2002 X5 4.6is headlights
 

Hey All,

I've been researching this for a couple of days now, but before I order, I would like to confirm.

1) How do I tell for sure whether I have HID or xenon headlights? When the lights came on, they would start sort of pinkish and quickly warm up to full brightness. I think I have HID.

2) The right bulb seems to have failed, is there any way to tell whether it is the ballast or the bulb? It started failing by not warming up to full bright, and now it is out.

3) I think I am going to order the DEPO replacements:

DEPO - Projector Headlamp Set - E53 X5

But I cannot seem to find a definitive answer for replacing the turn indicator with an LED. Might as well get it all done at once.

Anyone have any thoughts, tips, watch outs, cheaper price?

Thanks so very much!!

1) HID and Xenon are the same. I am sure 4.6is came with HID headlights.
2) Switch the ballast. If the right side lids up, it's the ballast. If not, it's the bulb.
3) Why replace OEM headlights with something inferior? Replace the bulb or ballast and you should be good.

its probably easier to swap bulbs around, instead of ballasts, to be honest.

LED signal indicators may not work correctly. they may have a very fast blink on/off much like when a bulb is out on some vehicles. as stated above, depo lights are decent for the money but by no means as nice as OEM.

Funny, I was laying in bed last night thinking the same thing: "Hey, waitaminit! Those are the same headlights!

I checked ECS, Bavarian, and Bimmian it doesn't seem they have ballasts. Any suggestions?

Meh. You're probably right. I would really like the Angel Eyes, and that seems like the best way to do it. I truly don't want to bake my headlights.

Thank you for your comments!

D'oh! I wondered about the blinking factor.

Thanks so much!

Good point. Just need to find a place that sells both.

Thanks!

http://www.xoutpost.com/members/mrbmwx5.html
He might be able to do this for you, and he did good work as I have heard from other members.

Perfect, thank you. I sent a PM.

Now, assuming I keep the OEMs, does anyone have any suggestions for replacing the bulb on the DRLs (highbeams)? Criminy I hate that yellow color and would much prefer a color that matched the the HIDs.

Thanks again guys,

Rush

Brilliant! Did you try it, tape your sensor over?

Bimmian was just quite helpful on the phone, they suggested I switch the good ballast for the bad one and see what happens first.

Off I go...

Thanks again,

Rush

Brilliant!
 

Welp, I couldn't be happier!

http://www.xoutpost.com/members/mrbmwx5.html completely hooked me up.

I tried to do it myself and missed something, so Alexandria Bavarian Service fixed my errors (damn it, heh) and they look amazing. I would never have thought how much new headlights can make a car look better.

Thanks again for all your help!

:worthless:

OK, OK, so that's eeeevil. Pics ASAP.

This is his light by MRBMWX5....

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...psd44c902f.jpg

MMMM I LIKEYYYYYY

if you need HID xenon lights, you can browse car hid lights, I installed the new last week, they are good.

Ordered ECS H11 hi-beams that are supposed to appear white as DRLs, dunno if the wiring/voltage is diff for canuck, but will post my results in a couple weeks (when they arrive).