US ellipsoid wiring

[scottinAZ]

Just bought a set of US spec ellipsoids, and am gathering information for the install on an 87 eta. I get that you have 3 wires on the low, and two on the high. My question however, is how was the car wired from BMW for a factory US install.

1) Were the highs on without the lows (as the two wire system should dictate)?

or

2) did they mess with the relays (again from the factory) to retain four bulb output for the highs?

According to the ETM for the 89 models (should have ellipsoids) the first is correct, and the lows should NOT be on during high beam operation. Can anyone (preferably with factory install) confirm that this is indeed correct.

[Ceeker]

Just bought a set of US spec ellipsoids, and am gathering information for the install on an 87 eta. I get that you have 3 wires on the low, and two on the high. My question however, is how was the car wired from BMW for a factory US install.

1) Were the highs on without the lows (as the two wire system should dictate)?

or

2) did they mess with the relays (again from the factory) to retain four bulb output for the highs?

According to the ETM for the 89 models (should have ellipsoids) the first is correct, and the lows should NOT be on during high beam operation. Can anyone (preferably with factory install) confirm that this is indeed correct.

did you ever figure this out? I was just putting ellipsoid lights in myself and found the same results - no lows with the highs. but I managed to swap around the wiring and get lows and highs on all the time. Lows are strong, highs are dim. with high beams - highs are strong - lows are dim. hmm.

[Cabriolet]

i wired in a relay to make it work correctly.

[DaveSmed]

That's a case of the good old US DOT at it again.

Highbeams are NOT to be on when low beams are, except in flash to pass.

Sealed beam cars light all four because the outer lights have a high and low filament, so you get four high beam lights on.

Ellipsoid cars only have one filament, so it just switches between inner and outer lights.

Now, this setup sucks for guys with HIDs, or who just want the lows to stay on anyway, as the euro cars do. On my '87, under the fusebox there was a yellow wire coming from the middle pin of K3 that went to K4. Cutting that wire where it came out of K3, crimping a ring terminal on it and attaching it to that +ve post solved my problem. And it kept things as clean and OE as possible.

On the topic, if anyone is running some serious wattage highs, the factory charging system absolutely will not keep up at idle. Something to keep in mind.

[scottinAZ]

all I did with mine was to wire them as US DOT intended. The lows are NOT on when the highs are. the wire between the highs and lows on the sealed beams was clipped and capped.

[Ceeker]

That's a case of the good old US DOT at it again.

Highbeams are NOT to be on when low beams are, except in flash to pass.

Sealed beam cars light all four because the outer lights have a high and low filament, so you get four high beam lights on.

Ellipsoid cars only have one filament, so it just switches between inner and outer lights.

Now, this setup sucks for guys with HIDs, or who just want the lows to stay on anyway, as the euro cars do. On my '87, under the fusebox there was a yellow wire coming from the middle pin of K3 that went to K4. Cutting that wire where it came out of K3, crimping a ring terminal on it and attaching it to that +ve post solved my problem. And it kept things as clean and OE as possible.

On the topic, if anyone is running some serious wattage highs, the factory charging system absolutely will not keep up at idle. Something to keep in mind.

Dave, I installed ellipsoids in my 87 and 90 325 which both had sealed beams. the closest I got to getting both to work is lows are on, with the highs dim. and when I switch over to highs the lows are dim. this has a neat effect during night time driving.

I know guys have bridged the relay #30 pin low/high relay to make them both lights come on but I don't think that is correct.

what is the +ve post you are speaking of and where is it located?

[DaveSmed]

Dave, I installed ellipsoids in my 87 and 90 325 which both had sealed beams. the closest I got to getting both to work is lows are on, with the highs dim. and when I switch over to highs the lows are dim. this has a neat effect during night time driving.

I know guys have bridged the relay #30 pin low/high relay to make them both lights come on but I don't think that is correct.

what is the +ve post you are speaking of and where is it located?

Bridging the relays is such a hack job, I would never recommend it. It is just asking for trouble...

The allen bolt in between K1, K2, K5 and K6 goes through to the fusebox circuit board and is the main power feed for pretty much everything. It has a special square nut on the circuit board side that holds the cable from the battery jump terminal.

Pop the fusebox up (screws hidden under the relays) and look for a yellow wire coming from the middle pin of K3. Cut that wire close to K3, and crimp on a ring terminal that will fit on that stud I mentioned before.

That gives K4 its own direct connection to terminal 30 (or +ve...) like K3 and most of the other relays have. Since K4 no longer goes through the normally closed contacts of the high beam relay, the low beams will remain on with the high beams. A very nice factory-ish solution.

[nrubenstein]

That's a case of the good old US DOT at it again.

Highbeams are NOT to be on when low beams are, except in flash to pass.

Sealed beam cars light all four because the outer lights have a high and low filament, so you get four high beam lights on.

Ellipsoid cars only have one filament, so it just switches between inner and outer lights.

Now, this setup sucks for guys with HIDs, or who just want the lows to stay on anyway, as the euro cars do. On my '87, under the fusebox there was a yellow wire coming from the middle pin of K3 that went to K4. Cutting that wire where it came out of K3, crimping a ring terminal on it and attaching it to that +ve post solved my problem. And it kept things as clean and OE as possible.

On the topic, if anyone is running some serious wattage highs, the factory charging system absolutely will not keep up at idle. Something to keep in mind.

Wrong. Ellipsoid cars keep the low beams on.

[DaveSmed]

Wrong. Ellipsoid cars keep the low beams on.

Shoot, you are correct. Was thinking of a completely different car. (GM truck actually)

Good catch.

[nrubenstein]

It is one of the most annoying things about my GMC, I'll give you that. I keep meaning to wire in a relay to keep the lows on.