BMW 128i Halogen Equipped to LCI Xenon Retrofit Build

[supercati]

Here are some photos of how mine was build, just in case it could help. Sorry for the quality, but I discovered this post before installing them.

Ballast are inside the housing (below the low-casewhere the original ballast sits).
Then, on the outside there are the canbus cancellers, and on my case the resistor for the high beam. You could skip this with some canbus ballast, and high beam bulb (as the OP here did, and I am planning to do) so there would be instead nothing on outside.





Re-pined to match Halogen pinout.

[esuyengh]

Thanks for this guide. I have a few quick questions in preparation of my doing this later this summer:

1) Will this work on adaptive headlights (AHL)? Or will it only work on non-adaptive?

2) Similarly, since there is no coding, does it matter if I get a Euro-spec bi-xenon headlight set that technically is intended for "right-hand" driving?

3) Can you point me to a good quality can-bus canceller?

[supercati]

Originally Posted by esuyengh

Thanks for this guide. I have a few quick questions in preparation of my doing this later this summer:

1) Will this work on adaptive headlights (AHL)? Or will it only work on non-adaptive?

2) Similarly, since there is no coding, does it matter if I get a Euro-spec bi-xenon headlight set that technically is intended for "right-hand" driving?

3) Can you point me to a good quality can-bus canceller?

OP and me did that on AHL headlights, but obviously the adaptative function won't work anymore. It will work like normal xenons.

If you het RHD headlight, light beam pattern will be slighty different... I wouldn't recommend RHD headlights for LHD countries

Canbus Canceller / Ballasts:
https://aliexpress.com/store/product...821683871.html

https://aliexpress.com/store/product...767432881.html

https://aliexpress.com/store/product...807451759.html

[esuyengh]

Thanks! Didn't think about beam pattern, and was just focused on the re-coding issue. I'll have to find a LHD set then.

Are you running the rear blacklines? Know of any compatibility issues with the ones that are supposedly plug and play regardless of whether you run halogens or xenon up front?

[Gray_Panther]

Provided final edit on post #2.
Take your high beam bulb from halogen lights and swap with the cornering light inside the xenon equipped lights.
Cornering light isn't able to handle the high beam voltage and will melt the plastic surround used to lock it in place. Thus making it hard to remove without a dremel.

The only reason I can come up with is the cornering lights usually only stay on for a few seconds. High beams can stay on until another car is coming down the road, and that corner light housing traps the heat and melts the plastic.

Sucks, but better to know and warn you all than to have everyone find out on their own.

I didn't try using a canbus LED, someone can experiment with that and if that works then I would run that all the way!!

[harlowe]

Finished up my LCI Xenon conversion recently, using this guide. Coded the brow/halos as the DRL and using LUX v5 in the halos that match the brow perfectly. Much whiter in person...

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by harlowe

Finished up my LCI Xenon conversion recently, using this guide. Coded the brow/halos as the DRL and using LUX v5 in the halos that match the brow perfectly. Much whiter in person...

Looking real sharp! Glad my guide was useful to you

[///Makis]

Originally Posted by esuyengh

Thanks! Didn't think about beam pattern, and was just focused on the re-coding issue. I'll have to find a LHD set then.

Are you running the rear blacklines? Know of any compatibility issues with the ones that are supposedly plug and play regardless of whether you run halogens or xenon up front?

I had my car imported and plated in England (originally us spec). The people that imported it had to change the headlights to UK spec and so I got the euro halogen headlights and euro light switch for the fogs. What I learned after and didn't know before is that that the euro lights have two adjustment screws (left / right and up /down) I believe the us spec ones only have up and down (correct me if I'm wrong anyone)

If you get euro spec ones there should be two adjustments screws on the top of the headlights so you can adjust the beam pattern to comply with us beam pattern. I believe left headlamp is angled slightly down and right one slightly higher. (Opposite from RHD countries)

I adjusted mine mine when I brought my car back to the US as to not be an asshole and blind on coming traffic. But with that being said it's shocking to me how many people in the US have clearly illegal lights or aftermarket lights which are definitely blinding oncoming traffic.

[Bensonc]

Thanks for the info. I recently did the upgrade with a few change.
D2S hid kit, connected high beam shutter and keep the H3 cornering light on the same circuit. Have not coded the drl off yet. But the cornering light(inner circle) now work as drl and high Beam flash, and the shutter does not activate with the drl power. Wired it this way for the day time flash to pass.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Provided final edit on post #2.
Take your high beam bulb from halogen lights and swap with the cornering light inside the xenon equipped lights.
Cornering light isn't able to handle the high beam voltage and will melt the plastic surround used to lock it in place. Thus making it hard to remove without a dremel.

The only reason I can come up with is the cornering lights usually only stay on for a few seconds. High beams can stay on until another car is coming down the road, and that corner light housing traps the heat and melts the plastic.

Sucks, but better to know and warn you all than to have everyone find out on their own.

I didn't try using a canbus LED, someone can experiment with that and if that works then I would run that all the way!!

Decided I am going to run this set up again. Except I am going to use LED bulbs instead of halogen for cornering and high beam. That way the bulbs never get hot enough to melt the plastic.

[gingermedia]

Thank you!

[jakes99]

Hi Gray_Panther

I am new to this site and I am following your post on halogen to Xenon retrofit on a BMW E82.
I am from South Africa and I recently bought this car for my everyday runner, however I am not satisfied with the standard halogen headlights
There are several posts on the conversion from halogen to Xenons. Your post seems to be the easiest, but the only thing I don't understand is the part where you did the mod for the canbus canceler and the ballast wiring. Sorry if I sound a bit confused, but did you remove the ballast completely?

I have tried something else, maybe you can help me. On the plug side, I added pin 2 and bridged it with pin 4, which is the negative. I added pin 5 and bridged with pin 6 for the shutter, and I added pin 7 and bridged with pin 1 for the eyebrow LED
So, the angel eyes and eyebrows light up, and the shutter opens and closes when you switch the brights. The only thing is that the low beam is not coming on. Do I have to make another wire change, or will the low beam only work after coding?

Your help will be much appreciated. Thanx

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by jakes99

Hi Gray_Panther

I am new to this site and I am following your post on halogen to Xenon retrofit on a BMW E82.
I am from South Africa and I recently bought this car for my everyday runner, however I am not satisfied with the standard halogen headlights
There are several posts on the conversion from halogen to Xenons. Your post seems to be the easiest, but the only thing I don't understand is the part where you did the mod for the canbus canceler and the ballast wiring. Sorry if I sound a bit confused, but did you remove the ballast completely?

I have tried something else, maybe you can help me. On the plug side, I added pin 2 and bridged it with pin 4, which is the negative. I added pin 5 and bridged with pin 6 for the shutter, and I added pin 7 and bridged with pin 1 for the eyebrow LED
So, the angel eyes and eyebrows light up, and the shutter opens and closes when you switch the brights. The only thing is that the low beam is not coming on. Do I have to make another wire change, or will the low beam only work after coding?

Your help will be much appreciated. Thanx

Hey man it has been years and I have to dig up and look again. I sent a pm in response to yours.

[Michael_E82]

Hey guys, i’m trying to retrofit xenon lci ligths but i’m having a few problems.
The low beam lights up but starts flicking as soon as i turn on my engine
The high beam servomotor works fine
The angel eyes work fine.
Someone has any idea of why why this happens?

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by Michael_E82

Hey guys, i’m trying to retrofit xenon lci ligths but i’m having a few problems.
The low beam lights up but starts flicking as soon as i turn on my engine
The high beam servomotor works fine
The angel eyes work fine.
Someone has any idea of why why this happens?

Is your headlight switch set to auto?
What bulb cancellor are you using?
Need more details on your set up.

[Michael_E82]

I don’t have auto headlights but only off, positions lights or on.
I don’t know what a “bulb canceler” is.
If you need more info or photos just ask

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by Michael_E82

I don’t have auto headlights but only off, positions lights or on.
I don’t know what a “bulb canceler” is.
If you need more info or photos just ask

You need an HID bulb cancellor. The computer treats your HID bulb as halogen which is why it flickers.

[Michael_E82]

Okay okay, do you have any link on where to find one?

[Gray_Panther]

Something similar to this:
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/st...BUS?quantity=1

Canbus cancellor*, not HID cancellor as I previously mentioned.