1989 bmw 525i headlights

so I saw one in the pull-a-part. looks to have 5.75 round ehadlights in it, same as my 64 elky. they also appeared to be projectors and capsule bulbs.

am I right?

if so, can I retrofit those headlights into a sealed beam car?

if that answer is yes, are these lamps better than a good set of sealed beams? im pretty much night blind, and like good headlights. also, the price for these from pull-a-part would be LESS than 4 new sealed beam silverstar bulbs. obviously that doesn't include good bulbs/ballasts/whatever else, but I could be swayed pretty easily for killer lights.

so, what says the braintrust?

Check the mounting. While they may LOOK like regular headlights, they are often the visible part of a huge apparatus hidden behind the grille and under covers. I bet there are some bulky parts you can't see that would preclude mounting where a normal headlight lives.

If I'm wrong (and I hope I am) please post pics and dimensions! These could be a cool upgrade for an old Datsun pickup I'm looking at.

So I picked up a set of these today. Info is pretty thin on the ground. They are pretty bulky, but initial measurements look like with some minor cutting and fitting, they will work..

And on aa side note, I hooled the two good bulbs up to an old lawnmower battery. My GOD these things put out some light. Makes me winder if hid would be worth it in the projectors for even more..

Dusterbd13 wrote: So I picked up a set of these today. Info is pretty thin on the ground. They are pretty bulky, but initial measurements look like with some minor cutting and fitting, they will work.. And on aa side note, I hooled the two good bulbs up to an old lawnmower battery. My GOD these things put out some light. Makes me winder if hid would be worth it in the projectors for even more..

don't put HID in ANYTHING designed for halogen. reflectors, projectors, whatever, don't do it.

In reply to old_:

I don't think I saw him say anything about HIDs. I think he's more interested in the better light from the projector lenses.

I'd have to agree that e34's have the best OEM headlights of any car that I've owned.

Mr Estrotica modified some E30 Elipsoids to fit into his Scirocco a while back. I will wait for him to chime in before I start creeping on his photobucket to look for what he had to do to the housing

HIDs work very well in E30/E34 projectors. The cutoff is nice and crisp so they do not blind other drivers. They obviously won't be a direct swap for Sealed beams, but if you can get them to mount you will be quite happy.

yes, the BMW beams have a very nice cut off that will keep aftermarket HIDs from being obnoxious

im still on the fence about using HID's in this housing. well wait and see what kind of light I get with stock bulbs first.

having never done or driven anything with hid's, are the light output worth the cost?

and it looks like ill have minor trimming to do to the factory el camino stuff, and major reshaping to do to the bmw parts.

since mr estrotica hasn't come in, could you creep his photobucket and see iof you can find anything? I stink at that kind of stuff.

My ears were burning something fierce. The pictures aren't too plentiful but they get the point across somewhat.

I basically cut every bracket off of the BMW housing, then cut the center out of the Scirocco housing so it fit over the much larger and deeper BMW unit. I'm about to do this same thing again for the "new" Scirocco (but with cool-kid Euro "smilies"). I'll do my best to take better photos of what all is involved in retrofitting these.

Edit: I can't get all the IMG tags to work on mobile. Here's the thread from 4 years ago on the vwvortex.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4601693-E30-Ellipsoid-Retrofit

I had e30 hella e codes in my ra29 celica, direct fitment, amazing light. I don't know if that helps.

In reply to Mr_Estrotica:

you are the man!!

exactly what ive been wasting time at work trying to find.

thanks a lot.

and did you ever go HID like you mentioned in the thread? if so, was it worth it?

I did eventually go HID, but as probably 95% of my driving is done in town, it was a bit silly really. If I lived out in the sticks I would do it again in a heartbeat. I went the cheap route and got some eBay special retrofit "kit".

On the plus side I pulled the bulbs and ballasts before I sold that car, so they'll be going back into service here in a bit.

yup. ebay retrofit is what I was thinking.

and I DO live in the sticks. deer country, fog, rain, miles of nowhere.....

so, that much of an improvement to justify the hundred some odd bucks?

They really seemed to shine ( :D ) in poor visibility situations like fog and heavy rain. Although that might just be my opinion and should be taken with a grain of rice. I haven't had them in a car for probably 2.5-3 years now.

A healthy set of new bulbs and a relayed lighting harness would probably be pretty close for a much smaller figure on the money side of things.