Arma

So finally got ONE headlight done. Took literally forever to sand off the original clear coat using 800 grit paper. I think it was 1 hour just to get all the remaining bits of clear coat off probably... After that, went with some 1500 grit and then 2000 grit and final polish, followed by some coating. Here are the results: BEFORE After 800 Grit Completed (Even'ish Frosting) COMPLETED It's not 100% - perhaps need a bit more polish. But is much better than it was and am fairly happy with it. Was going to sell one of them as I only need one - but since both of these are Xenons and my old ones are halogens, might just restore and replace both (and sell my undamaged halogen headlight).

Both the side pieces for Xenons as well as my old non-xenons are white, both are also facelift. Xenons are from a 2001 e39; my 530i is also 2001. Seems more hassle actually taking the bulbs out of these - assuming I'll need to remove that rubber surrounding part. Xenons are supposed to last a while anyway so might not even have to change the bulb.. will see when I connect it up. Hopefully the Xenons will be a nice improvement. I wasn't actually planning to replace the right side headlight at all since that wasn't damaged, but since these ones I bought are Xenons, may as well replace them both. Otherwise it would look a bit weird with 1 headlight that's Xenon.

So just realized that the headlights inside the 530i were actually not Xenon. They seem to have the h7 socket so am guessing that's just the normal facelift halogen headlights. Pic of the old headlights below. Now I bought a pair of used facelift headlights which both have the ballasts and so are Xenons. Now my questions are - will these new headlights *just work* after connecting them up, despite my old ones being halogen ones? Are the Xenons generally better headlights than the standard halogen ones? How the hell do you change the bulb for the Xenon (can probably find this from google)? And what color is the Xenon bulb usually, cause I hate the yellow bulbs. Old headlight: Xenon headlight I recently bought:

Cool, how long did deliveries usually take with MyUS?

Just weighing options in case I need to ship larger items (car parts) from the US in the future.

As title says - have any of you guys used shipito.co.nz before to get stuff delivered from the states? Any feedback? How fast are the deliveries?

Have you considered getting those dynavin units?

Lookin' good. The blue LED's dont look too bad but the thought of blue and caramel color sounds weird - think whites would look good. I was thinking of ordering some of the LED's too, off ebay for my 530 interior (where did you source your's from?). Do they throw any error codes?

Pics or it didn't happen.

I'll probably just attempt sanding with harsher grit (~800) and go finer, hoping the clear coat will come off. I've already bought some coating I can put after my polishing is complete - probably won't be as good as BMW's one, but whatever. I got a pair of headlights but only really need the left one, so I'll use the right one as an experiment.. hopefully a successful experiment ^.^. Wanted to avoid buying any knock off headlights/lenses because I wasn't too trusting or sure about their fitment into the OEM ones. I actually don't know whether mine are even OEM as they have the tiny Hella logo on it. Are Hella the OEM suppliers for the e39 headlights? Gotta take the white angel eye bulb out of my damaged headlight from the 530i and put it into these ones I bought. These came with the gross yellow angel eye bulbs - prefer the white ones way more. The damaged headlights are stilll functioning completely fine but the lens is deeply scratched and the housing has cracks in a few places... guess those cracks can be glued and the lens need to be replaced just to keep a cheap alternative lying around.

Where were you hiding this when I was over today!? Kinda like both wheels - maybe prefer the first

FYI Was done by prev owner who imported car to NZ from Sth Africa. He found could not register in NZ as original had some body welding from accident in Sth Africa (which was ok over there and had passed by BMW and was on the road) , so after giving up fighting in NZ,then imported a 525i, stripped and sold bits, and moved entire M5 to 525 shell... Sounds weird but he explained to me he did not want a new E39 body (no factory anti corrosion and other stuff), and given he was mechanic for WCC, could do cheaper and better this way to allow it to get registered in NZ. Then found he could not register as a M5, as original car a 525. I cld not believe a 525 body same as for M5, took to Jeff Grey BMW, who knew the car and said he was correct and then had them check it out . Aside from rego, is indistinguishable from original M5 (was a 2000 model)

Cheers, waiting to hear back from the seller.

Saw that. Wonder why it was reshelled. Also, the M5 badge placement bugs me. Like the colour though, and decent k's!

Was gonna go get some 800, 1000, 1200, 2000 sheets or something. 800 should definitely get the clear coat off right? (without damaging the lens)

Not sure WTF I'm doing wrong, but I used Meguiar's Headlight Correction kit (contains 4 papers with increasing grits but no idea how much each are.. just followed the instructions) - and also contains PlastX and some lens protection solution. I did the following: 1. Clean lens. 2. Let paper soak in water for couple mins 3. Sand with lowest grit up and down. 4. Sand with next grit horizontally. 5. Sand with next grit up and down. 6. Then sand with the final grit horizontally. All the sanding involved applying some water to clean the lens as I sand. 7. Dry the lens 8. Apply PlastX to applicator pad and apply thoroughly to lens. 9. Wipe off with Microfibre. Results? Crap. I don't see how I could have done anything wrong here but I think it actually looks worse off now lol. Perhaps they didn't give a low enough grit paper to start with? No idea. Here is what it looked like and looks like now: BEFORE AFTER FAIL

Had a chat to a few wreckers, but no one seems to have one. Feel free to point me to anyone I may have missed lol. Haven't considered importing from Japan - will have a look at that site, cheers.

Had a chat with them and they said shipping cost for a bumper would be between $1000-$3000. May as well get a brand new bumper in NZ if that's the case! Have emailed a few other places - waiting on a reply from ecstuning about shipping cost. I don't get why the shipping is so expensive when a bumper from ebay has shipping cost to nz for $100-200. Worst case scenario.. buy a brand new one in NZ. Or aftermarket plastic one from ebay (want to avoid this unless someone can tell me that there are aftermarket ones with fitment at least 90%+ as good as genuine). Or miraculously a used one pops up on trademe .

Looking for a genuine used m-sport front bumper cover (or an m5 one) for the e39. Don't need the carrier or bumper shocks - only the cover, trims and mesh.

Might take a trip to Repco for the PlastX, seems to be highly recommended. Assuming they'll have the different grits there too. Come to think of it, I remember Meguiar's having a headlight restoration kit - I wonder if all the above are just included as part of that. Headlights are already out and in my room - so should be pretty straightforward job.

Cool was thinking about this. Any need to use any lower grit? (e.g. 600-800), or just start from 1200 and up? Also - any pre-sanding treatment required, such as cleaning with alcohol and what not? That sounds pretty overkill . I bought some genuine used ones - only need 1 to replace on my 530i, which got damaged. Just going to make these look all polished and then swap my white angel eye bulbs and everything over (from the damaged one) to these ones once I install them. Might sell the other since I don't really need.

Just wanted to know whether you guys use any specific product(s) for making headlight lenses nice and clear again? Just bought a pair of em, in pretty good condition but want to get rid of any light scratches / shady parts.

What you guys think of this? I'm liking but indecisive on whether I like those seats. Price is fairly up there too but based on its condition it probably deserves to be? Think it was initially listed for 45k and has been gradually going down since. http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-787237873.htm

Tis done. Ordered parts from Schmiedmann. Now to cross fingers and hope they come within sub-1-month.

Didn't really have any major issues when I posted this thread. But now I do. Either way, I'll probably get the trans work done after I've repaired the car. Don't really want to keep dirty black oil going through my transmission.