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Old 12-28-2015, 09:24 PM
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2004 E53 4.8iS Lighting Upgrade

Hey guys. Just wanted to share my experience so far. I have decided to add HID fog lights and Upgrade the Halos on my X5. The project is in day 1 of the mod. Should be finished up tomorrow. Will put after pics for sure.

Btw.....opening up the factory headlights is not for the faint of heart. Much can go wrong and break during the process. Patients is key!!!!









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Old 12-28-2015, 11:06 PM
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Props to you for having the guts to bake open facelift headlights!!
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Old 12-29-2015, 12:33 AM
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Noice!!

The other brave few who've done this have replaced projectors too with impressive improvement in output, have you considered that?

Care to share your recipe for opening them up? Im sure that was fun!
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Old 12-29-2015, 01:22 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by g300d View Post
Noice!!

The other brave few who've done this have replaced projectors too with impressive improvement in output, have you considered that?

Care to share your recipe for opening them up? Im sure that was fun!
+1 I may be interested in a DIY for the E53 lights, I just had to do this for my E39.

Are you putting new lens' also?

And on a side note... do the adjusters ever fail on these lights? I rarely hear of it
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Old 12-29-2015, 07:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by g300d View Post
Noice!!

The other brave few who've done this have replaced projectors too with impressive improvement in output, have you considered that?

Care to share your recipe for opening them up? Im sure that was fun!

I have read about that but to me the output and distinct lines are phenomenal. So I decided against it. If they were really dim or the lines weren't very specific I would have. That will have to be another upgrade down the road maybe.
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Old 12-29-2015, 07:43 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dking078 View Post
+1 I may be interested in a DIY for the E53 lights, I just had to do this for my E39.



Are you putting new lens' also?



And on a side note... do the adjusters ever fail on these lights? I rarely hear of it

Haha I don't know about the adjusters. I have never heard of the failing either. I am not putting new lens'. I polished them while off gonna take a look at them this morning before popping the lens back on.
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Old 12-29-2015, 10:41 AM
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Good work. Waiting on the write-up whenever you feel like to do it

Dking078, the adjusters in the E53 headlight don't break as in the E39 ones. I just don't know what make the difference though. Maybe the way it was designed.
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Old 12-29-2015, 10:41 AM
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Did you cut them open or did they get baked and carefully opened without breaking? Nice work on the facelift lights!

EvoXR projectors would be a direct swap, however, if you are happy with the projector output, just put in a fresh set of D2S IMO -

Nice work, where did you source your rings?
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Old 12-29-2015, 01:30 PM
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Yeaaaaa boyyyy. Write - up please. I will probably never get around to it, but that would be a sick upgrade.
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Old 12-29-2015, 07:10 PM
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2004 E53 4.8iS Lighting Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby View Post
Did you cut them open or did they get baked and carefully opened without breaking? Nice work on the facelift lights!

EvoXR projectors would be a direct swap, however, if you are happy with the projector output, just put in a fresh set of D2S IMO -

Nice work, where did you source your rings?

I actually used a heat gun and worked my way around the entire lens. Took about 6 hours for both headlights. Some pieces still broke in a few places, of course, but they did come off without completely breaking and I found out why the LED bulb upgrade didn't change much. The glass tubes for the stock halo was cracked on 2 out of 4 hence the poor output levels.

Also found out that the bumper is kinda messed up. Where the small lip meets the fender has always sagged just a bit. Seems there is supposed to be some kind of clip and mine is missing. Also the plastic clips are broken on one side so that will be a fix needed in the future.

All in all took about 9 hours total between 2 days for frustration of getting the lens off to do. Totally happy with the upgrades!!!! Well worth the $250 bucks and a few hours.

Upgrades listed below:

LED COB Angel Eyes
New 5500k DS2 Bulbs
New 5000k H11 Fog Lights.








Last edited by BimmerE38E53; 12-29-2015 at 07:16 PM.
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