General: E46 Bi-Xenon (budget) retrofit

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by lockstock

cheers, really useful. I think first I need to check alignement. If Im right behind a car in traffic, my cut off (set to max hight) hits the top edge of bumper. so roughly half way between ground and their side mirrors (from my point of view). This means the throw is probably only 6-10 car lengths in front of me when driving. Obvs on dark roads this isn't great. Maybe this is as specified but I'm sure they could be angled higher and still legal. This would help a lot as the light output isnt terrible. probably marginally below average. I just find I can't see **** when at night unless I have full beam.

Try to follow those guidelines, it will tell you whether you are within margin or not. Just need straight wall and a bit of patience :}

[lockstock]

Originally Posted by LizardOfBodom

Try to follow those guidelines, it will tell you whether you are within margin or not. Just need straight wall and a bit of patience :}

yep, from these it looks like a 2inch in 33ft drop is the desirable angle. currently mine us a lot steeper drop than this.. I'll find somewhere flat and go for a half of 1% decline. I imagine this will make a big difference to start with

[Bendolfc]

Finally got around to fitting them this week, blown away by the difference.

Agree that the cut off is quite harsh, however in my case its not an issue as I couldn't see anything where the cut off is anyway. Mine really were that bad after 215K miles.

I was surprised to discover a road I drive down twice a day has red studs at the edges. Until now my car has never illuminated then.

Simply no idea how I've been driving it like that. Seriously if anyone wants to fix their rubbish lights,do this.

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by Bendolfc

Finally got around to fitting them this week, blown away by the difference.

Agree that the cut off is quite harsh, however in my case its not an issue as I couldn't see anything where the cut off is anyway. Mine really were that bad after 215K miles.

I was surprised to discover a road I drive down twice a day has red studs at the edges. Until now my car has never illuminated then.

Simply no idea how I've been driving it like that. Seriously if anyone wants to fix their rubbish lights,do this.

haha, welcome to the light side Collossal difference, isnt it? did you also wire the bixenon shutter?
is the narrow beam pattern not bothering you too much? takes a while to get used to...

[Bendolfc]

Difference is amazing. It was clearly downright dangerous before.

I've not bothered with the shutter for now, I rarely use the high beam and when I do, if anything it's already too bright as the reflection from road signs is blinding.

I've only driven it for about 5 miles to see what it was like, but it doesn't seem that narrow, certainly light to the sides is a lot more intense than it was previously, they were that bad.

Driving to Devon tomorrow but it will probably be light all the way, coming back might be dark though so may finally test them properly. Either way., it can only be miles better than what I experienced in December on unfamiliar, unlit NSL Staffordshire roads with frequent incoming traffic which meant I could barely do 20 and even that felt unsafe.

[T5R92011]

The best thing about this design of projector is that it focuses a huge amount of light directly ahead of you.

Look at the two hotspots... You will simply never worry about not seeing whats up ahead.

As Lizard has said before, the only downside is that the width of the beam is poor, but that is a scarifice I will happily take in exchange for being able to see perfectly clearly when driving forward.

I used to run a HID kit with these projectors, but they were just too intense for my eyes, so "downgraded" back to halogen, and they are still excellent.

[lockstock]

Originally Posted by T5R92011

The best thing about this design of projector is that it focuses a huge amount of light directly ahead of you.

Look at the two hotspots... You will simply never worry about not seeing whats up ahead.

As Lizard has said before, the only downside is that the width of the beam is poor, but that is a scarifice I will happily take in exchange for being able to see perfectly clearly when driving forward.

I used to run a HID kit with these projectors, but they were just too intense for my eyes, so "downgraded" back to halogen, and they are still excellent.

is that picture using the e46 retrofit projectors with halogen bulbs? Is the pic with the shutters closed? or with the 'bixenon' shutters enabled?

[T5R92011]

Yeah photo is with e46, running Halogen Bulbs (the photo exaggerates the brightness, but not the beam pattern).

Shutters not wired in at present, so this is just regular dipped beam.

[LizardOfBodom]

It hurts my brain when I see "shutter not wired" on both of you...
Its just so coooool!!



Ps - best remedy for narrow pattern -put good bulbs in your foglamps, aim it correctly and use whenever needed. Perfect summplementary light.

[T5R92011]

I really must remember to wire in the shutter, I bet it only takes a couple of seconds.

There have been many times when Ive driven country lanes without needing main beams on at all, with these new projectors being so good for forward vision.

Do you not find the combination of normal Main Beam + secondary 'open shutter' main beam assist to be a bit overkill against road signs at night etc?