Alpine White Girl

are you guys serious? I changed my headlights, angel eyes, turn signals, and installed my hid fogs. Process is simple. Im not a very patient person, so while i was doing mine i did get frustrated. This is no reason not to change the lights up front. Honestly its so easy a cave man could do it

06530-6M

Opinions then ... thanks for the unhelpful, asinine comments.

Nelson, who fortunately lives a few minutes away and has installed multiple sets of Angel Eyes, cannot get these to fit either and he's been here for over an hour with the same headlight. Someone had suggested giving John a call for helpful tips, which is what I'm going to try now. Nelson is a ton more patient than I am, and has turned the bulb every which way and cannot get it to fit back in the same hole the OEM bulb came out of. If he unplugs it first, it fits right in, np, but then he can't get the connector back on.

Glad it was so simple for others ...

Vas

that's a bummer of a story, tell us what John says.
when i got mine (R-Dash variety) i took it to my BMW specialist mechanic to do, i had not long got my car and didn't feel brave enough to do it.
I hate fiddly jobs, they get me so worked up.
i hope it all works out for you!

TakmaN

This mod was a lot more difficult than I had imagined but definitely possible, even for the mechanically challenged. I have installed exhausts, cats, coilovers, headers, lights, angel eyes, angel eye bulbs, etc. with some DIY (but they never are exactly what you need for some reason) but mostly by trial & error, dedication, and patience. And I started out knowing practically nothing about cars besides how to open the door and start the engine.

I know how frustrated you are since I had to go back and forth looking up DIYs and what not when I was changing out my angel eyes. Would I do it again, no, but in hindsight was it is it worth it, yes. I don't think you should be telling everyone in this thread to not buy them, especially since many people were able to install them themselves.

I couldn't get my headlights out either so I loosened them and pulled them out as far as they could go. I then took off the plastic backing that houses the angel eye bulb and figured the only way was to get my hand in there and take it out with my fingers. My hands are not that small either (I can sort of palm a basketball). It took a lot of sweat, patience, scratches, etc. to get them out and get the new ones in. I put one in incorrectly and it got stuck and I was in serious pain getting it loose. My fingers were going numb but after 15 minutes it finally came loose.

My advice: be patient, analyze the situation and figure out a solution. No pain = no gain and just constantly visualize how great it feels in the end when its done and you've accomplished it!

Good luck!

06530-6M

As I said above, Nelson, an outstanding person who just happened to live less than 10 minutes away, came over and was able to do the install. However, it was only after we passed his first hour in my garage attempting to put in ONE light bulb that I called John. He provided what turned out to be the most valuable tip, and (this is not to criticize him) I think he underestimates how important it is because maybe it's the only way he's installed them in the past.

In gratitude to Nelson and the other folks in this thread who attempted to help me or at least provide words of encouragement, I'm going to post the most valuable tips I learned while doing this install. I will list the exact tools you need, and their sizes, because I have never seen this done anywhere. It was the lack of 'little stuff' like this that added way too may minutes to my futile attempts.

I'll repeat this in the thread tomorrow, but John's method of 'how' to install the bulb is paramount to success. Actually, I believe it's the ONLY way these bulbs can fit:

Picture how you would normally screw any bulb into any socket. You would hover it over the hole, trying to keep it as straight as possible, line it up, and then slowly insert, right? And with these bulbs, you have to give them a quarter turn to tighten.

The problem is that the MTECH II bulb, when connected to the wiring, is too tall to do this. The amount of space between the socket and the top of the black plastic light assembly housing is less space than the height of the MTECH II bulb when plugged in to the wiring. It's 'this close' so you're 'almost' able to go straight in after you tuck it all up in the cramped space, but it's still at a slight angle. It's this slight angle that keeps the bulb from moving forward no matter how you twist your fingers, push, and curse. (If you unplug it you'll see that you can easily put it in place because you shortened its height. It easily lines up nice and straight and you can insert it and then twist. Problem is, you won't be able to next plug in the wiring because there's simply not enough room up in there no matter how small your fingers.)

John's comment: "I lay the bulb on its side and sort of tip it over into the socket."

I went out to Nelson in the garage and said, "Go in perpendicular to hole -- like the bulb is coming in from the side, line up at least one of the 3 prongs that hold it in space, and then tip it over." It took him maybe 2 or 3 tries and less than 3 minutes later it was in. The 2nd bulb took just a couple of minutes as well.

By coming in from the side, and lining up the prongs from the start, this lowered the bulb's 'height' and it was able to slide right into place. Picture a tree laying on its side next to a hole you dug in the ground for it to grow. You'd tip it over to place it in the hole because its too heavy to just lift, and then drop straight down into place... John, if you read this, and are able to, I urge you to edit your DIY with this information. Probably shorter, but at least what you told me. Something like,

"When the bulb is connected to the wiring, you won't have enough room to position it directly over the socket hole because it will be too tall and you won't be able to bring it straight down like you might expect. First, take a Sharpie pen and mark the three chrome decorative prongs on the side that line up to the three prongs at its base. These are the three you will see on the OEM bulb when you remove it, and will have to be gently twisted into the socket. By marking them you'll have a much easier time seeing how to line up the bulb as you insert it into the socket. Bring it in perpendicular, with it laying on its side, line up at least one of the prongs you marked, and then sort of 'tip it over' into the socket hole. Make sure it has a nice fit and then give it a gentle twist to lock it into place."


I have more tips I learned through trial and error and will try to write them up tomorrow in a separate thread. No, this was most definitely not as simple as some have posted here, which is evident in the multiple posts by those who agreed with me, but it IS possible. Having the most complete information at your hands will hopefully save you from the amount of frustration I experienced.

And how are the bulbs in place? Fantastic and I'm very happy with the change!

Nelson has the Angel Brights V3 bulbs and he's contacting John to change them out to the MTEC II's. They are truly more white and brighter. The best way I can put it into words is if you bought any of the new LED Christmas lights that came out this year. Some were labeled 'cool white,' while others were 'warm white.' They are both truly white, but the 'cool whites' are definitely brighter. Some eyes see a 'tinge of light blue' in them, but I think that's how our eyes process really bright white. The MTEC II's are the same exact 'cool white' and the Angel Brights V3's are the warmer (i.e. less bright) 'warm white.'

He also saw a huge difference between John's license plate LED's vs. the ones he purchased from a different vendor and will be ordering those as well.

There are certain points I wish I had known or seen anywhere else concerning the install, so as I said, I'll publish them as soon as I can over the weekend. Thank you again to all those who responded with help and/or encouragement!

rkhettry23

You should add pics. Then it will be a nice little DIY

steeda106

And like someone else said earlier, now "you" have the know how on how to install them bulbs, next mod will be the same and soon you'll be a certified mod expert. Trial by error brother, trial by error..........

-Mike-

I just installed my 6000k HID low beams and fogs....the whole trick to getting the headlight assembly out and in EASILY is pulling off the rubber piece and loosening the 5 screws on the front bumper. If you do this, you can maneuver the bumper easily to fit the headlights back in and get the headlights on the tracks. They fall into place.