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Thread: Headlight date?

  1. #1
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    Headlight date?

    I got a another E39 and it has hella facelift lights. No surprise that the adjusters are broken. The 01 and some of the 02 were bakable. The date on mine looks like 10/2010, am I reading this right?

    headlight.jpg

    If they are 10/2010 I assume the only way to open is to cut the lens and get new lenses? I know it's possible to do without opening, but I'm planning on upgrading the projectors, so I need to open them anyway.

  2. #2
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    Yep, that's October 2010.
    I'd imagine it has to be cut.


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  3. #3
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    Even if the lenses are removable, I never do it. I go in from the back (no cutting either). There’s plenty of documentation out there on the process. Not quick at all first time you do it. I can do them about 20 mins per side now. I think first time was 4 hours each.

  4. #4
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    yeah, "ship in the bottle" adjuster replacement method is very doable.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by seagreen323i View Post
    Yep, that's October 2010.
    I'd imagine it has to be cut.


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    Thanks, that's what I thought.

    Quote Originally Posted by dtw View Post
    Even if the lenses are removable, I never do it. I go in from the back (no cutting either). There’s plenty of documentation out there on the process. Not quick at all first time you do it. I can do them about 20 mins per side now. I think first time was 4 hours each.
    I know it's possible to do without opening the lights. As I said I'm also looking to upgrade the projectors, which can't be done without opening the lights. Here we got a lot of hassards on the road, moose etc. They wander on the road in the dark. So I want more light that the stock lights can provide. I don't want a led bar, so bi-xenon + xenon on highbeams should do what I need.

  6. #6
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    I can tell you, xenon on high beams is pretty much unnecessary. The bi xenon is plenty bright.

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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spirit Force View Post


    I know it's possible to do without opening the lights. As I said I'm also looking to upgrade the projectors, which can't be done without opening the lights.
    Sorry, totally spaced on that. My bad.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by dtw View Post
    Sorry, totally spaced on that. My bad.
    No problem, it's good to know it's reasonably doable. I've read quite a few horror stories about that.

    Quote Originally Posted by seagreen323i View Post
    I can tell you, xenon on high beams is pretty much unnecessary. The bi xenon is plenty bright.

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    Granted, I haven't driven E39 with bi-xenons, but I've driven plenty of newer BMW's with factory bi-xenon and they don't have even nearly enough light output. E39 factory xenon + xenon on high beams leave much to be desired (EvoX-R claim to improve quite a bit over the stock). Here plenty of cars with bi-xenon run 50W-150W led bars. It all depends on what what kinds of roads you drive. Near artic circle winter ain't joke and neither is a 1000 lbs+ moose on the road.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spirit Force View Post
    No problem, it's good to know it's reasonably doable. I've read quite a few horror stories about that.



    Granted, I haven't driven E39 with bi-xenons, but I've driven plenty of newer BMW's with factory bi-xenon and they don't have even nearly enough light output. E39 factory xenon + xenon on high beams leave much to be desired (EvoX-R claim to improve quite a bit over the stock). Here plenty of cars with bi-xenon run 50W-150W led bars. It all depends on what what kinds of roads you drive. Near artic circle winter ain't joke and neither is a 1000 lbs+ moose on the road.
    I live in the southern mountain chain. Very dark here at night basically no lights on the mountain. I have personally done the Evo xr 2.0 retrofit and it is very nice. Biggest thing for me was actually the led projector fog lights, they shine so far off of the side of the road and pretty far away it helps to see fallen rocks or small animals.

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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by seagreen323i View Post
    I live in the southern mountain chain. Very dark here at night basically no lights on the mountain. I have personally done the Evo xr 2.0 retrofit and it is very nice. Biggest thing for me was actually the led projector fog lights, they shine so far off of the side of the road and pretty far away it helps to see fallen rocks or small animals.

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    Here it's illegal to use fogs if it ain't foggy or snowy and for a good reason. At least the stock fogs create bright spot close the car and make it harder to see farther ahead. On icy roads there is pretty much nothing you can do if you see a animal 100 feet ahead while cruising at 60. On twisty mountainroads it might be different, but I want to see as far ahead as possible. I don't drive on twisty mountain roads. I use front fogs only couple times a year.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spirit Force View Post
    Here it's illegal to use fogs if it ain't foggy or snowy and for a good reason. At least the stock fogs create bright spot close the car and make it harder to see farther ahead. On icy roads there is pretty much nothing you can do if you see a animal 100 feet ahead while cruising at 60. On twisty mountainroads it might be different, but I want to see as far ahead as possible. I don't drive on twisty mountain roads. I use front fogs only couple times a year.
    Sounds like you want a very concentrated hot spot, the evox-r 2.0 projectors are only rated for 35w from what I know. Pretty sure it says exceeding 35w is at your own risk. I'd keep the Evox-r 2.0 projectors in the stock low beam location, this will provide plenty of light for low beam situations and the added bi xenon is a nice benefit.

    Moromoto makes a led projector that has the bulbs built in so it's a proper setup as opposed to just an led plopped into an hid housing. The issue with hid lights is the warm up time and the massive voltage require to ignite the bulb. That is what primarily wears out the bulb/ballast, the switching on not the running.

    Since the lenses in the high beam location will not be utilized unless the high beams are switched on (or else you will have dual beams and if fog lights are illegal where you are id bet that is too) they will turn on and off going through an entire startup cycle every time you flip that switch. You are going to eat through rather expensive hid bulbs and you would have to wire in a 2nd ballast requiring most likely wiring upgrades and all, that's implying that the stock high beam relay can handle the increased current. Led's don't suffer such drawbacks.

    If you are deadset on putting dual projector lights on your e39 the morimoto mini hb led is a led highbeam only projector that will slip through the stock bulb hole on the lens (maybe a little trimming required) and is retained with a coller nut. It is specifically designed for what you wanna do. They are 133$ in the states so not sure what they would be for you but that seems like a really good fit for what you want. Doesn't need ballasts because all the led control is on a board built into the projector, fits relatively easily, won't suffer from reduced life like an hid, and super bright.

    I'll take measurements of the highbeam bulb opening and see what the diameter of the threaded mounting rod on that projector is and update this thread if it fits.


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    Last edited by seagreen323i; 12-02-2022 at 12:52 PM.

  12. #12
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    The hole for the headlight is approx. 20mm. (Hard to get a caliper in there for a perfect measurement but I got 20.3mm) the threaded rod on the moromoto led high beams is 20mm exactly. Should fit like a glove.

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  13. #13
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    I retrofitted the EvoX-R 2.0's about a year ago and the stock reflector high beam becomes almost a cosmetic extra light only. The bixenon high is so good that having anything else is completely unnecessary. In fact, you often see modded E39s with painted reflectors or covers on them for aesthetic reasons. I second Seagreen's suggestion of keeping it to 35w. There's no need to go beyond that. You can get the best D2S bulbs you can find and you'll recoup some of the "lost" brightness vs a 55w kit, but without the extra heat and wear.

    Quote Originally Posted by seagreen323i View Post
    Biggest thing for me was actually the led projector fog lights, they shine so far off of the side of the road and pretty far away it helps to see fallen rocks or small animals.
    Are those fogs custom made by somebody or did you do the whole retrofit yourself? What projector did you use? I may be interested in doing something like that.
    Resident Third World Country Advisor

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by crdiscoverer View Post
    I retrofitted the EvoX-R 2.0's about a year ago and the stock reflector high beam becomes almost a cosmetic extra light only. The bixenon high is so good that having anything else is completely unnecessary. In fact, you often see modded E39s with painted reflectors or covers on them for aesthetic reasons. I second Seagreen's suggestion of keeping it to 35w. There's no need to go beyond that. You can get the best D2S bulbs you can find and you'll recoup some of the "lost" brightness vs a 55w kit, but without the extra heat and wear.

    Are those fogs custom made by somebody or did you do the whole retrofit yourself? What projector did you use? I may be interested in doing something like that.
    Morimoto retrofit fog lights. Only make them for the m5 style bumper though.

  15. #15
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    bummer. I'm looking at fog light retrofits now myself.

  16. #16
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    Yup, same. Now I'm thinking about getting those mini projectors and fitting them inside the pre-facelift fog lights that I have. The problem is that a fog light beam pattern is very specific to that application.
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