oem headlights without lenses

[stylish_division 0]

Im half way through putting angel eyes in my e36. But when i removed the lenses to clean them, i noticed the headlights look alright bare. decided to put them on my car until the angel eye kit arrives. what do u guys think? how come people dont do this? seems to light up alright.

last pic shows the difference, passenger side is normal.

Edited July 1, 2008 by stylish_division

[Mark 178]

Not sure about the lenses affecting lighting performance, but they definitely help stop moisture from getting into the light assembly.

[stylish_division 0]

i might be wrong, but im sure the lenses were only sealed on the sides not all the way around? wouldnt moisture go in anyway?

[Nobimmer 694]

I dont really see any difference

[stylish_division 0]

yea i realise in the pics they dont look that much different. its one of those things which is noticable in real life. Just looks much cleaner.

[elmarco 56]

I'm not entirely sure what you have done there....

The lenses on that style of headlamp control the light pattern (they are called a parabolic lamp). Newer style headlamps (like the E46) use a clear lens and the light pattern is controlled by the reflector (called a free form reflector). Have a look at http://www.hella.co.nz/?t=73 - shows the difference.

Messing with the photometric pattern (ie: the lens in this case) on a headlamp is both illegal and dangerous for other road users. The low beam pattern is specifically designed so it does not blind oncoming cars (no rocket science there) and removing the lens means the pattern could blind oncoming cars even on low beam (yours might be OK - they look to have projectors which are a bit different again). The change to the high beam might not impact oncoming drivers so much, but may mean that you can't see anywhere near as well when you need to....

Message: don't mess around with headlamps unless you know more than the engineers that designed them. They are safety items are designed for optimum road legal performance.

If you want to see better at night, try perousing the Hella aftermarket catalogue. Good driving lamps make a hell of a difference to driving at night.

[greenday-rulz21 6]

^^ Now you can't get a much better response than that! Very interesting...

[stylish_division 0]

Message: don't mess around with headlamps unless you know more than the engineers that designed them. They are safety items are designed for optimum road legal performance.

If you want to see better at night, try perousing the Hella aftermarket catalogue. Good driving lamps make a hell of a difference to driving at night.

yea i thought the lenses were there for a reason... anyways just in there until i get angel eyes kit then the lenses will go back in.. thanks for the heads up.

[elmarco 56]

No problemo...

[byza213 1]

sincing we on lights ..and i didnt want to post a new thread for a such a small thing

does those xenon bulbs make a decent difference rather than my crappy standard ones on my e34 ?

[moktar 7]

xenon bulbs are well worth doing completely changes the look of the car at night with the light being a pure white or a ice blue. i went with ice blue 8000k. put them in fogs low and high beam and looks mint. also i do alot of night driving from AKL to Whitianga and they make driving so much easier.

Just dont get the $90 kits off trademe would have produced more light burning the cash.

If ya got the cash get H.I.D all round.

[Yuen 16]

sincing we on lights ..and i didnt want to post a new thread for a such a small thing

does those xenon bulbs make a decent difference rather than my crappy standard ones on my e34 ?

I'm assuming you're talking about HID kits and not halogen bulbs filled with xenon gas which I've seen around.

HID kits result in sub-optimal beam pattern in the Bosch halogen lights (no E36 lights came designed for proper D2S HID except Hella CELIS). Proper HID do not come in the typical halogen bulb bases of H1, H3, H7 etc. What happens with kits is they take a HID bulb and 're-base' it onto a halogen base so people can stick them into their halogen lights. Some halogen headlights will have a better beam than others, but in general kits cause glare to other road users and you'll notice there are hot spots in your beam. So strictly speaking, if you want to have HID on your car, either use headlights designed for them, or retrofit HID projectors into your headlights (but I'm not sure if that's legal even though it can be done properly).

4300k would be best for our eyes, it's the colour temp of factory HIDs.

I suggest you try cleaning your headlights first as they will have a film of dirt/oil on the inside glass and on the projector/reflector. You should see an improvement.

xenon bulbs are well worth doing completely changes the look of the car at night with the light being a pure white or a ice blue. i went with ice blue 8000k. put them in fogs low and high beam and looks mint. also i do alot of night driving from AKL to Whitianga and they make driving so much easier.

Just dont get the $90 kits off trademe would have produced more light burning the cash.

If ya got the cash get H.I.D all round.

Miles are you running a kit in the Boschs? What brand did you go with? Any issues with WOF?

[byza213 1]

so where can i purchase these bulbs? i would buy angel eyes but for e34s they cost an arm

[moktar 7]

Miles are you running a kit in the Boschs? What brand did you go with? Any issues with WOF?

Not H.I.D just the xenon bulbs fit into the standad headlight but produces a clean very bright white light rather than the yellowish bulbs ie.. poor mans H.I.D

so are the H.I.D kits not very good for the E36 headlights? beacuse that was my next step!!! may just have to put them only in my fogs.

[moktar 7]

so where can i purchase these bulbs? i would buy angel eyes but for e34s they cost an arm

Where are you based if your in auckland give hopehickman electrical a call they sorted me out. (09)379-9425

just ask for the xenon or ice-blue bulbs have a look on the back of the bulb either h1,h7 ect...

make sure you change your parklights too or you will have yellow and white bulbs.... fugly as

[byza213 1]

Where are you based if your in auckland give hopehickman electrical a call they sorted me out. (09)379-9425

just ask for the xenon or ice-blue bulbs have a look on the back of the bulb either h1,h7 ect...

make sure you change your parklights too or you will have yellow and white bulbs.... fugly as

thanks man will contact them thanks for ya help cause those yellows bulbs are not doing it for me

[Yuen 16]

Not H.I.D just the xenon bulbs fit into the standad headlight but produces a clean very bright white light rather than the yellowish bulbs ie.. poor mans H.I.D

so are the H.I.D kits not very good for the E36 headlights? beacuse that was my next step!!! may just have to put them only in my fogs.

No - there are a couple of E36s around Auckland with HID kits in the stock headlights, and the beam pattern is not the best. If you come across one of those cars, look how the light spreads right in front of the car and look for hot spots.

[Yuen 16]

thanks man will contact them thanks for ya help cause those yellows bulbs are not doing it for me

Just want to point out that white bulbs can seem to be brighter than normal 'yellow' halogens due to the colour, but can put out less lumens. If there's any form of tint around the bulb then it's reducing the light output. There are some bulbs out there without tint which burn very slightly whiter than normal halogens, and actually put out a bit more light, ie: Osram Silverstar which I used. However I didn't think the gain in output was worth the extra cost.

Before you run out and buy new bulbs I would really clean the headlights first. Buying new bulbs is a band-aid to your problem if your lights are old and dirty. I saw the biggest increase in light output from cleaning mine.

And make sure you don't get bulbs greater than 55w, so you don't kill your wiring and/or lights from heat.

[byza213 1]

Just want to point out that white bulbs can seem to be brighter than normal 'yellow' halogens due to the colour, but can put out less lumens. If there's any form of tint around the bulb then it's reducing the light output. There are some bulbs out there without tint which burn very slightly whiter than normal halogens, and actually put out a bit more light, ie: Osram Silverstar which I used. However I didn't think the gain in output was worth the extra cost.

Before you run out and buy new bulbs I would really clean the headlights first. Buying new bulbs is a band-aid to your problem if your lights are old and dirty. I saw the biggest increase in light output from cleaning mine.

And make sure you don't get bulbs greater than 55w, so you don't kill your wiring and/or lights from heat.

yea thanks my mate pointed out to me the other week thet my lights were real dim.

so this made me want to change bulbs etc

so what your saying is clean inside of headlight and dont buy xenon bulbs higher than 55w?

[Yuen 16]

yea thanks my mate pointed out to me the other week thet my lights were real dim.

so this made me want to change bulbs etc

so what your saying is clean inside of headlight and dont buy xenon bulbs higher than 55w?

Yup, clean the inside of the headlight first and if you're still not happy, buy any bulb you like but don't go higher than 55w.

[elmarco 56]

No - there are a couple of E36s around Auckland with HID kits in the stock headlights, and the beam pattern is not the best. If you come across one of those cars, look how the light spreads right in front of the car and look for hot spots.

Using an HID burner in a regular lamp designed for an H1 or H7 bulb is downright dangerous. You may end up seeing a lot less than you did with the filament bulb as the light source position is really important for correct photometric performance. You could also blind oncoming drivers.

Oh, and it is illegal - dunno what the penalty is, but you can bet the book being thrown if someone were proved to have hurt another driver because of it.

Anyone doing this deserves a slapping....

You MAY be able to find a retrofit kit or lighting modules and do the job properly. The kits are normally sold for buses etc where the low volumes don't justify a massive investment in headlamp tooling. They are pricey, but it can be done and done stylishly.

Just want to point out that white bulbs can seem to be brighter than normal 'yellow' halogens due to the colour, but can put out less lumens. If there's any form of tint around the bulb then it's reducing the light output. There are some bulbs out there without tint which burn very slightly whiter than normal halogens, and actually put out a bit more light, ie: Osram Silverstar which I used. However I didn't think the gain in output was worth the extra cost.

Before you run out and buy new bulbs I would really clean the headlights first. Buying new bulbs is a band-aid to your problem if your lights are old and dirty. I saw the biggest increase in light output from cleaning mine.

And make sure you don't get bulbs greater than 55w, so you don't kill your wiring and/or lights from heat.

Precisely... Using more than 55w will overheat the lamps and you start to run into all sorts or problems like melted wiring, damaged bulb sockets etc. It is worse still if you have a car with plastic lenses - these will also melt right in front of the bulb position. Don't do it!

The other issue with the higher brightness bulbs (same wattage) is that they don't last as long as regular ones. Always buy quality brand bulbs (Osram and Philips are up there in quality) and remember to never touch the glass.

[stylish_division 0]

Not H.I.D just the xenon bulbs fit into the standad headlight but produces a clean very bright white light rather than the yellowish bulbs ie.. poor mans H.I.D

so are the H.I.D kits not very good for the E36 headlights? beacuse that was my next step!!! may just have to put them only in my fogs.

so u didnt put a h.i.d kit on. just changed bulbs? do u have have pics of the kind of light they produce. i'm looking to change bulbs in headlight and foglights to pure white. i have seen bulbs which cost so much and still look yellowish?