Does anyone have any experience with the European spec lights available for the E32? My dad's 750iL has the worst excuse for headlights (US spec) and I was looking into replacing them with these: http://www.stealthauto.com/Products...lights-(1988-1994)__BMW-E32-LIGHT-HL-EUR.aspx I would like to know if they are a huge improvement over the stock US lights. Thanks in advance!
I think the US lights are ellipsiods anyway, right? If so, there will be little difference here other than the smiley running light. I recommend running Silverstar bulbs. Very nice upgrade. Get the 4200K bulbs if you can find them.
Those are Depo lights, aftermarket. I was considering them as well for my E30. Let me know how they turn out... For the price, they can't be beat.
When I replaced the sealed beam lights on my '90 325is with the Hella H1&H4 setup, the difference was incredible. Best $200 I spent on that car. Seeing as the 750 is a true 155mph car, I imagine that the Euro spec lights would have to be better than the US ones. The current lights are inadequate for 60mph so these have got to be better. I'll do more research and if I do order them I will let everyone know.
If the 750 has ellipsoids, then the euro spec lights are NO DIFFERENT from the US lights apart from the running light. If they have the plain non-projector lens, then this might be a good improvement. The 90 325is had the crap sealed beam headlights, and not the much better ellipsoids, so the H1/H4 is definitely an improvement over that. Have you tried aiming the headlights properly? Are they sandblasted? Do they have junk bulbs in them?
Paul are you sure they are not different? I am not an expert on this, but my understanding is the US Federal DOT and the E codes (look on the headlight housing E1, E2, etc, are European specification) have different requirements. The US coded headlights have a more diffused light pattern compared to a more focused and cut off pattern on the euro headlights. Particularly on older headlights. I do realize more recently there are some "world" headlights out there, but I don't know if these would fall in that category.
True on early headlights, and even on some of the later headlights, not so true with ellipsoids. Now I know that some of the E34s had plain Jane sealed beams, and they suck. Not sure which years of E32 had what, though.
realoem.com shows Bosch Xenon headlights for the Euro 750i, that can be downgraded to regular bulbs, or swapped for big-bux Hella Xenons. I never saw the advantage of ellipsoid lights in the E30 or E34 (poor low beam lighting, esp. for the cost of the units), when compared to changing over to H1 and H4 Cibie, Hella or Bosch units with replaceable bulbs. I know the E36 crowd got a lighting boost going to the glass-front Euro units back in the day.
The car currently has the US spec ellipsoids and at night it looks like someone strapped two little maglites to the bumper and focused them to project two thin beams of light. They are simply awful and you are overdriving them once you exceed 60mph (high beams are fine though). The car has less than 60K miles and the glass on the lights looks unblemished and clear. I did use Silverstars on my Volvo and they were a great improvement over the stock bulbs so I'll try that first. I still think the Euro spec lights might have a different pattern, like others have said, because I really can't imagine anyone driving this car on an autobahn at anything more than 60mph with these lights. At the time I had my '90 325is, my mom had an '88 325 with the ellipsoids. They were awful too compared to the H1&H4 upgrade I did on mine. She wanted to upgrade as well but declined when I told her it wasn't a simple swap like it had been on mine. I think that was another example of BMW going forward with new technology well before it was ready.
Have you considered HiR bulbs? No that's not a typo. It's a new type of bulb. Generates nearly as much light as HiD for only a little more than halogen's replacement cost.
Tell us more about this. Does it behave/function like a halogen bulb? In other words, instant on, so it works with cars set up for halogen. Is the filament placement the same as a halogen bulb? Important for when used in a reflector/refractors designed for halogen bulbs.
Doesn't look like they make them for H4/H1. Have you used them? Here is where I get my bulbs. http://www.autolamps-online.com/home.htm I prefer the Vision Plus and have good results with them over the years. Free shipping BTW.
Not yet. My car's headlights are fine for now. Right now my car has higher priorities than headlights. It looks to be a reputable site, and the technology is pretty sound also. The price of these bulbs is certainly low enough to allow you to experiment without making a huge investment.
Swapped out the factory bulbs for Sylvania Silverstars and the difference is very noticeable. Although nowhere near as good as the H4/H1 lights of yore, it's definitely a much safer car to drive at night now. My dad's happy and I guess that will suffice and I won't have to go through all the trouble of swapping out the lights. Thanks for everybody's input!
+1 to the Silverstar bulbs. I just swapped them in today (H1) and notice a slight improvement in lighting. My previous headlights were inadequate enough in dark areas (backroads for example) that I often had to switch on the high beams to see properly. With the new bulbs in, I notice that they're a little brighter and are a bit colder in color. By that, I mean it's kind of like the difference between an incandescent bulb and a fluorescent bulb; one gives a cold light and the other a more natural light. Despite the "colder" lighting, it feels like the lighting is wider (covers more area) and has an ever so slightly longer reach, but I may just be imagining this. The bulbs cost me ~$18 each from WalMart and I think it's a worthy upgrade.
Euro Smileys I actually installed the original BMW euro smileys on my '89 750iL and they work great. I also found some smoked lens covers from Germany as well. I have some photos on my site. Regards, Dennis
I ended up getting a set of euro smileys and puttingthem on my wagon. The difference from the regular non ellipsoids is definitely huge. They don't use the same bulbs as the US ellipsiods, but pretty much the same output aside from sharper cutoff at the top and the kick up at the passenger side.
