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      12-28-2016, 10:04 PM   #1
ridgetopboy
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X3's Halogen headlights suck!

Anyone have any experience with upgrading your headlights to true Bi-Xenons (not just putting HID bulbs in the existing housings)? We live in the mountains and it's DARK! My E93 has the adaptive Bi-Xenons and they are awesome but the our 2007 X3's headlights are worthless. I've ordered a kit (Bi-Xenon: Morimoto Mini H1 Stage III) from TheRetrofitSource.com to convert them. Does anyone have any experience with the installation? Looks like a big PITA but hopefully worth it.
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      12-29-2016, 09:04 AM   #2
ba ba boosh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ridgetopboy View Post
Anyone have any experience with upgrading your headlights to true Bi-Xenons (not just putting HID bulbs in the existing housings)? We live in the mountains and it's DARK! My E93 has the adaptive Bi-Xenons and they are awesome but the our 2007 X3's headlights are worthless. I've ordered a kit (Bi-Xenon: Morimoto Mini H1 Stage III) from TheRetrofitSource.com to convert them. Does anyone have any experience with the installation? Looks like a big PITA but hopefully worth it.
Personally, with retrofit your taking a huge risk in damaging your current halogen headlamps. Unless of course you are an expert in retrofitting.

I would call up various junk yards and ask if they have a totaled E83 X3 with the Xenons still intact. Then you can haggle on the price. Or there is always eBay. But still high in price for brand new OEM parts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/06-10-BMW-X3...ksobtA&vxp=mtr
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      12-29-2016, 11:14 AM   #3
ridgetopboy
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X3 Xenon conversion

Agreed, risky business retrofitting the lights but ~$1000 is out of my budget for this project.The salvage yards here in the SF Bay Area were well aware of the "value" if the Bi-Xenons they had...
I've been finding a lot of great advice and videos at this site: www.HIDplanet.com.
I've rebuilt a 2002 from the ground up so with a bit of patience and luck I think I can pull it off. Theretrofitsource.com had a good price on the kit and a Xmas discount brought the price below $250 all in.
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      12-29-2016, 03:48 PM   #4
ba ba boosh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ridgetopboy View Post
Agreed, risky business retrofitting the lights but ~$1000 is out of my budget for this project.The salvage yards here in the SF Bay Area were well aware of the "value" if the Bi-Xenons they had...
I've been finding a lot of great advice and videos at this site: www.HIDplanet.com.
I've rebuilt a 2002 from the ground up so with a bit of patience and luck I think I can pull it off. Theretrofitsource.com had a good price on the kit and a Xmas discount brought the price below $250 all in.
Agreed, well good luck on the venture.
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      02-06-2017, 01:42 PM   #5
jagr
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Not sure if you have given up the idea of retrofitting Xenons but I have just done this in the last couple of weeks.

It makes a huge difference as I can now see where I am going.

Quite a bit of work is involved and not a cheap process but worth it in the end:

Before:



During:







Finished:





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      02-27-2017, 07:29 PM   #6
ridgetopboy
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Looks good

I didn't do the Angel eye thing when I did my conversion, got them on my E93 convertible and don't really see the need for them on my "truck". Looks great though. I documented what I did in detail, now I have to figure out how to post it here on the forum so others can do it without having to figure out what it really takes. I see you took the whole front end apart, I found you do not need to at all. A major PITA avoided. What did you do with all the components (ballast, Canbus, ignitor)?

If anyone is interested I documented the entire process with pictures of every step. Let me know if you want a copy (It's a 33Mb file because of all the pictures but it will save you a lot of headaches if you want to do the conversion.)

Last edited by ridgetopboy; 02-27-2017 at 07:37 PM.. Reason: Added note about detailed instructions.
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      03-06-2017, 06:18 PM   #7
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Upgrade to HID kit.

I have upgraded almost all my cars to HID (where possible). Once you try it - you would never look back. It is also became very compact and inexpensive option these days.

Try OPT7 Blitz Bullet HID Kit Powerful "Mount-Less" Ballasts - All Colors and Sizes Simple DIY Install - 2 Yr Warranty [H7 - 5K Pure White Xenon Light]


It is very compact and fits behind the bulb inside the light body. You will need a capacitor (can buy it as option) to prevent flicker as car sends less than 100% PWM, probably to prolong halogen bulb life, but it will kill the ballast if you allow it to flicker.
OPT7 HID Anti-Flicker Capacitors Warning Light Canceler Error Eliminator (Pair)

I am enjoing HID for $29 and I would never regret it. You will also need to code no check [worm/cold] on low-beam bulbs. Although I did not test the detection with capacitors installed, as it was already disabled when I played with LEDs. Cheers.

Note: HID upgrade only works in low-beam. If you after high+low beam there is more exotic option. I got it but did not bother to try it yet: VIP X2 H7 - 4200K Xenon HIR Halogen Headlight Bulb Super White Lamp 75W Headlamp. Those will work in both light as normal halogen bulbs, the only issue it is more expensive and I do not know how bright they are. Also take a long time to get 2-3 weeks.

Last edited by bmwE83; 03-07-2017 at 06:08 PM..
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      03-06-2017, 08:48 PM   #8
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Do you know if the OPT7 HID bulbs would work in the Hi beam (only) sockets?
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      03-07-2017, 06:07 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ridgetopboy View Post
Do you know if the OPT7 HID bulbs would work in the Hi beam (only) sockets?
I did not try it, but I do not think it is a good idea:
1. High Beam is used for DRL, so it would provide 25% PWM to the bulb to make it glow at 25% - it would drive crazy the ballast and lead to failure. It is good safety feature, so disabling this is not an option for me.
2. Xenons are not good for flashing (also safety feature), as they start very dim and ramp up in ~15 secs.

I am thinking to use "VIP X2 H7 - 4200K Xenon HIR Halogen Headlight Bulb Super White Lamp 75W Headlamp" in the high beams to make it whiter color - it is not HID, but HIR (High intensity infra-red halogen) bulb that is about in between halogen and HID in brightness and also on the whiter spectrum side. It works exactly as normal halogen bulb just brighter, whiter and last for long time and it does not require any additional elements - just replace old bulb with this one and you are done.

Last edited by bmwE83; 03-07-2017 at 06:24 PM..
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      03-07-2017, 06:11 PM   #10
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Here is a great post on retrofit: diy-xenon-hid-headlight-upgrade-bmw-x3
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      03-08-2017, 01:19 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ridgetopboy View Post
I see you took the whole front end apart, I found you do not need to at all. A major PITA avoided. What did you do with all the components (ballast, Canbus, ignitor)?
I actually fitted New Headlight units so ballast is in the correct place screwed to the bottom of the headlight. Ignitor is included with the D1s bulbs. I fitted Osram Nightbreakers so very bright.

Mainbeam I fitted some H7 LED bulbs that match quite well and have no delay when flashing lights.

Angel eyes again updated to CREE LED bulbs so a nice white but not too bright.

Below shows the New units and old
Attached Images
    
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      04-24-2019, 08:19 PM   #12
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Message to ridgetopboy...

Do you still have your X3 HID write-up available?
Thank you!
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      04-24-2019, 08:53 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rkoski View Post
Message to ridgetopboy...

Do you still have your X3 HID write-up available?
Thank you!
I second that!
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      04-26-2019, 07:58 PM   #14
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https://www.retrofitlab.com/blog/bmw...enon-retrofit/

Quick google search
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      04-30-2019, 01:26 AM   #15
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Yeah, but the poster claimed he did this without tearing the front end apart.
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      04-30-2019, 08:22 PM   #16
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you don't have to pull the whole front end off. It just makes it easier and less risk of scratching the paint when trying to wiggle the headlight out. You can see in Jagr's pictures the plastic bracket with the 2 screws. Once you undo those 2 and the ones on top, it should slide out but its very tight with a 98% chance of scratching the bumper.

I also believe bmwe83 is talking about "rebased HID's" If so DONT EVER DO THIS. These are the people who drive around with ridiculously bright headlights blinding people. Even putting them in projector lenses, although a lot better, still isn't a smart idea. They are not meant for HID's and all you're doing is scattering blinding light everywhere. I wish cops would pull people over more for it.
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