Headlight Compatibility

[nickpapa]

might be able to get a pair of headlights for cheap and am wondering if it's a straight swap or not.

i currently have halogens with the orange hockey sticks and the lights i am looking at are also halogens but have clear hockey sticks (from an 05 3.0). I was wondering if these would be plug and play?

From this (prefacelift halogen):

To this (also prefacelift halogen):

 

[cj10jeeper]

Pre facelift to prefacelift halogen to halogen is the perfect straight swap. You've hit on the easiest way to do the job

 

[nickpapa]

thanks c10jeeper, you are the man!

 

[cj10jeeper]

Thanks
I suppose I should add the caveat that I assume the new lights are UK too. I've seen people import and wonder why they are different. US wiring, running lights, EU LHD and different beam patterns, etc.

Never know where people source from when stating 'I may be able to get some cheap'

 

[nickpapa]

good point. luckily a buddy works in the parts dept at the dealership so i will be getting them at his price which is almost half of what list is

 

[cj10jeeper]

Perfect

 

[m44rrt]

Pickup an extra set for me.....
Martin

 

[sideshowbob]

and me!!!

 

[AlanJ]

and me!!!

Group purchase.......

 

[peddy]

and me!!!

Group purchase.......

X2

 

[cj10jeeper]

I'm sure you'll find employees of dealerships are allowed a limited number / value of spend on parts for their personal and perhaps immediate family use.

Nice try

 

[Taz]

good point. luckily a buddy works in the parts dept at the dealership so i will be getting them at his price which is almost half of what list is

what else can he get, i can see lots of profit margin for you hehe

 

[Taz]

order me cruise control kit and sat nav upgrade hehe

 

[AlanJ]

I'm sure you'll find employees of dealerships are allowed a limited number / value of spend on parts for their personal and perhaps immediate family use.

Nice try

Oh you pessimist you.......

 

[peddy]

I'm sure you'll find employees of dealerships are allowed a limited number / value of spend on parts for their personal and perhaps immediate family use.

Nice try

nickpapa, has your mate ever considered adoption...?

 

[nickpapa]

haha sorry guys, i dont think i'll be able to do that lol i would love to but even i feel a bit shy to ask him for parts all the time. someone on here needs to get a part time job in parts on the weekends and help everyone out! (and also make a profit!)

 

[nickpapa]

i just wanted to follow up with some info since i just swapped in the new headlights.

all went well and they look great! althought i did run into 1 issue.

on the 2003 headlights, there are 2 blinker bulbs. 1 underneath the highbeam and the other underneath the lowbeam. but when they blink the whole hockey stick lights up because there is a reflector to send the light upwards to the outside of the light (by the fender). on the 2005 headlights, since there is no orange reflector, bmw put an extra bulb in that spot to compensate.

so when i swapped my lights over, i noticed that the harness on the new headlights had 1 extra prong compared to my old headlights. when i connected it, i noticed that the one blinker bulb was not lighting up with the parking lights/blinkers. so i ended up having to tap into the wires of a working blinker bulb and now the third blinker bulb lights up and blinks just like the others

just wanted to give an update in case anyone decides to swap theirs out and runs into this problem. thanks!

 

[ZermattV]

i just wanted to follow up with some info since i just swapped in the new headlights.

all went well and they look great! althought i did run into 1 issue.

on the 2003 headlights, there are 2 blinker bulbs. 1 underneath the highbeam and the other underneath the lowbeam. but when they blink the whole hockey stick lights up because there is a reflector to send the light upwards to the outside of the light (by the fender). on the 2005 headlights, since there is no orange reflector, bmw put an extra bulb in that spot to compensate.

so when i swapped my lights over, i noticed that the harness on the new headlights had 1 extra prong compared to my old headlights. when i connected it, i noticed that the one blinker bulb was not lighting up with the parking lights/blinkers. so i ended up having to tap into the wires of a working blinker bulb and now the third blinker bulb lights up and blinks just like the others

just wanted to give an update in case anyone decides to swap theirs out and runs into this problem. thanks!

.... sugar any one know how you do this tap ? ..... lights arriving in the morning .. bought pre facelift to get round any compatability problems but looks like there is oneissue to resolve ? - edited problem solved UK lights are different to US ones in this regard -see post below.

 

[Aebous]

Yeah I'm interested as well. I have one ordered going from orange to clear blinker. Working on the other one. Thanks CJ for mentioning the UK/US differences. I was about to start trying to source UK ebay. Not to derail thread, but shouldn't it be just a matter of positioning of the beam for UK vs US halogen housings?

 

[cj10jeeper]

Yeah I'm interested as well. I have one ordered going from orange to clear blinker. Working on the other one. Thanks CJ for mentioning the UK/US differences. I was about to start trying to source UK ebay. Not to derail thread, but shouldn't it be just a matter of positioning of the beam for UK vs US halogen housings?

Aebous US lights are different in many ways. UK beams cut horizontal and up to the left. US don't do this and thee is no facility to crete it. US lights don't have internal levers for left hand driving either as of course they are set that way. They also have different circuitry and components such as UK has sidelights below the inner halogen. Can't recall al the differnces but they make good sacrificial units for the lenses and clear indicators.