Arma 134 Report post Posted October 11, 2014 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: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
allan 295 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 (edited) Should look like these https://www.google.co.nz/search?newwindow=1&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1600&bih=789&q=ds2+bulbs&oq=ds2+bulbs&gs_l=img.3...0.0.1.53203.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0.msedrc...0...1ac..55.img..0.9.2078.2NgEImx6WXU . Are the side pieces on the exons lights white or orange ? What else do you wish to do with them. Take care when fitting the left one it is tight around the air con pipe work. From memory if the car is after a certain date the wiring should be plug and play just check all the drain hose are clear and work properly. Edited October 12, 2014 by tim 325 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 Should look like these https://www.google.co.nz/search?newwindow=1&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1600&bih=789&q=ds2+bulbs&oq=ds2+bulbs&gs_l=img.3...0.0.1.53203.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0.msedrc...0...1ac..55.img..0.9.2078.2NgEImx6WXU . Are the side pieces on the exons lights white or orange ? What else do you wish to do with them. Take care when fitting the left one it is tight around the air con pipe work. From memory if the car is after a certain date the wiring should be plug and play just check all the drain hose are clear and work properly. 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1071 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 you *may* have errors after fitting the xenons, but you can either code the car for xenon (best to do this anyway) or fit error elimination packs (which I have a pair of) if you get an error. I never fitted the packs with the retrofit kit, because I got no errors, but the coded correctly for them anyway. Coding the car to xenon is best, because it then doesn't do a cold check, like halogens, but watches for xenon ignition - if a xenon fails to ignite, it will try again, before it braings up an error. Every now and then, I see one of ours attemp to ignite, fail and the re-ignite and go as normal. the difference from halogen to xenon is like night and day (haha). I've seriously seen 6volt VW's with headlights as good as the E39 halogens (and mine were brand new!). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ahmedsinc 414 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 Wouldn't it be illegal having only 1 xenon & 1 halogen? Pretty sure xenons use a different reflector pattern, hence why it's illegal to fit xenons to normal headlamps?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 Will there be problems with the leveling when I install Xenons? Since my halogens are self leveling - will the leveling work with Xenons, or do they behave differently? Just dont want to hook them up and then have one headlight pointing up and one pointing down, with no way for me to adjust them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 (edited) Wouldn't it be illeg... I have a pair of Xenon headlights, so would replace both of my headlights. These are the entire headlights, not a retrofit kit. Edited October 12, 2014 by Arma Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Young Thrash Driver 1020 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 Do what you have to do to go xenon. Bugger the cool factor, they're just way better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
allan 295 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 Their are two systems for the auto leveling that I'm aware of. one you do it with the little wheel with 0,1,2,3 by rotating it the higher the number the more the auto leveling motors will lower the headlights . The second is automatic through sensors attached to the front and rear suspension this picks up the movement of the suspension as it works and lowers and raises the headlights accordingly to avoid blinding on coming vehicles. As your 530 is 2001 you may be lucky with it not throwing warning codes mine didn't you will definitely notice a difference in the light quality on low beam. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 Their are two systems for the auto leveling that I'm aware of. one you do it with the little wheel with 0,1,2,3 by rotating it the higher the number the more the auto leveling motors will lower the headlights . The second is automatic through sensors attached to the front and rear suspension this picks up the movement of the suspension as it works and lowers and raises the headlights accordingly to avoid blinding on coming vehicles. As your 530 is 2001 you may be lucky with it not throwing warning codes mine didn't you will definitely notice a difference in the light quality on low beam. My 520 has the manual headlight adjuster with the little wheel, but my 530 seems to have to automatic one (I only assume this because whenever I turn the head light low beams on, after 2 seconds they adjust automatically and move slightly upwards). From what I read, there's not too much of an issue if the car comes with the headlight adjusters, so am hoping mine will just work plug and play. Still not sure whether I need to take it to the dealership to recode it to know i'm using Xenons. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
allan 295 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 (edited) Just fit them and see what happens if it throws codes you know what needs to be done if not all good and you get to keep a few $$$$$$ Edited October 12, 2014 by tim 325 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1071 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 or buy BMW Scanner 1.4 from xcar360.co, for about $40. Reads fault codes too Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 12, 2014 Just fit them and see what happens if it throws codes you know what needs to be done if not all good and you get to keep a few $$$$$$ Yep that will have to be the plan. or buy BMW Scanner 1.4 from xcar360.co, for about $40. Reads fault codes too Yea, don't think I've got a 32 bit OS running anywhere though. I believe that scanner relies on 32 bit OS, specifically XP. Or can someone confirm it works on 64-bit Win7 fine? Thanks for the help guys. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1071 Report post Posted October 13, 2014 Yea, don't think I've got a 32 bit OS running anywhere though. I believe that scanner relies on 32 bit OS, specifically XP. Or can someone confirm it works on 64-bit Win7 fine? http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=942966 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 13, 2014 http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=942966 Sweet thanks. I was actually tempted to go down the NCS Expert route at some point, so might end up doing that instead . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1071 Report post Posted October 13, 2014 Sweet thanks. I was actually tempted to go down the NCS Expert route at some point, so might end up doing that instead . that works too NCS expert is more complicated though. If you're semi serious about doing stuff, having both is good. BMW Scanner allows you to fit used modules that the BMW software won't - like a used LCM or instrument cluster. BMW Scanner is very easy to use, as it's all tickboxes etc, but doesn't always let you alter every option possible, where you can hunt them out with NCS (and NCSDummy). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 13, 2014 that works too NCS expert is more complicated though. If you're semi serious about doing stuff, having both is good. BMW Scanner allows you to fit used modules that the BMW software won't - like a used LCM or instrument cluster. BMW Scanner is very easy to use, as it's all tickboxes etc, but doesn't always let you alter every option possible, where you can hunt them out with NCS (and NCSDummy). Yeah have been meaning to get more serious into the stuff, but just haven't got around to it. I'm a programmer so figured that may help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkonsta1 109 Report post Posted October 15, 2014 Yep that will have to be the plan. Yea, don't think I've got a 32 bit OS running anywhere though. I believe that scanner relies on 32 bit OS, specifically XP. Or can someone confirm it works on 64-bit Win7 fine? Thanks for the help guys. I ve got a full DIS INPA etc setup in one of our spare laptops in the office running XP. Feel free to use it if you need it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 15, 2014 I ve got a full DIS INPA etc setup in one of our spare laptops in the office running XP. Feel free to use it if you need it. Oh cool. I was planning on just doing it all on a VM running xp in one of my laptops. I've ordered a INPA/Ediabas cable so waiting for that to arrive. Have read quite a few docs that say that most of the stuff can be down on 64 bit win7 running the appropriate apps in XP compatibility mode. So will try that out. If all else fails I might get in touch with you! On another note - how painful is the setup of the software? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkonsta1 109 Report post Posted October 16, 2014 Installation is OK, not a pain, but it takes a while. There are a couple of things that need to be done in a specific order . If you miss one, it becomes messy. Good that you have the cable as I don't have one . Hopefully it will work like a charm. Call me any time. Dimitrios 0297704761 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted October 28, 2014 Went to the shop today to check on the car. Headlights hooked up. Looks like no errors are thrown with the Xenons, seems to work fine. Didn't get a chance to see if the auto-adjusters are working, but hoping they are. Will check when I get the car back tomorrow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BreakMyWindow 1874 Report post Posted October 30, 2014 Installation is OK, not a pain, but it takes a while. There are a couple of things that need to be done in a specific order . If you miss one, it becomes messy. Good that you have the cable as I don't have one . Hopefully it will work like a charm. Call me any time. Dimitrios 0297704761 I have a pre-configured DIS image that made the process A LOT quicker. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
