Quote:
Originally Posted by mam4.6
Hey, guys, I heard a lot of folks update to Depo headlights, am considering doing the same thing. Does anyone have any info on these:
New Depo LED Angel Eye LED Signal Halo Projector Headlights BMW x5 E53 D2S 00 03 | eBay
What quality projectors are they? Also can I bolt my OEM projectors, ballasts, and self-leveling motors onto the Depot housing if I don't want to lose everything. Also what quality LEDs are these? I'd love to see some pics of these installed on an X.... |
Are you after light output or looks? The Depo's look good, but for 700 bucks, you can build a far superior lighting setup for less. The Depo uses a smaller projector than what comes on our cars stock, with a 2.5" lens. I haven't seen the output in person but I heard its not bad for its size. However, you could also buy yourself a set of these housings:
01 03 BMW E53 x5 SUV Dual CCFL Halo Projector Black Headlights Lamps Lights Pair | eBay
They accept stock ballasts, bulbs, and self leveling motors and gaskets. Only thing you have to decide is whether you want to reuse your stock low beam projector, which will bolt into those housings, or go with a new, upgraded EvoX-R projector set from The Retrofit Source. They are $150, but come with a chrome bowl, clear lens, and bi-xenon capable. Really sweet projector for the price, and actually is what I am doing to my headlights. The breakdown is as follows so you can see the price difference:
-Ebay headlights 210
-EvoX-R's 150
-CCFL remote wire harness and high beam splitters for activating solenoid 25
-Some extra resealing glue 15
So for 400 bucks you have brand new lights which look like the facelift version (tmv has the same lights on his Silver 3.0), if you want to just swap your stock projector you can probably do the same thing but with our single xenon projector for 250! I personally think the stock projector output is superior to the Depo, but that is speculation.
Only thing you have to be comfortable with is baking open your housings and swapping components, but do a search on the forums and you'll see many instructions on how to do so, its not too hard. If you have a 2003, your stock lights cannot be baked open and most likely will need to be cut open. However, thats only if you reuse the stock projector, if you go with aftermarket EvoX-R's, you just swap the ballasts, motors, gaskets, etc.
Much better than 700 bucks spent in my opinion in order to get an upgraded look and superior lighting! (The LED turn signal versions in my opinion also don't flow with the E53, as the rear turns are halogen)
Good luck!