I've read and read.... HID Help e46 or s4

[STECARS]

Ok. Sorry guys but Ive been reading for like almost a week. I want to do a retrofit hid . I have the projectors with the round blinkers and angel eyes. My problem is I was decided on the valeo kit from The tech article
http://hidtech.com/

or

http://www.hidplanet.com/package.html

Through all my reading now I cant remember where I read the the Bmw 3 series E46 projectors are a easy fit in the housing style that I have . The only thing that draws me to the e46's is the supposedly easy fit and also the igniter/ballast has a plug in for 9006 which is what our cars use .
So I'm trying to avoid the valeo kits fabrication of brackets etc... and also I wouldn't have to do all that confusing extra wiring.

I'm looking for some educated input on this in regards to the e46 projectors. And wether or not I can just plug my stock harness
(9006) right onto the e46 igniter/ballast. Pics are included


However the e46 projectors seem like they are missing some cover on the projector like a shroud.........I dunno

Anyone's educated input will be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Steve

 

[gthompson97]

are you asking if you can plug your 9006 harness into the igniter/ballast as a power source, like to power the ballasts instead of having to rig up your own power??

 

[STECARS]

are you asking if you can plug your 9006 harness into the igniter/ballast as a power source, like to power the ballasts instead of having to rig up your own power??

Yes . thats one of my concerns

 

[gthompson97]

i don't know, i've never seen it done that way if it's even possible. i'd just do it the right way if i was you. it might be more work but at least you'll have peace of mind knowing you did it right.

 

[STECARS]

i don't know, i've never seen it done that way if it's even possible. i'd just do it the right way if i was you. it might be more work but at least you'll have peace of mind knowing you did it right.

the hardwire isnt to big of a deal . But nI dont want to much hassle mounting the projector properly. Thats why I was considering the e46's ?

 

[WMD]

Is this the kind of shroud you where thinking of?
http://home.gwu.edu/~nloke/Faq2/images/hellacloseup2.jpg

 

[STECARS]

Yes . something along those lines. Or maybe you dont need a shroud like that with the e46 .... I dunno very confused. I am willing to pay to do it right but want an easy fit with the projectors. And right now I dont know whats easier valeo . or Bosch/E46.

 

[S_Ranger]

I've done this retrofit. I have the e46 and the ebay projectors like you I assume. Anyway, the e46's are the smallest and they will fit w/out any modification to the housing. I do not suggest plugging the 9006 female plug from your stock headlights into the ballast. These projectors draw up to 16-17 v. at startup. So this risks frying up your stock harness.

Buy:
2 female low beam (9006) sockets at your local auto store (7 bucks)
12g wire (4 bucks)
16g wire (4 bucks)
2 20 amp inline fuse holders (5 bucks)
1 30 amp inline fuse holder (2 and a half bucks )

The low beam sockets I told you to buy is to plug into your ballst, that way you don't have to solder anything. I'd explain how to wire it up but visual instructions has always been my friend. So go here for that.

Once you have everything made just hook up where everything needs to go. If your testing on your stock headlights then the 2 wires from 85 & 86(the one with the diode in it) go into the low beam socket. Look at the wires behind it and tap the + into the + and the - into the -. It will not work if you just tap them in whichever way you like. You will love the results! You'll be like dang! I love this! If everything goes smoothly there are mods you can do to the projectors which I have done as well to give the cutoff a more of a blue color, aka 'color mod'. To do that you take the 2 screws above the shield that connect the legs of the lens to the projector itself. You then add 2 washers to each side and line it up with the holes. Put your screws back in and voila! More color! Once you figure out the testing procedure and color mod let me know if you need more help installing them into the headlights. Good luck!

 

[STECARS]

The headlamps I have are like the ones in the pic included.

So to mount the e46's to the housing I dont have to fabricate any brackets like for the valeo's in the tech section ?

Also do the projectors I posted in the pic above look like they are missing a shroud or anything ? They look to me a like to open

I've done this retrofit. I have the e46 and the ebay projectors like you I assume. Anyway, the e46's are the smallest and they will fit w/out any modification to the housing. I do not suggest plugging the 9006 female plug from your stock headlights into the ballast. These projectors draw up to 16-17 v. at startup. So this risks frying up your stock harness.

Buy:
2 female low beam (9006) sockets at your local auto store (7 bucks)
12g wire (4 bucks)
16g wire (4 bucks)
2 20 amp inline fuse holders (5 bucks)
1 30 amp inline fuse holder (2 and a half bucks )

The low beam sockets I told you to buy is to plug into your ballst, that way you don't have to solder anything. I'd explain how to wire it up but visual instructions has always been my friend. So go here for that.

Once you have everything made just hook up where everything needs to go. If your testing on your stock headlights then the 2 wires from 85 & 86(the one with the diode in it) go into the low beam socket. Look at the wires behind it and tap the + into the + and the - into the -. It will not work if you just tap them in whichever way you like. You will love the results! You'll be like dang! I love this! If everything goes smoothly there are mods you can do to the projectors which I have done as well to give the cutoff a more of a blue color, aka 'color mod'. To do that you take the 2 screws above the shield that connect the legs of the lens to the projector itself. You then add 2 washers to each side and line it up with the holes. Put your screws back in and voila! More color! Once you figure out the testing procedure and color mod let me know if you need more help installing them into the headlights. Good luck!

 

[S_Ranger]

The shrouds are what cover the projectors to keep light from scattering. You have 2 so you're not missing anything. I do not have the projectors like the ones you have. Do they come with the silver shroud or is that a retrofit also? Anyway, yes you are going have to make some custom brackets. You don't have to cut a huge hole in the middle to wrap around the projector, believe me, I did it and it doesn't make a difference. What you will need to do is go to a local lumber/hardware store and buy a good foot of galvenized sheet metal. It's flexible yet strong. What I did is make a strip for each side of the projector. I took out the old projector in the ebay headlights and placed them on the metal, marked where the holes were, then drilled. Get your e46 projectors and line it up with the modded sheet metal and and mark where the new holes need to be. So now you have 2 strips of metal with 4 holes in each one. 2 for the mounting the e46 to it, and the other 2 to mount to the old bracket. It will not move and you can aim it fairly easily.

 

[STECARS]

So I need to do something like this ?

 

[S_Ranger]

Well do the projectors you have already come with the silver shrouds shown in the first picture? Since teh e46 is so small, maybe you can just fit it through there. I know for sure the bi-xenon shrouds you have are way too big for those headlights. If the stock shrouds aren't allowing enough room for your projectors to fit then yes, you will have to make a custom shroud like the pic above.

 

[STECARS]

I appreciate all your help S Ranger and all others. S Ranger is there any we can speak over the phone ?

 

[WMD]

This is the ebay HID retro fit I've seen many times
http://dsmtuner.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162142&highlight=hid
He has the shroud on the ballasts so I’m guessing you will need to make them to prevent a lot of scattering.
BTW my ebay projectors came with a shroud around the ballasts, I’m guessing yours did too. So maybe you could reuse it.

 

[S_Ranger]

I'm kinda shy man, no offense. Maybe another alternative to quick replies. Yahoo messenger or AIM perhaps?

 

[S_Ranger]

This is the ebay HID retro fit I've seen many times
http://dsmtuner.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162142&highlight=hid
He has the shroud on the ballasts so I’m guessing you will need to make them to prevent a lot of scattering.
BTW my ebay projectors came with a shroud around the ballasts, I’m guessing yours did too. So maybe you could reuse it.

The length of the e46 differs from the one is he using. As you can see the bi-xenon shrouds are like frisbees. If the stock shrouds don't allow enough room for the projector to fit snuggly, then he will have to remove them and customize. Don't get discouraged though, it should be a breeze.

 

[STECARS]

This is the ebay HID retro fit I've seen many times
http://dsmtuner.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162142&highlight=hid
He has the shroud on the ballasts so I’m guessing you will need to make them to prevent a lot of scattering.
BTW my ebay projectors came with a shroud around the ballasts, I’m guessing yours did too. So maybe you could reuse it.

OK I just realized something niether does

Trystangst
nor
S Ranger

have the same headlamp housings as I do. The ones posted above with the round corner blinker.

 

[STECARS]

I think you guys are refering to this as shroud (pic 1 )and I am refering to (pic 2)

 

[S_Ranger]

Shroud 2 is customized as I can see, I was asking if that was the stock shroud in picture 1. I have these headlights btw, I do need to update my profile.

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[WMD]

ya i saw the shroud but i thought he could "ghetto" fit it in with the old shroud from his halogen ballasts if he wants. Because you're right, there is no way he could fit that in there, well without doing some serious trimming.
BTW that pic i posted is from a custom retro fit to a stock 2gb headlamp.
EDIT:
http://www.rcaz.com/rcaz/sub indexes/ebayprojectorheadlamps/index.htm
Is this the one with round turn siginal you have?

 

[STECARS]

Shroud 2 is customized as I can see, I was asking if that was the stock shroud in picture 1. I have these headlights btw, I do need to update my profile.

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Yes shroud in pic 1 is the stock shroud . And thos are the headlamps I have .


The valeo lense is 2.5" in diameter.
Do any of you know what the lens diameter is of the e46's. ?

 

[S_Ranger]

In the end it doesn't matter which of the 2 headlights you have. Retrofitting will be the same procedure. Just pry the headlights open and see if the projector will fit in the stock shrouds. If not you can either trim it or make your own and mount it in there.

 

[S_Ranger]

BTW, here are the dimensions for the e46 projector:

Diameter = 78.30mm
Height = 84.10mm
Width = 105.00mm
Length = 166.95mm

If you can, find out the dimensions on the stock projector and do the math.

 

[STECARS]

here is a better pic of thye headlamps I have

 

[S_Ranger]

Read the post above yours. Anyway, from eyeballing it, the e46 looks like it will fit snuggly in there. Yeah, it sure does. Trimming and customizing shrouds might not have to happen after all!