Fitted DOPO aftermarket angle eyes to my E38

[jimbo01 0]

Back just prior to the February earthquake I bought a set of new aftermarket headlights off trademe. I checked with the trader that these were in face for right hand drive, that they come with instructions, and had the adjustment motor, and they were completely comatible without any wiring changes.

It took several months to ge tthem delivered and then it was a while before I fitted them. Opened them up and immediately it was apparent there were no instructions, and no connector for that headlight adjustment motor. I figgured it all out and fitted them and turned them on. I had sort of expected the angel eyes to perhaps work on park, but they only work with the headlights on low or high beam. My indicators are now acting as parking lights but the car know something is wrong and I'm getting an alert "check park lights".

The actual lights look great, and they have really good light, and I can forgive the other things not being as the seller claimed BUT not that the lights let light spill to the right, not the left, so are not legal for NZ. I have contacted the trader and he's not taking any reposibility, but did mention that apparently you can adjust the lights somehow.

I guess that would involve pulling off the glass but has anyone heard of this or have done it???

[Steve K-B 51]

I dout that you can asjust it other than up/down and side to side. The light beam is set by the fluting in the lense You may be able to get new ones for it but id get mt money back for them. Sounds like the trader is a muppet

[sp8s 1]

So who is the trader so I dont make the mistake of dealing with them.

Get your money back plus what you paid for delivery. I fthey wont come to the party contact trademe, make a complaint and let everyone you know who the trader is.

[Smac01 12]

Depo headlights usually have a metal lever to switch between LHD and RHD.

Take the back cover off (like you're about to change the low beam bulb) and look around.

I had a set of Depo's on my last E36.

[KwS 2376]

Pretty sure americans dont get "park/city lights" but get side markers instead, which explains the angel eyes coming on only with the headlights. You should be able to rewire them to come on instead of the side lights.

[hotwire 352]

As above - most E39 lights have L - R hand drive switching ability. Can't speak for all brands though or which do & which don't.

Also, as per 3pedals, in these lamps the lens is clear & the light projection is completely controlled within the lamp/reflector setup.

Also as above - US normally lose park lights with head lights on, can't say that I know for sure of US BMW's doing this though.

I would be following this up to get a result with the seller, although time delay may be an issue now

[cliffdunedin 8]

So who is the trader so I dont make the mistake of dealing with them.

This^^ and also why did the freight take so long?

[jimbo01 0]

This^^ and also why did the freight take so long?

Traders place was in Sumner in Christchurch and couldn't get access to his send the lights for ages due to the earthquake and his property being out of bounds.

I think I was clear enough on the auction question, as was trader Nardos85's answer:

The seller has posted a response to your question about 'BMW E38 F/L XENON HEADLIGHTS 728i 730i 740i 750i'.

Hi - are these for right hand drive? (US left hand drive lamps have the wrong cutoff when dipped) Does this work with the height adjustment from inside the car? Thanks

yes and yes;)

posted by: nardo85 (19 ) 6:50 pm, Mon 7 Feb

This is his reply to my news that they are illegal here in NZ:

hey Jim,

sad to hear that, the seller absolutely promised me that they had a straight cutoff... I wouldnt have ordered them otherwise obviously... I know you can alter the beam quite easily though, as the usa import cars have to do the same, maybe you can ask some american car dealers or garages if they know how to do it, otherwise you could find it on the internet...

sorry mate, If I knew i would've told you, but obviously i didn't fit and test them..."

Michael T

I've sent him another email asking for my money back. If no joy I'll advise trademe, and do the small claims thing although I've found trademe adminstration to be profoundly useless.

[jimbo01 0]

Depo headlights usually have a metal lever to switch between LHD and RHD.

Take the back cover off (like you're about to change the low beam bulb) and look around.

I had a set of Depo's on my last E36.

Thanks for the tip - I'll remove one and pull it apart. There was nothing obvious when I was checking them before installing them.

However I do get the concept - my Audi Allroad can be changed via a lever from left hand to right hand drive lights - I guess it was design to go between Europe and the UK.

[Smac01 12]

Exactly.

It'll be beside the projector when looking inside the housing from behind.

You won't need to take the headlight off to do it.

Good luck!

Edited June 19, 2011 by brunch

[jochen 4]

As above - most E39 lights have L - R hand drive switching ability. Can't speak for all brands though or which do & which don't.

NO, they don't

They have a beam pattern modifier that reduces the beam pattern to allow the RHD car to be driven in LHD countries without blinding the oncoming traffic.

But it does NOT make the beam pattern a full LHD beam pattern.

So the long distance visibility for LHD is much worse than a proper LHD headlamp lens

I know, I tried it out on my E39!

The only way to properly convert a LHD headlamp assembly to RHD is to remove it completely, and replace it with RHD assembly.

[hybrid 1039]

With aftermarket lights not quite true.

You can open up the projector globe (be very careful while pulling to peices) and inverse the mask plate to swap the pattern to RHD. The projector mask is upside down as when you project an image it works is exactly like an old movie projector. You need to get the curve the same radius as not to loose focus of the 'sharp' masked line projected on a fence.

I used a bake bean tin to bend the mask back the other way (youll see what I mean)

I did this to the e46 when I bought p46 xenon lights from jleviSW.com which use the Depo housing and internals

I think I did a write up about it somewhere .. its been years so I cant remember where it is.

[hotwire 352]

NO, they don't

They have a beam pattern modifier that reduces the beam pattern to allow the RHD car to be driven in LHD countries without blinding the oncoming traffic.

But it does NOT make the beam pattern a full LHD beam pattern.

So the long distance visibility for LHD is much worse than a proper LHD headlamp lens

I know, I tried it out on my E39!

The only way to properly convert a LHD headlamp assembly to RHD is to remove it completely, and replace it with RHD assembly.

I stand corrected. Must confess - I hadn't tried playing with it myself. Assumption aye

[jimbo01 0]

With aftermarket lights not quite true.

You can open up the projector globe (be very careful while pulling to peices) and inverse the mask plate to swap the pattern to RHD. The projector mask is upside down as when you project an image it works is exactly like an old movie projector. You need to get the curve the same radius as not to loose focus of the 'sharp' masked line projected on a fence.

I used a bake bean tin to bend the mask back the other way (youll see what I mean)

I did this to the e46 when I bought p46 xenon lights from jleviSW.com which use the Depo housing and internals

I think I did a write up about it somewhere .. its been years so I cant remember where it is.

I'll give this a go - thanks

[jimbo01 0]

With aftermarket lights not quite true.

You can open up the projector globe (be very careful while pulling to peices) and inverse the mask plate to swap the pattern to RHD. The projector mask is upside down as when you project an image it works is exactly like an old movie projector. You need to get the curve the same radius as not to loose focus of the 'sharp' masked line projected on a fence.

I used a bake bean tin to bend the mask back the other way (youll see what I mean)

I did this to the e46 when I bought p46 xenon lights from jleviSW.com which use the Depo housing and internals

I think I did a write up about it somewhere .. its been years so I cant remember where it is.

Tried to do this the other day before taking the 740 in for it's WOF. Didn't have the right bits to do this at the time but I can see how to make these work for RHD. Thanks for the tip.

[hybrid 1039]

no worries... just takes a little bit of time but fairly easy to do.

[jimbo01 0]

Sold the damn things on TM with full disclosure that there were illegal and got $30! Woohoo. Just $520 out of pocket.