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      01-24-2018, 05:54 PM   #1
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Thoughts on a Euro Headlight Group Buy?

Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering if there's interest in a Euro headlight (clear corners) group buy for US (and possibly Canadian) 1M owners. I'm not sure I could make this work, but I'm willing to look into it. Here's what I'd be interested in knowing to get a sense for if this is do-able:
  1. Could we get away with one option for purchase (adaptive), or are people going to want a choice between adaptive and non-adaptive versions?
  2. Does the same part also fit the 128i / 135i 1 Series? That would make it a lot easier to get the numbers we might need to make it worthwhile for a vendor. But it could increase complexity (see #1 above).
  3. What is the current best price available? This is the price we'd need to beat, hopefully by a decent margin.
  4. How difficult / involved is this as a DIY project? If it's pretty straightforward, we'd probably get more interest in the group buy.
I can look into all these things, but if forum members already know the answers, it would save me some time.

Thanks!
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      01-24-2018, 06:06 PM   #2
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Lighting is the first thing I tend to update on cars. For what it's worth I fought this battle with my 128i and couldn't find a vendor or way to easily get them a couple years ago. It's tough to get a vendor on board when the margin will be so thin with a small response rate, I can't imagine more than a dozen people would shell out for this upgrade. Schmiedmann is my go to as the easiest and cheapest route for Euro only parts. The swap itself is easy, just time consuming as it requires you to remove the front bumper cover and lots of bolts and brackets.

I went with the early style as I'm not a fan of the eyebrow on black. Bimmer-Bob who is active in the n52 section swapped in the LCI eyebrow version -

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      01-25-2018, 10:53 AM   #3
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I think that you also have to consider if you want OEM or Valeo (the OEM equivalent) because there is a big price difference. I believe that you need coding to make the adaptive lights work if you go that route.

The lights will work on all 1 series to my knowledge. You do have to pull the bumper, front half of the fender liners, etc. to do the install. Not too bad but kind of a PITA.

Sam
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      01-26-2018, 08:13 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FRNTHVY View Post
I think that you also have to consider if you want OEM or Valeo (the OEM equivalent) because there is a big price difference. I believe that you need coding to make the adaptive lights work if you go that route.

The lights will work on all 1 series to my knowledge. You do have to pull the bumper, front half of the fender liners, etc. to do the install. Not too bad but kind of a PITA.

Sam
When I was tinkering around I did see how much of a PITA the headlamp assemblies are to remove.

I have a German contact that I have previously ordered OE BMW parts from (most recently European bumpers for both my E92 and E61)--if there were a list of interested parties it is feasible that I could reach out to confirm pricing. I'm very much wanting to get a set for myself.

I could see maybe 7-10 sets fitting in one of the large boxes, although insurance will then be a real consideration at that point ($10-15k insurance policy protection likely necessary.)
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      01-31-2018, 03:18 PM   #5
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It's a pretty big job to replace them. Also, I've seen so many cars where the adaptive headlights fail after non-oem headlight replacement.
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