bobdisk Posted July 11, 2020 Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 Some time ago I fitted aftermarket LED Angel Eyes rings to my E46 323Ci. They have worked well for about 5 years, now one of the drivers has failed, and I need a replacement. I swapped over left and right drivers, and the fault went with it, all the leds on both sides are ok. There are plenty of ballasts for CCFL around but these are LEDs so that will not do. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement? I cant find the original receipt for them so cant remember where I got them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted July 11, 2020 Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 Probably better off getting a new set tbh.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 Live without it, and remove the working one. Save the money for the next car. Sooner or later you will have to change car. I think the F30 comes with angel eyes built in, and the car has the good looks of the classic BMW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schumacher Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 So a failed angel eye means you have to sell the car? You must be trolling. Why would he buy an F30? It's fugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) I said nothing about selling car. I said put money towards the next car. Even if the F30 is ugly, there's nowhere else to go if you want a BMW. It's the least ugly of the 3 series styles after the E46. The 5 series F+ might work, but a bit too big. An f30 with m3 side skirts would work for me. But such a thing doesn't exist. Edited July 12, 2020 by E46Driver330Ci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schumacher Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 6 hours ago, E46Driver330Ci said: Save the money for the next car. Sooner or later you will have to change car. If you read your post again, it wasn't helpful. The OP asked where he can get a replacement LED angel eye, not what to do with his money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) Do people really need help spending money? I would think it's rather easy, £9 for a whole set from spain or china: www.aliexpress.com/item/4001162381497.html Living without is also a good option. Take it off, all done. Edited July 12, 2020 by E46Driver330Ci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdisk Posted July 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2020 (edited) Where did you all get the idea I wanted to replace the car???? I will not be replacing this car anytime soon, its the LED DRIVER I want. I might have to go back to standard lights if I cant find a new LED (note it is LED) driver. www.aliexpress.com/item/4001162381497.html These are CCFL, not LEDs so no good ! Edited July 13, 2020 by bobdisk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted July 13, 2020 Report Share Posted July 13, 2020 I understand where he's coming from.. Because the E46 is quite old now lots of owners are thinking spend as little as possible and save it for what comes next. I'm at that stage also. BUT I know there's lots of others who have just started considering E46's because they're a fantastic deal for the price! Lot of bang for your buck at the moment, and the better ones are worth buying now as values for the better ones are starting to go back up. Getting back to the point in hand - as I mentioned before you're better off getting a new set, at least they'll match that way. You don't want a new one to be a slightly different temp than the old one. eBay would be the best bet.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 13, 2020 Report Share Posted July 13, 2020 (edited) Well, I did say take them off. Don't start saying you got that brilliant idea first! As for changing car, everyone has to do it at some point. Given the age of your car, the insurance will try writing it off the first chance they get. They'd get rid of younger cars than yours. It said LED. If it's not LED, you ask for full refund and keep it for free. Are you saying their LED is not driven by a LED driver? I am not expert on angel eyes. I am fairly expert on buying from china. On the one occasion in the past 2 years where they sent the wrong size item, they refunded me after I presented a photo. Made with high quality SMD LED lights. 4 pieces 106mm LED Angel Eyes Ring. Two kinds of LED colors: white color or yellow color. Brighter than conventional CCFL halo rings. Edited July 13, 2020 by E46Driver330Ci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdisk Posted July 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2020 www.aliexpress.com/item/4001162381497.html Look at the ballasts in the photo that shows all. It says on the label "Inverter for CCFL" and also "input 12V DC 50Hz" (!!!You cant have a frequency for DC, it is Direct Current that goes up to a set level, and stays there!!! Cars are DC. It must be AC, Alternating Current to have a frequency) and also "Output 900V 25KHz" You put that on LEDs and you will get a big bang!! LEDs are DC only, and most are low voltage. My LED driver is in fact a voltage regulator and a constant current load for the car. The car puts in about 14V with the engine running and it outputs 10V to each LED ring. It also has a constant current circuit in it that tells the dud bulb warning indicator not to come on if both rings are on. If one or both rings go out, the current goes down, and this triggers the dud bulb warning, and the car also triggers the indicator light to come on at half brightness, so you still have a side light of a sort while the rings are out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 13, 2020 Report Share Posted July 13, 2020 (edited) If they say it's LED, then it is LED. If they get it wrong then you can have most if not all your money back and keep what you received. Aliexpress will ask you how much you want refunded. I don't think £9 is that much to risk. If you report not as described to aliexpress, and present a photo, they will give you your money back in a jiffy. The money will be coming from aliexpress directly. The seller won't even get a say. Seriously, are you that hard up to worry about £9? I now do my own chips, so don't know how many portion of chips you can buy with that nowadays? The chance is that they are not wrong, because it makes no sense for them to throw money away. What they likely have done is put up some generic pictures. If you take a screen shot of the description, you will be perfectly safe. Of course, there are always unknowns and risks. I have had great luck with nothing going wrong for me over long periods with a very wide range of products, so I would take them up on the offer with no problems assuming they don't withdraw and cancel. There's nothing to stop you sending them a question. Just don't get too complicated because you will just end up confusing them. They are just simple sellers who might not know what they are selling. If the link I gave you is no use, there are mountains of other sellers nearby. They can't all be wrong. You can also look at what the buyers are saying. But usually the best price comes from new sellers who try to make the first sales before lifting the price. One down side to buying from china is the delivery time is unpredictable. Sometimes less than a week, sometimes 1.5 months. I have gotten used to that and will only go local on urgent stuff, or heavy stuff that cost too much to ship. Things like wiper blades, silicon inserts for them, jack pads, drive belts, AC refrigerants, ABS pressure sensors, car tools, washing machine bearings, CPUs, GPUS, etc, etc, the wait didn't bother me, these could take as long as they needed to reach me. Edited July 13, 2020 by E46Driver330Ci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 13, 2020 Report Share Posted July 13, 2020 You can actually see the LEDs in this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32852026840.html I think there are also hybrid ccfl + led types that could be confusing people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdisk Posted July 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Now that one is a bit more like it !! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32852026840.html The main reason I am looking for a driver only is the inconvenience of fitting rings into the light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 (edited) But does it need to be inconvenient? I haven't tried before but I am interested to open the housing to clean the lens. Is it not possible to use a heat gun to soften and completely remove the black glue, and then reseal with Silkaflex 221 after? Also, is the headlight housing completely sealed air tight? BMW uses Silkaflex 221 for sealing the front wheel hub caps. It's not clear if the stuff on the light housing is the same thing. I think even the normal silicone sealant will work if the goal is just to do an airtight seal. The silicone sealant would be a lot easier to work with or to remove. Edited July 14, 2020 by E46Driver330Ci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 2000 323Ci should be pre-facelift. They aren't sealed headlights IIRC. Only the facelift coupe/convertible headlights were sealed. The earlier ones should have the standard clips to remove the lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schumacher Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 As @momo said, pre-facelift headlights aren't sealed. You just remove the clips and gasket to open them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 (edited) Sounds like it's BMW BS then just to glue-seal on some cars. In that case the transparent bathroom silicon should work just as well. On mine, I have the lens washer. This could be the reason for sealing. I have disabled the washer because of leaks and not worth fixing as it makes a mess on the bonnet. Edited July 14, 2020 by E46Driver330Ci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Nope. I have the washers on my Saloon too as I have factory Xenons - you can remove the lens on mine. It's just the facelift coupe/convertible headlights that were sealed. They probably just decided to seal the new style of headlight. The coupe/vert was the last to go through the LCI update on the E46. The compact was never updated (should never have been released nevermind being updated!!). Factory Xenons or not I think facelift 330Ci still had headlight washers, even on the halogen headlamp models. They all had projector headlights. I wouldn't use normal silicone sealant tbh. I'd at least try to find some heat resistant sealant as the headlights can get hot under use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 (edited) Silicon can tolerate up to 200 C, unaffected. I don't really see it getting that hot or even reach 100 C on the casing. Then it would become a scalding hazard that people would have been warned about. I think both high temperature or normal ones should work. If it doesn't, it would be easy to scrape off and redone. I haven't looked. Maybe the reason they needed strong glue was because the pieces weren't screw together. Edited July 14, 2020 by E46Driver330Ci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Is it up to 200C? Sheesh! Yep, that'd be absolutely fine then! lol. If anything it'll be maybe 30/40C? Won't get THAT hot.. Maybe the constant heat/cooling cycles might cause it to deteriorate early? But like you say, can always scrape it and redo it easy enough. I think they just decided to completely change the design and materials! The older ones use a stiff clear plastic for the lens. I THINK the facelift coupe ones are glass? We'll never know for sure.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schumacher Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Facelift coupe/verts have plastic headlight lenses. 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46Driver330Ci Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Everything is plastic since the E36. What I need to clean is the internal "magnifying glass" that has a film of dirt on it. That's real glass I think. Silicone is supposed to deteriorate in time. I did use it many years ago to stick the interior door trim back on after cutting it to relieve elastic tension. It's still working great and definitely superior to BMW's glue that failed after 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdisk Posted July 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 The standard lights for mine are exactly as @Schumachers diagram from Real OEM shows. Mine though are Depo projectors. Their beam pattern was not too good, but better than BMW's standard halogens. I have changed Depo's 5W bulbs for LEDs to light the rings. It took some doing to make them look almost BMW ! I have modified the dip beam projectors to give a flat top beam, with a 15 degree kink on the left (for UK), and they will work with both xenon and halogen. So you can see why I want to keep them, unless I can get some genuine BMW Xenons at a reasonable price. They all seem too expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
