lloydhickson Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) ANGEL EYES INSTALLATION GUIDE FOR FACELIGHT 03 - 05 BMW E46 Please understand I'm not a professional and I'm not going to be held liable for anything that may go wrong with the install. I'm simply giving you the instruction’s I used when installing my LED Angel Eyes. I purchased my Angel Eyes from SSDD Motorsport and can say I am more than happy with the look of them and they are super bright in the day!! Would definitely recommend purchasing from there. **For those with headlight washers** Empty your washer fluid by holding in your window washers, (reason being if you do pull out your headlight washer be prepared to get covered in water and it to go everywhere) Step 1 - Check you have equipment to do the install First things first we want to check is that you have everything you need to complete the DIY: - Flat screw driver (BMW one is fine) - Torx screw set - 8mm & 10mm sockets - Long extension for ratchet - Towel, or some rag or something similar - Hot air gun or an oven - Blue wire taps - Hack saw/saw - Pair of pliers Optional - Smoke tint spray - Black Sealant or Hot glue gun - Magnetic antenna (You really will want to have this, you will thank me later) Step 2 - Wiring and testing At this stage we are going to be wiring your angel eyes to make sure that they are all working okay and are ready for the install. A. Connect the positive cable and negative cable as outlined below.(I cut out a little notch on the box protecting the original positive cable so the angel eyes positive cable could fit in nicely with the box shut) B. Run the the longest bit of the cable along to the passenger side of the car by the ECU Cover box and then the 2x connectors (That connect to the angel eyes) down the side of the car towards the headlights (So one each side) You can run the wire across the wire carrier which is at the top of the engine bay and then hide other bits of the cable under the rubber bits, as shown in the pictures below. C. Remove the ECU cover which will require a torx screw. (**Caution** some cars have a wire connected to the lid, so don’t pull it far away, just let it rest on the windshield.) D. Once you have removed the ECU Cover you need to find this wire, It’s a red wire, with Yellow Spots and a White line. You need to connect the White Trigger wire that will turn your Angel eyes on when you put your key into position 2 (And will stay on until your turn the car off), this requires a wiretap. Next grab a blue wire tap and use a pair of pliers to clip the wire tap securely into the cable and making sure it clips in properly. (This wiretap didn't come with the kit, you can get some off eBay or a DIY store). Then find the trigger wire that is closest to the ECU unit and plug it securely into the wiretap. E. Next you want to plug the angel eyes into the connectors which is very straight forward and then turn your key to position 2 in the ignition and they should light up nice and bright and if you're happy with how they look then proceed to next the next step. If they did not work then go and check that all the connections are okay and track back over the steps making sure you done everything correctly, also check the fuse on the cable. Step 3 - Removing headlights Now its time to remove these headlights which can be a little tricky but patience goes a long way here and try not to use too much force. A. Remove the headlight weather trim, push down the tabs (Shown in the picture) and pull towards you. B. Remove the airbox (Gives you so much more room and it only takes 5 minutes and its so worth it!) - Take off the air box lid or just disconnect it from the car by taking off the clips that attach onto the MAF sensor and the the air intake bit by the front end of the car and it should literally just come straight out with a bit of wiggling and pulling. C. Remove the bolts as shown in pictures, it is the same on both sides and straight forward D. Next disconnect all the connections from the back of your headlight, may vary from age and whether you have xenon or halogen. E. Now you want to disconnect the plastic trim below the headlight by disconnecting from the tab on one side of the trim and then pull the trim towards you and at the same time pushing from the other side with the screwdriver and cloth as shown in the pictures. ** If you have headlight washers then don't pull the trim all the way out just leave the trim to retract back.** **If you pull the trim out and the washer comes out with it then do not worry, nothing is broken and its actually easier if it this does happen! When your putting it back together it will just clip straight back in.** Once you have done that, all that is left is to pretty much pull out the headlights but It's not going to come out easily but when you pull them out, you want to push down a little (so that the stuff in the back clears the support bar) on the headlight then pull up diagonally towards you (so the ballast on the bottom clears the bottom plastic piece). It might take you a little wiggling around, but some will find it easier than others. If you have halogen headlights then it should just pull straight out. To put it back, reverse the steps. Remember to push down the headlight when you're putting it back in. ** Those with headlight washers ** What you want to do is pull out the headlight trim with one hand and hold it out as far as it can go. Then use your other hand to pull the headlight out (using the procedure described above). Start by pushing the back of the headlight down and pushing it forward at the same time from the back. Sorry I don’t have a pictures but it really is straightforward just wiggle it around and eventually it will come out. Edited October 8, 2013 by lloydhickson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydhickson Posted October 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Step 4 - Taking headlights apart.Now we are going to take the headlights apart and I know when I was thinking about doing this DIY for my first time I thought this would be the hardest part and getting the headlights apart from the glue would be very difficult, but take this from someone who has never done anything like this before it is very easy and is probably the easiest part, You can see the black glue (Sealant) very easily and it gets soft very quickly so a hot air gun or hairdryer or an oven will work.(I recommend a hair dryer or hot air gun as at least you can direct the heat where you want it.)A. Firstly we need to remove a couple of torx screws which you can see in the photos belowB. **(If you are doing it by an oven then skip this bit)**Once these have been removed grab a hair dryer or a hot air gun and run it on max heat up and around both sides and all around the headlight following the yellow line in my picture, if using a hot air gun be sure to keep it moving as not to melt any plastic. 5 - 10 minutes on each headlight is plenty enough and then make sure you have detached the few plastic clips and then grab the top parts of the headlight and pull them apart (As shown in the picture below.) it will be tough, but If it really is too tough then stick a flat head screwdriver between the headlight lense and the plastic headlight and prey apart on each side to loosen them up a little bit.If it really won't budge just add more heat to the glue.B1. **(You only need to do this next step if you decided not to use a hair dryer or hot air gun)**I have not done this myself but have heard it works just as well.• Preheat the a oven: 250' F (130 degrees C or gas mask ½)• Make sure to have: a flathead screwdriver, Heat protective gloves.• Place the headlight onto an aluminum sheet or baking tray.• Set timer to 15 minutes• Place the headlight into the oven• Watch the progress, make sure the headlight doesn't start to melt for some reason, 250' is not hot enough to melt the headlight, and did nothing to mine.• Once the timer runs out, take out the headlight with the mittens or something to protect you from the heat, IT WILL BE HOT!!• Start to wiggle the screwdriver in between the clear and black parts of the headlight. Make sure to unclip the clips between the pieces. THEY DO BREAK EASILY SO GO CAREFUL!• Pull the headlight lens apart from the base using the picture above to see where the best place is to pull from.Step 5 - Installing the angel eyes into the headlightA. So if you have done everything right your headlight should look like below. So what you need to do is grab your torx screw driver and remove the 3 screws in the picture.Take out the indicator as it makes putting your headlights back together much easier!Once you have taken out all 3 torx screws you want to take out the indicator lense first like so.(Skip this part, it is optional)**If you want a blacked out headlight look then this is where your smoke tint spray comes into action**I used this guide to help me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSKA0ElKg1QI gave my indicators around 4 coats of tint spray but ultimately keep adding spray until you are happy with the resultsBeforeAfterB. Next grab the plastic headlight surround and you want to cut out two lines with a hacksaw or something similar, should look like below and do not worry you will not be able to see this as it is covered behind the indicator reflector but make sure you cut it almost the exact same place as I have! Important!Next grab a pair of pliers and pull off the plastic between to two cuts and it should make a square hole like below. (This hole is very important!) You are cutting this hole so the cable can run through, behind with no tension! If the cable is pulled it can break the soldering causing your LED Angel eyes to break! TRUST ME.C. Next step apply double sided sticky tape (Should be supplied with the box) and stick down onto the circle silver reflector.(Ignore the yellow line as I run the cable to the wrong place in the phone so I have covered it in yellow!!)Picture from the other sideC1. Again apply double sided sticky tape but only to one half of the ring as if you place the ring around the hole you will see that only one half actually connects with the plastic. Place like so and make sure that the end where the cable connects to the angel ring is lined up with the hole we cut out earlier.D. When you have fitted the angel eyes to the headlight fit the headlight surround and indicator back together and it should look similar to the picture below. However in this picture the cable is in the wrong place, it should be on the other side as stated in the picture. Edited October 9, 2013 by lloydhickson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydhickson Posted October 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) F. ** Skip this step if you oven cooked your headlights ** Next with the wires tucked to the back you want to keep the headlight slightly apart as in the picture below, then run your hot air gun / or hair dryer up and down all over the headlight again for 5-10 minutes making sure you get the glue nice and hot and sticky. When you have given it a 5-10 minute heat start by putting the indicator end in first and then slowly work your way up firmly pressing the two pieces together. When you are happy that the headlights are firmly together, screw in the two torx screws into the back of the headlight. http://s1307.photobucket.com/user/lloydhickson/media/ADMIN-PC/Pictures/20130914_134400_zps1b69addf.jpg.html'>[/url] F1. ** Use this step if you oven cooked your headlights ** If you used a oven to heat up your headlights then what you need to do is put your headlights back together again, making sure the two cables are tucked nicely to the back of the headlight as shown in the picture below Step 5 (F), the best way to do this is to start by putting your indicator end in first and then work your way to the top and once you have got the entire headlight back together you want to make sure you screw the cap back onto the hole in the picture of Step 5 (F) and then repeat Step 4 (B1). When the headlights have been in for the sufficient amount of time make sure you squeeze the headlight tightly together and screw in both torx screws back in. [url=http://s1307.photobucket.com/user/lloydhickson/media/Oven_zpsd93a2cbf.jpg.html] G. (This is one of a few options that you are able to do) This next step is how I got the cable to exit the headlight with not too much tension on the wires. Grab your hack saw, saw or what ever you used to cut out your square earlier and have a pair of plyers. You need to cut two lines and make enough room for two wires around 1.5mm thick to fit through. This is the area you are cutting This is what your cut should look like (It allows the lid to screw on without causing any damage to the two cables) If this step has been done correctly the cables should be in firm but you should still be able to pull them back and push them inwards without too much preasure. Option 2: (SSDD Motorsport gave me these pictures) Option 3: Step: FINISH These next steps are easy but equally as important and you are very close to finishing! Plug in angel eyes and make sure after the install they are fully working by turning the key to position 2. Disconnect after this check. Make sure you have screwed in both torx screws into the headlight (BMW didn't put them there for the fun of it, they are important) (Optional but recommended) reseal your headlights with a black sealant from halfords, its £4.99 and its worth the extra precaution. (Hot glue gun works well too) (http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_749365_langId_-1_categoryId_255230) A. Once you are happy that you havent forgotten anything then just go back over previous steps and re-install your headlights and make sure you screw all 4 torx screws when the headlights are comfortably in position. (Look at the indicators, they should be tight up against the car body panel. If they are not then they are not in right.) Make sure you remember to Install the weather trim back on to the headlights. B. Connect the angel eyes up, tidy up the cables, put the ECU top cover back on and you are finished!! I recommend not washing your car and avoiding contact with lots of water for at least 3 hours giving enough time for the sealant to dry and seal. FINISHED PRODUCT I am more than happy to answer any questions and please feel free to comment on the post or private message me. Also ladies and gentleman if you want to know how to do the remote mod so that the angel eyes will turn on when you unlock the car and turn off when you lock it then please let me know and I will add it on, its fairly straight forward. Good luck! lloydhickson Edited October 8, 2013 by lloydhickson Rebel, RonakT, Seb and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_D Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Great DIY feva 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Top man! Excellent guide which I'm sure will save others a massive headache Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydhickson Posted October 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Great DIY Cheers dude Top man! Excellent guide which I'm sure will save others a massive headache Well mate now you have no excuse good luck buddy Rebel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Really nice Could do with some shots of what your indicators look when flashing like since you sprayed them though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonakT Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Nice guide Lloyd, well done for taking the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wash Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 This DIY isn't going to help me in the slightest since I don't even have an E46 but I must say that it's very detailed and well written! Brilliant job mate. Alpina99 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydhickson Posted October 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) Really nice Could do with some shots of what your indicators look when flashing like since you sprayed them though... No problem'o I will get some pictures as soon as possible and stick em on the thread Nice guide Lloyd, well done for taking the time. Thanks mate This DIY isn't going to help me in the slightest since I don't even have an E46 but I must say that it's very detailed and well written! Brilliant job mate. Haha cheers dude, have to get yourself a M3 one day ey Edited October 9, 2013 by lloydhickson mit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Really nice :)Could do with some shots of what your indicators look when flashing like since you sprayed them though... What's this? Mit, commending an angel installation?! Have I traversed into an alternate universe?! feva, neilwharton and lloydhickson 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) It doesn't matter what he's installing. It's a bloody good DIY. Anyway I've had angel eyes before. Just because I felt like a chav or rudeboy driving around with them, doesn't mean everyone else is the same Edited October 9, 2013 by mit lloydhickson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonK Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Really good work mate, will help a lot of people! More importantly, this includes your lessons learnt and all the bits the generic guides don't have...bloody well done. Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydhickson Posted October 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Really good work mate, will help a lot of people! More importantly, this includes your lessons learnt and all the bits the generic guides don't have...bloody well done. Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using Tapatalk Thanks dude, well yeah this is what I was trying to do as their are quiet a few guides out there but I could not find a single one with enough information so now the community has a start to finish guide L5 TUW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callum Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thanks for the guide, very helpful. Going to sort out a dimming relay (for when headlights are on) soon once I find out what specified current my eyes run on, they're not the one from your post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlE46 Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 You can get a dimming module that reduces brightness at night but also anytime you indicate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reaudioxxx Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Amazing work thanks for the guide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
