E53: Headlight Restoration

[Ricky Bobby]

Caesar is definitely the man over there, real cool dude. Responds to my emails quick, I am due to visit him next month to finish up my wife's retrofit actually.

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Just use the sealant that you use on your paint, apply a coat once every few months to protect them.

+1

My OE headlights get a good application of paint sealing wax every 2 months, never refinished and look new...........avoid automatic car washes and wand-wash DIYs too, the PH and recycled water balance is wacked at most locations.

[Riggodeaux]

Jay, RB, on the headlights; my 2006 build sheet shows Xenon/adaptive headlights, and my service history shows one xenon headlight replaced in early '13. As I read it, the D2S bulb is for the 'low beam'. My other headlight might be an original, no history to indicate otherwise, so I may be installing these soon. What is the high beam replacement and is that a DIY job? Thx

[JaySpec7]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

Jay, RB, on the headlights; my 2006 build sheet shows Xenon/adaptive headlights, and my service history shows one xenon headlight replaced in early '13. As I read it, the D2S bulb is for the 'low beam'. My other headlight might be an original, no history to indicate otherwise, so I may be installing these soon. What is the high beam replacement and is that a DIY job? Thx

You most likely have Bi-Xenons... both low/highs are the same D2S bulb... Your inner bulbs are halogen used for "flash to pass" and/or DRLs

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

Jay, RB, on the headlights; my 2006 build sheet shows Xenon/adaptive headlights, and my service history shows one xenon headlight replaced in early '13. As I read it, the D2S bulb is for the 'low beam'. My other headlight might be an original, no history to indicate otherwise, so I may be installing these soon. What is the high beam replacement and is that a DIY job? Thx

D2S is for your low and high beam, facelift E53 utilize E55 bi-xenon projectors, like Jay said below the inner halogen bulb is a flash to pass bulb, but it can be enabled via coding through NCS as an additional high beam bulb.

Along with the fog light enabled with high beam feature, you could thusly enable the "6 gun salute" for high beam lol!

That inner bulb I believe is an H1 or H7, but don't quote me as I have an '03, we have 9005 for high beam halogen.


I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND replacing the D2S bulbs in pairs, stupid shortcut the dealer took to only replace one.

I can send you a link to genuine Philips 85122 bulbs for $74 shipped should you wish to get a pair, TiagX5 bought a pair from the link I sent him about 2 months ago and was very happy, absolute cheapest genuine set of bulbs I can find via a legit Philips seller.

[Riggodeaux]

Thanks, the intel suggests the inside 'pass' bulbs are H1s. RB, do PM me the link to the Phillips source; I might go that way instead of the $190 for the nightbreakers when the time comes, though they sound great and I'm old enough to benefit from top-quality lighting when dodging deer in rural Georgia .....

[Ricky Bobby]

Trust me even a fresh set of Philips 85122's will make a difference.

I'm not ashamed to post the website as he is legitamite, I got his info from HIDPlanet, as his father is a sponsor there. Basically the bulbs are the son's operation, the dad has aviation contracts with Philips and does business with them which gives the son access to Philips wholesale so he buys pallets of unboxed bulbs on trays weekly, and repacks/resells them at wholesale pricing. $74 shipped, unbeatable.

If you want a bit extra for deer dodging Riggo I highly recommend finding someone local to code your LCM so that your fog lights can be enabled with the high beams, as well as activate the 6-gun salute. Very useful on rural roads, if you were in my area I could do it for you, but shouldn't be hard to find someone down there who codes with NCS Expert.

Philips D2S (85122) - HIDbulbsRus

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Trust me even a fresh set of Philips 85122's will make a difference.

I'm not ashamed to post the website as he is legitamite, I got his info from HIDPlanet, as his father is a sponsor there. Basically the bulbs are the son's operation, the dad has aviation contracts with Philips and does business with them which gives the son access to Philips wholesale so he buys pallets of unboxed bulbs on trays weekly, and repacks/resells them at wholesale pricing. $74 shipped, unbeatable.

If you want a bit extra for deer dodging Riggo I highly recommend finding someone local to code your LCM so that your fog lights can be enabled with the high beams, as well as activate the 6-gun salute. Very useful on rural roads, if you were in my area I could do it for you, but shouldn't be hard to find someone down there who codes with NCS Expert.

Philips D2S (85122) - HIDbulbsRus

RB gave me that link last year, bought from them. Fast shipping and HUGE difference.

Installed 4150k 65w PIAA H9s in the fogs, expected them to be slightly lower color temp then the HIDs, they were much brighter. Philips D2S swap made the HIDs slightly higher, around 4250k.

[tmv]

Good job, JaySpec7. I put on a pair of 3M clear protectors after doing that.

[Ricky Bobby]

Tam you don't by chance happen to have your halogen lights from your old pre-facelift '01 do you? If so I may have a use for them for my retrofit project