E36 Halogen to Xenons

[gconry18]

Hi All.

Thought I would share some before and after photos after changing my bulbs to Xenons on my 325i yesterday.
Bought the bulbs (H1 12V55W) for R60 a set from a contact)

Before Mod (Without and With Brights ON:

The Sets (Actual bulbs have a blue coating, took this photo after the mod with the original halogens in the boxes):

Xenon in Fog Light:

Xenon in Fog and Low Beam:

All Xenons (Forgot the Fog):

All Xenons with Brights ON:

Some Photos in the dark (Fogs are off as one side is currently not working, will post more when it is):

Have not yet driven with these at night so I cant yet say if there is a big difference in on road lighting.
Today I am working on Blacking out my grills.

 

[neelsie88]

Is it a quick change?

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BTW it looks awesome now!

 

[gconry18]

Is it a quick change?

It is very easy to do. The headlights especially. the only thing that made the fogs difficult was that its a bit of a cramped space for two hands (on my bumper anyway).

Other than that it is plug and play. If you live in CT I could probably get you sets at the same price if the contact I have is still running his special.

 

[StK]

They're a lot better however I would have put in HID's personally :thumb:

 

[Stallion]

+1 For Xenons.:thumb:

 

[gconry18]

They're a lot better however I would have put in HID's personally :thumb:

I did think about that and:
1. It is more expensive
2. More complex to install
3. The risks outweigh the benefits in a lot of cases.

There is a series of 4 videos on youtube that speaks about E36 lighting. With the ballasts that come with HID's it is possible to burn out the cars wiring.

 

[StK]

I did think about that and:
1. It is more expensive
2. More complex to install
3. The risks outweigh the benefits in a lot of cases.

There is a series of 4 videos on youtube that speaks about E36 lighting. With the ballasts that come with HID's it is possible to burn out the cars wiring.

Fair enough,I've been running HID's in my car for over a year now and not had any problems though

 

[gconry18]

Fair enough,I've been running HID's in my car for over a year now and not had any problems though

Awesome. I would probably have gone the HID route if I had the money and time. But for me these Xenons are a great upgrade.

Being a student on a helluva tight budget means every mod I want to do on my car has to be carefully planned.

Almost done with my blackout grills...

 

[Sankekur]

Just to be clear these are xenon look not actual xenon bulbs

I don;t think you can burn out your car's wiring with an HID kit, unless you go and do something crazy. Most common HID kits are 35W where the normal halogen bulbs (like you have at the moment) are 55W which means that the HID's are actually drawing less current throught the car's wiring that the halogen ones.
I had a HID kit in my opel corsa for a year and a half and never had any problems with it, and the wiring in the opel is much worse than that of any BMW.

In my opinion the blue bulbs are nice enough, but when you have the money go HID, you won't regret it.

Edit: I still have the HID laying around from when I sold the corsa if you are interested.

 

[gconry18]

Just to be clear these are xenon look not actual xenon bulbs

I don;t think you can burn out your car's wiring with an HID kit, unless you go and do something crazy. Most common HID kits are 35W where the normal halogen bulbs (like you have at the moment) are 55W which means that the HID's are actually drawing less current throught the car's wiring that the halogen ones.
I had a HID kit in my opel corsa for a year and a half and never had any problems with it, and the wiring in the opel is much worse than that of any BMW.

In my opinion the blue bulbs are nice enough, but when you have the money go HID, you won't regret it.

Edit: I still have the HID laying around from when I sold the corsa if you are interested.

I know they are not actual Xenons but Halogen bulbs that emit a light similar to HID Xenons.

HIDs depend on the ballast for power and SOME of these ballasts draw more power than the wiring of the car is designed to handle and therefore can burn out the wiring.

Also HIDs do not have the best performance when used in a headlight that does not have projectors designed for the HID lights.

Thanks for the offer of the HID but as I said I dont have money to play with so these bulbs with do fine for a year or 4.

 

[Sankekur]

From the photo it looks like your e36 has projectors, then is should be fine, the problem only really comes with normal reflector based headlights, most projectors are ok.

I doubt whether I ballast that drives a 35W xenon bulb is so lossy that it will be dissipating so much more power than a 55W bulbs, then again it probably depends on the ballast used.

 

[gconry18]

From the photo it looks like your e36 has projectors, then is should be fine, the problem only really comes with normal reflector based headlights, most projectors are ok.

I doubt whether I ballast that drives a 35W xenon bulb is so lossy that it will be dissipating so much more power than a 55W bulbs, then again it probably depends on the ballast used.

Yea it will be ok. but ok is not great...

Learn what I know from a 4 part thing on youtube.
Search for "BMW E36 Lighting For Noobs" if you want to see.

 

[Sankekur]

When I say it is ok I mean it will work not, ok as in just good enough, I have had a HID kit in a set of aftermarket autostyle headlights and even that gave and almost perfect blue cut-off and with great light distribution, so I am sure any beemer headlight could do better than that.
But to each his own.

 

[YUBEN NAIDOO]

how many thousand Kalvin are these bulbs?
I'm looking 4 5500k bulbs.

 

[gconry18]

how many thousand Kalvin are these bulbs?
I'm looking 4 5500k bulbs.

Nope, Sorry. These are 4300K. Almost 100% pure white light.

 

[YUBEN NAIDOO]

what bulbs does the E36 take in the main beam ? H1 ?
and what bulb for the fog ? also H1 ?

Thanks

 

[Legacy]

What does bulbs cost BTW?:thinking:

Or is it these ones:

 

[gconry18]

what bulbs does the E36 take in the main beam ? H1 ?
and what bulb for the fog ? also H1 ?

Thanks

All H1 yes.

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What does bulbs cost BTW?:thinking:

Or is it these ones:

Those do look similar but mine are 55W only. those are 60/55W.

I payed R60 for a set of 2 bulbs. 3 sets = R180 (in case your math is bad. lol).

 

[Legacy]

Cool thanks:thumb:

Have you had Osram nightbreakers in your car? If yes how do they compare?

(in case your math is bad. lol).

It isn't

 

[gconry18]

Have you had Osram nightbreakers in your car? If yes how do they compare?

No I haven't. Drove with these the other night and they are so much better than the standard bulbs.