Recommendations for ‘05 Xenon headlight upgrades?

[kaiv]

I'm not the one who builds them but off the top of my head brackets, stand offs, spacers, shrouds, lenses, wiring, labor.

[0-60motorsports]

I'm not the one who builds them but off the top of my head brackets, stand offs, spacers, shrouds, lenses, wiring, labor.

OK got it, thanks. I'll wait until they develop a diy kit like they did for the Bixenon projectors. Not paying $1k for this.

[cobra]

I can't say I've ever felt the need to upgrade the stock xenons. For city driving they're great. On back roads I did the LCM mod so fogs + halogen highs + xenon highs can all be on at the same time. It's almost too much light.

[dog2bert]

I can't say I've ever felt the need to upgrade the stock xenons. For city driving they're great. On back roads I did the LCM mod so fogs + halogen highs + xenon highs can all be on at the same time. It's almost too much light.

How do you do this mod?

[cobra]

How do you do this mod?

It was probably 10 years ago but I recall using one of those softwares through the obd interface (NCS Expert I think?), you basically just download a text file from the LCM, change a couple lines from 'nicht aktiv' to 'aktiv' and re-upload it. Totally reversible and was pretty easy. Getting all the software set up and configured is the hardest part.

[dukeofchen]

I can't say I've ever felt the need to upgrade the stock xenons. For city driving they're great. On back roads I did the LCM mod so fogs + halogen highs + xenon highs can all be on at the same time. It's almost too much light.

I think it's one of those things where they might be fine as is, but once you have the increased brightness / throw distance you'll never want to go without them.

[cobra]

I think it's one of those things where they might be fine as is, but once you have the increased brightness / throw distance you'll never want to go without them.

I'm also very used to driving vehicles with dull yellow halogen bulbs so the xenons are incredible in comparison

[nextlvel]

I can't speak for AL Bosch headlights, but I did the G5R projector upgrade on my ZKW equipped ZHP and I have to say it's in my top 3 favorite modifications I have done to my car. The difference in driving at night and being able to fully light up the road has improved the driving experience drastically, especially driving a lowered car and wanting to dodge pot holes, roadkill, etc. Just my 2 cents on the topic

[rickybobby]

After driving my F80 M3 with LEDs the E46 admittedly feels lacking on the lighting front. But fogs FTW

[kaiv]

OK got it, thanks. I'll wait until they develop a diy kit like they did for the Bixenon projectors. Not paying $1k for this.

Ya, things are cheaper when DIYd lol. But I'm surprised you think that's expensive. It seemed not bad at all to me, given the all the parts and amount of work involved to make it right and plug and play. Have you checked how much Lightwerks charges for the same thing? I haven't but admitedly a little curious now. You could also save a couple hundred by reusing your lenses (although most cars have weathered and sandblasted lenses by now).

I think it's one of those things where they might be fine as is, but once you have the increased brightness / throw distance you'll never want to go without them.

Precisely!

Now that I have bi-led on the E46, the stock bi-xenons on my E90 feel like halogens 😝

[0-60motorsports]

Ya, things are cheaper when DIYd lol. But I'm surprised you think that's expensive. It seemed not bad at all to me, given the all the parts and amount of work involved to make it right and plug and play. Have you checked how much Lightwerks charges for the same thing? I haven't but admitedly a little curious now. You could also save a couple hundred by reusing your lenses (although most cars have weathered and sandblasted lenses by now).



Precisely!

Now that I have bi-led on the E46, the stock bi-xenons on my E90 feel like halogens 😝

I'm trying to find some headlight bowls to send over to lightwerkz to do the conversion so let's see….that may or may not happen as it's something I don't NEED……but I WANT LOL

Will report back whenever and if that happens.

[Rokoz]

I'm just sitting here wishing I didn't have halogens on my 03 haha

[Projecte46m3]

G5BRT project retrofit upgrade by Lightwerkz is beyond worth the cost! Massive light improvement on the road and brings the car to 2024 standards. The light beam cutoff is amazing! I would highly recommend osram bulb upgrade. Warm white will have the best output especially during inclement weather.

[BlueBimmers]

Another vote for Caesar and the Lightwerkz G5-BRT retrofit. Very satisfied and Caesar is very responsive with any questions and keeps you informed on status of order. He even fixed a broken adjuster for me. Does take a while, they have a backlog of orders. I did a post on it below. Also have some parts lying around from me trying to DIY if anyone wants and is local to NoVA area.

https://chrisparente.com/2024/03/31/an-e46-m3-headlight-saga/?utm_source=Headlight+Retrofit&utm_medium=NAM3&utm_campaign=Ligthwerkz

[PSUEng]

I'm looking at doing this, and may be a good time to replace the lenses and seals. Has anyone had that done in addition to the retrofit by sending in those parts with the headlamps? Is aiming required after re-installation or is this also performed (at least to some nominal position)?