Non-BMW Stuff on a BMW Forum

[Jdesign]

gilber33 said:

So, one thing that I needed to look at are the headlights. The PO wired up HIDs and I'm not a fan of those so I wanted to pull those out and put in standard bulbs. After looking at pictures of these lights and some of the wiring DIYs I'm afraid I may have an issue. 

So, first things first it looks like I'm missing the caps on the back of the low beams. Second, it appears the plugs wired in are specific to the HID ballast or whatever it's called. Am i correct? And third, the bulb mounting on the high beam on the driver side looks screwed. 

I guess I'm looking for some guidance on what to do. It seems if I keep these or get stock lights, i need different plugs from the car. But since I'm missing the caps on the low beams and the high beam retainer is messed up, I'm not sure I can reuse these lights. 

Yes, normally there are rubber caps on the back sides of each beam.

HIDs use a conversion harness. The ballasts plug into your existing socket, then the Ballast has a connection between the HID bulb and the ballast. 

That opening does look chewed up from someone probably using the wrong bulb. Although thats bad, it shouldn't affect much. the caps seal on the backside of the light, and the spring wire that holds the bulb in will still hold the back of the correct bulb.

You shouldn't need different plugs from the car, they look like they are still the factory plugs clipped into the ballast harness.

[gilber33]

Jdesign said:

Yes, normally there are rubber caps on the back sides of each beam.

HIDs use a conversion harness. The ballasts plug into your existing socket, then the Ballast has a connection between the HID bulb and the ballast. 

That opening does look chewed up from someone probably using the wrong bulb. Although thats bad, it shouldn't affect much. the caps seal on the backside of the light, and the spring wire that holds the bulb in will still hold the back of the correct bulb.

You shouldn't need different plugs from the car, they look like they are still the factory plugs clipped into the ballast harness. 

Thank you. Well, the other downside is the spring is very broken on the bulb with the opening chewed up. lol.

Anyways, I learned that the plugs in the car are the factor plugs for US ellipsoid headlights. Soooo, my goal is now to find a set of clean US ellipsoids that I can just plug in and go. BUT, it appears those are much harder to find than the Euro ellipsoids that use entirely differently plugs.

If anyone has a set of US ELLIPSOIDS they'd like to sell, you can have my Depo smileys as a project!!!!

[straight6pwr]

agreed, those are stock US ellipsoid plugs there

agreed, that high beam bowl is F*K'D. looks like someone couldnt get the 9005 bulb to fit in the H1 bulb spot, so they mangled it. Wow. The bulb needs to be aligned really well to get good light, so fixing that might be tough.

the light output of standard bulbs in DEPO lights is hilariously terrible.  personally, I'd keep running a HID kit, even if you need to replace it. there are good cheap options out there.

because no one on the planet who sells DEPO lights actually supports them (no one sells individual parts), i bought a whole second set for parts when one of my lenses got smashed last year.  i could part with an entire high beam assembly and a rear cap for the low beam, if you want to go the route of fixing them. on the flip side, if you ended switching to US ellips, i'd be interested in buying the DEPOs from you.

[gilber33]

straight6pwr said:

agreed, those are stock US ellipsoid plugs there

agreed, that high beam bowl is F*K'D. looks like someone couldnt get the 9005 bulb to fit in the H1 bulb spot, so they mangled it. Wow. The bulb needs to be aligned really well to get good light, so fixing that might be tough.

the light output of standard bulbs in DEPO lights is hilariously terrible.  personally, I'd keep running a HID kit, even if you need to replace it. there are good cheap options out there. 

because no one on the planet who sells DEPO lights actually supports them (no one sells individual parts), i bought a whole second set for parts when one of my lenses got smashed last year.  i could part with an entire high beam assembly and a rear cap for the low beam, if you want to go the route of fixing them. on the flip side, if you ended switching to US ellips, i'd be interested in buying the DEPOs from you. 

Would you have the high beam assembly and caps for both low beams?

I don't mind HIDs, I just don't feel like they fit the car. If I kept them, I'd need different temp bulbs; the ones in there were blue.....blue blue blue.

Otherwise, I'd take a high beam assembly with the cap and run HIDs with different temp bulbs. From my little bit of looking this morning, finding US Ellipsoids is not easy. Everything for sale are euro retrofits.

[Jdesign]

I have DDM tuning 55w 55k in my car and I love them. Not super blue, and good light output.

[gilber33]

Jdesign said:

I have DDM tuning 55w 55k in my car and I love them. Not super blue, and good light output.

If I can fix these with a new high beam assembly from Dan and able to figure out what HID bulbs I have/need I may keep the HIDs. But definitely needs a temp that has no blue to it.

My preference is halogen bulbs; I think they fit the car better.

[The Full Banana]

Knowing your preference, which is pretty close to mine, I wouldn't go over 5000K if you try HIDs. That said, quality high-wattage halogen bulbs in quality housings with a good power source (aka: relayed harness with power direct from battery) can work very very well. There is a ton of variance in light output--it's definitely not just a question of HID vs halogen. 

Also some cheap (eBay) manufacturers aren't exactly accurate with their representation of color temperature. I've purchased 5500K bulbs that were really more like 6500K.

[jc43089]

If the housings were designed for halogen then HID bulbs may have a poor light pattern.  The Depo lights on my e36 have better output and cut off with H1 halogen bulbs that they were designed for.  Now a proper HID projector housing with HID is going to be better still but my point is that it isn't as simple as "HID is always better".

[gilber33]

The Full Banana said:

Knowing your preference, which is pretty close to mine, I wouldn't go over 5000K if you try HIDs. That said, quality high-wattage halogen bulbs in quality housings with a good power source (aka: relayed harness with power direct from battery) can work very very well. There is a ton of variance in light output--it's definitely not just a question of HID vs halogen. 

Also some cheap (eBay) manufacturers aren't exactly accurate with their representation of color temperature. I've purchased 5500K bulbs that were really more like 6500K. 

I don't think I can do HIDs. Whenever I see a car that I know didn't have HIDs from the factory I go "ew, HIDs".

[The Full Banana]

For 80s and earlier production cars, I totally agree.

For my 242, I converted back to halogens with quality OSRAM bulbs in Hella euro housings powered by a relayed harness drawing directly from the battery. Light output and pattern are excellent. 

That said, get your car driving and fix the lights later! 

[gilber33]

The Full Banana said:

For 80s and earlier production cars, I totally agree.

In my 242, I converted back to halogens with quality OSRAM bulbs in Hella euro housings powered by a relayed harness drawing directly from the battery and light output and pattern is excellent.  

That said, get your car driving and fix the lights later! 

Get off my back.

With that out of the way. Fixing the lights will be plug and play if I fix the housing or just get a new set and sell these. You'll have to show me how to do a relayed harness pulling power from the battery.

[straight6pwr]

jc43089 said:

If the housings were designed for halogen then HID bulbs may have a poor light pattern.  The Depo lights on my e36 have better output and cut off with H1 halogen bulbs that they were designed for.  Now a proper HID projector housing with HID is going to be better still but my point is that it isn't as simple as "HID is always better".

e30 projector headlights are WAY better with HID bulbs. if HID bulbs in your e36 depos were worse than the H1 bulbs, you just had crap HID bulbs. there is no difference in the light 'physics' between the way a HID bulb and a halogen works - they are both point source. yes, new HID projector bowls take greater advantage of the extra light, but thats besides the point.  I agree HID is not always better, but when it comes to 80s/90s BMW projectors, they are.

[gilber33]

Two questions:

Where does this ground go? 

And what is this plug for? I found it bundled up by the DS strut tower. 

[jc43089]

straight6pwr said:

e30 projector headlights are WAY better with HID bulbs. if HID bulbs in your e36 depos were worse than the H1 bulbs, you just had crap HID bulbs. there is no difference in the light 'physics' between the way a HID bulb and a halogen works - they are both point source. yes, new HID projector bowls take greater advantage of the extra light, but thats besides the point.  I agree HID is not always better, but when it comes to 80s/90s BMW projectors, they are.

That is quite possible that the HID setup in my e36 was junk quality bulbs/ballasts.  They had no name on them which is usually an indicator...  Good to know that was my issue.

The Depo projectors are better than stock e36 US lights but still not fantastic.  I want to do a retrofit to a quality projector but family budget things...

[Jdesign]

gilber33 said:

Two questions:

Where does this ground go? 

And what is this plug for? I found it bundled up by the DS strut tower. 

Not sure were is that ground coming from? Directly from the battery? If so that should go directly to the block.

That plug looks to be one for the brake pad sensors/liners

[gilber33]

Jdesign said:

Not sure were is that ground coming from? Directly from the battery? If so that should go directly to the block.

That plug looks to be one for the brake pad sensors/liners

The ground is coming through the firewall, so I assume it must be coming from the battery. I'll look for a spot where it naturally wants to "fall".

Oh, didn't know this car had brake pad sensors. I guess I'll keep it bunched up there for now.

Thanks!

[straight6pwr]

gilber33 said:

Oh, didn't know this car had brake pad sensors. I guess I'll keep it bunched up there for now.

many e30 guys just connect the two sensor wires and stop using the sensors. they can be finicky and the wires in the wheel well can corrode/break, so its easier to stop using them.

[GunMetalGrey]

I would verify that the cable in question is indeed a ground, because it looks all too much like the positive battery cable for a starter. It has the same style blade and all. 
I know that they are classically on the chassis harness, but it just strikes me as odd.

[gilber33]

GunMetalGrey said:

I would verify that the cable in question is indeed a ground, because it looks all too much like the positive battery cable for a starter. It has the same style blade and all. 
I know that they are classically on the chassis harness, but it just strikes me as odd. 

I think you're right. Damn. I vividly remember only bolting on one large red cable on the post (in addition to the two smaller cables on their individual posts). All the images I can find of the starter on the e30 shows two large cables on the same post; one being a large black cable. That red cable must be going to the alternator.

That would have been a really frustrating thing to diagnose. Good catch!

[Jdesign]

Yea I would assume its a the starter cable. I just assume that since you said ground that it was one.