[frankthetoad]

I'm slowly replacing parts on the 2011 335i I bought in July. I'm very interested in replacing my headlights due to the cloudiness on the inside of the lenses. I've looked at OEM replacements and versions on eBay- my research seems to indicate people trust DEPO.

I'm fairly certain that I have the xenon lights, but embarrassingly...I'm not positive.

A few questions:

1) What headlights do I have?
2) What are my aftermarket options that still look great, but don't break the bank?

The part number 63-11-7-202-593 automatically directs to 63-11-7-240-261 at getbmwparts dot com and the description is Composite Headlamp, Ahl-Xenon Headlight Left. But when I search on eBay or elsewhere, it seems that the options are only for 09-11 E90s with halogens. It's got me very confused.

Thanks in advance!!!!

View post on imgur.com

[SnapCoupe]

Those are indeed the Xenon headlights. I would highly suggest trying to refinish them with a wet sanding kit before looking into replacing them. The stock bi-xenons are really nice and any aftermarket option is going to look cheaper and loose some of the functionality (headlight turning, etc).

[frankthetoad]

Thanks for the reply!

I have done all I can with the outside of the lenses- two different wet sanding kits. The remaining cloudiness is on the inside of the lenses. There doesn't seem to be a way to open them up short of cutting them open with a Dremel, and that's a bit more of a project than I'm willing to undertake. Is that true, or is there a way to open them up more easily?

I would like to keep them, but they're really dragging down the appearance of the front of the car.

[9krpmrx8]

www.realoem.com for the right part number and www.bimmerjakes.com sells new lense covers. Zwork lights and other can install them.

[frankthetoad]

Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8

www.realoem.com for the right part number and www.bimmerjakes.com sells new lense covers. Zwork lights and other can install them.

Thanks!

bimmerjakes makes it seem like it would be easy to replace the covers. I assume that's not actually the case. Right?

[KillaManjango]

Originally Posted by frankthetoad

Thanks!

bimmerjakes makes it seem like it would be easy to replace the covers. I assume that's not actually the case. Right?

It depends how involved you want to be with this project. Removing the cover is not hard when done right, just takes time and patience.

Make sure you use a low/slow heat to loosen the silicone seal, either heat gun or oven.

Get a good quality silicone to reseal the housing. While you are at it you can also upgrade the Angel Eyes, paint the housing, etc.

Not only will this method clean the inside of your lens cover but give you customization options that most shops cannot give you. Plus you will save a butt-load of money not having to replace both headlights.

Just my two cents

[frankthetoad]

Originally Posted by KillaManjango

It depends how involved you want to be with this project. Removing the cover is not hard when done right, just takes time and patience.

Make sure you use a low/slow heat to loosen the silicone seal, either heat gun or oven.

Get a good quality silicone to reseal the housing. While you are at it you can also upgrade the Angel Eyes, paint the housing, etc.

Not only will this method clean the inside of your lens cover but give you customization options that most shops cannot give you. Plus you will save a butt-load of money not having to replace both headlights.

Just my two cents

I'd vastly prefer doing it myself and saving the money. Unfortunately, it's my understanding that these headlights are not the ones that you're able to simply heat the sealant to remove the lens cover. I'd absolutely give it a shot if I could just stick them in the oven.

Instead, I've read I must use a Dremel to remove and I'm nervous about doing that.

[Drew-dale13]

[IMG][/IMG]
$265 plug and play

[KillaManjango]

Originally Posted by frankthetoad

I'd vastly prefer doing it myself and saving the money. Unfortunately, it's my understanding that these headlights are not the ones that you're able to simply heat the sealant to remove the lens cover. I'd absolutely give it a shot if I could just stick them in the oven.

Instead, I've read I must use a Dremel to remove and I'm nervous about doing that.

So I did this with my buddy on his 2010 e92 and it wasn't that difficult. It took us about 4 hours total to crack open both lights, replace the angel eyes and paint the housing and put it all back together. I think with better planning and preparation we could have cut that time in half, and it did take a bit of "Macgyvering" but definitely doable.

We did have to use a dremel for the angel eyes but not to get the lens off.

I read that the "hot knife" method is the best way to separate the housing from the lens but we just used the oven method.

Originally Posted by Drew-dale13

[IMG][/IMG]
$265 plug and play

Is this per light or for the set? Where did you buy them from?

[Liam1106]

I’m in the same boat. The inside of my housing is covered in dust. Any chance you could just remove the headlight housing from the car, remove the xenons, and then just pour water into the housing after to remove the dust and debris?

I saw a similar thread about this a while ago but the person was using some sort of chemical. Any help is appreciated.

Also, I’m sorry if this is a newbie question but aren’t the stock xenon headlights already angel eyes? Or do you need an entire bulb upgrade? Thanks

[dakine_surf]

Originally Posted by Drew-dale13

[IMG][/IMG]
$265 plug and play

I hate to say this, but most of these sub $1K headlights are going to have vastly inferior performance to your stock headlights. They look cool but they WILL NOT perform like your stock setup.

To the OP You have adaptive Xenon, which is as good as it gets really... performance wise. I would take the time and crack your lenses open and clean them up before buying $300 Chinese turd projectors. You loose all functionality when you get those fixed projectors. DEPO's and all the aftermarket stuff might be an OK option if you had halogens stock, but since you already have the ADHL it is a downgrade.

Plus once you open them up, as others have pointed out, you can take the time to upgrade a few things while you are in there.

[Drew-dale13]

Originally Posted by KillaManjango

So I did this with my buddy on his 2010 e92 and it wasn't that difficult. It took us about 4 hours total to crack open both lights, replace the angel eyes and paint the housing and put it all back together. I think with better planning and preparation we could have cut that time in half, and it did take a bit of "Macgyvering" but definitely doable.

We did have to use a dremel for the angel eyes but not to get the lens off.

I read that the "hot knife" method is the best way to separate the housing from the lens but we just used the oven method.

Is this per light or for the set? Where did you buy them from?

Per set. California Auto Parts

[Drew-dale13]

Originally Posted by dakine_surf

I hate to say this, but most of these sub $1K headlights are going to have vastly inferior performance to your stock headlights. They look cool but they WILL NOT perform like your stock setup.

To the OP You have adaptive Xenon, which is as good as it gets really... performance wise. I would take the time and crack your lenses open and clean them up before buying $300 Chinese turd projectors. You loose all functionality when you get those fixed projectors. DEPO's and all the aftermarket stuff might be an OK option if you had halogens stock, but since you already have the ADHL it is a downgrade.

Plus once you open them up, as others have pointed out, you can take the time to upgrade a few things while you are in there.

No doubt. They are not as high quality as the OEM ones, but they look 10X better and their quality is still really solid. They are very bright at night, and the rings are brighter during the day for driving. No complaints about them and the lack of xenon adaptive, is honestly not that noticeable.

[IllSic_Design]

I would NEVER replace the oem xenon with an inferior aftermarket product, and I am all for wanting things to look cooler/better.
I would rework the stock lights and buy new covers, can also customize them to look more modern/newer while you're at it.

[dakine_surf]

Originally Posted by Drew-dale13

No doubt. They are not as high quality as the OEM ones, but they look 10X better and their quality is still really solid. They are very bright at night, and the rings are brighter during the day for driving. No complaints about them and the lack of xenon adaptive, is honestly not that noticeable.

I'd like to know what projector, lens and shutter is in there... maybe they use a decent projector, but my thoughts are that it is probably a clone of an OEM supplier...

A set of these would be cool to buy to tear apart and possibly upgrade the components with tuned clear lenses and some shutter mods to see if you could get decent performance out of them...

I hear what you are saying on the Adaptive part... but I tend to disagree, yes you might not perceive the difference, but people you drive by will... there is a reason that all North American cars are required to have auto leveling headlights if they have xenon from the factory... Otherwise you are going to dazzle oncoming drivers when you hit a bump

[frankthetoad]

Originally Posted by dakine_surf

I hate to say this, but most of these sub $1K headlights are going to have vastly inferior performance to your stock headlights. They look cool but they WILL NOT perform like your stock setup.

To the OP You have adaptive Xenon, which is as good as it gets really... performance wise. I would take the time and crack your lenses open and clean them up before buying $300 Chinese turd projectors. You loose all functionality when you get those fixed projectors. DEPO's and all the aftermarket stuff might be an OK option if you had halogens stock, but since you already have the ADHL it is a downgrade.

Plus once you open them up, as others have pointed out, you can take the time to upgrade a few things while you are in there.

I bought some OEM adaptive bi-xenons from a poster here. I installed them yesterday. Unfortunately, I did not realize that they needed to be coded afterwards, so I'm getting errors like crazy- adaptive lights and right and left turn indicators.

Currently trying to figure out what I need to do to fix this.

[dakine_surf]

Originally Posted by frankthetoad

I bought some OEM adaptive bi-xenons from a poster here. I installed them yesterday. Unfortunately, I did not realize that they needed to be coded afterwards, so I'm getting errors like crazy- adaptive lights and right and left turn indicators.

Currently trying to figure out what I need to do to fix this.

Do you still have your original lights? Have you tried going back and seeing if the issue is still present? If your old ones do work properly, could it be the ones you bought off here are defective?

I was unaware you would have to code the lights if you are doing a straight like for like swap. I figured that would be plug and play, but maybe they store the VIN and need to be cleared?

Like I said before if it is just the outer plastic lens that is faded or crazed, spending a little time polishing you originals will yield you the best results and hopefully you didn't mess up you FRM with those other lights.

[frankthetoad]

I do have my original lights and will be taking the bumper off over the weekend and switching them back to see if everything is resolved.

The only difference I can tell is that my original OEM headlights had LED lights in them. I was going to switch those into the lights I just installed to see if that would make a difference, but I don't see how it would.

Like you, I simply thought this would be plug and play and why I went with used OEM headlights from someone here rather than buying a crappy eBay light.

[dakine_surf]

Originally Posted by frankthetoad

I do have my original lights and will be taking the bumper off over the weekend and switching them back to see if everything is resolved.

The only difference I can tell is that my original OEM headlights had LED lights in them. I was going to switch those into the lights I just installed to see if that would make a difference, but I don't see how it would.

Like you, I simply thought this would be plug and play and why I went with used OEM headlights from someone here rather than buying a crappy eBay light.

Yeah this surprises the hell out of me... did you ask over in the coding forum?

When you say your original had led lights, what are you referring to? Were these after market lights? Were resistors installed into your harness to make them work? If that was the case it could cause the voltage drop that might make the units go crazy...

[frankthetoad]

I posted in coding. Yes. Aftermarket LEDs with resistors but were just plug and play. Maybe I should try installing those in the newly installed lights?

This is what I pulled out of the old headlights:

View post on imgur.com

[dakine_surf]

Originally Posted by frankthetoad

I posted in coding. Yes. Aftermarket LEDs with resistors but were just plug and play. Maybe I should try installing those in the newly installed lights?

This is what I pulled out of the old headlights:

Link to LEDs

What were those lighting? Turn signals?

Does the adhl do its dance correctly? Or are they not moving correctly?

You might need to reset and recalibrate the lights, I believe there is a procedure somewhere, someone who knows this site better than me might know better.

[frankthetoad]

Before I remove the bumper again up put the old lights back, I'll at least try putting the LEDs in there. They are lighting up the angel eyes.