Thread: General: - E46 Bi-Xenon (budget) retrofit
View Single Post
Old Feb 7th, 2017, 14:13   #1
LizardOfBodom
WowIcanwriteAnythingHere!
 
LizardOfBodom's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 26th, 2024 17:05
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Dublin/Meath
Default E46 Bi-Xenon (budget) retrofit

OK so after driving for last 8 months on HIDs and stock projectors, I decided to step up and retrofit new projectors. I didnt have enough budget to do what I originally wanted (new headlamps + D2S projector+ballast/wiring/decent bulbs) so I went for budget version and bought just replacement projectors in H7 fitting from retrofitlab.
Reason for that was that I had fully working H7 HID setup so I needed no extra bulbs/cables/adapters/ballasts etc.
I was looking at pics of D2S versions, and to be honest - it looks like the only difference is the mounting bracket. Price was the same, shutters are the same (I asked) I would suspect reflectors and lenses are the same. It seem to me its just a generic projector, maybe I’m wrong, dunno. Maybe I made mistake and D2S would perform better but for NCT/MOT reasons I needed something I can throw halogen bulb back. Done&dusted, decision made, move on.

Projectors were 130eur/pair + extra 10 for high-beam splitter.
For that, you are getting two "Bosch AL E46 replicas" in box with 'Aharon' brand. I have no doubt those are NOT original Bosch ones, but cant say much about quality of those replicas as havent seen too many projectors so I have no comparison. Mounting plate and materials look a bit chunky (like generic CNC'ed aluminium material), but all seem sturdy enough and decent. I have no clue if those are better quality than Chinese-made 40Eur projectors or just the same but with higher price tag.

When placed alongside the old one (2005 model so milky fresnel lens) you can see its a little bit longer but not by much. Its also a bit bigger, due to electromagnet on the bottom. Because of that I can no longer fit ballasts inside the lamp (and believe me - I REALLY tried) so thats something to consider. Was really happy on previous setting with all components tucked inside the lamp, but ah well..





H7 burner fits well into the projector, and the notch is orientated in the “right way”, so unlike in stock projectors, the burner’s wire is orientated downwards where shutter is.




Fitting of the projector is straightforward – same mounting holes, fits perfectly in plastic shroud and from outside of the lamp, looks like stock projector. On d/s one the fitting was somehow bad –angle was too high and when trying to adjust it down – made high beam bulb useless (was shining just in front to the car). Maybe because of thicker mounting plate, not sure, but I had to use 2 washers on one mounting point to change the angle of projector to make it right.

Shutter is operated by electromagnet that opens it when current is applied. You connect it to splitter that goes from high-beam bulb. I needed to modify the splitter pin a little (HB3 bulb have notches). I was advised to modify bulb, but it made more sense to make splitter pin universal for any new bulb so I cut out a bit of plastic and it fits ok now.

On the pics below you can see difference in beam pattern when testing projectors on the table.





I have no proper pics of beam on the road because my mod is not finished yet. I am having problems with proper alignment (due to condition of my headlamps) and with beam pattern, as I have no clue how to properly adjust the screw that keeps the shutter when idle – anybody have any experience with that? Seem that artifacts show either in close range or in distance, depending how much I rotate the screw in/out.



From what I noticed so far, E46 projectors really are a straight plug&play mod, and would work well even with H7 halogen bulb setup as light output from them is much better than my 12 year old fresnel lens projectors with the same halogen bulb. Maybe its a good alternative for people not wanting to use HIDs?

Will update further in next few days. Today, if I manage to sort out allignment issues, will install HID kit and test it on road. Will probably need some allignment again. When I get to the point where everything is as good as it can be, then will take some photos and report if the hassle was worth it.
__________________
2005 V50 T5AWD M66, Stage1 Hilton tune
E-focus torque mount, E46 bi-xenon retrofit v2 , (also available in PDF form), DTSC fully-off mod, Brembo discs+ATE ceramic pads
LizardOfBodom is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to LizardOfBodom For This Useful Post: