gearbox

iTrader: (95)

what projector does the 325xi bmw use? i was playing with my neighbors car, he had one blown up bulb and another that was 5 yrs old, and i replaced both with a pair of osram xenarc with unknown hours and they looked crazy bright lol. the bulbs mustve been pretty new cause it went from looking like a 12000k hid kit to a nice oem setup with good brightness. he was also shocked how bright it looked. i dont think he ever changed the bulbs since he bought it (its an 03)

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

if its a bmw from 6yrs ago its a e46. The new bmw's are e90's.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well the output was pretty impressive to me with only 35w setup.

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

the tsx's are better but i think the e46's are pretty decent for there size. way better then the valeos u had.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

ewww e46 single is worst than e46 bixenon (inve retroed both)

they're worst than valeos, just for ur information....

id get TSX instead of e46 anyday...


thats simple my friend. let me explain...

ur 55w is actually brighter, but it seems the TSX is brigher because ur output beam is over lapping his, making it seem like his is brighter......becuase now his beam is 55w output + 35w output... so his beam will stand out more...

iono if that made any sense to you, i have ALL of my finals tormow, and a term paper due....so my brain is on overdrive rite now...

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

iono, imo d2s valeos are better than single e46.....

ive retroed em on a SC400...i was completely shocked by the poor quality...

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

i haven't seen the e46 singles because i had the e46 bixenons and i saw the valeos in person. There horrible with no intensity at all for hid projectors.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

hahah........lets just agree that they're both suckie!

TSX FTW (for cheap good bomb projectors)

buckshizzo

iTrader: (2)

Agreed. E46(Bosch) projectors were good when they first came out, but now stanley introduced projectors that would blow the e46 out of the water any day.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

my valeos were like halogen. i actually could see better when i put the stock lights back on (not even boosted halogen at the time!) and when i would pass e46, it was noticably brighter than mine. actually my h1 tyc with osram silverstar looked brighter lol! look at this crap. i actually passed an older audi one time and my boosted h4 catz rice white bulbs looked exactly the same. that gave me a good laugh. heres when i had the valeos, and yes its overexposed lmao.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

^oh that is bad......

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

man this thread...making me want to do my retrofit.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i think today i get my E46 and my RS shrouds! will have pics tonight with 85122, 3, and dl50. hope it doesnt disappoint. and i have the next 3 days off work hehe. so if i can get the test light retroed, im good to order new lights and finish this thing off. hopefully everything fits together.

Devani

iTrader: (2)

I am sure that you will have no problem fitting the headlight with FX projector if you don't like the E46....can't wait for the pics..~~

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

haha it doesnt look good. e46 is trash lol. i think even worse than 350z.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

so you already got them?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah well everyone was right. the beam looks terrible and no matter what i did, the cutoff was always yellow. and then i bent the shield too much and it snapped lol. so forget these. im gonna try and sell the one that works and look for something else.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

at least the retrofitsource shrouds look nice! now i need a projector and a front bezel

electric130

iTrader: (44)

TSX! TSX! TSX!

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

^x2 =]

LatinEM2

X3

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

lol well im having a hard enough time fitting the e46. i shaved all the mounting holes off and it barely fits behind the shroud. and i need a front bezel to cover around the projector and the whole lens holder. blah. i think im gonna try it on the headlight i have and see what happens. the e46 has a crappy beam pattern, cutoff, and color, but maybe it will be okay. im not really gonna worry about how it looks on a wall cause you rarely see it anyway. i modded one projector so far with homemade dot cutoff shield and a small foreground limit shield so it doesnt glare off the chrome housing. idk, its better but still has issues. it still curves down which i think is due to the bowl. and i dont understand where all the 5000 lumens is going to? and why it looks worse than some halogen projectors ive seen. the hotspot is not in the middle, and there are many hotspots scattered around lol. and the foreground is really dim too. anyway, heres a comparison. its prolly gonna be good enough. will have more pics of what i modded later on when i finish the projector and start mounting the test one. i guess on the bright side, its seems to be better than stock TL and maybe even the same as boosted tl if you choose to believe it even tho it looks like a mess, the light is there at least. and yea the colors are actually exactly like that lol. it looks like 3800k white. at the cutoff its like halogen color. hmm i need to play with the shield a bit more and maybe move it so the hotspot starts at the cutoff instead of below it if possible. crap i hate making cutoff shields tho. i may have to make a new one if raising the cutoff makes it better.

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

wow they really are worse then the bixenons. you can try adding #8 washers. I remember i added two on the bottom on each side and was able to get a decent amount of blue out of it.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i tried and gave up. the only thing i could do was get a tiny purple fuzz just at the cutoff, which wouldnt even affect the colors people would see. so i just left it yellow lol. i dont think i want the blue look anyway so oh well.is there a way to make the cutoff straight? cause i made the shield very straight but yet it still slopes down.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

any bezel ideas? i need one that sits on top and extends to cover the lens holder. and i have no idea how the shroud is gonna stay in place unless i find a good bezel, then i can just glue that on and have it hold everything together. i mounted the projector but i gotta check the aim tomorrow and see how it fits in the housing. so far so good... plenty of space, shroud looks awesome. need bezel.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well right now i am SUPER happy with the way things are going i basically have one side done except for a few finishing touches like finding a way to secure the shroud, and putting a bezel. but the fit is near perfect, the reflector went back on no problem, the rotation is straight, at 25 ft there is a very even and uniform field of light, and the vertical aim seems to be very close already. i wont know til i actually test fit on the car, but the whole projector is just held on with screws, so i can always easily take it apart to adjust the aim. very solid and secure. once they look good, i will prolly put some glue around the rear where the bolts come out. the light output on the floor is amazing, looks as bright as a TL if not brighter lol. these are easy easy projectors to retro too. barely took me a full day to do all the custom stuff and the cutting and mounting.

here is the inside with custom dot shield and foreground shield, polished and sprayed with clear coat engine enamel (500F max temp). the small foreground limit hardly affects foreground, but it makes it so there is no glare from light reflecting off the chrome housing.



heres the projector mounted in the housing. i used a 2.5inch hole saw and cut a hole in the reflector, then got some longer metric screws for the 4 that hold the projector halves together. you can see where i trimmed the sides of the projector alot to make it fit. very clean, i almost can leave it like this with how chrome the bowl parts are, but then there is alot of glare spots.





heres a closeup of the mounting points where i used hex screws in place of the stock tamper proof ones.



and a loose fitting retrofit-source shroud trimmed in the back and also bent across to make it fit. it is just hanging from there, it actually is symmetrical if you hold it on.



and a very clean rear the only thing is the ebay projectors i got came with one small and one large bulb holder. this is the large one and i need to try and find a smaller one cause now the stock boot wont fit exactly right.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

i think you fatfingered the shroud pic cause it's the same as the one above it. looks good otherwise though. so you're sticking with the e46? i thought you broke one?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah i fixed it lol by making the new shields. pic should be working? it was only wrong like that a minute after i posted hmm.

well here is a fresh one in case its still broken

armieo

iTrader: (15)

Gear quick favor....can you test fit the shroud on the TL projector for me before you finish the install?

I am interested in getting a shroud like that from there for my TL retro.

Link to where you bought it from? Their ebay site right? The shrouds on their ebay store look nothing like the ones u have.

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

well i'm glad you finally found a projector you can stick with. Either way they'll be better then your halogens.