eyes compared to these aftermarket LED rings.

[pyite69]

OMG you're my hero, thank you.

This shouldn't be too difficult. Plus I drive a BMW so I don't really need turn signals

[jicaino]

You also need a different headlight bracket (plastic piece that bolts to the front radiator support) which is not an electrical part but will make your headlight able to mount to your car. I will snap a picture foe you later today or tomorrow so you can see the difference

[pyite69]

different headlight bracket

Thanks, no need to send a photo. I should still have the M5 donor versions around here somewhere.

[pyite69]

I'm starting out by plugging the ballasts into the low beam connectors in the 1999 halogen car to make sure they work. Manufacture date is 9/8/1998.

Unfortunately the plugs fit but the lights don't light up. If I plug the xenon ballasts into the non-AE Xenon M5, they work fine.

Is there something I need to do for the low beams to work other than just plug them in?

I understand that I'll need to do a bit of coding to remove an error or two, but I want to make sure the lights will work before doing the coding.

[MotorMouth93]

Are your HID bulbs new? Do you know the bulbs are good? Does the ballast make any sort of noises when you turn the lights on?

Have you tested the ballasts out of the car by hooking them up to the battery or another 12V source? If you reverse the power terminals does it work? Since incandescent bulbs don't care about polarity some manufacturers will have it wired backwards and ballasts won't work without reversing the terminals.

[pyite69]

Yes, they work fine plugged into the M5, and the halogen lights all work fine.

Next I'll check the polarity and listen for any strange noises.

[TexasTouring]

Note that tourings weirdly have slightly different headlight wiring than sedans. I don't recall all the details but it was enough for me to abandon putting LCI headlights in my '99 540 that came with halogens. I put in pre-LCI xenons which worked great. Kinda ugly but they suit the car and provide great light.

[MotorMouth93]

If the HIDs worked in another car, and the incandescents work in your car, I'm willing to bet its the polarity of the connector.

[BimmerBreaker]

Note that tourings weirdly have slightly different headlight wiring than sedans. I don't recall all the details but it was enough for me to abandon putting LCI headlights in my '99 540 that came with halogens. I put in pre-LCI xenons which worked great. Kinda ugly but they suit the car and provide great light.

What is different about touring headlights...?

[TexasTouring]

What is different about touring headlights...?

the headlights are the same, but the wiring on pre-lci tourings doesn't allow splicing in of the headlight rings on the LCI headlights (something about only having two wires in one of the harnesses instead of three) so you have to run a separate source of switched power.