128i Xenon Upgrade?

[E91WAG3N]

Originally Posted by swagon

Did you buy new parts?

You need FRM3 XE E82 or MAX (in case of non-AHL xenons). FRM3 AHL won't work properly.

I bought all new parts as I wanted fresh lenses. Could have saved quite a bit going used, though. They're non-AHL, so I'll need the non-AHL FRM. I haven't had a chance to look on realoem yet.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by ubersteuer

I bought all new parts as I wanted fresh lenses. Could have saved quite a bit going used, though. They're non-AHL, so I'll need the non-AHL FRM. I haven't had a chance to look on realoem yet.

Looks like we'll be doing the retrofit at the same time. Cool.

I'm just looking for E82 FRM's, don't care about part numbers - every damn FRM has a different PN.

[E91WAG3N]

Originally Posted by swagon

Looks like we'll be doing the retrofit at the same time. Cool.

I'm just looking for E82 FRM's, don't care about part numbers - every damn FRM has a different PN.

Very cool! What'd you end up getting?

I'm hoping to have everything in time for Presidents Day weekend since I'll have a few extra days off to tinker.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by ubersteuer

Very cool! What'd you end up getting?

I'm hoping to have everything in time for Presidents Day weekend since I'll have a few extra days off to tinker.

Nothing yet as I am waiting for the seller to answer some questions, but all should be here in two weeks. I should've done it two years ago...

LCI non-AHL
FRM3 XE
LCI tails (non-Blackline)
Retrofit Kit
Interior light switch
Chrome indicators
5000K PIAA or Osram CBI H8 bulbs

[E91WAG3N]

Originally Posted by swagon

Nothing yet as I am waiting for the seller to answer some questions, but all should be here in two weeks. I should've done it two years ago...

LCI non-AHL
FRM3 XE
LCI tails (non-Blackline)
Retrofit Kit
Interior light switch
Chrome indicators
5000K PIAA or Osram CBI H8 bulbs

Very nice! I couldn't find the retrofit kit anywhere. It was discontinued at some point last year. I tried a local dealer, parts guy at the dealership I used to work at, Schmiedmann, no one could get it.

[GSO E82]

I've been reading around on here for a while on this topic and still don't have it all straight in my head, so I hope it's OK that I ask a couple basic questions.

For background, I have a 2012 128i with among others, halogen headlights and the cold weather package which I believe are the options relevant to this topic. I'm interested in improving headlight performance, but would only do so using OEM parts. I think I've ruled out going US-spec halogen to Euro-spec non-AHL xenon due to cost and complexity.

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

Going from US-spec to Euro-spec housings is very straightforward, assuming you're going from halogen-to-halogen or xenon-to-xenon...

1.) What type of housing is the Euro-spec halogen light? Reflector or Projector?

2.) Is there an appreciable difference in light output and beam pattern between US-spec and Euro-spec halogen housings?

3.) If you added Euro-spec halogens to a US-spec car with halogens, is it straight plug-n-play or is coding involved?

4.) Where do you get Euro-spec halogen housings? What are the part numbers? I've looked at RealOEM and can't parse out the differences.

5.) If you added Euro-spec halogens to a US-spec car with halogens, could you then do the LED "blackline" tail light swap as well?

EDIT: Welp, I've partially answered some of my own questions - specifically 1 & 4.

1.) Euro halogens are reflector type.
4.) 63117263639 and 63117263640

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...93&hg=63&fg=05

From this thread:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=655150

[E91WAG3N]

Originally Posted by GSO E82

I've been reading around on here for a while on this topic and still don't have it all straight in my head, so I hope it's OK that I ask a couple basic questions.

For background, I have a 2012 128i with among others, halogen headlights and the cold weather package which I believe are the options relevant to this topic. I'm interested in improving headlight performance, but would only do so using OEM parts. I think I've ruled out going US-spec halogen to Euro-spec non-AHL xenon due to cost and complexity.



1.) What type of housing is the Euro-spec halogen light? Reflector or Projector?

2.) Is there an appreciable difference in light output and beam pattern between US-spec and Euro-spec halogen housings?

3.) If you added Euro-spec halogens to a US-spec car with halogens, is it straight plug-n-play or is coding involved?

4.) Where do you get Euro-spec halogen housings? What are the part numbers? I've looked at RealOEM and can't parse out the differences.

5.) If you added Euro-spec halogens to a US-spec car with halogens, could you then do the LED "blackline" tail light swap as well?

EDIT: Welp, I've partially answered some of my own questions - specifically 1 & 4.

1.) Euro halogens are reflector type.
4.) 63117263639 and 63117263640

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...93&hg=63&fg=05

From this thread:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=655150

If you're swapping halogen to halogen, there is nothing to do other than a physical swap of the headlight assembly. Everything will plug in as-is. The coding comes into play with the xenons because you need to tell the car that it has xenons so it will not trigger bulb out warnings, and not cause them to flicker etc... which requires a new FRM.

There are different versions of LCI tail lights, one for halogen cars and one for xenon. The halogen versions don't have the same LED swoosh. There are several methods to retrofit the xenon tails to an LCI car. The 'proper' way involves running wiring from the RFM module to the tail lights. The pre-LCI cars have the third wire already.

You can buy new housings from Schmiedmann, that's where I bought my blacklines and just ordered my headlights from. You can also search for used units on German and British ebay.

I'm about to undertake the halogen to Euro non-AHL swap and plan to document the whole process. The wiring seemed to be quite a hurdle initially until I realized the BMW documents have pin readouts. Since the retrofit harness is no longer available from BMW, I will build my own harness using OEM bits.

If you're only looking for improvement in light output, going from halogen to halogen won't make much difference ihmo. The Euro housings look better from an aesthetic standpoint, though.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by GSO E82

2.) Is there an appreciable difference in light output and beam pattern between US-spec and Euro-spec halogen housings?

I don't know too much about the halogen headlamps on the 1er, so I can't speak to the differences (if any) between the US- and Euro-spec housing from an output standpoint. Primarily, people are interested in switching to Euro lamps because of the clear corner lenses.

That said, when I switched from US-spec to Euro-spec xenon lamps, one difference I noticed is that the Euro-spec lamps have both vertical and horizontal adjustment knobs, whereas the US-spec lamps only allow for adjustment on the vertical axis. Other than that, I'm not sure that there is any difference in the performance or operation of the units. It could be that there is a slightly different beam pattern, but I wasn't really paying enough attention to notice. Historically, on many cars there is a difference in light output between US- and Euro-spec halogen lamps, but I haven't heard definitively one way or the other what the case is with our 1ers.

[GSO E82]

ubersteuer and Bimmer-Bob... thank you for the awesome info!

And uber - good luck with the swap. Looking forward to seeing the results.

[reisf]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

Other than that, I'm not sure that there is any difference in the performance or operation of the units. It could be that there is a slightly different beam pattern, but I wasn't really paying enough attention to notice. Historically, on many cars there is a difference in light output between US- and Euro-spec halogen lamps, but I haven't heard definitively one way or the other what the case is with our 1ers.

There is a 100% difference in beam pattern, but only if the headlights are distinguished as Left Hand Drive or Right Hand Drive. This applies for xenons and halogens.

Left Hand Drive: ___/___/
Right Hand Drive: \___\___

The "high" side of the beam should always be on the opposite side of oncoming traffic.

Because safety. Apparently...

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by reisf

There is a 100% difference in beam pattern, but only if the headlights are distinguished as Left Hand Drive or Right Hand Drive. This applies for xenons and halogens.

Left Hand Drive: ___/___/
Right Hand Drive: \___\___

The "high" side of the beam should always be on the opposite side of oncoming traffic.

Because safety. Apparently...

Yeah, I'm aware that there are specific LHD and RHD units, but what I meant is that I'm not sure if there is a difference between US-spec lamps and LHD Euro-spec lamps. Anyone know?

[E91WAG3N]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

Yeah, I'm aware that there are specific LHD and RHD units, but what I meant is that I'm not sure if there is a difference between US-spec lamps and LHD Euro-spec lamps. Anyone know?

I doubt it. AFAIK, e46's had the same units and the only difference was coding between regions (city lights enabled vs. parking lights enabled).

E36s housings were different, US spec got plastic DOT approved housings where other regions had several different glass units with projector and non-projector versions made by Bosch and ZKW. Ironically, the Euro market glass Bosch reflector headlights I bought for my e36 have a DOT approved stamp on them.

The advantage in the e36 (and older Audis as well) was that you went from a crappy plastic housing to glass with a projector which could be adapted for HID. Even without upgrading to HID, the beam pattern and output were improved compared to US spec.

[ChillFill]

Originally Posted by ubersteuer

I doubt it. AFAIK, e46's had the same units and the only difference was coding between regions (city lights enabled vs. parking lights enabled).

E36s housings were different, US spec got plastic DOT approved housings where other regions had several different glass units with projector and non-projector versions made by Bosch and ZKW. Ironically, the Euro market glass Bosch reflector headlights I bought for my e36 have a DOT approved stamp on them.

The advantage in the e36 (and older Audis as well) was that you went from a crappy plastic housing to glass with a projector which could be adapted for HID. Even without upgrading to HID, the beam pattern and output were improved compared to US spec.

Hey guys I have a couple of questions. I have a US spec with Bi-xenon adaptive

Wanting to switching to Euro spec because the clean look is almost irresistible..

Can I buy the euro LCI housing ONLY (with the led eyebrows) and switch the components over?

Do the euro specs come with the adaptive technology? So I could just switch
the motor in?

I've found the headlamps here but there are over $1k a piece, and I don't think I need all of the components as they are already sitting in the driveway..
|
V
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=63_1293

[swagon]

Originally Posted by ChillFill

Hey guys I have a couple of questions. I have a US spec with Bi-xenon adaptive

Wanting to switching to Euro spec because the clean look is almost irresistible..

Can I buy the euro LCI housing ONLY (with the led eyebrows) and switch the components over?

Do the euro specs come with the adaptive technology? So I could just switch
the motor in?

I've found the headlamps here but there are over $1k a piece, and I don't think I need all of the components as they are already sitting in the driveway..
|
V
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=63_1293

1. Buy ECE LCI AHL
2. Swap ballasts and bulbs (if you're not changing them)
3. To make the LED eyebrows work, you must tap some wires (not a big deal)
4. Code Euro AHL settings http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=843765
5. Done

There are three LCI headlights - halogen, non-adaptive, and adaptive xenon.

[ChillFill]

Originally Posted by swagon

1. Buy ECE LCI AHL
2. Swap ballasts and bulbs (if you're not changing them)
3. To make the LED eyebrows work, you must tap some wires (not a big deal)
4. Code Euro AHL settings http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=843765
5. Done

There are three LCI headlights - halogen, non-adaptive, and adaptive xenon.

So do I need to buy the whole headlight?

And where can I buy this from?

[swagon]

Originally Posted by ChillFill

So do I need to buy the whole headlight?

And where can I buy this from?

lol of course.

Your best bet is eBay.

[ChillFill]

Ok, so one last question. I have adaptives.

If I buy a non-adaptive euro headlight, can I still switch the motors
from mine into the euros and make it work?

Sorry I do not know what the abbreviations "ECE" and "AHL" mean

[swagon]

Originally Posted by ChillFill

Ok, so one last question. I have adaptives.

If I buy a non-adaptive euro headlight, can I still switch the motors
from mine into the euros and make it work?

Sorry I do not know what the abbreviations "ECE" and "AHL" mean

Most likely not. I have yet to receive my LCI xenons so I don't know how they are assembled. Search around to get the answer, but it would not be worth the hassle in my opinion. And def. not OEM.

ECE=Euro
AHL=AdaptiveHeadLight

[E91WAG3N]

Originally Posted by ChillFill

Ok, so one last question. I have adaptives.

If I buy a non-adaptive euro headlight, can I still switch the motors
from mine into the euros and make it work?

Sorry I do not know what the abbreviations "ECE" and "AHL" mean

Buy adaptive housings if you want adaptive. There is no room inside the housings to work and try to get the motors swapped over. Good chance the actual housing is different as well and may not have provisions to install the AHL bits.

[ChillFill]

Damn looking at the prices and the trouble of buying overseas I will probably end up going for the non-eyebrow ones. I just want to get rid of the orange for the clean look.. I like the 'brows but from the search I've done it seems super hard to get all 3 (AHL, ECE, LCI) in one..

I need so much $$$ to make my 1er "mine". Next big expenditure is a SleK trunk though.
I'll paint it body color but will leave the inside alone to show off the carbon once opened

[swagon]

driftben

Retrofit Kit and cable set unavailable, pls pls make the guide.

[driftben]

Ok ok I promise to find the time to put together the guide hopefully this weekend 😬