2003 3.0i SE - New Headlights

[WBCZ4]

Hi all,

Hope you are enjoying the weekend

Hoping you can help. All being well, I’m planning to buy a 2003 3.0i SE next weekend and one of the things I will want to do quite quickly is swap out the headlights.

I don’t like the look of the orange indicator lenses. I’ve read on the forum that you can swap the lenses but if it’s not crazy expensive, I’ll likely switch out the units.

Having a search, forum members have suggested it’s a bit of a minefield knowing what you have and what you can swap out to.

How would I determine which light cluster I have? Will there be a S/N or reference I can use??

Edit: Just to add, I won’t be looking to ‘upgrade’ the lights units but to replace with the equivalent that have clear indicator lenses.

Thanks in advance

[StudioWizard]

I just bought used ones on Ebay with black trim and orange (amber) turn signals. I actually quite like the color combination on a black Z, but I digress.... Brand new ones are quite expensive, at least in the US. The cheapest I found was the ECS for about $680 USD for the left side and about $950 for the right side. I'm not sure why the price difference except that ECS told me the right ones are more in-demand for some reason.

Amazon has started carrying the Hella ones, but so far I've only seen the right side and it was black trim with amber, so no good for you.

If you buy used ones on Ebay, expect the internal Xenon projector lenses to be a bit cloudy. Every one I tried from Ebay had this problem. There could also be dust particles on the internal trim. The good news is that it's not that hard to clean them up if you're careful and patient.

If you don't mind spending close to $2k USD for new ones, that's the way to go. The new ones don't come with bulbs or ballasts, so you'll have to buy new or steal from yours. But then when you sell yours, you'll be selling a disadvantaged set. One other little horribly irritating detail about the new ones: since you'd have to buy a new ballast, the new ballasts DO NOT come with the screws and neither do the headlight assemblies. It's such a drag! haha

I hope that all helps!

[StudioWizard]

Oh, also, you can go to realoem.com and enter your VIN. It should give you the part #s you need. That being said, I have a list of the part numbers that are compatible for 2003-2006 (and maybe 2008 - that's still confusing).

BMW OEM Bi-Xenon Headlight Assemblies
This is the premium lighting setup.
Left Amber: 63127165701
Right Amber: 63127165702
Left White: 63127165713
Right White: 63127165714

Hella OEM Bi-Xenon Headlight Assemblies
Left Amber Hella 247001551
Right Amber Hella 247001561
Left White Hella 247001451
Right White - Hella 247001461

[WBCZ4]

Thanks for the response, really appreciated

[Z4Mariner]

StudioWizard, thanks for sharing your list of part numbers. I'm planning to fit my '06 coupe with black headlight assemblies & clear parking lenses, but retain xenon. That may mean either aftermarket headlights or converting halogen to xenon. I'm not sure US LCI cars ever came with black buckets, clear parking lenses, and xenon lights.

[StudioWizard]

StudioWizard, thanks for sharing your list of part numbers. I'm planning to fit my '06 coupe with black headlight assemblies & clear parking lenses, but retain xenon. That may mean either aftermarket headlights or converting halogen to xenon. I'm not sure US LCI cars ever came with black buckets, clear parking lenses, and xenon lights.

My car originally had xenon with black trim and clear turn signals. The previous owner threw them away because they were leaking. Yes, he THREW THEM AWAY!! I didn't know much about these lights then, especially their value and ability to be fairly easily repaired. He then put in aftermarket halogen headlights.... I had lots of work to do! haha

Pretty much all of the aftermarket headlight assemblies for e85/86 are halogen. They're either factory halogen direct replacements or factory xenon to halogen conversions. I spoke with Spyder directly and they told me their headlights are often mis-advertised as being xenon, but in fact they are ALL conversions.

If your car already has xenons, I'd keep them. If your car has halogens already, it's possible upgrade to xenon, but it's some real work because you have to install leveling sensors, get a new LCM and then code it in. I think if your car already has halogens, it might be worth putting in aftermarket ones ONLY if you can maybe get brighter bulbs. The halogens are pretty dim these days.