Which are better: US ellipsoids or non-ellipsoids? Plz answer, thanks.

[Kamil]

Hello,
My '91 535i did not come w/ the ellipsoids headlights.

However, I'm very dissatisfied w/ these headlights. I heard people say that the non-ellipsoids are actually better then the U.S. ellipsoids; is that true?

Now, I've found some U.S. ellipsoids for sale for $175 for a set, and I've seen the light bulb mod on bmwe34.net.... so, WHICH WILL GIVE BETTER LIGHTING?

Are the ellipsoids worth the $175?

Thanks,
-Kamil

[Tiger]

The EURO ellipsoid are worth every penny... can be had for $170 complete for a Taiwan made... or double for German made.

Any original headlight with alot of tiny pittings are worthless... they ruin the light output by scattering it to local surrounding instead of where it should be... down the road.

[Kamil]

I dont want to spend $170x2 on German ones.

So stay away from these US market ones? Will theybe better then my lights?

[bahnstormer]

i have a 91 535i w/out ellipsoid
i have a 90 535i w/ ellipsoids
both cars are US spec.

i can't tell the difference from the driver seat
when u look at the front though, the ellipsoid
lights seem to be brighter/throw more light.

maybe i should take both cars to a dark field and test em out.

ps - i'm saving up for euro ellipsoid smilies

[Unregistered]

My US ellipsoids on my 94 540i work great with the conversion on the bmwe34 site. Hard to believe that the non ellipsoids work better. No experience with the EURO ellips but from what everyone says, theyre the holy grail.. especially if one wants to do a true HID setup.

Theres also another bulb that can be purchaced somewhere that uses the infrared light given off (that cannot be seen) to apparently heat the filiment more efficiently to produce much more light. Check this thread - http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthr...ighlight=bulbs

Jim
94 540i

[Kamil]

Ok, thanks.
One final easy question:
Are the bulbs for U.S. ellipsoid and non-ellipsoid the same? 9005/9006?

I'll pass on the ellipsoids, and considering inversting into those HIR bulbs... will do more research first, thanks.

-Kamil

[Unregistered]

Kamil, I believe that if you would like to put in the HIR bulbs that you *have* to have the ellipsoids, whether it be the US or EURO spec. I believe that if you try to put the HIRs or even just the similar less bright mod found on bmwe34.com behind non-ellipsoids that the light appears scattered and will produce a lot of glare for oncoming traffic. I say invest in the US ellipsoids and then invest in the HIR bulbs.

Jim

Ok, thanks.
One final easy question:
Are the bulbs for U.S. ellipsoid and non-ellipsoid the same? 9005/9006?

I'll pass on the ellipsoids, and considering inversting into those HIR bulbs... will do more research first, thanks.

-Kamil

[Kamil]

Kamil, I believe that if you would like to put in the HIR bulbs that you *have* to have the ellipsoids, whether it be the US or EURO spec. I believe that if you try to put the HIRs or even just the similar less bright mod found on bmwe34.com behind non-ellipsoids that the light appears scattered and will produce a lot of glare for oncoming traffic. I say invest in the US ellipsoids and then invest in the HIR bulbs.

Jim

thanks Jim

[Tiger]

Euro are far better than US spec... DOT really choked the quality light outputs to minimum because of their stupid law.

Euro headlights are 4x better than US spec.

[Jon M.]

I have a '92, which came stock with non-ellipsoids (which I have subsequently upgraded to 4 euro-spec ellipsoids)

My only complaint on the euro ellipsoids is the stock H1-55Watt bulb for the highbeams. 100-watt bulbs are available, but I was nervous about going overwattage without upgrading my wiring.

My old non-ellipsoid US-spec highbeams, with the 9005 (65 watt) bulb lit up the night like a set of klieg lights, the euro-specs with the standard 55 watt bulbs didn't.

now I bought a set of Osram silverstar H1's (these are different from the Sylvania bulbs sold in the US) from Daniel Stern Lighting and I now light up the night again.

If you were trying to save money though, you could just get the euro low beams (they fit into the same buckets). You'd be running two different types of bulbs, but there are worse things in life, and the main weakness on the stock US-spec lights is the low beam, not the high beam, in my opinion.