Ebay EURO ELLIPSOID SMILEY HEADLIGHTS

[micahbertoli]

wow, i wish i would have seen this thread earlier. i just bought these smiley's off ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...QQcmdZViewItem
i'm guessing they're of the same poor quality as the ones referred to above. any opinions on this kind? i already bought them, so "don't buy them!" is kinda out of the question.
thanks

[mikeedler]

I imagine that they ALL dont leak, but I have a set of cheapo ebay "euro"lights on my 1997 Chevy truck "ellips." the truth be told, the light pattern isnt aimed for crap, and the light output seems to get lost somewhere. let alone the plastic they are made from is absolutely the most brittle thin stuff in the world.

[Jean]

I've seen a set on a car personally, and the owner said they leaked water into the lense area from the day they were installed. He tried a few times to patch the seal with RTV, but in the end had to take them all the way apart and strip out the old silicone and start over. I haven't talked to the guy in ~3 months, but he had just finished doing the rebuild last time we talked.

Sounds like you better be prepared to take them all the way apart if you own these. Might give you a reason to do the M. Needler style smoke job, but only if you are comfortable ripping these things apart.

That's a valid reason not to get them if they leak out of the box. :up:

[LINUS]

I've seen a set on a car personally, and the owner said they leaked water into the lense area from the day they were installed. He tried a few times to patch the seal with RTV, but in the end had to take them all the way apart and strip out the old silicone and start over. I haven't talked to the guy in ~3 months, but he had just finished doing the rebuild last time we talked.

Sounds like you better be prepared to take them all the way apart if you own these. Might give you a reason to do the M. Needler style smoke job, but only if you are comfortable ripping these things apart.

[erik325i]

So what makes them bad ? They aren't made out of plastic, but glass right ?

Sure, the lense is glass, but everything else isn't. The housings leak water, and they are overall just poor quality.

-Erik

[backtrail69]

They leak water into them Every depo lense I have seen leaks and looks like shit with condensation or water inside the light. E30 Smilies, e36 angle eyes, e36 fogs, e36 smoked tails...

[Jean]

So what makes them bad ? They aren't made out of plastic, but glass right ?

Did anybody actually have an objective test done on them to compare to sealed beams, h4s, oem ellipsoids or just saying they are garbage because they are not OEM and made in china ?

I heard hella h4s with a good bulb actually are better than oem ellipsoids in terms of light output - http://www.classicgarage.com/he-71456b.html

[Fidhle007]

Ahh, that makes more sense..

[mikeedler]

those pictured are for e34/e32- but are made by the same company.

[Fidhle007]

Is it just me, or are the mount points on those in the wrong places?

[SchnellerVert]

Yes, ask Nando about them.

[96 Cosmos]

Bringing this back from the dead.

Are these the lights the original poster was referring to?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/84-91...60324164QQrdZ1

[MR 325]

As said above, depo is trash. A clean used set of Hella or Bosch euro ellips is MUCH better than a new set of China junk

[Jordan]

Bosch and Hella are both OEM brands that are made in Germany. They both offer clear ellips.

[e30Matt]

Thanks, can you make a recommendation for an alternative.
Clear lens....

Yeah, the real deal and ONLY the real deal.