Plastic, and no hazing / fogging up after use. (Pretty much certain there's nothing in there to haze up lol)

+1

the fog lights are protected enough from the elements that it wont get any moisture in

Guys are you positive that the front lenses are in fact plastic/polycarb? The ones Ricky and I have are definitely glass fron ends. Furthermore to my suprise, the Vaelo reflector units (oem facelift model foglights that came with my truck) were also glass fronts.

If your units are poly, that could also explain part of why Ricky and I were experiencing the moisture issues we did.

For what it's worth, I sealed the unit while in a very dry environment.

So did I, with Silicone II in the extra 2 holes and around the grommet, but I think we may be on to something here. If the Valeo OEM units are in fact plastic/polycarb lenses, perhaps that plastic lenses are the missing link here, and which is why the guys with the OEM units are able to drill out the back cap with no ill effects!

J, thank you so much for your help on this one and I hope any of my requests weren't an inconvenience at all, it may be too early to decisively say, but I think, as Michaelangelo from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would say, we have found "THE MISSING LINK"!


Hey S, thanks for chiming in here. I'm theorizing but perhaps what has happened here if the Valeo's are in fact plastic lenses, is that the Depo's and the aftermarket projector fogs have for some reason been switched to glass lenses over the years since the original Lightwerkz install? Perhaps they were not glass when his thread went up?

My guess? Glass lenses are less expensive to make than their polycarb counterparts; this accounts for some of the price difference between the depos and OEM units. Secondly, the glass has a higher thermal conductivity, allowing warm humid air (inside te projector) to condense on the cool glass.

My theory of "more ventilation" holds true, because by dropping the internal temp of the housing, you are also minimizing the temperature differential with the atmosphere....and this when u pulled the caps off, went for a spin without moisture (pre-vents) it was because my housings were open to the atmosphere (minimal temperature differential)....make sense?

Long story short, my recommendation: if you plan to do a HID in projector fog, get the units with the polycarb lenses and save yourself a ton of hassle! Lol.

Makes absolute sense, if you have glass lenses, be sure to add some ventilation especially near the top of the housing. If you have polycarbonate/plastic lens Valeo GENUINE OEM housings, just tune your cutoffs and drive the sumbitches!

Considering most BMW dealers sells the Valeo units for about 100 bucks apiece (discounted), I am seriously considering just getting a pair of OEM units to have this done right once and for all.


Will keep you updated as well, did you see my picture of the TYC housing on page 2? Looks like a glass lens on that unit as well, but the "pink patch" on the top of the housing might in fact be a factory vent, as the rear cap on the TYC units does not have a built in vent like the factory ones. Here is the pic once again:

http://www.rockauto.com/getimage/get...14-1&width=450


TYC housing cost - $62
OEM Valeo housing cost - $100


It would be a gamble to get a TYC housing in hopes that the "pink patch vent" would be enough for me to keep airflow moving in that housing since it does in fact have glass lenses. My fogs are currently still at a local retrofit shop because initially I thought this would be an easy fix for him, however my passenger side fog still has a cutoff that is messed up so I'll be needing another housing again for him to tune (I'm getting sick of picking the shield myself and being responsible for my own screw ups), and if I'm not getting another Depo housing for him to work on my OCD will drive me crazy if both sides don't brand match LOL.

At this point with the cost I'd almost rather get two OEM housings, pay him for the hour or so to tune them both at the cutoff, plug them in and be done.


UPDATE: Confirmed from a seller on ebay of the TYC housings who checked with the factory and the TYC's are definitely glass lenses like the Depo's.

I did see that pic on the previous page...I always had a hunch that the semi-circle portion was there for a reason! Makes total sense now!

Dude if you're mentally prepared to spend 200 more smackeroos on OEM housings....perhaps you should just old off a couple weeks since as you know I have somethin else in the pipeline! ;) ;)

You want to sell me your tuned and moisture free depo's? Text me a price and let me know man! I could even send you my Depo's for free right now just so you don't have to have the "missing fog light" openings in the bumper, that is driving me crazy most of all right now!

And although I believe j belknapps housing lens might be plastic, I have differing opinions as I have a seller of a Valeo housing on eBay telling me the lens is glass, while TerminatorX5 says he believes the lens is glass as well.

I can't seem to get a definitive answer if the lenses are glass or plastic on the Valeo units.



EDIT: TerminatorX5, tmv, Craig Hacker @ Open Road Edison BMW, and an ebay seller of a Valeo unit all tell me that the lenses are glass on the Valeo units. JB, unless you have an early build and they switched to glass later on in production, I'm afraid I think they are all glass lenses. Still amazed that you don't have any fogging problems like myself and X5SND did with the 35w HID kit. Now my theory has to be that the Morimoto ballast/bulb combo we are using is just that much more thermally efficient compared to other aftermarket kits, and produces significantly less heat which creates the fogging on the inside. Let's face it, if both have glass lenses, I can't see why the Valeo units compared to the Depo's are any different in regards to structure, both get the factory vent removed when the bulb is installed through the grommet in the back.

And you're absolutely right I really don't want to drop 200 on new oem housings, especially if they are glass lenses and I'm risking still having fogging issues.

I'd rather take my chances with the TYC's and see what happens (assuming yours aren't leaving the X for a while) as they seem to have a venting location that is ideal, but if you want to let yours go I will surely pay for them and get mine back from the local retrofitter who has my fogs now (who is the guy who subsequently tuned the original Lightwerkz install from what he tells me).


It would be nice for me to try to buy one TYC housing and see if that "factory pink patch" vent is enough to keep the airflow moving in the housing, but shoot me a text or PM and lets talk man!