ucsbwsr

A while ago I purchased a set of oem pre-LCI halogen headlights to tinker on and finally got around to them. They have gone through quite the transformation in terms or condition, performance, and aesthetics. This is a plug-n-play solution for halogen owners, all HID components are internally mounted. These headlights leap frogged from bottom-of-the-bin halogen to HID performance that LCI adaptive HID units wish they could achieve,

Here is what has been done along with build specs:

Lens restoration + UV Protectant (Opti-Lens, the good stuff, it's $50+ for 10cc)
New oem gaskets
New oem mounting tabs (3 of 4)
Morimoto MH1 7.0 bi-xenon projector (black demon eye)
Morimoto xb35 5.5k bulbs
DDM 35w ballast
E46-R shrouds and adapter rings
Black high-temp paint + frosted corner lens + angel eye delete
Lens resealed with high quality butyl
Internally mounted HID components

I am really happy with how these came out and it is extra satisfying knowing that they were restored from pretty poor condition. These will be up for sale soon so halogen owners PM me or keep an eye in the classified section.

Evan

BEFORE





AFTER




PROCESS
Lens Restoration: 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000, Polish, Finishing Compound, Opti-Lens

After



Test fitting projector and E46 shroud, I almost kept everything chrome for an OEM+ build...


Clearing permaseal, burning deltoids and 2+ hours of work, retrofitting isn't all fun and games.


MH1 shields


Black demon eye applied


Dark Soul


Black on Black


Adapter rings fitted to shrouds and painted


Projector rotation finalized and locked in with epoxy


NO


...YES!


Ballast mounted with 3M VHB tape


Tight fit with the trim but it fits, much better than externally mounting it and drilling holes to the housing.


Angel Eyes blacked out



OEM bulbs were toast


LED upgrade!


No wires, plugs, or anything. OEM pnp


Genuine Hella mounting-tab repair kit



Oem headlight gaskets




Eyebrow


Turn Signal


HID


Test fitting on my E61


Pics in direct sun



Now the important stuff, PERFORMANCE!

Dra530i

good god that is brilliant... i have the same headlight as yours, definitely would like to have similar

does your angel eyes still works? or blacking out the angel eyes making it not visible anymore?

ucsbwsr

The oem angel eye performance was so poor that I was 100% ok deleting their them, knowing that not much function would be missed. The rings were painted over and the bulbs were removed so they are completely inoperable.

Dra530i

well noted! mind sharing where you get the genuine mounting tab repair kit and headlight gasket?

thank you

ucsbwsr

Both were sourced from eBay, best prices I could find. The mounting tab repair kit actually came from a UK based seller.

Evan

BostonJon

amazing work.

question...how do the high beams work if you've painted the reflector black?

ucsbwsr

Thank you.

No the oem high beams do not work, I disconnected the bulbs. The projector is bi-xenon and has a high beam that would embarrass the oem reflector bowl.

Evan

BostonJon

another question....
when you say, "Projector rotation finalized and locked in with epoxy"...

how do you do this when everything is taken apart? do you need to be able to power them on to make sure they are in the proper rotation?

edit: holy sh*t man, i just saw your other post about the engine failure! sorry to hear that.

ucsbwsr

Thanks for your concern with the engine mishap, it is part of the game and this will be a learning experience for me, I guarantee you I will make the most of the situation and make lemonade out of lemons.

In this case I had E60 lights and an E61 to fit them to so I used my wagon to test fit and at this point the headlights still have the lenses and most interior trimmed, essentially it is the headlight housing with the projector mounted to it in a way that I can access and adjust to finalize the rotation, much like in my initial post where the picture description reads, "black on black.' Yes you need to power them on and ideally on the actual car which they go on. You can create jigs to align headlights off the car but it can be very tricky.

Evan

Lcajucom

Nice Mod!!!
If i were to buy a new projector,do i have to use a new bulb? I'm currently using d1s lci bulbs. And also,where do you buy this thick shrouds that goes around the lens?

Thanks!!!