Projector fog lights on facelift X5

[X5SND]

I did notice today that they look to be relatively easy to open. So I MAY venture down that road to pull them apart and tweak the projector that way. It should also allow me to change out the pins on the housing plug so that I can swap the amp connectors on the bulb into the factory plug....giving it a completely factory look.

On the bright side, they aren't nearly as expensive to replace as say a headlamp unit, so if it doesn't work out I'm not that worse off.

[Clockwork]

X5SND and RB, they definitely need tweeking. I'm still needing to do this myself ;(

[X5SND]

After 20 mins with just a straight screw driver and a razor blade

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by X5SND

After 20 mins with just a straight screw driver and a razor blade

Well done sir, you still have the pioneer spirit!

I'm guessing the "use the pick through the bulb hole" method of sharpening the cutoff didn't work so well, or did you just say screw that I'm opening these!

[X5SND]

It was a couple reasons. First being that I really want to see if I can make it completely factory look by ditching the AMP connectors in favor of the BMW connectors --- Eliminating the need to drill any more holes or seal anything with silicone. Secondly, I was a bit hesitant to start poking the shield with a pick if I'm honest...it applies all the pressure to a point, but you need to bend the whole shield forward to get uniform results. Lastly.....there was 1/4 of a fingerprint on the projector lens at about 11 o'clock, needless to say the OCD was not happy about that one.

[Clockwork]

for anyone who wishes to make a wire harness to go from factory ellipsoids connections to the needed connection for a projector housing, here are the parts.
H11 male pins and black housing are from e-bay. rest are factory bmw parts

[Ricky Bobby]

Nice job cutting the grommet hole on your cap man!

I will have H11 to BMW pigtails available if someone else wants to do this conversion (I will be going HID and no longer need the pigtails)

Clockwork be patient, X5SND and I are working hard on these Depos! (he has made more progress than I have so far though, not much time for me to work on them!)

[Clockwork]

RB, I hope to go back to HID's too for the projectors, making my harness obsolete for my use too, but I figured I may as well build it incase I'm staying with halogen bulbs. plus it was cheap to make essentially and saved factory harnesses

and I'm hoping to get back to my fogs too soon. just been quite busy to play with that project. Thanks for keeping the updates rolling guys.

[Ricky Bobby]

So far in X5SND's findings, the shield actually needs to be tilted BACKWARDS carefully on all sides towards the bulb itself in order to sharpen things up and enhance color output along the cutoff line.

I am theorizing that this difference from what I perceived in Lightwerkz install where he most likely picked the shield FORWARD towards the lens in order to get his sharpness, is because he used an H3 rebased bulb, which is longer in focal length than a halogen H3, whereas myself and X5SND are both using H3C rebased bulbs from TRS which are basically exactly copies of a true H3 bulb in terms of height of capsule, focal point in the center, etc. This may be why he has found so far that for our version of rebased HID bulbs that the shield needs to be tipped backwards towards the bulb hole in order to sharpen/increase color.

I bought a set of picks from harbor freight for a buck, one is a 90 degree angle and 1 is a rounded hook, I will do some experimenting over the weekend hopefully.

[Clockwork]

the focal length of the light source is paramount and I know thats where the adjustments have to come into play