Headlight Help! Lol

[Divbetic]

Hey guys! Somewhat new to this forum (Been lurking for a while before I made my account) and somewhat new to cars too (I'm 15 and just purchased my own '91 325i) Well anyways, I wanted to upgrade from the stock sealed beams on my car to some hella ellipsoids, so I bought some and need some help figuring out the best way to install them. The seller told me that the lights were euro spec so I was expecting to deal with H1 bulbs but when I got them they had 9005 Sylvania's in the high beams and 9006 PIAA's in the low beams. I would really prefer to run the lights without having to use an HID kit and everything but I will if needed be. Is there anyway I could run these lights with some kinda of pigtail setup? Any and all help is appreciated! (Sorry for such a newb question) Here's a picture of the lights...

[ky0u]

Sounds like you got the US ellipsoids there. Might be wrong but I believe the 9006 bulbs were for the US spec lights. That's what my IS came with. You need to find the pigtails for ellipsoids and connect them to your harness

[Divbetic]

Sounds like you got the US ellipsoids there. Might be wrong but I believe the 9006 bulbs were for the US spec lights. That's what my IS came with. You need to find the pigtails for ellipsoids and connect them to your harness

I think that they are US bulbs installed on a euro setup because they have the holes for the head light washer system, I may be wrong though but I thought that system was only made for euro e30s. Either way, You think it would work well with just pigtails and my existing harness?

[ky0u]

That is a US spec light. Just noticed that there is no city lamp socket in the housing and there are those 3 spike things on the lenses. You will need the harness side connectors (pigtails) in order to make those lights work. You will need to cut your current connectors off and solder the correct pigtails on. I had to do the same thing when swapping from the US ellips to the Euro Smileys

[Divbetic]

Sounds good man, I was hoping for that instead of having to use a whose hid kit with ballasts and everything, if I buy pigtails with plug ends instead of wires I can just plug those in the original harness instead of cutting it correct?

[ky0u]

Well even with the HID kit, you need proper connectors. But yea if you can find the right pigtails for those connectors, all you have to do is solder them to your existing wires and you're good to go

[ZekeTheSneak]

Autozone sells the pigtails for all sorts of lights. Just read up on proper connections for your wires. If you run HIDS, make sure you have solid connections and you keep the connections dry. Good luck and never be afraid to ask and always search google. Pleny of things from when I was 16 that I wish I had never done to a vehicle lol.

[Divbetic]

Autozone sells the pigtails for all sorts of lights. Just read up on proper connections for your wires. If you run HIDS, make sure you have solid connections and you keep the connections dry. Good luck and never be afraid to ask and always search google. Pleny of things from when I was 16 that I wish I had never done to a vehicle lol.

I just bought some oem pigtails for both my highs and my lows! They should be coming in around Friday. Sadly my car will be in the shop getting a respray done that day lol

[Mo Brighta]

Hey, congrats on the headlight solution, and welcome to the fold.

If those lights work out for you, that's great. But if they are too dim, there are some great upgrade bulbs you can use, the 9011 and 9012 HIR (Halogen Infrared Reflector) that make TONS more light, and they are stock watts. Same plugs as 9005 and 9006.

Also you may want to put film on the front for rock protection, I have clear that is thick and exactly the right size for them. I have tail light upgrades as well... happy to help if you want high performance lighting! As you can see, advice is free and almost always helpful. ;)

Enjoy the ride!

Hope the respray is well done! What color ???

[Divbetic]

Hey, congrats on the headlight solution, and welcome to the fold.

If those lights work out for you, that's great. But if they are too dim, there are some great upgrade bulbs you can use, the 9011 and 9012 HIR (Halogen Infrared Reflector) that make TONS more light, and they are stock watts. Same plugs as 9005 and 9006.

Also you may want to put film on the front for rock protection, I have clear that is thick and exactly the right size for them. I have tail light upgrades as well... happy to help if you want high performance lighting! As you can see, advice is free and almost always helpful. ;)

Enjoy the ride!

Hope the respray is well done! What color ???

Thanks a lot man! Love this site! And i'm getting an Alpine II respray done. Just redoing the same color because ive done a lot of body work on it and I dont think that they would be able to match the hood, fenders and bumper that well so i'm doing the whole car haha

[Divbetic]

My pigtails arrived today and I have yet another question... My low beams are wired like I expected but on the stock harness for my high beams I have three wires, and my pigtails only have two wires to connect to, Anyone have a solution? Thanks

[Mo Brighta]

wiring help

My pigtails arrived today and I have yet another question... My low beams are wired like I expected but on the stock harness for my high beams I have three wires, and my pigtails only have two wires to connect to, Anyone have a solution? Thanks

Lows have three wires, highs two.

High beams go on and off with the stalk, the lights inboard are the high beams.

Low beams are actually low and high and switch between the two with the stalk.

Ground is always brown.

Low beams are yellow wire with a color stripe, usually different on left and right sides of the car.

High beams are white wire and some other color stripe.

Let us know how you make out when you get the wires attached.

[Divbetic]

Lows have three wires, highs two.

High beams go on and off with the stalk, the lights inboard are the high beams.

Low beams are actually low and high and switch between the two with the stalk.

Ground is always brown.

Low beams are yellow wire with a color stripe, usually different on left and right sides of the car.

High beams are white wire and some other color stripe.

Let us know how you make out when you get the wires attached.

My lows are already wired and working fine. I was having some battery problems but they're fixed now hopefully. My high beam harness has one brown (ground) wire and two white/blue wires instead of just two wires total. I'm just gonna see which wire has the 12v running through it and wire that one to the non-ground wire of my pigtails

[Mo Brighta]

headlight wires

My lows are already wired and working fine. I was having some battery problems but they're fixed now hopefully. My high beam harness has one brown (ground) wire and two white/blue wires instead of just two wires total. I'm just gonna see which wire has the 12v running through it and wire that one to the non-ground wire of my pigtails

Sorry, I should have said "Lows have three terminals, highs have two terminals."

The two white/blue wires are likely connected to the same terminal. One wire is power in, one is power out to the other headlight. There should be two terminals, a single brown ground wire to one, and both white/blue power wires to the other.

If the above it true, you are good to go.

Good luck, hope "you can see for miles, and miles, and miles ..." with the new lights!

[Divbetic]

Sorry, I should have said "Lows have three terminals, highs have two terminals."

The two white/blue wires are likely connected to the same terminal. One wire is power in, one is power out to the other headlight. There should be two terminals, a single brown ground wire to one, and both white/blue power wires to the other.

If the above it true, you are good to go.

Good luck, hope "you can see for miles, and miles, and miles ..." with the new lights!

I took a leap of faith today and did that (without even seeing your comment) and it worked amazingly! They looks awesome and i'm super happy. Thank you so much man, I really do LOVE this forum!