Very easy - I took the car to BMW M Style in Ilford, Essex! They supplied and fitted for ?225.
No check control messages and that also included taking the car to have the beam alignment checked at the MOT place next door (printout of results provided as well).

 

So you got full Xenon kit supply and fitted for ?225? Good price!
M Style are advertising as follows:
SPECIAL OFFER
Xenon Conversion Kits

E36, E46, Z3, Z4
only ?125 supplied, ?195 fitted
E39,E60,E61, E65/66
only ?195 supplied, ?295 fitted
1 series and E90,91,92,93
only ?225 supplied, ?345 fitted

BTW, I'm curious to know what did they do with the little scroll wheel for the original halogens - it's the one for adjusting the beam height? Is it just left as before but inoperative?

 

I put in some HIDS4U HID upgrades which were a bit fiddly - had to undo the top two bolts mounting the headlights but they work very well, much much brighter than the standard Halogen. Now the main beams are relatively very weak - I have difficulty telling if they are on.

No problems with the headlight alignment or dazzling, the cutoff line on the top of the beam is very clear.

 

I would go for PIAA bulbs. this is what I have and very good.
much better than the Phillips

 

I've heard that the latest ones are all Plug and Play, but I'd like to see someone else try first!! ?89.99 like these. plus the dreaded delivery. There are loads on eBay.

Just don't hav the guts to take my ?30k car apart

 

I've heard that the latest ones are all Plug and Play, but I'd like to see someone else try first!! ?89.99 like these. plus the dreaded delivery. There are loads on eBay.

Just don't quite have the guts to take my ?30k car apart even though a friend on the Lexus forum says they are easy peasy. There are also some laws about how many "K" you can run, and I think 6000k Whites are OK, anything higher isn't? Anyone know?

 

The k doesn't refer to strength of the light as such, see this copied and pasted from t'internet, which explains it better than I can...

"Color Temperature is a measurement in Degrees Kelvin that indicates the hue of a specific type of light source. Many people believe the misconception that color temperature is a rating of the brightness of the bulb or HID kit. This belief is completely false. The reality of the matter is that the higher the color temperature, the less useable light output you will obtain.

A perfect example would be a completely blue light. This light has a color temperature of approximately 16,000k and has almost no useable light or lumens output. Higher K kits such as 7000k, 7500k, etc. have been manufactured for individuals that are more concerned about the actual color output of their lights as opposed to the actual useable light output they produce.

HID produces a natural color of 4100K to 6000K (4100K is daylight white, and 6000K is slightly bluish white) Anything bluer requires the use of light-dimming gases. That's right the light is actually 6000K but there is less xenon gas, a filter or colored glass that converts the light to the higher temperature color."

HTH

 

Ask them for a discount when you ring them. Was a year ago I got mine though so prices have probably gone up.
The headlight height adjuster still works exactly as before.

 

I recommend Ring SportzBlue H7 bulbs which produce white light. These are true 80w therefore they produce a brighter light than the standard 55w bulbs and other "xenon" performance bulbs which are 55w. They are supposdly "not street legal" because they are more than 55w. However I have used them in a Golf and my old E39 without any issues and they went through the MOT fine, since they only check for headlamp alignment and it would be impossible for them to tell they are a higher power output.

Here is some I found cheap:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ring-Sportzblue-80w-H7-Bulbs-Pair_W0QQitemZ190249534898QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190249534898&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/H7-12V-80W-RING-SPORT-BLUE-HEADLIGHT-HEADLAMP-BULBS_W0QQitemZ170226592217QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

 

Having tried uprated bulbs and now having converted to HID xenons, I have to say that the results would be as follows;

Uprated bulbs - 10% improvement over standard
HID converstion - 100% improvement over standard

In other words, HID is the way to go no question! The headlight low beams are now very good.

Regards,