Xenon headlights retrofit advice please ??

[Pope]

I've acquired a pair of complete Bi-Xenon headlight units, with the intention of swapping them with my poxy Halogen units (bought the car assuming it had Xenons.. :no:).

Problem: i cant seem find a garage willing to take the work on  >:(

Now, i assumed (i know that assumption is the mother of all Feckups ::)) that as my car is fitted with HL washers and self-levelling system, that the retrofit could be done reasonably easily.

So, any help, info, pisstaking, would be greatly appreciated...

[X5Sport]

Defo no piss staking....... ) )

What about a BMW Dealer?  They need coding onto the car, which may be part of the problem, and have you got all of the ballasts, extra modules (not sure whether there are any but have a look at REALOEM to confirm) wiring etc?  There's no 'official' retrofit kit which is another reason the Dealer(s) may not play.

I've hit this before with mine where the Dealer will not do any work unless there is an official kit and therefore a set of instructions they can follow.  Without the latter they simply put it in the 'too difficult' bucket as they have to do it from first principles and follow wiring diagrams, change vehicle codes etc.

There is another issue that if you car goes into a Dealership for software updates then BMW's servers may overwrite any coding changes if they see a difference.

Richard

[Pope]

Thanks for the reply Richard.

My local BMW dealer quoted me £5k to do the conversion, but that included all new parts.
All the independents that i've tried so far are a bit scared to take it on though.

The HL units i have, appear to have everything attached, inc. ballasts etc. So i thought it would be just a case of adapting the HL wiring and connectors, then re-coding the ecu.

I get your point about future software updated messing with the coding though, i guess i'd have to inform them beforehand.

Still, i'll have a couple more indi's to try yet, so, fingers crossed.....

 

[The Doc]

I'd not go the full hog and instead make adapters to make them work with the original coding - I did this for my works golf GTD after being told time and time again that that it could be done "plug and play" as such.

As a starting point have you tried simply plugging the new ones in?

[Storm_x5]

find a X5 front-end with xenons from a salvage dealer, chop it off and replace on your car..

[Pope]

[quote="The Doc"]

As a starting point have you tried simply plugging the new ones in?
[/quote]

Trouble is, i'd need to fit new connectors. But i'd expect a mechanic to try this first (if i could find one to have a go >:()

[Pope]

[quote="Storm_x5"]
find a X5 front-end with xenons from a salvage dealer, chop it off and replace on your car..
[/quote]

Do a cut and shut...Now thats an idea, why didn't i think of that in the first place.... ::)

[Horizon]

Would a HIDs kit not improve things, I found that my halogens were crap so I fitted a 55w HIDS kit, now they are very good, easyDIY job

[markda]

As slight hikack (sorry!) but on the subject of Xenon headlights, I am struggling to see the difference if they aren't side-by-side.  Do any of the later models have Xenon lamps as standard, if so what year/model/spec?

[Pope]

[quote="Horizon"]
Would a HIDs kit not improve things, I found that my halogens were crap so I fitted a 55w HIDS kit, now they are very good, easyDIY job
[/quote]

Yes, i was thinking of going down this route, but i wanted to fit OEM units because i could also then upgrade the DRL's to LEDs. Plus the high beam would also be Xenons.

So, if the retro fit is a no go, i'll just fit a HID kit..

[Pope]

[quote="markda"]
As slight hikack (sorry!) but on the subject of Xenon headlights, I am struggling to see the difference if they aren't side-by-side.  Do any of the later models have Xenon lamps as standard, if so what year/model/spec?
[/quote]

I'm not 100% sure, but i think the 2010 LCi model has xenons as standard..

[Rusty]

So are the connectors different between halogen and xenon?

Would have thought that as the control gear for the xenons is integral, the connector wouldn't be too different.  Power consumption would be similar, would only think the shutter control would be in place of the high beam?

Just thinking out loud.



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[The Doc]

[quote="Pope"]
[quote="The Doc"]

As a starting point have you tried simply plugging the new ones in?
[/quote]

Trouble is, i'd need to fit new connectors. But i'd expect a mechanic to try this first (if i could find one to have a go >:()
[/quote]

So I take it you've checked that they are different and don't plug in yes?

[Pope]

Rusty and Doc...

Assumption. There's that word again.. ::)

I've assumed that the connectors are different, but having just looked under the bonnet, i think they may be the same.

I cant tell for sure because i cant get to the connector, but you boys could be correct, and if so, then the job should be much simpler, with just the re-coding being the problem...

BTW, i may have found a garage willing to take the job on. They seemed pretty confident and up for it on the phone.
So i'll probably take the car in, when i'm in Bristol again in a couple of weeks.

Fingers crossed...

[The Doc]

I'd plug them in first and see if they just work - you may need some warning cancellers but they are easy to fit