Halogen to Xenon Conversion

M

mintstuff

Member
Rugby
I have recently upgraded by headlights from halogen projectors to Xenon projectors.

Originally my belief was that if you has projector headlights an HID kit wouldn't cause glare.
After purchasing and fitting a slim 50w set from HIDS Direct for £75 (inc error cancellers) (http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/hid-conversion-kits-slim-50w/h1h3h7h1190059006-hid-kits/50w-slim-single-beam-hid-conversion-kits-p-457.html) I was unhappy with the level of glare being emitted.
Glare before (glare looks worse in the photo than actual)


After reading about the subject I found that the ribbed lens fitted as standard to the halogen projectors could be the culprit..

Ribbed Lens (original halogen)



Following a extensive search on the internet, I could only find one seller on Ebay providing just the xenon lenses that could be used with my exisiting headlight. These cost around £55 after shipping from the US. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380159795403&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fmotors.shop.ebay.com%3A80%2F__%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm39%26_nkw%3D380159795403%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1)
24/09/2013 ADDED:-
Item title: 3" HID Clear Lenses BMW E65 E60 E39 Z4 Xenon Projectors
Item number: 380159795403
Seller User ID: oem_xenon_parts (I can't find this seller on eBay)
$44.98 per item
$35.00 shipping/handling
$79.98 = Total

Upon fitting the clear lenses I also took the opporunity to put the projectors into LHD mode which prevents the 'kick up' often seen on non-xenon cars. This will then provide a crisp horizontal cutoff line.

Internal cutoff inside halogen light


Halogen projector unit


Here is a few shots of the car with the new clear lens fitted into the LHS(of image)/passenger/nearside...

Cutoff LHS Clear lens RHS Ribbed Lens


Cutoff LHS Clear lens only


Cutoff RHS Ribbed lens only


Glare before (glare looks worse in the photo than actual)


Glare after (glare looks worse in the photo than actual)


Flare around LHS light from ribbed lens


I am aware that my setup is still not legal, but I believe that I have done alot to make it safer and have less of an impact on other road users.
The only thing I am missing is the dynamic headlight levelling system that required sensors attached to the suspension system.
So for £125 or £100 if you live in the US, you can have a xenon equipped car that doesn't annoy everyone on the road. Enjoy!
 
Looks good.

Where did you fit the ballasts for these? Any pics?

Possible to fit it inside where the access panel for the headlight bulb is?



Cheers
 
J4YMO said:
Looks good.

Where did you fit the ballasts for these? Any pics?

Possible to fit it inside where the access panel for the headlight bulb is?



Cheers
Click to expand...
Ballasts are slimline and fitted inside the headlight itself. The anti-flicker capacitors and all other wiring is also inside, therefore no need to drill the back of the headlight cover and risk condensation!
Haven't got any photos of inside the headlight. It's not the tidiest installation due to the length of the wires, but it all fits in.
 
Thanks - sounds like a neat install if all wiring and the ballasts are in the headlight removing the need to drill.

Think im going to have to get these HID's ordered this week!
 
That's a neat piece of work to address one of my pet hates of simply shoving a xenon bulb in a halogen fitment and claiming all is good.

Good solution :thumbsup:

Interested in the ribbed halogen though as I've taken at least a dozen halogen (and xenon) to bits and never seen a ribbed lens.
 
That's very interesting, especially as I have a HIDS Direct 50w kit myself. Thanks for posting :)

I've not had any negative reactions from other motorists and my Z4 just passed it's MOT on Monday with them fitted, so I'm not too sure mine are causing any glare. Someone on the z4-forum Skye trip did mention someone had quite bright lights but it was never traced back to me :D

I'll certainly have a look at my lenses though for the ribbed effect first.
 
I am also keen to upgrade mine but not keen to do it myself

Doing some google trawling ive found a number of companies that provide the service - email from www.bettercarlighting.co.uk detailed below

Any comments on the hardware or the fitter?


Hi Richard, and ;thank you for the email. We offer three levels of conversion for the Z4.
Level 1. Upgrade dipped beam only to HID Xenon 6000 Kelvin (factory Spec.) £299. 99
Level 2. Upgrade as above, plus change bulbs on high/main beam to
white light, high performance units. £349. 99
Level 3. Upgrade both dipped and main beams to HID Xenon. £499. 99

All three carry a 2 years parts and labour warrantly and we are insurance approved installers with a £5,000,000. 00 insurance policy for modifying cars. In all 3 cases, we upgrade the front sidelights to white light units free of charge.

Calll me if you want to take it further. If you can't get us on the land line, my mobile number is xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Best regards,
Gil Keane
 
Ranksi, seriously they're fool-proof to fit - any idiot could do it (even I managed :D). You should manage to fit them yourself and save a couple of hundred quid. The HIDs Direct ones seem to have the best rep and are only £75 or so.
 
Mintstuff

Ordered the same hid kit that you had in the link above. It arrived today but comes with no instructions. Did yours? Or is it easy to work out once I'm inside the headlight?!

Cheers
 
a11y said:
Ranksi, seriously they're fool-proof to fit - any idiot could do it (even I managed :D). You should manage to fit them yourself and save a couple of hundred quid. The HIDs Direct ones seem to have the best rep and are only £75 or so.
Click to expand...

I don’t have the garage space for such a job (shared drive etc) nor the time or skill for any potential problems

No worries though as I paid a visit to http://www.conrad-anderson.co.uk/ today for them to look over the car and to run me through the process. All seems good and they seem a good outfit (They do various motor shows and they had a number of marques there + a huge Winnebago that was having cruise control and some TV's/DVD’s fitted)

I drop it off a week on Monday and they will fit the xenon's (6000w as they looked very white on the comparison he showed me) Costing me £150 for the labour which I’m happy with for piece of mind.

Will feedback with pre and post pics
 
Will it be okay to fit my ballasts inside the headlight casing as it says in the manual that they get hot? What's the best thing to attach the ballasts to the casing? Double sided tape or cable ties?

Has anyone got some pictures of their installation?

M
 
Exactmax said:
Will it be okay to fit my ballasts inside the headlight casing as it says in the manual that they get hot? What's the best thing to attach the ballasts to the casing? Double sided tape or cable ties?

Has anyone got some pictures of their installation?

M
Click to expand...

Not had any issues with overheating.

I have fitted the ballast on the vertical surface towards the radiator grills (as shown in red on diag from RealOEM). This is a relatively large surface area that is not linked to the levelling system movement
 
I have just installed my HID Kit and the difference is amazing. Anyone thinking of buying a kit, I would recommend them. Easy to install and soo much brighter - one happy customer :D :D
 
Found this company based in China that do the lenses also. They also have 80mm CCFL AE's...
http://www.auto-electronic.net/projector-clear-lenses.htm
Not sure on price, but my bet is that eBayer from the US sources them from this or a similar Chinese company.
 
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