Halogen > LED lighting upgrade

[elbert]

They don't look like them unfortunately. I will stick to test approved products rather than that. Not to mention the price.

They are only 99€ here.

https://www.amazon.de/64210DWNB-OSRA...s%2C115&sr=8-3

It looks like you're right. The Morimoto uses the Osram PCB and LED but their own housings.
The bulbs you linked look like a good deal, and only €13 to ship to the US. Thanks!

[ZiMMie]

Interestingly, these aren't listed as approved in Germany. Just the E90 and F30 3 series.

https://www.osram.de/am/night-breake...3__accordion_1

No Osram list is updated every 3months they E90 was added recently. It just a matter of time before the add the e46.

E.g. a golf 1 and golf 2 is approved.

[jylee05]

To fit the actual LED bulb into the E46 M3 halogen socket, I'm trying to figure out which adapter works best. The ones on ebay that are for e46 have some pretty bad reviews and I haven't seen any other solution out there to adapt the LEDs into the headlamp.

[jylee05]

ended up putting off any LED type bulb for now. went with Philips Racing Vision GT200 halogen. noticeable improvement in road visibility. let's see how long they last 🤞. thx everyone for the input.


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[PSUEng]

Not to stray off topic here, but why does OP want to perform this mod? I have the factory xenons, and modern cars with factory LEDs and modern cars with projector headlamps with the PNP Chinese LED bulbs. I've noticed that, for me, these modern LED lights cause eye fatigue at night and I don't know if it's my car, or oncoming cars that cause this--or, my age. Anyway, back in the day, I had a MK3 GTI and I put the euro Hella headlamps in--they were halogen. Bright and threw a TON of light down the road. So my point is, does OP feel the factory halogens don't put enough light down the road,, or is it a light color preference remedied by LEDs? Actually curious to know.

[tcp]

Not to stray off topic here, but why does OP want to perform this mod?
...
Actually curious to know.

I can't answer for the OP, but I personally don't think the factory halogens are very good.

My car originally had halogen lights with stock 55w bulbs. The light output from them was (relatively) weak and uneven. You could hardly tell the lights were on when driving down a brightly lit street at night. I then swapped to 65w bulbs and the light output was brighter, but still noticeably uneven, especially to the sides. I then retrofitted the factory Xenons to the car, and the light was brighter, wider, and much more uniform.

The ability to see at night was totally worth the ~10lb penalty.

[PSUEng]

I can't answer for the OP, but I personally don't think the factory halogens are very good.

My car originally had halogen lights with stock 55w bulbs. The light output from them was (relatively) weak and uneven. You could hardly tell the lights were on when driving down a brightly lit street at night. I then swapped to 65w bulbs and the light output was brighter, but still noticeably uneven, especially to the sides. I then retrofitted the factory Xenons to the car, and the light was brighter, wider, and much more uniform.

The ability to see at night was totally worth the ~10lb penalty.

I see. So, 10lb to go to xenon? Wow. Well, I wonder if euro halogens are a solution; I've not studied that configuration. Too bad it's possible BMW had to fit US specific lamps to conform to archaic FMVSS rules for lights.

[tcp]

So, 10lb to go to xenon? Wow.

Yeah, the bixenons have leveling motors + the shutter/lens assembly + the ballast which adds ~ 4 lbs per light. Then you need ~200 feet of 20 gauge wire for the leveling sensor wiring harness, the extra wires from the LCM to the lights, and the connectors. And of course, you need the two leveling sensors (one for each axle).

[BlueBimmers]

Interesting thread. I remember how bad the halogen headlights were on my E36 M3 before I went with Hella ellips. Big improvement there. If I was stuck with reflector halogen I'd definitely look for an upgrade. Feel like I know my headlights intimately now that I've figured out the ZKW-R lens swap. More work than I first thought.

[nuc1]

Interesting thread. I remember how bad the halogen headlights were on my E36 M3 before I went with Hella ellips. Big improvement there. If I was stuck with reflector halogen I'd definitely look for an upgrade. Feel like I know my headlights intimately now that I've figured out the ZKW-R lens swap. More work than I first thought.

If you have done the swap, good on you. If you haven't done the swap, save yourself some trouble and buy adapter brackets from LightWerkz and some new projectors.
G5 / G5-BRT: https://lightwerkz.net/products/bosc...to-g5-brackets
RX350: https://lightwerkz.net/products/bosc...33925594939532

I've done the ZKW-R lens swap w/ Osram CBBs. Have a set of adapters and RX350 projectors to swap in.

My Tundra has RX350s w/ CBBs and there is no comparison between them and my M w/ ZKW-R swap w/ CBBs. RX350s are much, much wider and have a better hotspot.

Mike

[BlueBimmers]

nuc1 - yeah I'm tracking you. Once you've totally disassembled why not improve further? A few years ago I paid a shop to put Evo 2.0s in my E39 headlights. Then went brand new Euro with a nice group buy price, but that's another story.

For now I'm happy with new lens and Osram CBI bulbs. Have you already done the retrofit? so you need the brackets ($80?!) and new projectors? No other changes needed?

[D-O]

nuc1 - yeah I'm tracking you. Once you've totally disassembled why not improve further? A few years ago I paid a shop to put Evo 2.0s in my E39 headlights. Then went brand new Euro with a nice group buy price, but that's another story.

For now I'm happy with new lens and Osram CBI bulbs. Have you already done the retrofit? so you need the brackets ($80?!) and new projectors? No other changes needed?

Same question: Just brackets and a new set of RX350 projectors to convert from halogen?

[rjsimz]

following. looking to upgrade my halogens to projectors as well.

[SQ13]

Y’all, reach out to Lightwerkz. They’ll tell you exactly what you need.

[nuc1]

nuc1 - yeah I'm tracking you. Once you've totally disassembled why not improve further? A few years ago I paid a shop to put Evo 2.0s in my E39 headlights. Then went brand new Euro with a nice group buy price, but that's another story.

For now I'm happy with new lens and Osram CBI bulbs. Have you already done the retrofit? so you need the brackets ($80?!) and new projectors? No other changes needed?

I haven't done it yet. That project is behind some other projects for the moment. AFAIK, that's all you need. Be aware the headlights themselves are probably brittle. Be wary of prying/tightening too much on things.

Mike