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      05-01-2019, 09:56 AM   #1
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2009 335, adaptive headlights, how to make them as bright as modern cars?

The headlights on my 09 LCI with adaptive function work, everything does what it should except throw decent light. My wifes base model mk6 jetta with halogens easily puts more light on the road. These things are dim to the point of being dangerous in the rain.

How can I perk them up? I'm halfway sure its just the age of the original bulbs, as I know HID bulbs wear out over time.

I'm tempted to put another stock set in, but dont want to fork out the cash and be disappointed with output still.

Anyone throw me some ideas on how to make these things perform even close to what modern cars can do? Had a mazda6 rental with HIDs that put these to absolute shame. Was next to a tesla this morning and then a new fusion right in front of him, didn't even look like my headlights were on compared to theirs.
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      05-01-2019, 02:33 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by type-dRew View Post
The headlights on my 09 LCI with adaptive function work, everything does what it should except throw decent light. My wifes base model mk6 jetta with halogens easily puts more light on the road. These things are dim to the point of being dangerous in the rain.

How can I perk them up? I'm halfway sure its just the age of the original bulbs, as I know HID bulbs wear out over time.

I'm tempted to put another stock set in, but dont want to fork out the cash and be disappointed with output still.

Anyone throw me some ideas on how to make these things perform even close to what modern cars can do? Had a mazda6 rental with HIDs that put these to absolute shame. Was next to a tesla this morning and then a new fusion right in front of him, didn't even look like my headlights were on compared to theirs.
It's the projector lens, you can put new bulbs in but it won't make the difference that you're looking for.
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      05-01-2019, 03:29 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amitt View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by type-dRew View Post
The headlights on my 09 LCI with adaptive function work, everything does what it should except throw decent light. My wifes base model mk6 jetta with halogens easily puts more light on the road. These things are dim to the point of being dangerous in the rain.

How can I perk them up? I'm halfway sure its just the age of the original bulbs, as I know HID bulbs wear out over time.

I'm tempted to put another stock set in, but dont want to fork out the cash and be disappointed with output still.

Anyone throw me some ideas on how to make these things perform even close to what modern cars can do? Had a mazda6 rental with HIDs that put these to absolute shame. Was next to a tesla this morning and then a new fusion right in front of him, didn't even look like my headlights were on compared to theirs.
It's the projector lens, you can put new bulbs in but it won't make the difference that you're looking for.
Ok. So is there a solution to replacing the projector?

What's wrong with it? When there cars were new the lights were reportedly very bright.
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      05-02-2019, 11:47 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by type-dRew View Post
Ok. So is there a solution to replacing the projector?

What's wrong with it? When there cars were new the lights were reportedly very bright.
Oh, something I had experience with. Didn't DIY, but had headlights rebuilt on my 1 series.

Light output was poor, worse than halogens I had on it before the retrofit. When they've opened them up they've found that three things were wrong:

- reflective coating in the projector burns off from heat
- burned stuff from the reflector, dust and whatnot leaves residue on the projector lens
- HID bulbs do age and need to be replaced.

Open them up to check the condition of the reflective coating in projectors. Mine were okayish - slightly burned, but still functional, so I left them as they were with plans to change reflectors in two or three years. Changed the car instead, hehe.

Cleaning the lenses up improved focus but didn't affect output much.

Changing bulbs to Philips-something +150% made night and day difference. I believe cleaned lenses did play their part here, because simply changing bulbs on a X1 of a similar age and mileage didn't bring the same improvement.
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      05-03-2019, 01:08 PM   #5
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Unless you are willing to to put in a bunch of money and/or time a bulb upgrade is your only option. Osram Nightbreaker Laser or Philips Extreme Vision 2 if you want the most light output. Philips White Vision Gen 2 if you still want good output and a whiter color temp. Swapping out my original bulbs to Philips WHV2 made a significant difference. Make no mistake, it's not up to modern LED or HID headlight standards, but it's much better than it was.

E90 headlight housings are a PITA. They are perma-sealed so they are a bear to get in to. There are no known drop-in clear lens solutions that work and changing out the entire projector is a pain due to the AHL swivel mechanism.
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      05-06-2019, 06:32 AM   #6
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Thank you for the info guys, I think i'm just going to roll the dice on some White Vision Gen 2 bulbs and see what just only that does for me.

As long as they are working properly I probably wont tear them apart, just want more light on the road for myself is all.
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      05-08-2019, 02:22 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by type-dRew View Post
Thank you for the info guys, I think i'm just going to roll the dice on some White Vision Gen 2 bulbs and see what just only that does for me.

As long as they are working properly I probably wont tear them apart, just want more light on the road for myself is all.
I'm in the same spot... plus I am a bit of a light snob, since I work in the industry.

My plan right now is to give the headlights a good polish and upgrade the bulbs. If I still think the output is lacking, I might crack them open and see if I can fit a lexus RX350 projectors with a sti clear lens on the stock adaptive bracket, and then do something along the lines of a Profile HiLED projector in the inside FTP spot. Code to AE for DRL instead of the inside flash to pass. and then the Profile HiLED should work as just a flash to pass.
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      05-15-2019, 02:00 AM   #8
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Check my post at #62, the first picture you can tell how foggy the lens is (my car is 2011 E90, 8 years). This build up on all glasses with moisture
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      05-15-2019, 08:04 PM   #9
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Check my post at #62, the first picture you can tell how foggy the lens is (my car is 2011 E90, 8 years). This build up on all glasses with moisture
Interesting... I have Pre-lci Xenons, so I'm thinking I can make a bracket to retrofit a better projector into the gimbal from the get go. I actually like the adaptive function, I just want better/sharper/wider output and cutoff. The stock projector leaves much to be desired.
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      06-05-2019, 01:51 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by dakine_surf View Post
Interesting... I have Pre-lci Xenons, so I'm thinking I can make a bracket to retrofit a better projector into the gimbal from the get go. I actually like the adaptive function, I just want better/sharper/wider output and cutoff. The stock projector leaves much to be desired.
The stock HID bulb should be very bright. Pretty much the same as a new BMW except for maybe the angel eyes. Maybe your headlights just need a good polish. I did this years ago and added XPEL as a protective coating. 40k miles later they still look like new.
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      06-05-2019, 02:19 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by beetle6986 View Post
The stock HID bulb should be very bright. Pretty much the same as a new BMW except for maybe the angel eyes. Maybe your headlights just need a good polish. I did this years ago and added XPEL as a protective coating. 40k miles later they still look like new.
The bulb isn't the problem... the OEM projector is one of the worst from a performance perspective (I work in the industry). The lens is frosted, due to its design, it just can't product very decent light output... It also can't be modded easily since there isn't a good clear lens available for the projector that doesn't need a ton of modding.

A lexus RX350 or LS projector will blow the OEM BMW units out of the water. Cutoff is like a laser beam, width is nearly 2 to 3 times of the BMW units.

A polish only makes the headlight cover clear... that does not effect performance of the headlights, unless your headlights are crusty and faded (mine are not), its not gonna do anything.

Brighter isn't always better... I want focus, clarity, cutoff, and width before I even think about upping the power.
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      06-05-2019, 03:37 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by dakine_surf View Post
The bulb isn't the problem... the OEM projector is one of the worst from a performance perspective (I work in the industry). The lens is frosted, due to its design, it just can't product very decent light output... It also can't be modded easily since there isn't a good clear lens available for the projector that doesn't need a ton of modding.

A lexus RX350 or LS projector will blow the OEM BMW units out of the water. Cutoff is like a laser beam, width is nearly 2 to 3 times of the BMW units.

A polish only makes the headlight cover clear... that does not effect performance of the headlights, unless your headlights are crusty and faded (mine are not), its not gonna do anything.

Brighter isn't always better... I want focus, clarity, cutoff, and width before I even think about upping the power.
I get what you're saying, but you're talking about the focus, clarity and cutoff. He is saying his lights lack brightness and are so dim that they are dangerous in the rain. That shouldn't be the case at all. My lights are brighter than 90% of the cars I pass on the highway at night.
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      06-05-2019, 04:45 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by beetle6986 View Post
I get what you're saying, but you're talking about the focus, clarity and cutoff. He is saying his lights lack brightness and are so dim that they are dangerous in the rain. That shouldn't be the case at all. My lights are brighter than 90% of the cars I pass on the highway at night.
This was well established, earlier in the thread... you quoted me on what I am doing to make an upgrade to the lights to get better output and get the headlights performing up to 2019 standards (OP's original question.)

Honestly the US e90 adaptive projectors are among the poorest performing HID projectors I've seen (again I design LED projectors and chips for a living for many of the OEM manufacturers)... the tech in them when new in 2006 wasn't even cutting edge. The OEM xenon projector lenses use fresnel lenses, are normally semi-frosted and or have small lines embedded into the glass, along with a big oblong line across it. This is to help dim the beam and soften the output of your projectors for US DOT standards. You are not getting the full performance out of your projectors as you should. A clear lens will help but it need to be the correct focal point. As it stands STI-R clear lenses work the best on Pre-LCI and LCI sedans and the ZKW-R is best on coupes due to the focal points. But again this is still utilizing the stock projector which leaves much to be desired... RX350 would solve it all if an adapter plate can be made to attach it to the stock gimbal. I believe there are adapters that will allow you to stuff a Hella 5GR (which can be modded easily), but the EvoXR and RX350 are much better projectors.

Now if we are just talking about refreshing the headlights to get it back to how it came from the factory, then its not just the headlight cover that needs a polish either... the actual projector lens will have residue on it from the years... especially if you have had a bulb burst. Opening them up and cleaning the lens, polishing the outer cover, and new bulbs will help get you back to factory performance... But again, factory e9x Adaptive headlights are pretty poor in the performance category.
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      06-05-2019, 05:06 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dakine_surf View Post
This was well established, earlier in the thread... you quoted me on what I am doing to make an upgrade to the lights to get better output and get the headlights performing up to 2019 standards (OP's original question.)

Honestly the US e90 adaptive projectors are among the poorest performing HID projectors I've seen (again I design LED projectors and chips for a living for many of the OEM manufacturers)... the tech in them when new in 2006 wasn't even cutting edge. The OEM xenon projector lenses use fresnel lenses, are normally semi-frosted and or have small lines embedded into the glass, along with a big oblong line across it. This is to help dim the beam and soften the output of your projectors for US DOT standards. You are not getting the full performance out of your projectors as you should. A clear lens will help but it need to be the correct focal point. As it stands STI-R clear lenses work the best on Pre-LCI and LCI sedans and the ZKW-R is best on coupes due to the focal points. But again this is still utilizing the stock projector which leaves much to be desired... RX350 would solve it all if an adapter plate can be made to attach it to the stock gimbal. I believe there are adapters that will allow you to stuff a Hella 5GR (which can be modded easily), but the EvoXR and RX350 are much better projectors.

Now if we are just talking about refreshing the headlights to get it back to how it came from the factory, then its not just the headlight cover that needs a polish either... the actual projector lens will have residue on it from the years... especially if you have had a bulb burst. Opening them up and cleaning the lens, polishing the outer cover, and new bulbs will help get you back to factory performance... But again, factory e9x Adaptive headlights are pretty poor in the performance category.
Oh sorry. I meant to reply to the OP. That would be great if you could find a way to optimize the existing adaptive headlights to be better.
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      06-08-2019, 09:47 PM   #15
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They can be cleaned

My lights are bright as hell. BUT I just took them apart to convert them to LED halo rings and while they were apart I removed and cleaned haze off of the inside and outside of the magnifier lens and the silver reflector. They get a dirty haze on them that makes them dull. I could see a huge difference after cleaning. Just be very gentle with the reflectors. They are polished metal and use should clean them GENTLY with a dry microfiber cloth. What I also discovered was that one of my projector reflectors was kind of burnt and the silver on the inside had a brown spots on them. I talked to guy at a body shop and he gave me a BMW headlight from a totally different model but on the inside the actual reflector and Xenon bulb with magnifying lens was basically the same. The only difference was the part that retained the bulb was a different design but works fine because it still takes the same bulb. You can see the difference in brightness. I did also use a different "color bulb when I did the retrofit but you can still see one is lot brighter than the other. The beams are now much more defined and sharp too. That is how much cleaning the magnifier lens matters. The only problem is that it is not fun taking the lights apart.
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      06-11-2019, 08:10 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by JonEQuest View Post
My lights are bright as hell. BUT I just took them apart to convert them to LED halo rings and while they were apart I removed and cleaned haze off of the inside and outside of the magnifier lens and the silver reflector. They get a dirty haze on them that makes them dull. I could see a huge difference after cleaning. Just be very gentle with the reflectors. They are polished metal and use should clean them GENTLY with a dry microfiber cloth. What I also discovered was that one of my projector reflectors was kind of burnt and the silver on the inside had a brown spots on them. I talked to guy at a body shop and he gave me a BMW headlight from a totally different model but on the inside the actual reflector and Xenon bulb with magnifying lens was basically the same. The only difference was the part that retained the bulb was a different design but works fine because it still takes the same bulb. You can see the difference in brightness. I did also use a different "color bulb when I did the retrofit but you can still see one is lot brighter than the other. The beams are now much more defined and sharp too. That is how much cleaning the magnifier lens matters. The only problem is that it is not fun taking the lights apart.
that looks great! What was the cost to modify the lights and how much time did it take?
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      06-11-2019, 09:44 AM   #17
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that looks great! What was the cost to modify the lights and how much time did it take?
It honestly took several hours, I did a little here and there over a week in my air conditioned garage.

I used some LED halos from Amazon $68.99 you can specify E92, E90, F30
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These plastic shields from eBay to block the top of the headlight. $27.99 (overpriced, just use vinyl outside the light, it's easier anyway). I put them inside but there was still light escaping high up so I added a carbon fiber vinyl tape outside that matched my hood.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ABS-HEADLIG...72.m2749.l2649

I used these for the white outline of the headlight that turns yellow and gradually goes to one side from Amazon $19.99
https://www.amazon.com/CARLITS-Flexi.../dp/B07K7F7KRS

I got some "Dumdum" sealant. It is the black tar like goo that seals the headlights in the same way the factory did. Use this! The light company used it for a reason, because it seals well and lasts but use plenty of it! It was about $35.00 at Napa auto parts and I have enough for the rest of my life now.


It was about $152.00 for both headlights. I also replaced on lens that was pretty pitted for about $60 and sanded and polished the other one. Probably better to just buy the lenses. Polishing takes a while and you won't get out deep pits or scratches if you have them.

Video of headlight blinking below. Halos don't flash, it was just the video rate that made it look that way.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ARP...ew?usp=sharing
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      06-11-2019, 11:15 AM   #18
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It honestly took several hours, I did a little here and there over a week in my air conditioned garage.

I used some LED halos from Amazon $68.99 you can specify E92, E90, F30
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These plastic shields from eBay to block the top of the headlight. $27.99 (overpriced, just use vinyl outside the light, it's easier anyway). I put them inside but there was still light escaping high up so I added a carbon fiber vinyl tape outside that matched my hood.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ABS-HEADLIG...72.m2749.l2649

I used these for the white outline of the headlight that turns yellow and gradually goes to one side from Amazon $19.99
https://www.amazon.com/CARLITS-Flexi.../dp/B07K7F7KRS

I got some "Dumdum" sealant. It is the black tar like goo that seals the headlights in the same way the factory did. Use this! The light company used it for a reason, because it seals well and lasts but use plenty of it! It was about $35.00 at Napa auto parts and I have enough for the rest of my life now.


It was about $152.00 for both headlights. I also replaced on lens that was pretty pitted for about $60 and sanded and polished the other one. Probably better to just buy the lenses. Polishing takes a while and you won't get out deep pits or scratches if you have them.

Video of headlight blinking below. Halos don't flash, it was just the video rate that made it look that way.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ARP...ew?usp=sharing
Looks amazing and the price isn't bad at all. Obviously you had to bake the lights to take them apart. How many hours did it take per headlight assuming you didn't have to polish the lenses?
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      06-11-2019, 11:26 AM   #19
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Haha I see everyone unhappy with their lights but on my LCI E92 they I like them a lot? Especially on high beams, it lights up everything.
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      06-11-2019, 12:21 PM   #20
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Haha I see everyone unhappy with their lights but on my LCI E92 they I like them a lot? Especially on high beams, it lights up everything.
Mine are an absolute joke, I was next to a base model 325 at night yesterday in the early evening. His brown yellow halogens lit up the road better than mine
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      06-11-2019, 12:26 PM   #21
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Mine are an absolute joke, I was next to a base model 325 at night yesterday in the early evening. His brown yellow halogens lit up the road better than mine
Hmm maybe I'm just not used to very bright lights. Other car was a 2006 Hyundai Tucson lol.

But I can see in front of me and it's clean light.
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      06-11-2019, 06:15 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal View Post
Haha I see everyone unhappy with their lights but on my LCI E92 they I like them a lot? Especially on high beams, it lights up everything.
LCI headlights are no better than 2007 pre-LCi headlights or maybe even older. My replacement reflector came from a much newer 2016 4 series. They still use the same D1S bulb, inside the same type of housing with an active shutter and the same 3" magnifier lens. What happens is the older lights develop a haze on the inside and outside of the magnifier lens. Add to that the older plastic lens that may be yellow and have lots of pits and scratches. Take a focus beam flashlight and smear a light coat of Vaseline on the lens. It will be horribly dim and unfocused. The same thing happens with our headlights. I can honestly say that cleaning my lenses inside and out was the best thing I have ever done. Clean optics is WAY more important with Xenon lights than halogen ones. The focal point of the light is very critical. Your light is coming from a very small area so that dirt ore haze matters a lot more.
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