Well since there are so many people wanting better lighting from there head lights, and the HID kits that sell for $150 aren't real hid kits.
Due to the fact that they create a glare and barely light up the road(with smoked headlights) though they are better then stock but for that much you can get cheaper bulbs to do the same.
Ive have had the poor lighting problem since I got my smoked lights.
I went from stock, then performence white bulbs, to "hid" bulbs, none really lit up the road enough to my liking and since I drive alot at night , I need the animals before I hit them; Then someone mentioned a while back about Using real HID lights So ive been searching and reading different forums So I kinda got the idea and have gotten far.
Heres some links to threads.
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=670834
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=612779
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=296547&highlight=xenon+diagram HERES SOME PICS
I bought them off ebay for $287 they are e46 hid lights the kit included: 2 ballast, 2 igniters, 2 ds2 bulbs(true HID bulbs), and 2 projector, and luckly no cut wires
Making the housing for the the lights was difficult at first, but with time it got better. First you wrap the projector in Aluminum foil twice, Then lay some fiber glass strips not too big or else it'll leave pockets of air and hole. But once you get the first layer all the way around you can put bigger pieces on. I put like 5-6 layers since I heard that fiberglass warps with heat so more shoulb be better.
Then I cut all the extra fiberglass off and cleaned it up some. then pryed it off the projector littleby little, Be very careful you don't break anything. It should look like this.
Then I neede to find a way to secure the projector to the housing and since the projector had 4 mounting holes on it I used them and poured some fiber glass into some take I layed out to make platforms( highlighted with black marker)
Once that was done I needed to clean up the front of the light and since I didn't use the bmw bezel that would of cost an extra $60-$90 I needed to make something so I wraped some tape around the front and put some tape over the projector lense so nothing sticks to it, I then placed a clyindrical object centered on the projector lense secured it the pured fiberglass in between the two and got this.
The black lines are from where I layed more fiberglass and filled in holes.
To get all the excess off I used my brothers nuematic angle grinder with a red scotchbrite and it cleaned it up nicely. Notice how I left a lip to hide the metal.
Heres where Iam right know.
I ran in to a snag when I could not locate the connector on the left.
I asked Ben if he had any lying around at work but he didn,t, So I asked neverclear over on e46fanatics.com and he came up with 2 part numbers for me.
PART # 61-13-8-365-348 PLUG HOUSING
PART # 61-13-0-006-665 CONTACT
So Yestterday went to pick them up at the bmw dealership right next to the Highway a couple of miles away. "LETS JUST SAY I GOT THERE QUICK" so i went in got the parts and lets just say they weren't cheap. if you don't believe me take a look at the invoice total ( those on the invoice are what I bought.).
So All I got left to do Is put some bondo on the housings sand smooth, practice cutting the test lights provided by vp6799 thanks man, then cut into My $200 headlights ,secure to housing, get it all wired up, work out the bugs. + all the little things.
So whachya think???
Due to the fact that they create a glare and barely light up the road(with smoked headlights) though they are better then stock but for that much you can get cheaper bulbs to do the same.
Ive have had the poor lighting problem since I got my smoked lights.
I went from stock, then performence white bulbs, to "hid" bulbs, none really lit up the road enough to my liking and since I drive alot at night , I need the animals before I hit them; Then someone mentioned a while back about Using real HID lights So ive been searching and reading different forums So I kinda got the idea and have gotten far.
Heres some links to threads.
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=670834
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=612779
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=296547&highlight=xenon+diagram HERES SOME PICS
I bought them off ebay for $287 they are e46 hid lights the kit included: 2 ballast, 2 igniters, 2 ds2 bulbs(true HID bulbs), and 2 projector, and luckly no cut wires
Making the housing for the the lights was difficult at first, but with time it got better. First you wrap the projector in Aluminum foil twice, Then lay some fiber glass strips not too big or else it'll leave pockets of air and hole. But once you get the first layer all the way around you can put bigger pieces on. I put like 5-6 layers since I heard that fiberglass warps with heat so more shoulb be better.
Then I cut all the extra fiberglass off and cleaned it up some. then pryed it off the projector littleby little, Be very careful you don't break anything. It should look like this.
Then I neede to find a way to secure the projector to the housing and since the projector had 4 mounting holes on it I used them and poured some fiber glass into some take I layed out to make platforms( highlighted with black marker)
Once that was done I needed to clean up the front of the light and since I didn't use the bmw bezel that would of cost an extra $60-$90 I needed to make something so I wraped some tape around the front and put some tape over the projector lense so nothing sticks to it, I then placed a clyindrical object centered on the projector lense secured it the pured fiberglass in between the two and got this.
The black lines are from where I layed more fiberglass and filled in holes.
To get all the excess off I used my brothers nuematic angle grinder with a red scotchbrite and it cleaned it up nicely. Notice how I left a lip to hide the metal.
Heres where Iam right know.
I ran in to a snag when I could not locate the connector on the left.
I asked Ben if he had any lying around at work but he didn,t, So I asked neverclear over on e46fanatics.com and he came up with 2 part numbers for me.
PART # 61-13-8-365-348 PLUG HOUSING
PART # 61-13-0-006-665 CONTACT
So Yestterday went to pick them up at the bmw dealership right next to the Highway a couple of miles away. "LETS JUST SAY I GOT THERE QUICK" so i went in got the parts and lets just say they weren't cheap. if you don't believe me take a look at the invoice total ( those on the invoice are what I bought.).
So All I got left to do Is put some bondo on the housings sand smooth, practice cutting the test lights provided by vp6799 thanks man, then cut into My $200 headlights ,secure to housing, get it all wired up, work out the bugs. + all the little things.
So whachya think???
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