What would be the ultimate Headlight Setup?

[Mr. Wolfe]

I see talk about Ellipsoids and Smileys, Euro, US, etc. If I were to piece together an ultimate set, what would that be? Thank you for any help. The information I have already received on this site has been incredible. Look forward to passing it forward.

In case it matters, I have an 87 325is. Though, I am up for any fabrication to make something superior work if it was worth it.

Mr. Wolfe

[jpod999]

I think that's really up to personal preference. Which do you like the look of the most?

[ELVA164]

What are your goals? I guess hypothetical ultimate would be either a purpose-built HID projector setup (e.g. Mishimoto) or maybe some sort of LED? I have Bosch (which is important) Euro Smileys which I cleaned and installed with high-output 55w H1 bulbs. I can say with complete certainty there is nothing I can't see on the road at legal or even fairly illegal speeds. The high beams are bright enough to show me the whole road for as far as I've ever had to see. Bosch over Hella is important because the reflectors are metal and not plastic; this means the reflective material is much more durable and more likely to have survived and keep surviving.

[Mr. Wolfe]

What are your goals? I guess hypothetical ultimate would be either a purpose-built HID projector setup (e.g. Mishimoto) or maybe some sort of LED? I have Bosch (which is important) Euro Smileys which I cleaned and installed with high-output 55w H1 bulbs. I can say with complete certainty there is nothing I can't see on the road at legal or even fairly illegal speeds. The high beams are bright enough to show me the whole road for as far as I've ever had to see. Bosch over Hella is important because the reflectors are metal and not plastic; this means the reflective material is much more durable and more likely to have survived and keep surviving.

Thanks for the info. My goals are to have good lighting, but not at ANY expense. I just want to buy the best of what is typically on the market. I just didn't know the differences between all of them.

Mr. Wolfe

[stonea]

I'm going with an HID set up, but doing it with proper projectors and everything.

[ELVA164]

Gotcha. Differences are generally as follows:
OEM
1. Sealed beams. Garbarge. Throw them out, now. Their only benefit is the low price, which means you don't need to feel bad about trashing them. The high beams are alright I guess, but not worth keeping versus another option here. Low beams are dual-filament and high beams are single filament.

2. H1/H4. The sealed beam equivalent in non-US markets. Plug-and-play for US market sealed beam cars. Pretty good, but not great. Low beams have a semi-sharp cutoff in that you can see it reflected on a wall, but the light spreads past the cutoff line. Low beams are dual filament and high beams are single filament.

3. US Ellipsoid. These were stock for a year or so and offered as an option for a number of years. Definitely an upgrade over sealed beams, and I'd say at least as good as H1/H4 in most cases. Beams are pretty spread out which offers good coverage, but not quite as bright as the Euro equivalent. No sharply defined cutoff. Use pretty standard 9005/9006 bulbs. HIR bulbs are available and are supposedly an upgrade, but I've read a couple reviews that don't sound too positive. No first-hand experience with them. Low and high beams are both single filament.

4. Euro Ellipsoid. The best OEM headlight option. Available outside the US market, these lights have a sharp cutoff on the low beams and a very bight pencil-type high beam. This means the beam is very bright but has a narrow spread. I worked around this by adjusting the high beams slightly up and outward on each side. Bulbs are H1 for high and low beams, with high output options available for very little additional cost. Installing in a sealed beam car requires some rudimentary wiring work (splicing, one relay pin jump) but is pretty direct on a factory US ellipsoid car. Low and high beams are both single filament. "Smileys" are included in this group; they are identical to a regular Euro Ellipsoid, except they also have a fog light-type opening at the bottom of the light.


Non-OEM
1. HID. These can be retrofitted to any car with projector lights (ellipsoids) with varying degrees of success. The ballasts create a lot of heat and can damage wiring if improperly installed. The bulbs-which are not designed for the stock projector housings-can blind oncoming traffic. Light output can be very high, however.

2. Purpose-built HID, a la Mishimoto. These are HID like above, but the main difference here is the headlight housing is modified to accept a projector meant for HID bulbs. This eliminates the issue with improper light dispersion while maintaining the increased output of HIDs.

3. LED. There have been a couple stabs at this, but as far as I know not much has stuck. There may be a member on here who has figured it out (Atlanta-something...?), but I can't say for sure.

[hankolerd]

Not sure if you saw the Lighting Guide I put together. I spent a few months at the start of the year researching options, and tried to put that info all in one place - http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=371831

I am by no means an expert in the area, and am only on my first e30, but there is a lot of good information for getting started and getting an idea of what you want.

[Mr. Wolfe]

Wow guys, some great information here. Really appreciate it!

Mr. Wolfe

[Das Delfin]

Ultimate would be LED in a bi-xenon style FR-S or mini-H1 retrofit. However this doesn't exist yet.

Hella bi-focals are REALLY cool but H4's are a nice compromise if you don't want to pay for bi-focals. Also they're best on an early model with euro trim stuff

[blazinxpk]

Ultimate would be LED in a bi-xenon style FR-S or mini-H1 retrofit. However this doesn't exist yet.

Hella bi-focals are REALLY cool but H4's are a nice compromise if you don't want to pay for bi-focals. Also they're best on an early model with euro trim stuff

H1/H1 Hella bi-focal setup would definitely be an ideal setup. But the entire setup would cost you around $400 or so (this is what I would buy if I had that much money to spare). The city light give the lights a nice touch as well.

Other than that, the ideal projector setup would be some type of retrofit as mentioned by Das Delfin.

The main thing to keep in mind is buying new vs old lights. A brand new set of H1/H1 or H4/H1 reflectors with high output bulbs can possibly out perform a used set of 30yr old smileys (from whatever harsh weather european country they came from)

EDIT:
The typical scenario consists of buying euro smileys because of the cool guy euro factor. Now, this light is usually paired with a set of HIDs. The main thing to take into consideration is that this projector is not designed for HIDs. Therefore, when you buy a pair of cheap DDM HIDs or the more expensive Morimoto HIDs you might not even notice a difference between the two, because the projector itself is the limiting factor. This is why doing an HID projector retrofit is important, this will allow your set of HIDs to really shine.

[hankolerd]

The main thing to keep in mind is buying new vs old lights. A brand new set of H1/H1 or H4/H1 reflectors with high output bulbs can possibly out perform a used set of 30yr old smileys (from whatever harsh weather european country they came from)

^ This. If you are buying used make sure they are in excellent condition. You are better off buying new if possible.

[E30335i]

I have oem smileys w/ FXR retrofit. I shit on new cars all day. I'm on laminx tinted film that reduced lighting significantly. Gonna get depo smoked smileys and do it again


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[Kershaw]

One of these days I will switch to full LED.

[Mr. Wolfe]

Do you have to build those or does someone offer them? Any more pictures?

<edit> They look a little "odd" in this picture.



Mr. Wolfe

[ELVA164]

It was a stillborn effort from UUC. They were prohibitively expensive.

Seriously though, there's an upper limit to the useful brightness of headlights. I agree that many sets of smileys aren't that great these days; that's why I recommended you go Bosch only if you decide on that route. My Bosch lights are in great shape, and with upgraded H1 bulbs are plenty bright. What are you guys doing that you need more output than that? You sure you aren't comparing to improperly adjusted lights or something?