USA/Euro Foglight Interchangability

[Spasso]

Hi Guys,
I have the ubiquitous cracked and broken fog light lenses on my 1994 530i (build date 5/93). On my Dad's 530iT as well.

I tried to get the acrylic lenses from various sources and have been told that the only manufacturers of these lenses (in South Africa) are no longer in business. Does anyone else make them?

In the interest of finding some fog lights with replaceable lenses I found the Euro version of my light allows for lense changes for considerably less than buying the entire USA assembly each time.

My stock light and the Euro light both use the same supports and the lenses appear to be the same type and shape. The differences being the USA version uses the regular 9006 bulb and the Euro using what appears to be a semi-eliptic lense with an H1 bulb.

Another obvious difference will be the plug on the wiring harness being different.

Has anyone done this conversion or should I stick with buying the entire USA assembly just to get the new lenses?

Thanks for the help.
This is a great site and I enjoy reading it on a regular basis.
DJ

[shogun]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...spagenameZWDVW

http://www.bmwlight.com/replacement.htm
http://www.mwerks.com/artman/publish...ter_1024.shtml

[Will308]

I've been wondering about the conversion myself. The euro/projectors are easy to find at a good price.
I have a '91 that uses the 9006 bulbs and fog light assemblies are difficult to find at a decent price.
I just kept browsing e-bay until I found some that were a direct replacement. I think I paid $50.00 for both of them.
I'm going to get the laminx to protect them soon.

[DanDombrowski]

Easy drop in, you just have to find some connectors for the new bulbs and splice them in. No biggie.

[Spasso]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...spagenameZWDVW

http://www.bmwlight.com/replacement.htm
http://www.mwerks.com/artman/publish...ter_1024.shtml

Thank you Shogun. This will save me a lot of time and money.

I ordered two sets from BMWlight.com for about 10.00 less each than the "buy it now" price on Fleabay, 34.95 plus shipping..

The third link mentioned the source in South Africa and the limited and dwindling supply. No mention of E34 lenses at all.

Now, if they only made them in yellow..........................
(I may eventually order the Euro set with yellow lenses someday anyway).

Note; I have converted my dad's and my own foglights to use the 9005 uncapped bulb. Works great and I am sure will be even brighter with the new lenses.

[kmraj]

Easy drop in, you just have to find some connectors for the new bulbs and splice them in. No biggie.

Greetings,

I just changed by fog lights on my 525i (4/91) had it went from the 9006 bulbs to the H1. I jury rigged the connects but would love to find a more sealed connector similar to the ones which was used for the 9006 beams.

Can anyone point me to where I can find the connectors (the H1 uses yclndrical posts and the 9006 used flat posts).

I currently have found a method that converts the cylindrical posts to flat, but then have wrapped them in electrical tape to ensure they stay connected and relatively mosture free.

I would prefer a sealed (gasketed) solution.

Thanks,
M

[632 Regal]

good luck, I tried to get a good connection without great results, splice the soldered connections with shrink tube and you should be good to go.

I would prefer a sealed (gasketed) solution.