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

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.