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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > Regional Forums > UK > UK Technical Forum > E90 Xenon Retrofit



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      01-25-2008, 12:02 PM   #1
roofer
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E90 Xenon Retrofit

As some know, i do [s]like to be a tart[/s] improve driver safety

So, a pair of Xenons were required. After some silly e/bay prices, and some agg with German e/bay, i finally got a pair of non adaptive Bi Xenons, for £171 the pair :mrgreen: I got one for £21, and nearly bought the match for it from BMW, until they said the bare light was £550



Now, they came without ballasts/bulbs, and ballasts are £250 each :twisted: and there have been none on e/bay....so, one pikey 5000k HID kit obtained for £70 for research purposes, as i was told it wasn't possible to make them work on an E90


After much soldering, adding a capacitor (£20 pair with matchung plugs)



It was time to test.


All worked first time, with no bulb warnings



The case of the lights cannot be seen when they are fitted, so all oem looking. Just got to take the bumper off tomorrow to fit them

Happy as a pig in...

I will get the proper ballasts as they appear, but for now, gotta be the cheapest pair of Xenons in the land 8)
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      01-25-2008, 12:36 PM   #2
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Congrats! You certainly seem to have managed what so many have so far failed to do.
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      01-25-2008, 02:30 PM   #3
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This is impressive! A mod to be especially proud of.... Hope they fit snugly and no issues when the bumper is taken off.
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      01-25-2008, 02:36 PM   #4
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wowww, please update with more info, i would love to get xenons better yet euros, would you be able to do the same procedure and sell them to me?
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      01-25-2008, 02:37 PM   #5
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Thumbs up

Amazing work. Good luck with the bumper.

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      01-25-2008, 02:53 PM   #6
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Quote:
Hope they fit snugly and no issues when the bumper is taken off.
I am wondering about that.

OE ballasts are slimmer, and it is tight in there. I do have enough slack to mount them remotely, but we'll see. It will only take 10-15 minutes to get the bumper skin off so not over concerned.

Quote:
would you be able to do the same procedure and sell them to me?
Sourcing the lights is the biggest problem.

There was a complete pair on UK E/Bay for £565, but i thought them too dear, but in reality, they're not.
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      01-25-2008, 03:15 PM   #7
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How long did those Duracells last once you turned on the lights?
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      01-25-2008, 03:24 PM   #8
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Good job

Are you fitting headlamp washers as well - or do you already have these - what about the auto levelling motors? Are these with the lights?
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      01-25-2008, 03:35 PM   #9
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can you give me links to the components you bought, i found some euro xenon casings without bulbs or ballasts haha now what?
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      01-25-2008, 03:46 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OliH View Post
Good job

Are you fitting headlamp washers as well - or do you already have these - what about the auto levelling motors? Are these with the lights?

Already have washers, and the levellers work as they did on the halogens.

Auto levelling not worth the aggro of fitting the axle sensors/wiring/coding.

All you'll need is a D2S HID Kit, and maybe 2 capacitors.

I got a 5000k version of this kit, picked it up, very knowledegble fella, had the capacitors as well.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=022
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      01-25-2008, 03:49 PM   #11
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Are the halogens auto levelling?
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      01-25-2008, 05:15 PM   #12
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Halogens aren't auto-levelling (I think), but various legislations mean that OEM Xenons have to have self-levelling and cleaning.

I think that there was a suggestion somewhere that the rules for retrofits are somewhat more wooly and you can get away without these features.
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      01-25-2008, 06:23 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mjh93sa View Post
Halogens aren't auto-levelling (I think), but various legislations mean that OEM Xenons have to have self-levelling and cleaning.

I think that there was a suggestion somewhere that the rules for retrofits are somewhat more wooly and you can get away without these features.

Correct.

Its a grey area, but manual levelling works fine.
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      01-26-2008, 01:31 AM   #14
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Have you guys seen these on ebay, very impressed with the lights - you can get them in black as well for M Sport models. You need to buy HID kit as well but is plug and play:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-06-08-E90-...QQcmdZViewItem

What do you think?
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      01-26-2008, 03:02 AM   #15
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Quote:
What do you think?
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      01-26-2008, 06:51 AM   #16
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Sorted.

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      01-26-2008, 06:59 AM   #17
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Hold on, if you bought the headlight from Germany surely it is a laft hand drive version?

The lever to adjust when driving abroad just cuts the beam height on the drivers side, it does not allow you to raise the beam on the passenger side like it is on the correct housing.
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      01-26-2008, 07:03 AM   #18
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Hold on, if you bought the headlight from Germany surely it is a laft hand drive version?
The one i attempted to get from Germany was a found to be a coupe light, despite the seller stating it was a saloon

Both these lights are RHD
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      01-26-2008, 01:26 PM   #19
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Your car on page 65 of this months BMW car

Hey roofer,

Just spotted your car on page 65.

Steve
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      01-26-2008, 05:52 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevie996 View Post
Hey roofer,

Just spotted your car on page 65.

Steve
Was a good day, highly recommended.

More pics.

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/pho...-2007/tom-335d
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      02-14-2008, 04:52 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roofer View Post
As some know, i do [s]like to be a tart[/s] improve driver safety

So, a pair of Xenons were required. After some silly e/bay prices, and some agg with German e/bay, i finally got a pair of non adaptive Bi Xenons, for £171 the pair :mrgreen: I got one for £21, and nearly bought the match for it from BMW, until they said the bare light was £550



Now, they came without ballasts/bulbs, and ballasts are £250 each :twisted: and there have been none on e/bay....so, one pikey 5000k HID kit obtained for £70 for research purposes, as i was told it wasn't possible to make them work on an E90


After much soldering, adding a capacitor (£20 pair with matchung plugs)



It was time to test.


All worked first time, with no bulb warnings



The case of the lights cannot be seen when they are fitted, so all oem looking. Just got to take the bumper off tomorrow to fit them

Happy as a pig in...

I will get the proper ballasts as they appear, but for now, gotta be the cheapest pair of Xenons in the land 8)

Did you fit these Xenon's to your E90 335d? I thought they where standard on those?

ant.
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      02-14-2008, 05:09 AM   #22
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Still waiting for you opinion on the Xenons Roofer
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