Mod Time!

[PersonaNonGrata]

Since I can't leave well enough alone, even on a brand new car, my E90 got another mod. (The first ones were tint, OEM Blackline taillights, and OEM trunk spoiler - all done pre-delivery. )

We all know how cool Angel Eyes are and some of us have paid some big dough for them on pre-'04 X5's. Then there is the whole deal with changing the color of them. I have always thought they look way cool but couldn't bear the cost of retrofitting them on the X5 so I bought an E90 to get them.

There are several ways to change the color of the Angels on the E90. PIAA makes a supposedly plug-and-play kit at $200. There is a product from Japan called Brex White Rings and those too are about $200 as well if you can even get them in NA; not impossible but difficult. An ingenious guy on E90Post who has a highly modded E90 325i developed what he has dubbed "PMB's", or "Poor Man's Brex". It changes the color of the Angels from the stock yellowish halogen to one of several colors. The cost is $30. For that, I took a chance. I ordered a set of white. (They might be what he calls "hyperwhite" but I'm not sure.) The consensus seems to be that the PMB's aren't quite as bright as the Brex's but it's not a big enough disparity to justify the extra cash.

As an officially insane person, I took on this mod today despite +105 degree heat. I also washed the 330 before. Can't work on a dirty car you know. The mod requires the front wheel well liners to be removed in order to access the back of the headlights. From there, you remove the light source and take out the original lense for the Angel Eyes. There's really not much to it. All it is is a piece of glass. You can see in the photo below what holds the lense and the original lense can be seen in the photo. The original one is clear and the PMB one is blue tinted glass. That's it.

BEFORE





THE LENSE




AFTER: Driver's side has PMB; passenger side is the original





AFTER: Both sides have PMB's installed




COMPARISON (I know it's a day and night photo but you get the idea. The day went like this: Wash, dinner, cigar, PMB installation. )



What do you think? Useless mod? I know that Juan has an E90 and there are few here who plan on getting one. This one's for you guys.