Upgrading OEM HID Headlights, what are the options available??

[bmw m3 s50]

Hey

I am thinking of upgrading my OEM Bi-xenon HID headlights. I have read members here rebuilding headlights by replacing projectors and even upgrading to 55w ballasts. I am basically looking for more light output at night. It seems like the OEM setup is not up to par compared to newer systems out there.

I know lightwerkz offers upgrades by replacing the headlight projectors. Anyone here have their setup? What the the opinions on the setups they sell? Any other options available for the e46?

Would like to hear some reviews and experiences on this topic.

[stephen]

I’d recommend starting with a bulb replacement. If your projector bowls aren’t burned you might be satisfied with just a bulb replacement and you’ll want new bulbs if you end up switching projectors anyway. I had Osram Xenarc Night Breaker Laser bulbs (bit of a mouthful) in my last E46 and they made a huge difference in light output.

[nuc1]

E46 M3s with non-ZKW headlights (which is all of them as far as I know), do not have issues with burnt bowls. That being said, running a 55W ballast would not be a good idea in the long run.
Currently I run Osram CBB (5500-ish Kelvin bulbs with ZKW-R lenses (non-fresnel lens). Stock ballasts and igniters (21 years old). Much improved lighting. Also have Morimoto LED fog lights that match the CBB’s pretty well.
Compared to my Tundra (RX350 projectors w/ CBBs, Morinoto mini HB dedicated high beam and Morimoto fog lights), the main difference is distance (more for the Tundra), hotspot (better on the Tundra) and a much less well-defined cutoff (which can be good or bad depending on what you want).
if you really want some extra light, check out the retrofitsource.com and/or lightwerks.com. Both are trusted names in the retrofit hobby. Caesar is the owner of Lightwerks. Standup guy. I *believe* he sells a bracket to mount G5R projectors to the e46 Bosch/Al OE projectors. You could also check out the FB group headlightjunkies. Lots of info there.

Edit:
And I agree with poster above: swapping in a new set of bulbs is the easiest and best bang for the buck. They aren’t cheap, though. You would need D2S bulbs. A bit of a pain to swap based on our cars design.

Mike

[toy4to]

I know lightwerkz offers upgrades by replacing the headlight projectors. Anyone here have their setup? What the the opinions on the setups they sell? Any other options available for the e46?

Would like to hear some reviews and experiences on this topic.

I have a Lightwerkz retrofit on my car. I love it. Super sharp cutoff, very bright and focused. Compared to stock, it's night and day, literally.

[bmw m3 s50]

E46 M3s with non-ZKW headlights (which is all of them as far as I know), do not have issues with burnt bowls. That being said, running a 55W ballast would not be a good idea in the long run.
Currently I run Osram CBB (5500-ish Kelvin bulbs with ZKW-R lenses (non-fresnel lens). Stock ballasts and igniters (21 years old). Much improved lighting. Also have Morimoto LED fog lights that match the CBB’s pretty well.
Compared to my Tundra (RX350 projectors w/ CBBs, Morinoto mini HB dedicated high beam and Morimoto fog lights), the main difference is distance (more for the Tundra), hotspot (better on the Tundra) and a much less well-defined cutoff (which can be good or bad depending on what you want).
if you really want some extra light, check out the retrofitsource.com and/or lightwerks.com. Both are trusted names in the retrofit hobby. Caesar is the owner of Lightwerks. Standup guy. I *believe* he sells a bracket to mount G5R projectors to the e46 Bosch/Al OE projectors. You could also check out the FB group headlightjunkies. Lots of info there.

Edit:
And I agree with poster above: swapping in a new set of bulbs is the easiest and best bang for the buck. They aren’t cheap, though. You would need D2S bulbs. A bit of a pain to swap based on our cars design.

Mike

Why is a 55w ballast not good for the long term? The heat they generate?

[bmw m3 s50]

I have a Lightwerkz retrofit on my car. I love it. Super sharp cutoff, very bright and focused. Compared to stock, it's night and day, literally.

What is your setup?

[toy4to]

What is your setup?

My retrofit was done many years ago. Cesar did the work: Infiniti FX projectors with TSX lenses.

[0-60motorsports]

I have the Lightwerkz Retrofit on my car with nigthbreakers and love it.

[nuc1]

Why is a 55w ballast not good for the long term? The heat they generate?

Yes.

Mike

[K-Dawg]

I find the stock projectors with Nightbreaker Laser bulbs and clear lenses to be fairly effective at putting usable light on the road. The warmer color temp is better in wet conditions. I also have halogen highs on with bi-xenon coded. What are you trying to achieve?

Lightwerkz has a few different adapter brackets: https://lightwerkz.net/collections/r...t-brackets/BMW

I would not go LED.

[usdmej]

I would not go LED.

anybody know what components (or lack thereof) are needed to switch to LED? i remember someone posted on here that there was weight savings to be had by switching to LED low beams


LED low beam brightness hasn't caught up to what HID aftermarket can offer but it looks like the MLED 2.0 projectors are a step in the right direction towards bridging the gap

[dukeofchen]

Agree with others that upgrading the bulbs first is a good first step, then see if you want to upgrade projectors.

I DIY'd the G5-R retrofit a couple months ago, and upgraded the no-name bulbs the PO had with Osram CBIs at the same time.

The retrofit is a finicky process with the dremeling you have to do to get the alignment right / flush. Definitely not something I'd want to do again, so having someone like Lightwerkz do it is probably worth it unless you enjoy that kind of stuff.

But the light output has been a huge improvement, sharp cutoff and a nice hotspot. Unfortunately I can't speak to how much of that is coming from the bulb upgrade vs. the projectors, and if I had to do it again I probably would have gone with CBBs instead of CBIs, as the color is nowhere close to blue or even white / blue, and more of a white / yellow.

I still have some light output to claw back though, my lens covers are completely pitted and have some fading. Hoping for a slight change in color output when I get around to refinishing those.

[thegenius46m]

Lightwerkz g5brt conversion with oem shrouds is oem+ and a substantial upgrade. This is my sedan but I just had the same setup built for my M3. All low beams pictured for output













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[SQ13]

My 01 needs a lighting upgrade. G5BRT looks good..hopefully it can be used on the single xenon 01s.

[thegenius46m]

My 01 needs a lighting upgrade. G5BRT looks good..hopefully it can be used on the single xenon 01s.

Dont see why not. Literally all the internals change but I would reach out to clarify.