[bmwdude21]

I have absolutely no idea which headlights to get, mainly because a local custom stereo and light shop/remote starters (the only custom shop around) told me that depo was a good brand. I knew that depo was a bad brand from looking into getting led tail lights and I did see it in the past on here. So in March of this year I purchased bulbs from ebay for $21 and they worked, up until now one is out. I think I have the factory hids because if you look into the headlights on the shrouds it says xenon on them. Also you can here the self-leveling motor when you turn the key and the lights on. The car is a 2000 323i, and when you look at the headlights and see the projectors the drivers almost looks aged liked tinted kind of. I really want to get angel eyes but I also want to have something that is really good for driving at night, I feel like it could be better and back when I got the bulbs I looked into getting a whole new unit and found these but with some research I'm so worried about getting some of these especially anything from umnitza after reading this http://forum.e90fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1049557:tsk: Which I really thought that these were good. http://www.umnitza.com/projector46-the-original-xenon-led-angel-eyes-black-housing-p-208.html:loco: Also the guy at the shop told me to get my own headlights online that has what I'm looking for in it and then he will install it and put in an hid kit in it. He said that depo was a good brand and to stay away from aftermarket projectors because I will not be able to see anything at night. So I that guy sucks. http://www.jlevisw.com/accessories/BMW/Projector-Headlights-With-Halo-Rings-.htm
http://www.khoalty.com/bmw-e46-depo-projector46-headlights.html
Also what about getting something like this http://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems.html and then getting some type of kit to install angel eyes? Just anyone have any of these and are they actually good? Any input/ideas well appreciated, thank you._a_

 

[bmwdude21]

oh ok sounds good, so depo is a good brand. For the tint on the projectors I'm taking about my projectors now the first 4 pictures in the album here https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jf0vg8voo6rh0p3/AABBQToB-QhRzJhrJqw6NAb3a?dl=0 headlights you can see what I mean. I just want to know if it's aged from being 14 years old, and new projectors would help make it brighter with new bulbs, or that's the way they are?

 

[bmwdude21]

Also what about this DRLs for angel eyes are they good? Easy to install? On factory headlights?

 

[bmwdude21]

Yes I know that they sucks it's terrible. I was looking into getting one of these http://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...m-xenarc-66240-nightbreaker.html#.VEiUVab3bCR
Or http://www.theretrofitsource.com/d2s-osram-xenarc-66240-cbi-49198.html#.VEiUdab3bCQ I just can't make up my mind. I will definitely clean them is it a bitch to get the lenses cover off? Also peytonracer4 what kind of angel eyes do you have on your 328i? I what to get a set and don't know if these http://www.umnitza.com/predator-orion-v4-led-angel-eyes-with-remote-p-6108.html are good or sh!t

 

[bmwdude21]

Ok thank you everyone for the input. Yes I it does say Bosch on the lens covers. I just ordered CBIs, so now to clean the glass bowls. Is there a thread that shows how to remove the headlight lens and get into the headlight to clean the glass bowls?

 

[bmwdude21]

Solid jake has a you tube video I think.
There are good ones out there.

It all comes apart from the back of the headlight.
Nothing in this headlight can come out from the front. I have detailed pictures and can walk you through it if needed over text messAging. It's easy to break the parts taking it apart.

The plastic lens may be Bosch but the light might be zkw.

The light will say al if it's Bosch . It won't say Bosch .

It will be good for you to know which brand it is.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rkn383mxu07hapn/AAC21tOgFj7BHHIPGwI6P53ya?dl=0 I just took a pic of the passengers lens and it doesn't say Bosch on it, it looks like a logo like mountains. The drivers side has Bosch on it. And the drivers side is the one that the glass bowl looks foggy and the passengers looks clear. Also it has been raining the last 4 days and today after driving 45 miles I saw a little bit of moisture in the passengers lens right by that mountain logo.

 

[bmwdude21]

So they are both zkw then?

 

[bmwdude21]

Yes the paint is faded from the sun. People do tell me that though,it may be from an accident or the sun. I'm working on it though.

 

[bmwdude21]

I think they are both bosch headlights. I'm not sure though
I was thinking zkw made all the projectors for that year.....I could be wrong. I do know they are 2.5 single xenon because the notches go all the way around the lens on that silver shroud.

The bixenon stop at the top and don't make a complete circle.

You hope they are bosch AL. ZKW BOWLS burn up due to cheap plastic that can't take the heat.

What do you mean by "You hope they are bosch AL. ZKW BOWLS burn up due to cheap plastic that can't take the heat" I don't know if they are.

Bixenon is when the low and high beam are in the same projector right? I thought that was what bixenon is, I don't have that I have a halogen bulb for the high beam.
Also should I get one of these? http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/lenses.html and one of these also? http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/projectors.html

 

[bmwdude21]

My car is a 2000. So I'm really just going to have to open up the headlight to see if they are Bosch and if the bowls are not burned then just clean it. If they are zkw and the bowls are burned up and coating is gone, get http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/230535888879

 

[bmwdude21]

Would any of these work? http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/projectors.html?proj_functionality=164

 

[bmwdude21]

Yes I'm not going to buy anything until I have it apart. So I got the CBI bulbs in and when I first turned them on they were like a cool blue color and then they turned to this https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zws379gmz428l2r/AAB8UORzOnaJKFDwe87oBAAMa?dl=0 in like 30 seconds. It does it if I don't have them on for a long time and then if I turn them back on it happens again. Has this happened to anyone?

 

[bmwdude21]

He's right. You really need to figure out what you have.

I'm thinking you need bulbs......and that's it

So.....let's say you have zkw......and let's say you have burned bulbs.
Then your looking at something like this
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...tem-bmw-e46-zkw-lights-only.html#.VE2G4N08KK0
And making sure the diameter is correct. These are 3" bi xenon.
This is what I would do if I found I have zkw on my own car. I also do have the 3" bi xenon.

You would need a kit like this one for 2.5 single xenon.......and all this is.......if the bowls are zkw and if the bowls are burned to non reflection status.

Either way.....your replacing the bulbs. So you might as well figure out which kelvin rating you want

You also should read and study this thread.
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=804583

I'm also seeing conflicting information. The fort time I saw that zkw was 99-01.
I then saw bosch was 99 to 2000 and zkw was 2001
Then I saw on the coupe that al of them are bosch
Then later I read it was a toss up and on the sedan....zkw and bosch was a crap shoot

My belief is.
Coupe.....all bosch
Sedan......bosch was 99-00...............zkw was 2001 only. I would like to confirm this.

what do you mean by "Either way.....your replacing the bulbs. So you might as well figure out which kelvin rating you want" I went with the CBI

 

[bmwdude21]

Ok. I don't get much of a difference between the cbi and the old builds just the color, so I'm thinking the next step is to see what's burnt. I looked into this thread http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=804583 and like what I see. I would like to do that and put in bixenons in. Or is that really not necessary?