Headlight colours

S

saseinlinie

Member
Hi,

Far as I can find on Google, there are 2 types of headlights for the Z4, ones with black insides, and ones with grey insides. But I am not sure that it's not just the internet pictures showing the colours in the wrong way. For example, these ones look black on the inside:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E85-HALOGEN-HEADLAMP-RIGHT-Z4-2003-05-3-0i-2006-08-OEM-HELLA-63127165678/201961068891?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

But these ones look like the headlights I have:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E85-Z4-Convertible-Passenger-Side-Headlight-Halogen-OEM-1EL-247-000-32-06-08/302528567001?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Does anyone know if these are actually different types of headlights, or is it just one type, and the problem is the pictures.

I need to buy a new headlight, but don't want to order the wrong part.

Thanks.
 
Found this out last week, earlier 2.0 & 2.5 cars had black inside, later had silver. I think that is right. I am sure I will corrected if not. There are threads on here going into detail about it somewhere.
 
Paulr said:
Found this out last week, earlier 2.0 & 2.5 cars had black inside, later had silver. I think that is right. I am sure I will corrected if not. There are threads on here going into detail about it somewhere.
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all 3.0 cars and Z4M cars had chrome/silver inners , all 2.0/2.2/2.5 cars had black inners, regardless of pre/post facelift
 
jamie_z4 said:
Paulr said:
Found this out last week, earlier 2.0 & 2.5 cars had black inside, later had silver. I think that is right. I am sure I will corrected if not. There are threads on here going into detail about it somewhere.
Click to expand...

all 3.0 cars and Z4M cars had chrome/silver inners , all 2.0/2.2/2.5 cars had black inners, regardless of pre/post facelift
Click to expand...

Knew someone would be along to explain! Ta!
 
There are actually 8 different combinations;

Pre-facelift, orange indicators, black inners - Halogen
Pre-facelift, orange indicators, black inners - Xenon
Pre-facelift, orange indicators, silver inners - Halogen
Pre-facelift, orange indicators, silver inners - Xenon

Post facelift, white indicators, black inners - Halogen
Post facelift, white indicators, black inners - BiXenon
Post facelift, white indicators, silver inners - Halogen
Post facelift, white indicators, silver inners - BiXenon

Black inners for the smaller engined cars, silver for the 3.0/3.2

Mike
 
Ducklakeview said:
There are actually 8 different combinations;

Pre-facelift, orange indicators, black inners - Halogen
Pre-facelift, orange indicators, black inners - Xenon
Pre-facelift, orange indicators, silver inners - Halogen
Pre-facelift, orange indicators, silver inners - Xenon

Post facelift, white indicators, black inners - Halogen
Post facelift, white indicators, black inners - BiXenon
Post facelift, white indicators, silver inners - Halogen
Post facelift, white indicators, silver inners - BiXenon

Black inners for the smaller engined cars, silver for the 3.0/3.2

Mike
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Interesting stuff, Mike. You really need to get a life sorted though.... :P
 
Lol - What makes it a pain, is if you are looking for a replacement, there are sixteen variants to choose from in total, which makes searching for one a nightmare as most people selling them don't accurately describe them.

Mike
 
Wow great info !

Sorry if that's cheeky, but any part numbers available :)) ?

I like the look(in pictures) of the black ones more, why were these fitted to the "cheaper" cars ? Do they look crappy in real life ? Never seen them up close.
 
Be careful OP as there are all the pre and post facelift colour/indicator/xenon/halogen combos listed above plus euro spec left hand drive and US/Canada spec left hand drive (different to the euro ones) on top of the right hand drive UK stuff.
You might think that there's only going to be UK spec stuff on the likes on ebay.co. uk but I've seen both US and euro ones on there in the past.

The best bet is to check part numbers on realoem.
 
MACK said:
Be careful OP as there are all the pre and post facelift colour/indicator/xenon/halogen combos listed above plus euro spec left hand drive and US/Canada spec left hand drive (different to the euro ones) on top of the right hand drive UK stuff.
You might think that there's only going to be UK spec stuff on the likes on ebay.co. uk but I've seen both US and euro ones on there in the past.

The best bet is to check part numbers on realoem.
Click to expand...
Euro spec ones don't matter though. You can switch them from ldh to rhd anyway. My xenon ones do anyway.
 
Monkeydonkeyratmagic said:
MACK said:
Be careful OP as there are all the pre and post facelift colour/indicator/xenon/halogen combos listed above plus euro spec left hand drive and US/Canada spec left hand drive (different to the euro ones) on top of the right hand drive UK stuff.
You might think that there's only going to be UK spec stuff on the likes on ebay.co. uk but I've seen both US and euro ones on there in the past.

The best bet is to check part numbers on realoem.
Click to expand...
Euro spec ones don't matter though. You can switch them from ldh to rhd anyway. My xenon ones do anyway.
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Sort of... You can use the lever to eliminate the "flick up" to the side, making the beam flat. But it's not the same, you will reduce illumination to the nearside.

Mike
 
saseinlinie said:
Wow great info !

Sorry if that's cheeky, but any part numbers available :)) ?

I like the look(in pictures) of the black ones more, why were these fitted to the "cheaper" cars ? Do they look crappy in real life ? Never seen them up close.
Click to expand...

OP Why do you need a new light? don't think you've actually said, apologises if i miseed it. The reason I ask is that if its just a case of some broken mounting lugs there's a kit for about a tenner to repair/replace these from bmw.
Colour wise my preference is silver inners on most colours, but that said the black looks pretty good on both silver and black cars. I Don't think it looks cheap, just that the silver looks nicer. That said I also prefer the titanium grill slats where others prefer the black ones or the full black grill look.
 
Condensation ruined the interior of my right headlight(LHD car).

I definitely like the look of the black headlights more(car is black also), so if they don't look bad in reality, I might just order 2 new black ones.
 
saseinlinie said:
Condensation ruined the interior of my right headlight(LHD car).

I definitely like the look of the black headlights more(car is black also), so if they don't look bad in reality, I might just order 2 new black ones.
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New ones aren't cheap at all. You might be better trying to find some good used ones. Is yours a pre or post car? Are you looking for clear or orange indicators and are you looking for xenon or halogen? All of these factors have an impact on price and availability.
 
Scooba_Steve said:
Or get an aftermarket set e.g. SONAR/2xcite
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Having had experience of the Sonar/Excite one's, I wouldn't - Build quality is awful, they have wires coming out from different places all over the rear, sealed with cheap plastic grommets. The angel eyes in them are dismally dim, and the beam pattern from the projectors is awful..

Just my experience..

Mike
 
Ducklakeview said:
Scooba_Steve said:
Or get an aftermarket set e.g. SONAR/2xcite
Click to expand...

Having had experience of the Sonar/Excite one's, I wouldn't - Build quality is awful, they have wires coming out from different places all over the rear, sealed with cheap plastic grommets. The angel evey in them are dismally dim, and the beam pattern from the projectors is awful..

Just my experience..

Mike
Click to expand...

And knowing all that you sold em to me...

Worracunt
 
jamie_z4 said:
Ducklakeview said:
Scooba_Steve said:
Or get an aftermarket set e.g. SONAR/2xcite
Click to expand...

Having had experience of the Sonar/Excite one's, I wouldn't - Build quality is awful, they have wires coming out from different places all over the rear, sealed with cheap plastic grommets. The angel evey in them are dismally dim, and the beam pattern from the projectors is awful..

Just my experience..

Mike
Click to expand...

And knowing all that you sold em to me...

Worracunt
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Lol, you wanted the awful things, mind you - They were probably better than the ones I removed from yours!

Anyway, you swapped them for a set of facelift ones, so you made on that!!!!

All I can say, is that it's a good job the diesel Zed doesn't venture out at night, mind you people may not see it coming, but they will HEAR it :)

Mike
 
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