[sub150]

Hi all, just got into the BMW world for the first time with an E91. It was wrecked and I will need to buy "a couple" parts for it. Current status



Did some searching but really didn't find what I was looking for. I will either be buying online or from a salvage yard and was looking for recommendations on best online resources. I think realoem.com will suffice for find the parts, but any recs on where to buy from?

Main parts I will need are:

Front Bumper - preferably M-Sport, preferably painted.
Driver headlight housing - I have the old one but it's busted. Appears all the lights are able to be transferred over. Will need odds and ends for what holds the housing.

Then it's a lot of parts on the driver side going up to the center of the car around the grill. Mainly plastic, a few rubber bits.

Appreciate any help.

[Skoidat69]

Originally Posted by sub150

Hi all, just got into the BMW world for the first time with an E91. It was wrecked and I will need to buy "a couple" parts for it. Current status



Did some searching but really didn't find what I was looking for. I will either be buying online or from a salvage yard and was looking for recommendations on best online resources. I think realoem.com will suffice for find the parts, but any recs on where to buy from?

Main parts I will need are:

Front Bumper - preferably M-Sport, preferably painted.
Driver headlight housing - I have the old one but it's busted. Appears all the lights are able to be transferred over. Will need odds and ends for what holds the housing.

Then it's a lot of parts on the driver side going up to the center of the car around the grill. Mainly plastic, a few rubber bits.

Appreciate any help.

I would check realoem.com to get exact part numbers that you need.

[e91Owner]

As far as used parts go, eBay is as good as anywhere. The headlight assembly unfortunately isn't cheap as there are no aftermarket alternatives for the adaptive xenon (which it looks like you have). For new parts, FCPeuro is great and has a lifetime replacement guarantee. If you don't care about that, there are tons of other reputable new part suppliers.

[Serf27]

Looks like you’ll need
Left forward fender liner
Left brake duct
Left headlight bracket
Bumper reflectors(if your new bumper has the cut outs for them)
Obviously fog lights, bumper grills and kidney grills.
Bumper to hood seals that clip onto the top of the lights and bumper
The parts you mentioned, light and bumper
Then the lower engine cover if you need to have it.

[sub150]

Originally Posted by e91Owner

As far as used parts go, eBay is as good as anywhere. The headlight assembly unfortunately isn't cheap as there are no aftermarket alternatives for the adaptive xenon (which it looks like you have). For new parts, FCPeuro is great and has a lifetime replacement guarantee. If you don't care about that, there are tons of other reputable new part suppliers.

Thanks.

I have the old driver headlight and it's not in awful shape, but the assembly is broken. I think most of the parts inside the assembly should be okay to reuse.

Unfortunately, the expensive part is the xenon/adaptive assembly. Hopefully a salvage yard has one or ebay has one at a decent price.

[e91Owner]

Originally Posted by sub150

Unfortunately, the expensive part is the xenon/adaptive assembly. Hopefully a salvage yard has one or ebay has one at a decent price.

I've looked into them before. They're anywhere from 400-600 used on eBay and 800 new. The bad part is that the lenses are fused to the assembly and deteriorate over time. I refinished mine, but it's still not the same as a new lens.

[sub150]

Originally Posted by e91Owner

I've looked into them before. They're anywhere from 400-600 used on eBay and 800 new. The bad part is that the lenses are fused to the assembly and deteriorate over time. I refinished mine, but it's still not the same as a new lens.

Does anyone definitively if I have to get a Xenon/Adaptive headlight assembly or can I get any one of the three assemblies (halogen/xenon/xenon+adaptive) and use parts from my current one to make it adaptive?

Your comment on the lense being fused makes me think other parts aren't?

Below is the current assembly (upside down).

[e91Owner]

I'm not really following you, but the short answer is you have to buy the housing for adaptive, assuming you don't want to code the car to think it no longer has them.

The halogen housing is different altogether, while the basic xenon housing does not accommodate the motor. All of the housings have glued on lenses. You can buy aftermarket replacement lenses, but you have to do some serious labor to get the old ones off. I've seen videos of people baking them off, dremeling them. Lots of videos online.

That being said, the adaptive headlights are pretty common. I actually think the basic xenons are the rarer option and would be harder to find used.

[Serf27]

I think OP is referring to a headlight assembly using the word housing.

Yes you have a xenon and adaptive light.
The small black module on top(bottom of headlight) is your adaptive module. Silver module on the left is for the xenon.

Yes you can buy a headlight housing/assembly that has no bulbs or modules and transfer yours over.
Must be xenon and adaptive headlight.
You can buy a plain xenon light and code out the adaptive function. But as said above, the more common xenon has the adaptive function.

[sub150]

Originally Posted by Serf27

I think OP is referring to a headlight assembly using the word housing.

Yes you have a xenon and adaptive light.
The small black module on top(bottom of headlight) is your adaptive module. Silver module on the left is for the xenon.

Yes you can buy a headlight housing/assembly that has no bulbs or modules and transfer yours over.
Must be xenon and adaptive headlight.
You can buy a plain xenon light and code out the adaptive function. But as said above, the more common xenon has the adaptive function.

Ultimately my question is the headlight assembly/housing different for xenon+adaptive to fit the adaptive module, xenon module, and light or do those just "bolt on" and all cars use the same assembly/housing.

After looking at the parts on realoeom, it looks like they are indeed different and I need to get the xenon+adaptive headlight housing.

[e91Owner]

Originally Posted by sub150

Ultimately my question is the headlight assembly/housing different for xenon+adaptive to fit the adaptive module, xenon module, and light or do those just "bolt on" and all cars use the same assembly/housing.

No, all 3 are different. Most likely the used ones won't come with the components like ballast (even the new ones don't), the motor or the bulbs, so at least those can be reused if they still work.


One thing to note if you are looking for bumpers if you don't have the mangled original on hand. PDC was an option for the front and rear or just the rear. If you don't have parking sensors on the rear, then that's easy… order a bumper without the holes for the sensors. If you have sensors on the rear and can't see the sensors lying around, use a vin decoder to see which PDC option you had.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by sub150

Ultimately my question is the headlight assembly/housing different for xenon+adaptive to fit the adaptive module, xenon module, and light or do those just "bolt on" and all cars use the same assembly/housing.

After looking at the parts on realoeom, it looks like they are indeed different and I need to get the xenon+adaptive headlight housing.

Yes, they are all different.
They all have the same exterior shape but are internally different.

You need to find a xenon+adaptive headlight.
Generally, the only thing you will need to swap over is your external modules/bulbs.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by e91Owner

No, all 3 are different. Most likely the used ones won't come with the components like ballast (even the new ones don't), the motor or the bulbs, so at least those can be reused if they still work.


One thing to note if you are looking for bumpers if you don't have the mangled original on hand. PDC was an option for the front and rear or just the rear. If you don't have parking sensors on the rear, then that's easy… order a bumper without the holes for the sensors. If you have sensors on the rear and can't see the sensors lying around, use a vin decoder to see which PDC option you had.

You can see the front parking sensors In his photo

[TyroneShoelaces]

I can't tell if your car is a pre lci or a later year from the picture but I have some bixenons off my 2007 335 for sale. I don't need them on my wagon I'm building.

[sub150]

Thanks for the help serf and e91owner.

Tyrone, this is an LCI car. 2009.

[sub150]

Update.

Front Bumper (M-Sport) painted. Drilled holes for the PDC because I didn't want to mess with removing the option.

Had to buy Radiator Support, Air Guidance Panel, Headlight, Headlight Support Arm, Splash Shield, Front Splash Shield (for M-Sport), Brake Ducts (for M-Sport).

I've looked and haven't found anything. My replacement headlight has the Xenon and Adaptive module. I plan to swap my broken light's modules onto the new one to reduce any coding issues with the car recognizing the module. I don't believe I will need to do anything, but am I missing something?

Pictures coming this weekend. TBD on needing M-Sport fender liner or if the existing ones work "good enough". In either case, I'd only save ~$150 going with used regular fender liners over new M-Sport (eBay doesn't really have them) so may just go with them anyway.

[eljay]

FIY, the PDC will not fit with the US front bumper support and OEM M Sport bumper. Only Europe/ROW got the PDC option for LCI M Sport bumper and they have a differently shaped bumper bar/rebar to accommodate the sensors.
See more details here: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370202

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by sub150

Update.

Front Bumper (M-Sport) painted. Drilled holes for the PDC because I didn't want to mess with removing the option.

Had to buy Radiator Support, Air Guidance Panel, Headlight, Headlight Support Arm, Splash Shield, Front Splash Shield (for M-Sport), Brake Ducts (for M-Sport).

I've looked and haven't found anything. My replacement headlight has the Xenon and Adaptive module. I plan to swap my broken light's modules onto the new one to reduce any coding issues with the car recognizing the module. I don't believe I will need to do anything, but am I missing something?

Pictures coming this weekend. TBD on needing M-Sport fender liner or if the existing ones work "good enough". In either case, I'd only save ~$150 going with used regular fender liners over new M-Sport (eBay doesn't really have them) so may just go with them anyway.

if you swap over the AHL module and it still works you will not have to do anything.
Have swapped broken headlamps.

[sub150]

Originally Posted by nsjames

if you swap over the AHL module and it still works you will not have to do anything.
Have swapped broken headlamps.

Alright thank you. That's what I figured.


eljay, you can make PDC fit . I saw someone else on the forum has PDC on their M-sport grill and he drilled the holes in pretty much the exact same spot I did. Played around with the PDC to see if you could only have 2 of the 4 active which would have been ideal. That didn't work. So it's either drill all 4 or remove the front the module, chose the former.

[Twix]

I didn’t think the e91 had adaptive lighting. Just self leveling for xenon

Edit: talking about North American cars

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Twix

I didn’t think the e91 had adaptive lighting. Just self leveling for xenon

Edit: talking about North American cars

it did.
my 08 has AHL.

[sub150]

Anyone know why my outer angel light doesn’t work but the inner does?

I have two driver headlights, the old one where the plastic is busted and a new one. On the new one, swapped the AHL form the old one over and plugged it in, everything worked but the angel lights are the yellow tinted ones (stock I believe) where the passenger are white (which I prefer). Both driver angel eyes light up. At least everything works on my ebay headlight.

I take the angel eye bulb from the old headlight and put it in the new one, the inner angel light works but the outside one doesn't. Swap in the old one and both work again. Makes me think it's gotta be something with the bulb even though I swear both angel eyes worked on the old busted headlight when I plugged it in a week or so again to make sure everything still worked.

I think I'm just going to order to angel bulbs, but curious if anyone has other ideas.