Not bad thread: lighting for e34 and e28

[GazM3]

the lights in the e28 esp and to a sertan extent the e34 are pretty poor compared to the ddm xenons in the e36. Are they upgradable, and if so what globes do they use (in foglights also).

thankyou in advance for this basic but neccisary request.

[Dvious]

I went to autobahn and purchased some Phillips Blue Vision 4000K

There a nice white bulb, cost about 60 dollars... Thats the brightest legal...

Im considering buying 6k's which give that nice blue/white tinge, however, there illegal..

Look for H1 bulbs, that will fit the E34 and the foglights i believe, the Phillips range are good without having to go for H.I.D's..

[jrobbo]

Gaz, I bought some HID's off ebay from a good seller in the US, they were only a few hundred $$$, I bought a set for both high beams and low beams in the E34. I bought them about 4 years ago, and they have been nothing short of excellent. I'm gonna put a set in my wifes E46 soon, HID's make an enourmous difference.

Cheers

John

[Konfused Pete]

I have these in 4300k. they are really good quality and the slim ballasts make them really easy to hide.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W

[GazM3]

im pretty sure they will fit in the e34,

will the e28 work with them??

yeah i got HID xenons in the m3 in 5000k for memory and they are fantastic and safer for night driving. THe oncoming cars dont like em so much thou.

any idea on the globe types H1?? not sure cant remeber.

at $40usd for 35w per pair (50usd for 55w) they are rediculusly cheap nowdays.

is it worth putting them in highbeam and foglights as well or is it over the top.

[Konfused Pete]

Foglights are fine. I'm not sure if i'd go with highbeam though. They will work, but it will shorten the life of the bulbs very dramatically. Xenons do not like being switched on/off often because of the very high peak voltage they use to ignite - that's why they flicker when first turned on. they are designed to be switched on and left on.

The E34 is H1 for all 3 lamps. not familiar with E28.

[BigKriss]

This is what I want. did you get 35w or 55w bulbs?

[jrobbo]

I've been running HID's in my E34 for high beams for 4 years now without failure, they work so well, i'd never go back to normal bulbs

[paulieM3]

so do you just plug the HID bulbs into existing halogen projectors?

[Konfused Pete]

The HID kits have a re-based bulb so that the focal point of the bulb is in the right place and the base suits the seat in your lamp type, be it H1, H4, H6 or whatever. obviously you have to put your ballast somewhere and the wiring will need some modifying.

John: very intersting what you say about having HIDs in your high beams. How do they go if you have to flash your high-beams ? no issues with flicker?

[paulieM3]

but doesnt a halogen projector have a different cut off patern to a xenon/hid projector? sure you can retrofit the hid bulb into a halogen projector but surely you would be blinding other drivers

i heard you can get "shrouds" which fit into your halogen projector in order to adjust the cut off pattern

also, if you are getting lights from the USA, doesn't the 'upward tick' of the cut off pattern angle the wrong way?

[GazM3]

Paulie I run the 55w xenonkit for low beam in the m3 with no prob

[jrobbo]

@Pete, I don't really flash my highs very often, not enough for me to worry if works well or not, but it certainly hasn't presented any probs when I have done so

@PaulieM3, here is a pic of the cutoff of my left-hand low-beam, using a 55w HID in the standard projector headlight.

[Rory]

i just bought one of ddm's HID kits. E34 headlights are indeed shit.

Pete, john..any dramas installing them?

[Konfused Pete]

no dramas with actually installing them . the wiring is good and the ballasts are tiny and easy to tuck away.

I did have an issue with the headlight gong going off when the lights are off. it's obviously due to the way the ballast switches - other kits don't have this issue.
You could easily solve it by putting a dummy load in parallel with the input to the ballast. the car is just looking for a current path for it's self check.

You could use a small 12V globe and tuck it away somewhere or what I did was wire up a simple Normally-Closed relay which switches itself out of the circuit when you apply power to the headlights. To be honest, i'd probably just go with a small globe if i was to do it again.

I think DDM sell error-fixing harnesses but they are exe