Time to fix your dim e30, e32, e34, e36, e38, e39 euro headlights?

[genphreak]

Time to fix your dim e30, e31, e32, e34, e36, e38, e39 euro headlights?

Need more light on dark nights?

This thread contains info about the more sensible fixes for projector headlights (often called euro/smiley/ellipsoid/projector lamps). It will focus on these Hella/Bosch lamps, fitted with H1 Halogen bulbs. The traditional style broad focus lamps fitted to cars where local market regulations mandated older designs will be ignored as poor light with these lamps cannot be improved unless they are filthy or the lenses so pitted/blasted from particulates kicked up by road traffic that they just need replacement. if you have them on your BMW, you can find a set of euro ellipsoids (as regulations now allow them in most countries) and use this thread to ensure they are working just as BMW intended and/or improve them with modern High Intensity Discharge 'HID' or Light Emitting Diode 'LED' lamps.

The euro ellipsoid/projector design is strange as it allows 'colouring' of the internal facia panel (you might call this a mask but from herein I will call it the 'shroud') without affecting light output. This is because the light is projected from the hole in the middle of the shroud, from which the main lens protrudes and emits all the light from the internal reflector.

Since 1995, designers began designing these internal projector assemblies in all kinds of lamp assemblies (as opposed to BMW's design that used traditional round lights (a signature design element up until e36 and some try to argue it still is, today). Now of course, projector lamps are commonplace, implemented in plastic assemblies of all kinds- most of them made from poor quality plastics instead of plastic, metal and glass. Few are even well thought out designs, unlike the these lamps that BMW/Hella/Bosch designed and everyone copied and modified from that point on. Many iterate mistake after mistake and you see owners complaining about things like persistent fogging, dirt and water ingress, overheating bulbs, cracking enclosures, inability to clean, the cost and frequency of bulb replacements, constant breakages, and having to do things like replacing entire assemblies to repair one damaged lens.

Whether or not the 'design advances' so many teams have settled on do anything for design or function is a matter of taste and debate, however from a functional point of view only, the projector design was revolutionary and has been enhanced in many other ways since then. Most notably with more modern halogen, xenon/HID and LED bulbs.

This last point helps us, as it is very simple to upgrade your BMWs lamps if you want better than factory light output.

This is the kind we'll be looking at:

In factory silver;


And in aftermarket tinted form;


Goal:
From cleaning up the existing lamps, dealing with lens damage and updating them to fit more powerful bulbs, the aim here is to examine the pros, cons and pitfalls that can happen when maintaining any complex/vital part on a motor vehicle.

What is a projector lamp?
In short, projector lamps are a parabolic reflector with a minimum of two lenses in front of a bulb. They are used in the dipped beam (the lamp that comes on when you turn the headlights on) and also in the bumper-mounted fog lamps common to many BMWs. Projectors are not used in high beam lamps (the lamps that come on when you flash oncoming traffic or switch on the high beams on dark roads). The high beams are 55W H1/900x equipped halogen spot-lamps.

Hella projector lamps vary in size between models. All info in this thread directly relates to E32 and E34 type which is the largest in diameter of all, however it will be relevant to other models with others resembling them.

This is what the projector assembly removed from the lamp housing from where it sits behind the shroud:

The projector assembly is the source of most of the light coming from the bulb. It is directed through an internal lens (around 50mm) to create a light beam of a particular shape and intensity pre-focussed on illuminating objects in the distance more accurately than a traditional, parabolic style lamp (ie which emits a more evenly dispersed light pattern across a broader range). The projector assembly is screwed into the lamp assembly from the rear- with the bulb at the back and the projector lens butting up directly behind the glass front cover. It is important to understand that the external glass cover plays no part in adjusting/focussing this long-distance light pattern emanating from the projector.

When you look at it the lamp assembly from the front, you can directly see the projector lens mounted in the middle of a the mirror-finished shroud (or if you have the newer tinted versions, the shroud is gloss black). The external cover is a high-quality glass (which on modern cars is invariably a clear piece of plastic). The projectors fitted to modern BMWs have other lamps to illuminate nearby objects (such as daytime running lights). On our older BMWs, the designers made the main lamp assembly do this job by using the shroud to allow a small amount of light to escape the projector internally. Directed through an opening in the lower part of the shroud around the projector, nearby objects are illuminated with a less intensity and the rest of the available light is directed through the projector. The result is much easier on the driver's eye.

The appearance this gives the car when viewed from the front, is in the shape of a smiley emoji, which is why some people call this type of projector lamps 'smileys'. However this innovative design was in fact very effective at solving the problem manufacturers faced up to this point (1985), where good illumination of far-away objects with a single lamp invariably meant over-illuminating nearby objects. Autobahn and Black Forest drivers would complain of eye strain after prolonged driving, a problem that went away on the 3, 5, 7 and 8 series models after 1986.

The projector lamp assembly was very effective at resolving this problem, however be aware that when BMW designed this into e30, e32 and e34 they added an unrelated light diffuser at the top of the lamp, that is not in later models such as e36. This was not an opening like the smiley at the bottom, allowing light out of the main beam. It was just a small diffuser in an otherwise unused part of the shroud with space for an additional light source- a single 10W 'side' or 'park' lamp.

OK. So enough history!!!

If these projector lamps are so good, why do they work so badly on my 30 year old BMW?

There can be several reasons. Sometimes there is high-resistance wiring in the bulb cap. But always there is dirt and years of cloudy build up. Often, the outer cover gets worn to the point that it resembles sandpaper rather than clear glass.

In an effected lamp, these issues combine to diffract a lot of light to places other than where you need it. If the lamps were a sealed beam, they may not suffer from some of these problems. However the easy changing of bulbs and the need to dissipate heat and condensation mean that gradually, air and gaseous substances in it must be able to leave the housing. Of course that means it can get back in too, and over time this means a lot of haze build up on all the surfaces inside.

Headlights have to work reliably in extreme conditions and there are many compromises made on cost, weight and function. This lamp, perhaps a masterpiece of its time, was still an efficient piece of engineering. One of the first lamps to be made mostly from plastic, both its casing and reflector is not expensive. It does not employ a heavy glass mirror but it does have quality lenses and a crystal glass cover. However they couldn't justify a mini air conditioner to control condensation... instead, gases given off during warm-up and cool-down cause condensation and dirt to ingress over time. These leave a dull film on all the internal surfaces- lens reflector, main cover and even the bulb!

So what can be done to clean this up and/or improve these 30 year old lamps?

0. Remove the lamp assemblies
1. Clean them out!
2. If needed, replace front cover glass/outer lens
3. Replace oxidised wires
4. Install improved bulbs

0. Removal
Begin by removing the internal air shrouds behind the light assemblies and the grille surround/nose panel and. The clips on the far left and right side must be popped carefully, requiring a large flat object you can lever as against the top of the bumper cover (be sure to use a thick soft rag to avoid scratching it). It screws and clips above and below the kidneys. Behind it are large Philips screws under each indicator, and various clips and plastic fasteners that you should study, pry and feel off the car rather than just undo and pull. Caution: The plastic will be old, brittle and unforgiving of your impatience.

Then undo the indicators, disconnect the left and right light assemblies (again beware brittle plastic in the connectors) and remove all the screws that mount them to the frame. Once you have them off, clean them up and take them to your bench where you can strip them down without losing all the bit and pieces. Note the plastic twist-on mounts for the mounting/adjustment screws, these can be turned with a pair of (non-sharp) needle nose pliers. They only go one way, so always check you are turning each one correctly. Beware the plastic adjuster too- these can be cracked/damaged or deteriorating too so command care and respect :-) Once the lamps are free, you can begin fixing them up:


Attachment 8431

1. Cleaning:
Remove each lamp from the car and clean the externals. The point here is to clean the outside so at no point do you transfer the dirt inside as you move inside the lamp. Now disassemble and clean the parts internally. Take care as they are FRAGILE. Unscrew the metal projector assembly from the housing. Use a soft lint-free cloth as the projector parabola and front shroud have a mirror finish that is very fragile. Rubbing will damage the coating- so only use water or alcohol and shake dry.

Wipe the
- Parabola/reflector surface and projector lens front and back surface.
- Wash the entire cover in water first to remove any debris is a good idea- but remember to let it dry naturally or in the cooling oven :-)


2. Removing the front cover/lens. This step is not required if you just want to clean the lamp internally. Taking the front glass cover off the main housing is only necessary if:
- The lens/cover is damaged and/or
- If you want to install halo rings/Angel-eyes and/or
- Paint the shrouds black 'coz u r a badder ass e34 bro' than me, this is how you do it to an old lamp housing. If you have a new lamp housing (even if it is a few years old), do not attempt this as the adhesive will not melt at sub-200 degree temperatures. It is only known to work with factory housings!

Preparation:
You need the oven for a while, so don't do it on a day the wife is home
Have a tube of high temp silicone sealant to re-seal the outside of the lamp.
Lots of tissues and lint-free cloths, alcohol, water
Do you need new lenses/covers? Now is the time to check the condition of your front covers/lenses and buy new ones.

Beware, you won't be melting the cover off again once you're done: It may take another 20 years for this stuff to let go at just 175 degrees. Mine claims to be 450 degree tolerant- Sika make it in a tube you can fit in a common calk gun. If you mess up, just buy a new lamp assembly from Hella, they are around 40 euro each Part #63121390275 (L) and #63121390276 (R) These can be fitted to both LHD and RHD vehicles as they are set when you install the projector assembly, see the pic and details below). Beware if you go with low temp silicone, your lenses may fall off on a hot night (who wants that screwing up a good date?!!).



Strip the lamp down to its bare minimum (remove the projector assembly, the plastic mounting grommets and screws) and place it in a cold oven. Run the oven for 10 minutes at no more than 160 degrees Celsius. Be careful as this has to be hot enough to melt the adhesive that glues the glass to the plastic housing, so is very hot, but should not be hot enough to melt the housing itself. Be careful as ovens are often inaccurately controlled. Also, the lamp may need protection from gas flames or the oven's elements, so put it in a covered ceramic bowl or place a tray above and below it. You DO NOT want to burn a lump of plastic in your oven and spend the next 6 months redecorating your house!

Using oven mits remove the housing and gently persuade the glass to come off. Sometimes it will just drop off- so beware- glass cracks when it hits the ground. If it isn't baked enough you may find at this temperature you can coax the glass off gradually with a blunt blade screwdriver- but be careful not to point load the glass too much as it can crack.

Now you can clean the back of the lens, the shroud and re-install. or you can add LED bling lights (stick them to the shroud) and/or paint the shroud black. Or pink... name your colour ;-)

Note: Re LED Halo/Angel-eyes. Fitting these requires care as there is little room with which to work.

If yours come inside plastic rings (such as the 130-132mm ones sold for E46 with non-projector lights, the largest you can fit in e32/e34 lamps), you will need to remove the plastic ring from the PCB the LEDs are mounted on as there is not enough space between the shroud and the lens for anything other than the LED ring. You can fit the new switchback ones as well as the new ones with 156-odd LEDs embedded into the board that are even thinner and have self adhesive on the back which should work fine. I am not sure if CCFL ones will fit- but I doubt they will fit as well as the LED ones due to the space constraints. You must stick the LED ring so that it centres perfectly in the shroud with 1-2mm all the way around the edge because otherwise the glass will not stick back neatly. Drill a 5mm hole in the housing through which to route the wire for the AngelEyes and seal the hole with silicone. Once you stick the ring to the shroud, stick it with tape until the adhesive is dry (I used clear low-temp silicone as it only needs to hold until the housing is re-assembled), then clean the lens again and mount it to the housing with an uninterrupted bead of silicone around the edge. Now bind it in position with tape until this silicone dries.

With the lens back on, Voila.
Yo! Got stock euro ellipsoids with smilies and Halos bro!!!


Stuff to look for:
- Melted parabolas- the plastic above the globe can melt- this will happen when some numb-nut decided to retrofit 100W H1 bulbs despite all the warnings and proceeded to drive around blinding everyone.
- Debris in the lamp- sometimes you find a spare side lamp bulb lodged inside the housing.
- Pock-marked glass- the outer cover/lens should be replaced if it exhibits obvious wear from traffic-borne grit/stones/- a mild sand blasting is not a good thing as the light diffracts, reducing Illumination/throw and will also dazzle/blind oncoming traffic.

If you break anything or find something bad, you can still buy the plastic housing with a new glass cover from Hella- or simply get another second hand lamp.

Now re-assemble the lamp housing. Note: Each housing is left and right hand specific, but they cannot be mixed up and fitted on the wrong side of the car. The projector assembly is not however. So you can swap them around at will. When you fit it to the housing, you must chose to set it in either 'RG or LH' position. For LHD vehicles, choose RG. For RHD, choose LH. I don't understand the German meaning but you don't want to read this in English and get it round the wrong way as its not easy to change without pulling the lights out again.


3. Replace the oxidised wires in the bayonet rear cover. The wires get very hot when the lamps are left on and these 50mm wires absorb a lot of heat. The insulation cracks off over time- I've seen many with no insulation left on the wire whatsoever- so its a good idea to do this before one shorts out naturally. Simply solder similarly sized or larger pieces of wire into the rear covers. Remember to do the low beam, the high beam and the fog lamps- that might be 6 in total!

Note: Below are some pics of some I replaced the wires in (red and blue) alongside what they looked like when the car was built 20 years ago (brown and yellow) and one that's not too bad but is on the way out (white/brown):

[genphreak]

4. Bulb upgrades!

So you've cleaned them up and they're working much better. Do you still want more light out?

As they were, these projectors were adequate, but they did not increase light output as generations of marketers demanded of the engineering team building each successive model. By moving to projectors, auto companies became effective at lobbying the politicians to allow them more liberty to make design-related changes to lighting systems. Some of these have impacted safety in numerous ways. In countries where sunlight shining on turn signals prevents drivers from seeing a flashing bulb without the contrast of a dark orange background, regulators failed to prevent auto manufacturers from installing silver lamps, as well as lamps with generally poor light output and positioning.

OTOH, each new model of car had to have brighter (better!) headlamps than before. Now on dark nights, driving towards a wall of oncoming HIDs, many without self-leveling systems to dip them at reasonable levels can make life very difficult. However, HIDs now provide incredible amounts of light and BMW's old projector light can accommodate it. Just remember, you have to keep them clean and the lenses if damaged, can critically blind oncoming traffic.

HIDs
Many people are fitting HIDs in both the 35W and 55W varieties. I have no experience on how the plastic in the parabolic mirror can cope with the heat of these bulbs, however I've seen what the 100W H1 bulbs can do, so I opted for 35W. There is no need for more light than standard HIDs offer in my retrofitted lamps so I see no need to risk frying the projectors internally. Also, the extra load on the wiring harness might make life with 55W HIDs borderline. The standard 7.5A fuses work and I only get the dipped beam light out warning rather than the double warning many have reported.

Having installed the cheapest 35W 4300K HIDs I could find (and they're really nasty) was really easy. I just had to modify the rear housing cover as the HID bulb fitted into the H1 Socket.

35W Pros:
- Much more light
- Light color is fun, but a bit like a rainbow. Seems easy on the eye though its early days yet.
- 1 warning in the cluster only
- No overloading of existing wiring, so no upgrade to wiring required
- Fuses unchanged
- Cheap as chips!

Cons:
- For the first minute or so the light output is low
- Igniters have to be mounted nearby
- Can the igniters blow up and fry the ECU or could reports of this be wiring related?
55W only:
- 15A fuses required to deliver higher startup current
- Will the wiring gradually burn out?
- Can they be too bright?
Attachment 8436

LEDs:

Pros
- Some new models offer better performance than HIDs and may run cooler (?)

Cons
- All require modifications of the housing as well as the rear cover
- Many stick out further
- Some are actively cooled. When the fan clogs up/burns out, can it cause a fire?
- Many are not bright enough
- Retrofits yet to be proven good and reliable (?)
- Price

[632 Regal]

For the headlight surface I used to spray them with Sem chip guard paint (Credit Who the hell is Winfred) but it's real hard to get it to come out smooth. Last time I just used clear paint which worked very well.

I cleaned the inside of the light with a drop of dish soap and hot water, then rinsed with a mix of water and alcohol with a final rinse of just alcohol. No dissassembly required except to remove the headlight from the car. Took all the foggy coating off.

If you take the lights apart the silver reflective material will very easily wipe off and ruin them. How do I know this?

You can upgrade the low beam bulb to the high beam bulb but you have to get rid of the little tab for them to fit in the socket.

Edit 2. I tried to find old links for all the above without success.

[genphreak]

For the headlight surface I used to spray them with Sem chip guard paint (Credit Who the hell is Winfred) but it's real hard to get it to come out smooth. Last time I just used clear paint which worked very well.

I cleaned the inside of the light with a drop of dish soap and hot water, then rinsed with a mix of water and alcohol with a final rinse of just alcohol. No dissassembly required except to remove the headlight from the car. Took all the foggy coating off.

If you take the lights apart the silver reflective material will very easily wipe off and ruin them. How do I know this?

You can upgrade the low beam bulb to the high beam bulb but you have to get rid of the little tab for them to fit in the socket.

Edit 2. I tried to find old links for all the above without success.

Yes, thanks for pointing that out- the non-projector high beam lamps are sealed beams and have metal casings, no need to dissasmble just slosh some water with a single drop of dishwashing liquid into them and rinse thoroughly. I let mine dry in the sun. Alcohol would have been a better way to finish as no residue whatsover would be left.

I wanted to make the steps more detailed in the main post after I upped it, but I can't edit the damn thing anymore. Gnnn! Also the pictures are all screwed up and I can't fix them either.

What is the difference between your low beam and high beam bulbs? In mine they are all H1s, 55W. One set I took apart had 100W H1s and these had burned the reflectors above the bulbs and destroyed the wiring in the caps- definitely these are not sensible though it depends on how they are used... YMMV

[shogun]

Post the main post once more hereunder with the changes you want to make and the pics fixes. Then one of us mods will merge post 1 and your last post and fix that as new post # 1. So you can copy what is o.k. from post 1 instead of re-typing all and just add what is on your list to be added. That is fastest and easiest. The rest we can then delete what is not needed.

[632 Regal]

I cleaned mine as I wrote and they are the projectors. My projectors use the H11 bulbs, low beam is 55 watt (9006) with the cap covered and the high is 65 watt (9005) and no covering on the cap (pictured) Cap vs no cap.


Here is a picture of the tabs you nead to remove in the socket to make them plug in:

[genphreak]

I cleaned mine as I wrote and they are the projectors. My projectors use the H11 bulbs, low beam is 55 watt (9006) with the cap covered and the high is 65 watt (9005) and no covering on the cap (pictured) Cap vs no cap.

Thanks again Jeff, I've often wondered what all the talk about 900X bulbs is about; every car I've seen here in Oceania uses H1 bulbs- they have different connectors, rear caps, different projector housings.

65W must be ok- at present my high beams still use the 55W H1s- if I put HIDs in them they won't flash brightly enough as these HIDs have a long warm-up. Maybe better HIDs or LEDs would be ok, but I'm not going to go further (at least yet anyhow)

[genphreak]

Post the main post once more hereunder with the changes you want to make and the pics fixes. Then one of us mods will merge post 1 and your last post and fix that as new post # 1. So you can copy what is o.k. from post 1 instead of re-typing all and just add what is on your list to be added. That is fastest and easiest. The rest we can then delete what is not needed.

Sorry about causing all this trouble. I don't want to be painful but alas, here we are.

The error is specific;
"The administrator has specified that you can only edit messages for 30 minutes after you have posted. This limit has expired, so you must contact the <a href="sendmessage.php">administrator</a> to make alterations on your message"

So I checked the vBulletin 4.2.2 manual: Editing is controlled under Settings > Options > Message Posting and Editing Options.

Wouldn't adjusting this be easiest? I'd suggest these three be changed to at least 14 days (i.e. 20160), to allow people to clean up and remove post pollution when they care to do so. It will still lock the posts after the thread is dead, which is the main thing.

• Time Limit on Editing of Thread Title
  Specify the time-limit (in minutes) within which the thread title may be edited by the user whom started the thread.
• Time Limit on Adding a Poll to a Thread
  Specify the time-limit (in minutes) within which the thread may have a poll added to it.
• Time Limit on Editing of Posts
  Time limit (in minutes) to impose on editing of messages. After this time limit only moderators will be able edit or delete the message. 1 day is 1440 minutes.

[632 Regal]

VERY Interesting! Perhaps because I am a mod I don't ever see that? Let me contact Ed and see what he has to say, I will link him to your post.

Done... Lets see if Ed can modify this.

[bimmer nut]

Sorry for the late reply. I was in the Virgin Islands, daughter got married there. Anyway, there's an edit time limit to kinda prevent personal attacks. No take backs or "taunting" kinda thing where someone posts something bad, then changes it. But on Bimmer Nut a longer limit might be OK. None of that really takes place here. Or there's another alternative that I PMed regal about. Making genphreak a mod for the 5er forum here (heck, after all, he's only been a major contributor here for the last 12 years!). we see