martauto Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 325 2004 cab My headlights are the halogen bulls eye type and quite frankly , they are s**t !!! I put some Osram nightbreaker unlimited bulbs in and they are still s**t !!! It almost seems like they are on a dim dip cycle so can any one shed any light on this please ? (ooops) Mart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martauto Posted May 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2019 Any thoughts on this please?? Mart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontpannic Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Dodgy battery / alternator? Check voltage when the lights are on and the engine is running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martauto Posted May 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2019 Voltage is good and the battery is also good, I have removed the crap from the front of the len`s so I wil;l see what it is like coming home from the late shift on Monday. Mart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martauto Posted May 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 (edited) lights are still bad so I adjusted them up a bit and they seem a touch better so will take them up a bit more next week when on lates again. Main beam is spot on. Could a dodgy relay have any effect ? Mart. Edited May 27, 2019 by martauto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 If main beam is good then the output is fine. It's probably the adjustment. May be worth taking it to a MOT testing station to see if they're not wound down? There's a screw in the headlight that you can turn to point them back up. Saying that, I think my OEM xenons are sh*t these days too.. About as bright as my wife's Astra halogens. But then my bulbs are probably 7-8years old.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinsom Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 On 27/05/2019 at 14:38, momo said: If main beam is good then the output is fine. It's probably the adjustment. May be worth taking it to a MOT testing station to see if they're not wound down? There's a screw in the headlight that you can turn to point them back up. Saying that, I think my OEM xenons are sh*t these days too.. About as bright as my wife's Astra halogens. But then my bulbs are probably 7-8years old.. I've had issues with lights not being bright - turned out to be wound a long way down. The ride height sensor was broken and so the auto leveling dropped them down, but you may not have that if you have Halogens (if you have a wheel with 1-2-3 on the LCM you don't have the auto levelling). If you do, even adjusting them up wont last, the car will do a self test when starting and if it gets no data from the sensor, the lights just stay down. The Xenons are bright on the e46, but the dim xenons are generally caused by the vapour deposited aluminium coating burning off the inside of the projector bowls so less light gets reflected out of the lens. Had this very issue on my e46 and stripped the lights down and replaced the bowls and whilst they are not as good as new cars, they were much better. I've got a picture somewhere if you're interested to see how bad they can get! momo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martauto Posted May 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 Its not auto leveling and its halogen so if I wind them back up they may stay there ? Mart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinsom Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 They should do, same applies to a xenon equipped car if you unplug the sensors front and back. Just double check your headlight aim adjuster in the car is set for a car with no load (position 0 I think) otherwise that will point the lights down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martauto Posted May 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 Cheers for that mate, I will check again and see if it is any better next week on lates. Mart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinsom Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 Good luck, post back with how it goes. In case anyone is interested, this is what the burnt bowls look like when the aluminium has come off. These should;d be like mirrors: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martauto Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 Nasty................how much to replace each bowl ? Mart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinsom Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 I was quoted about £125 + VAT for a pair to be re-plated. Replacement headlights were somewhere near £500 a side, so that seemed like a good deal. In the end I picked up two factory fresh passenger side xenon equipped lights for less than replating and just took the bowls from those and have a load of extra spares for when they're needed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 (edited) How much were the bowls and where from? So far i've seen this: https://www.retrofitlab.com/xenon-projectors-1/aharon-e46-r-bi-xenon-projectors-bosch-al-design-1.html? Sorry, just re-read your post! lol. Edited May 31, 2019 by momo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinsom Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 (edited) lol, not to worry, I'm always doing that! I did get a set of replacement bowls and projectors from aliexpress which looked OK, not top quality but probably better than the burnt out bowls. I never fitted them in the end (well, one is in an old headlight to see how it works, but not gotten around to that yet!), although according to people who have, the cut-off is more defined and a little narrower than the originals, putting more light on the road. These are basically the same as those from retrofitlab, and if you have Xenons, worth having a set on the shelf at that price. I seem to remember that the solenoid is wired back to front on these and the wires need to be switched over on fitting: Replacement projectors and bowls As things go, drove home in the dark tonight and the lights dropped all the way down, so I have a sensor failed. Time to buy the proper replacements and not the cheap ebay ones! Edited May 31, 2019 by austinsom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 I get ya.. If anything i'd rather get new just because you can never guarantee how burnt out the 2nd hand ones are if you get me? You could blow £150 on 2 2nd hand headlights but they're just as burnt out as yours Be much easier if there was a direct fit, redesigned bowl from a later car available.. Boooooo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontpannic Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 I went through so many combinations to get my Xenons as good as they are now. I'm now running a standard pair of bowls that I found in decent condition with retrofit lab bixenon shutters as I don't have bi-xenon ballasts the 'just run 12v to it' burnt the magnetic coil and they stuck open. After a lot of pissing about I'm very happy with the light output now lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
