e30 headlight options (non smiley/ellip)

[Stanley Rockafella]

After having my smilies for a while with the citi lights wired into the park nights, I'm kinda getting bored of them.

Today at the wrecking yard, I scored a set of sealed beams with buckets and pigtails.

Is there any cool setups for these lights on the market today? I've checked out daniel stern lighting, but his selection is pretty limited.

Any other options anyone know of? (not interested in any tacky stuff like angel eyes, etc. Just considering something different that I can utilize these sealed beam buckets. If I find nothing, I'll just sell them and stick with smilies

thanks in advance

[rcsoundn1]

Nothing that I know of. I cant give my sealed beams away either.

[15Michaeljoseph]

Wait wait wait….you're switching from Smilies to Sealed beams?
I'd trade you a hella H4 kit for your smilies.

[Stanley Rockafella]

Wait wait wait….you're switching from Smilies to Sealed beams?
I'd trade you a hella H4 kit for your smilies.

just wondering what else is out there for cool sealed beam upgrades

If I cant' find anything, I'll ditch the sealed beams

[Mo Brighta]

Hella makes some killer low beam lights that really flood the street, they're a sealed beam replacement so they bolt right up. They are called BiFocal, some say 'BiFocus' which is silly because they are LOW beams, they use an H1 and NOT an H4 bulb.

They also have a socket for city lights, but you can leave it out it you don't want that. It adds about another $12 per, so you save $24.

Paired with some decent high beams, which are pretty easy to find, you will have a killer bright set of headlights. You should be happy with high output bulbs - stock watts, but more lumens.

The BiFocal light was developed in the 80's for the E30 three series by BMW and Hella, they are good but rare.

I have sold several sets of these, they outperform most any H4 low beam, and smilies as well. And Hella, Narva, Phillips all make decent high output bulbs in the H1 form, so you will have a choice at 55W. No need for new relays, either.

They work all the time, so you have to switch the low beam realy to stay on with hights, not complicated, and I can send you a kit with instructions for that. They go on with the headlights, and the stalk switches the highs on and off. Very effective!

Send me a PM or email if you want the technical details.

[Stanley Rockafella]

any pics of the setup with citilights?

thanks

[Mo Brighta]

BiFocus pics

OK, here are some pics of the lights as received, I'll try to get some pics of a local installation with the city lights working. I installed a pair for a guy last year, he said he would hook them up but ... I'll ask. Maybe he'll see this and post the pics himself???

Anyway, the light includes a cap with two wires, brown and white for ground and power. They take an H1 lamp.

Face of the light



Back side with cap and 3 wires



Closeup of wiring, city light option (grey wire)



Anyway, FWIW I'll include a pic of my car later with similar lights, showing city lights turned on. I do get the occasional 'Hey, your headlights are out' when I run them, most folks do not know what they are and think my headlights are dim because the bulbs failed or were installed wrong.

[Stanley Rockafella]

lol, awesome

what bulb do you use for the citi's?

and do the highs also have cit's?

[Mo Brighta]

Bulb Data

lol, awesome

what bulb do you use for the citi's?

and do the highs also have cit's?

The bulb is a mini-bayonet (b9s), typical bulb #1893 (standard output).

There are colored, high output, long life, and many other variations. My best bulb is high output (naturally) - 3886X (Xenon gas filled).

Bulb data: 1893 is 4W 3cp, 3886X is 6W 7cp (233% output), $7.50 ea.

I think I can get High Beams with a similar feature, I'll look into it.

Here are two pics of the city light on, one in day light, one in the garage.

[Stanley Rockafella]

thanks for the options, but I think I'm gonna stick with some depo smoked smilies. Cheaper and cooler for a non-daily driver

[blazinxpk]

Mo Brighta, you said your hella sealed beam setup would outperform smileys??

what is the price of the lights and bulbs you are talking about?

i currently have euro smileys with a 55w 4300k hid kit.

[Mo Brighta]

Headlight performance upgrades ...

Mo Brighta, you said your hella sealed beam setup would outperform smileys??

The sealed beam replacements are - from what I have heard - better than old smilies in most cases.

Two reasons:
New lights are clean, no dust and dirt, so they're better at putting light on the road and not impaired by crud inside and out (reduced internal losses).

New Hella BiFocal lights are ALL low beam - 100% of the the lens and reflector are used - and they're optimized for a low beam illumination pattern. They use a different bulb than smilies (which comes in a High Output version), and which generally makes them better than old smilies based on feedback I receive. There are not too many of this 'all-low' style of light, meaning most 'low beam replacements' use an H4 which blocks 50% of the light internally, using only half of the reflector and lens for the low beam function.

Smilies are better than any sealed beam, and (disclaimer) I have never driven a car with smilies, stock or otherwise. But I get complaints from Bimmer Nuts that their smilies are dim, and make it very difficult to drive at night in traffic (lows predominate).

what is the price of the lights and bulbs you are talking about?

Prices change, the last 2 BiFocal sets I sold (for an '85 535i, local, and an '86 325i, Canada) were US$95 and US$99 per light; $15 per high output H1 bulb; $15 per city light w stock bulb, or $18 w/HO bulb. Plus shipping.
Also highly recommended: headlight protection film, $6 per light.

i currently have euro smileys with a 55w 4300k hid kit.

Well, depending on the installation, you may be very happy and have nice bright headlights that will be hard to beat. HID setups can be iffy if the "filament" is not precisely located relative to the reflector's focal point. You may already know that... a typical filament is around 1.5 mm x 8 mm - quite small! I haven't got dimensions of a typical HID arc, but I suspect it's larger.

+++++++

NOW, the typical smiley with a tungsten filament bulb can be improved easily with a new high output lamp - again, for several reasons.

1- Any time you work on a light, you generally clean it, which helps by reducing the light lost internally.

2- Putting a new bulb in any light usually improves output because, over time, bulbs dim from tungsten deposits (black tint) inside the envelope.

3- High Output bulbs increase output - new technology makes more lumens than old tech. The Phillips HIR is my current favorite, and they keep working on it so I expect they'll be getting better. HIR bulb numbers are 9011 for highs, 9012 for lows, replacing the HB3 and HB4 bulbs used in US cars. H1 lamps (used in Euro smilies?) come in HO versions; not nearly as bright as the 9012, but still better than old stock lamps. Your HID replacements should be better still, so as I said earlier, you may have the best setup already (depending on the installation).

So the questions for you are:
Do you have trouble seeing with low beams on?
Are they unfocused with lots of glare, or dark areas?
If so, is it headlights or the bio-optical components (your eyes)?

There are many options to remedy this, some less expensive and some more. I use the same approach that Daniel Stern uses, 'Let's determine what your individual problems are, and solve with the right products, at the right price.' I think he says 'No Cookie-Cutter Solutions.'

Thanks for the good questions!

Andy

[Mo Brighta]

Sticking with it

thanks for the options, but I think I'm gonna stick with some depo smoked smilies. Cheaper and cooler for a non-daily driver

OK, sounds like you're good with your current setup. If you do have trouble seeing (smoked usually means dimmer than stock), and want to explore brighter bulbs, let me know. We'll look for options that don't alter the 'look' and improve the performance of your lights. Same with rear lights, my specialty- identical looks, better performance.

Andy

[blazinxpk]

thanks for your response.

i feel as if though my smileys are "decent". so ill probably stick to them for now.

do you know of a way for properly adjust the smileys?

[JasonC]

do you know of a way for properly adjust the smileys?

http://www.r3vlimited.com/BOARD/showthread.php?t=307805