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E46 Bi-Xenon (budget) retrofit

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Old Dec 9th, 2018, 13:15   #41
andy_d
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I shall do a wite up, i know LoB and T5R92011 have both covered the fitting of and videos/photos
im at the moment only going for replacing the projector unit , polishing out the outer lenses of the headlight unit and fitting H7 Halogen bulbs, DRL=Off will have to be the new year and any halo rings are still in the "plotting stage"
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 00:19   #42
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If you're buying the same e46 units that we mentioned from retrofit labs it's worth noting that they have clear lenses, so the point below the cutoff is very bright, even with Halogen bulbs.

You may want to try the original frosted lenses in the new projectors, though they will make the light a little dimmer.
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 02:22   #43
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sounds about what i am after, lights that Put light on the road
i can see me taking a trip in daylight to a garage with the mot alignment gear and making Sure mine are properly aligned if they are that bright, dazzling other road users i dont wish to do.
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 11:28   #44
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sounds about what i am after, lights that Put light on the road
i can see me taking a trip in daylight to a garage with the mot alignment gear and making Sure mine are properly aligned if they are that bright, dazzling other road users i dont wish to do.
Andy
If MOT is your concern and you dont want to invest in 2nd set of lamps, you can still benefit from HIDs. Do as I did with my 1st set of retro - H7projectors from RetrofitLab + h7HID kit. You will be able to switch to H7 halogen bulbs within 5 minutes for any MOT/or unrelated reason, and you will also gain atleast 30% of light even on H7 halogens if HIDs are not your fancy or you want to invest in those later. I rememer on my 1st set I went for NCT (irish MOT) with H7 Osram bulbs, but already on new projectors. The experience was great - although intensity of light is far from HID output, the beam pattern and lack of frosted lens+new reflectors made a hell of a difference. So its a win-win, regardless if you go HID or not.

Btw, some people say lots of pics are not working on my thread - dunno if tinypic is broken or whatever, but if someone need a tutorial on replacement in compadcted pdf form, just a reminder of a link HERE.

edit - forgot to mention, even on H7 halogens you can/should still wire the bixenon flap, there is literally no downside to it, just gains, so dont even hesitate doing it.
as for angel eyes - I got them from Ebay, much cheaper than from other cources - there is a link to exactly same ones. When combined with LED parking light (matching colour temperature) it looks really well and because of its brightness still makes you visible so yes, it does save a bit off your projector life, but its more for looks than visibility, bear this in mind. It is NOT as bright as DRLs and is not as visible during the day as your H7 lights so keep this in mind.

If you have any questions ref wiring or need help, fire away, happy to help!.
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 13:31   #45
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Thankies LoB
the HID option, for me is a "id love to But"
im the sort of bloke who, i would have the Cash and paperwork on the passenger seat to redo the tax, on the 1st of the month, be going to the post office to pay the tax, roll off the drive and as the front wheels touch the road plod would appear and do me for no tax...

so fitting hids, i expect the same thing,.

Thankies on the halo rings link ,, i sense a mess of wires and relay or 2 in the new year, getting the light on the road via the replacement projectors is my main goal.

ill add the shutter to the birds nest of wiring

How volvo managed to equip the V50 with such Dire dipped beam units , And them being projectors , while the Main/high beams are Searchlights i will never understand.


Edited to add


Thats the order placed for them, time to "stalk the postie" in a weekish for me, not the usual xmas lights but will do for me
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 13:57   #46
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Originally Posted by andy_d View Post
...
How volvo managed to equip the V50 with such Dire dipped beam units , And them being projectors , while the Main/high beams are Searchlights i will never understand.
Heh, true that - no idea who designed that and why, as those lights were bad even from brand new, but I guess its down to "overcomplicating" things as they did with whole P1 platform. If they stayed with normal FF reflectors, as old gen S/V40, would be better.
I get what you are saying though about being "lucky" :P Not sure about UK laws and enforcing it, here its all more chilled out and generally lights here are treated as optional equipment dependable on drivers mood, but if you feel more comfortable with Halogens, go for Osram Nightbreaker Lasers or something similar and you will still be pretty happy.

Maybe one day you will decide to try HIDs and will never come back to "the dark side..." :P


btw - you are planning to do halo's with relay, same as me, or just wire it to work permanently?
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 14:06   #47
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hehe when i was up in sligo "mot" was also optional (pre NCT days) im also not sure on how well enforced it is (not at all by some of the clownshoes lighting that i see on the roads here,, ) but with my luck id be "the first"...

Id go hids in a flash if the muppets who make the laws had any common sense......

Yeps quality H7's will go in, osram nightbreakers of some sort, once the drl-off is done , and its then im thinking of doing the halo addition, to replace the 60% dipped beam drl (even tho i dont like drl or agree with them !) probably on a combo of the switch (Side lights) with a relay to off them when dipped beams are on (and swearing when i leave them on and flatten the battery,,,)

Not tooo sure the Old S/V40 dipped beams were That good "!" having had one, similar reflector burn out happened needing new reflectors (which means new units) after a Few years of DRL-on, (phase 2 S40 for me) Hid was Possible but iffy in those , thankfully without the need for the skbow thing but care about the wiper motor still needed. But they had headlight Wipers, with motors that loved to seize up,but you could drl-Off/on them from the stalks depending on time of the year. Nightbreakers Really helped in those, as did alignment If that is the adjuster inside the lamp unit didnt snap, which after years of being warmed by drl-on they did.




P.s. "the dark side" is rumoured to have cookies !
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 15:41   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andy_d View Post
...

Not tooo sure the Old S/V40 dipped beams were That good "!" having had one, similar reflector burn out happened needing new reflectors (which means new units) after a Few years of DRL-on, (phase 2 S40 for me) Hid was Possible but iffy in those , thankfully without the need for the skbow thing but care about the wiper motor still needed. But they had headlight Wipers, with motors that loved to seize up,but you could drl-Off/on them from the stalks depending on time of the year. Nightbreakers Really helped in those, as did alignment If that is the adjuster inside the lamp unit didnt snap, which after years of being warmed by drl-on they did.

....
Headlight wiper motors?
....dude... please...
my previous car:


Replaced 2 of those within 5 years of ownership My OCD wouldnt allow me to drive with 1 not working or (hell no!) wiper in the middle of the light, but I have to confess it was one of the selling point of that 2003 S40 for me. Always wanted those on the car and even by today there was never a better solution of cleaning your headlamps. There was something mesmerizing about light beam being interrupted by something "sprinkling and wiping" in front.... (dream-sequence music....)
However I stand by the statement about superiority of old headlamps in that case. I had the FL model with dual H7's, and it was miles better than pre-FL H4+corrigated glass. The light output from Osram NBs on free form reflectors was incredible and it made transition to my V50 on OEM headlamps a very unpleasant experience. I literally couldnt believe how bad the "newer" car's lamps are compared to its predecessor....

Back on topic though -why do you need to DRL-off ? Without HID's its unecessary unless you want to save your bulbs life, but then - it makes no difference from keeping the stalk on POS2 all the time. Its exactly the same. You will still need to move it to POS1 for angel eyes and you will still need to remember to switch it off, right? Th3e only sense it would make if you wanted to use POS0 with angel eyes on like true DRL, but wiring that require running +12v supply from somewhere (thats something I couldnt figure out, totally). Is that your plan?
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 18:36   #49
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it was but thanks for the tip off on needing a New 12v feed from somewhere thats ignition switched. as that Was the plan, all lights off Other than the halo's as drl, halo's off and dipped or mains on , leaving sidelights "as is".

i Was hoping to get a bit longer life span out of the reflectors by turning the drl 60% headlight bulb off.

Seeing as the local dealer i use for parts has a ,, service desk with a grumpy rude person manning it who comes out with "volvo wont provide the software so No" line,, untill i find a dealer with a parts person who isnt a grumpy rude parts person,,, drl will have to stay on.

The aharon e46 units have been ordered, i have a Big coffee machine, a large clear table to work on,a friendly garage with mot alignment thingy tool on standby to make sure i get it spot on, and have downloaded the pdf (Thankies) .

Solder/ heatshrink/swear jar i have
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 19:16   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LizardOfBodom View Post
Headlight wiper motors?
....dude... please...
my previous car:


Replaced 2 of those within 5 years of ownership My OCD wouldnt allow me to drive with 1 not working or (hell no!) wiper in the middle of the light, but I have to confess it was one of the selling point of that 2003 S40 for me. Always wanted those on the car and even by today there was never a better solution of cleaning your headlamps. There was something mesmerizing about light beam being interrupted by something "sprinkling and wiping" in front.... (dream-sequence music....)
However I stand by the statement about superiority of old headlamps in that case. I had the FL model with dual H7's, and it was miles better than pre-FL H4+corrigated glass. The light output from Osram NBs on free form reflectors was incredible and it made transition to my V50 on OEM headlamps a very unpleasant experience. I literally couldnt believe how bad the "newer" car's lamps are compared to its predecessor....

......


i had mine 8-9 years, stripped and repaired both motors once each and had to replace them both, like you driving with a car with a "raised eyebrow" stuck wiper is a heck noooo, i was a bit sad to find the V50 only has high pressure jets,which didnt work on mine when i got it, they do now, (ask the MOT man hehehe somoene managed to wash the screen 4times on the way to the mot so the headlight washers popped out when he tested the screen washers ) ill agree the S40 h7 & h7 lights were a lot lot better than the H4 only candle units, and better than the stock v50 dipped.
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