Rebuilding Euro Smiley Tips?

[GOT8SPD]

Hey guys,

I just picked up a set of Euro Smileys...i want to take them apart and get it all cleaned up...the adjusting screws are rusted to hell...can you buy just new adjusters? Also...since it's so rusted, how do you guys think the best way to take these things apart is?

[akorcovelos]

sub'd

Mine are badly due for a rebuild.

[jrobie79]

all the parts are replaceable....not cheap though, I'm holding off for new adjusters right now, its gonna be over 80 bucks which is hard to justify with so much else to spend money on on the car

[davem]

New adjusters are expensive. One option is removing them and cleaning them up, for example with a wire brush, however they will not turn as easily as brand new or nearly new adjusters.

To remove the adjusters I used needle nose pliers to grip onto that plastic bushing and turn it counter-clockwise so that the bushing passes through the head light bracket. The more difficult part is removing the adjusters from the black plastic clips that hold them to the head light bracket.

[GOT8SPD]

Wow! Serious?! $80 for adjusters? OK....I'll just try and repeat what I did. I managed to take two of the screws out that adjust the projection part and cleaned it up with a wire wheel attached to a drill bit. I'll make a DIY for the rest...I am missing one of those black plastic clips that hold it to the bucket, so i'll have to figure that out as well. Gonna work on this this Sunday....

[MR 325]

I rebuilt my lights a few months ago. Brand new adjusters (large and small) and brand new clips all around. All OEM BMW parts, cost me about $100.

[akorcovelos]

Any pics mr325? My adjusters are fine, but all the bushings that go into the housing are shot.

[jrobie79]

mr 325, do you have p/n and quantities necessary? theres a lot of information strewn about when it comes to the adjusters. I dont want to buy too many/not enough of each type. I know the black pieces that everything 'clicks' into are cheap and I have plenty of new ones of those.

[KenC]

Pull them apart first and inspect the internal reflectors to see if they're even worth saving. A lot of them are so hazy that you light output is hardly better than a sealed beam.

[jrobie79]

can anything be done to re-chrome them, DIY style?

[KenC]

can anything be done to re-chrome them, DIY style?

Nothing. Which totally sucks. Most ellips are getting pretty old now too. The only way to compensate is to run high output HIDs.

[GOT8SPD]

So i managed to take everything apart....and everything looks like this...blah...

Does anyone know if we can use the adjusters from the old sealed beams?

[davem]

Can't use the sealed beams adjusters they're totally different. One option is to buy new low beams at around $140 each. Come with new lense, bucket, etc everything except for the hardware. I got lucky and bought used ones that were recently replaced.

[GOT8SPD]

I looked on realoem.com and checked some part numbers and everything was the same...?

[scottinAZ]

those appear to be the same as US ellipsoid adjusters. Sealed beam adjusters are totally different, as is everything else on the headlight. Completely incompatible with euros or other ellipsoids.