Replacing light bulbs on my E90

Philip Foglar

///Member
Normal Halogens?

Basically follow the instructions in the owner's manual with regards to the headlight type etc. But basically the high beams are accessible from the engine bay, the low beams you need to use the access panels in the front wheel wells. And to do this you need to turn the wheels full lock in each direction to facilitate space to work. It is a bit fiddly, especially on the passenger side with the airbox, so my advice is to do the driver's side first so that you get the hang of how the bulb fits and how the clips and connectors work.

Of course, when I did mine, dropped one of the old bulbs into the dark depths of the engine bay! Took me to jack the entire front end of the car up and remove the lower engine cover to eventually fish it out! Was fun!

Which bulbs did you buy? For Halogens I replaced my OEM ones with Osram Nightbreakers - fantastic improvement! :thumbs:
 
I’m not sure.
I took the car to Racing Edge the salesmen had me open the bonnet and gave me the ice white Xenon’s. He told me that it is not the cheap crap.
 

Philip Foglar

///Member
Xenons have projectors that look like eyes (lenses), whereas normal Halogens just have the normal reflector with the bulb visible. But yes, a pic of the front of the car would show this...
 

AshG108

///Member
i have replaced my car with the Osram Nightbreakers and they work well, nice difference although, the right hand side globe looks like it shines higher than the left, even when it shining against a flat wall? any idea what this could be, is it the globe or maybe i fitted it a bit skew?
 

msm

Well-known member
Randall E90 Martin said:
I took the car to Racing Edge the salesmen had me open the bonnet and gave me the ice white Xenon’s. He told me that it is not the cheap crap.

I think the salesman took you for a ride and sold you "xenon bulbs" which are actually halogens that have a white tint instead of yellow.

Osram Nightbreaker Plus (and the Phillips) are the brightest. These "xenon look" halogens merely produce light that is more white, but not always an improvement in output.




aZZ_kIkR said:
i have replaced my car with the Osram Nightbreakers and they work well, nice difference although, the right hand side globe looks like it shines higher than the left, even when it shining against a flat wall? any idea what this could be, is it the globe or maybe i fitted it a bit skew?

The headlamps have 2 adjustment screws - use them to get the focus right. Takes about 2 mins ...
 

outlaw335

Active member
aZZ_kIkR said:
i have replaced my car with the Osram Nightbreakers and they work well, nice difference although, the right hand side globe looks like it shines higher than the left, even when it shining against a flat wall? any idea what this could be, is it the globe or maybe i fitted it a bit skew?


Yeah its quite a common problem,dont think its the fitment.Theres two adjustment screws on either side that can be adjusted with a star screw driver.Anti clock wise up and clock wise down.

Alot of guys keep the left a little higher than the right to aviod a flash from oncoming traffic,especially if you have xenons
 

Philip Foglar

///Member
Yep, with the Nightbreakers I find that the light is whiter, brighter and even more wide-spread, so throws a longer and wider beam. Was lucky with my car in terms of the headlights not needing adjustment, my Wife's car seems to be slightly off compared to how it was before, but still fine and not blinding anyone.
 
msm said:
Randall E90 Martin said:
I took the car to Racing Edge the salesmen had me open the bonnet and gave me the ice white Xenon’s. He told me that it is not the cheap crap.

I think the salesman took you for a ride and sold you "xenon bulbs" which are actually halogens that have a white tint instead of yellow.

Osram Nightbreaker Plus (and the Phillips) are the brightest. These "xenon look" halogens merely produce light that is more white, but not always an improvement in output.




aZZ_kIkR said:
i have replaced my car with the Osram Nightbreakers and they work well, nice difference although, the right hand side globe looks like it shines higher than the left, even when it shining against a flat wall? any idea what this could be, is it the globe or maybe i fitted it a bit skew?

The headlamps have 2 adjustment screws - use them to get the focus right. Takes about 2 mins ...



Thanks mate and yes that salesmen took me for a ride:bangdesk::bangdesk::argh::argh: but I called his boss to see if he will except a return on the bulbs as I did not remove it from the original packaging he said yes and will give me a discount on the Osram Night breaker as my car do not have Xenon headlights.
Thanks once again I will never again just go out and buy parts for my car before consulting with the guy’s
:praise:
 

Philip Foglar

///Member
Randall E90 Martin said:
msm said:
Randall E90 Martin said:
I took the car to Racing Edge the salesmen had me open the bonnet and gave me the ice white Xenon’s. He told me that it is not the cheap crap.

I think the salesman took you for a ride and sold you "xenon bulbs" which are actually halogens that have a white tint instead of yellow.

Osram Nightbreaker Plus (and the Phillips) are the brightest. These "xenon look" halogens merely produce light that is more white, but not always an improvement in output.




aZZ_kIkR said:
i have replaced my car with the Osram Nightbreakers and they work well, nice difference although, the right hand side globe looks like it shines higher than the left, even when it shining against a flat wall? any idea what this could be, is it the globe or maybe i fitted it a bit skew?

The headlamps have 2 adjustment screws - use them to get the focus right. Takes about 2 mins ...



Thanks mate and yes that salesmen took me for a ride:bangdesk::bangdesk::argh::argh: but I called his boss to see if he will except a return on the bulbs as I did not remove it from the original packaging he said yes and will give me a discount on the Osram Night breaker as my car do not have Xenon headlights.
Thanks once again I will never again just go out and buy parts for my car before consulting with the guy’s
:praise:



So replacing both high and low beams? Great that they sorted this out for you! :thumbs:
 
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