[Joey 330ci]

Hey Guys,

So I bought my 01 330ci about 6 months ago and its been having all sorts of problems since I bought the damn thing. One of the things that that I need to fix immediately is my headlights. The original owner of the car had replaced the oem headlights with Eagle Eye headlights with HID's or whatever. The problem is that he did a horrible job installing these things and half the halos are dead and the projectors are not aligned correctly. There is also moisture inside of the housing because when it rains i can see the lenses fogging up. He used some sort of cheap $30 boxes to power them somehow and my Mechanic and myself have decided to avoid from fixing these or reusing them in anyway. They look identical to the DEPO projector headlights and I really like the styling of them. So my question is: What would be the best headlight option that is completely plug and play ABSOLUTELY no modification or DIY. I don't want to buy junk and I've heard bad things about DEPO headlights. I dont want to run into the same problems I am currently experiencing with the moisture or the lights dimming and I want them to plug in like oem headlights and not with those stupid electrical boxes that are zip tied under the hood. **I will provide pictures soon** I dont understand the differences between HID, Projector, LED, Halo, Halogen, Xenon and anytime I read any threads about this topic I can hardly understand what anyone is talking about. I just want halos, I want them to be bright enough to see, I want them to be white light, and I want them to be reliable and Plug and Play. Does that exist or am i going to have to pay some kid to diy some oem ones i bought from ebay which would be the LAST thing I want to do. Any help is greatly appreciated and ill be willing to listen to anyone's opinions on the matter because I'm sure you know much more than I do.

I just wish I could buy headlights online have someone install them and call it a day, but its never that easy is it :banghead:

 

[Overboost]

Hey Guys,

So I bought my 01 330ci about 6 months ago and its been having all sorts of problems since I bought the damn thing. One of the things that that I need to fix immediately is my headlights. The original owner of the car had replaced the oem headlights with Eagle Eye headlights with HID's or whatever. The problem is that he did a horrible job installing these things and half the halos are dead and the projectors are not aligned correctly. There is also moisture inside of the housing because when it rains i can see the lenses fogging up. He used some sort of cheap $30 boxes to power them somehow and my Mechanic and myself have decided to avoid from fixing these or reusing them in anyway. They look identical to the DEPO projector headlights and I really like the styling of them. So my question is: What would be the best headlight option that is completely plug and play ABSOLUTELY no modification or DIY. I don't want to buy junk and I've heard bad things about DEPO headlights. I dont want to run into the same problems I am currently experiencing with the moisture or the lights dimming and I want them to plug in like oem headlights and not with those stupid electrical boxes that are zip tied under the hood. **I will provide pictures soon** I dont understand the differences between HID, Projector, LED, Halo, Halogen, Xenon and anytime I read any threads about this topic I can hardly understand what anyone is talking about. I just want halos, I want them to be bright enough to see, I want them to be white light, and I want them to be reliable and Plug and Play. Does that exist or am i going to have to pay some kid to diy some oem ones i bought from ebay which would be the LAST thing I want to do. Any help is greatly appreciated and ill be willing to listen to anyone's opinions on the matter because I'm sure you know much more than I do.

I just wish I could buy headlights online have someone install them and call it a day, but its never that easy is it :banghead:

Is your car halogen or xenon originally? eBay is where I got my factory Xenon units used.

 

[Joey 330ci]

Is your car halogen or xenon originally? eBay is where I got my factory Xenon units used.

I have no idea. Its an 01 so its prefacelifted

 

[DiscoStu]

You should be able to find a vendor that has a complete plug-n-play DEPO set for sale. I'd say that DEPO as far as quality is so-so. Their fitment is OK and the initial quality is decent. They don't age well though, at least through my experience.

My suggestion is to try and source a set of OEM Xenons. They are pretty easy to find these days and will likely run you about the same price as a full projector/HID kit.

I'd also take some time to browse our Lighting Forum to familiarize yourself will all of the lighting terms.

 

[444434]

OEM HID xenon headlights are available on eBay. If not already installed. add the halo lights before installing the headlight assemblies. If your car is not factory fitted with HID xenon lamps, you won't have the auto leveling function, but that will not be a problem since auto leveling only compensates for the load on the car. The OEM HID headlights are made by Automotive Lighting, AL, a Bosch owned company.
The subject of headlight tech for our cars can be somewhat confusing at first, but after reading up on the subject should be less of a mystery. I suggest posting here any questions you can't find answers to already, someone will be able to clarify the terms of the technology.

 

[Joey 330ci]

Did I forget to mention that my driver's side headlight is constantly going out so i have to pull over on the side of the road pop the hood and hit the box to get it to come on again

 

[dh3225]

theretrofitsource.com

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/partners/

:hi:

 

[444434]

Did I forget to mention that my driver's side headlight is constantly going out so i have to pull over on the side of the road pop the hood and hit the box to get it to come on again

Replace the ballast.

 

[Joey 330ci]

Replace the ballast.

So after doing some research I'm starting to get a better understanding of what to do and I have a friend that could help me diy my headlights becuase it just seems like that's the best option at this point even though it wasn't what I originally wanted to toffer. Is the ballast the box that controls the hid?

 

[444434]

Yes, the ballast controls the voltage supplied to the HID lamp/burner. The applied voltage and current is varied during the lamp ignition and warm up stages. The ballast is designed to provide tight voltage and current control to the HID lamp. Being full of various electronic components, failure of any one will cause different malfunctions of the headlight, or complete failure. Individual electronic parts randomly fail, that is the way electronics devices malfunction.

See:http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/research-1/research-hid/hid-ballasts.html