Xenon Light Upgrade

[AlexMullett]

Hi all,

My 2004 3.0i that I have just purchased I believe has non Xenon lights (pic below) as inside I have the light height adjuster toggle next to the instrument one, having driven it on a few wet, dark evenings this week iv been abit disappointed by how dim the lights are, particularly the dipped beams. Having looked at a number of forum posts I can see that Im not the only one who finds this. Assuming these are not Xenons, presumably I can just swap the bulbs out like normal for brighter versions? Cheers

 

[smorris_12]

I replaced the fireflies in jars that came in mine with a set of Bevinsee 6500 lumen LED replacements and they are amazing. They've been through 3 MOTs without bother and I've never been flashed so no problems there.

Maybe I should have gone for something a bit less powerful as I've only recently found they're far brighter than the standard fit Xenons in my X5 (nominally 3500 lumen) but I actually find those slightly disappointing by comparison. So I'll be keeping them.

 

[caius]

I upgraded mine to HID/Xenons with a retrofit kit, more details at https://z4-forum.com/threads/h7-bulb-upgrades-what-you-got.149506/#post-2101855

LEDs are much easier/cheaper to fit though, and I ran a cheap/crap set for a couple of years on the previous car without being too annoyed by them.

 

[AlexMullett]

ok thanks good to know, ill have a look into the above, did you find the LED bulbs fitted or were some mods required? I note that some of the more powerful LED ones have a large section on the rear( see below) and would be good to know if these are plug and play? Cheers

 

[smorris_12]

I've got two different sets, one with a separate driver board, one integral (low beam and high beam.) If I did it again, I'd find the all-in-one units like your pic as they were a straight drop in. The large rear section is a heatsink for cooling. I think one pair of mine have fans on them too.

The ones with the separate driver were a pain as it's hard to mount it securely inside the headlight - partly there's nowhere to attach it, partly limited access. I also had to get a set of adapter rings (thin metal things) for them to clamp them properly. Not sure why as they were nominally H7 anyway. The high beam ones went straight in.

 

[kis]

FYI, if that's your car. The 3.0i was supplied with silver internals from factory.
i.e. yours look like they've been replaced.