e30 headlight options (non smiley/ellip)

[uturn]

Very nice, I use a blue led bulb for my citi lights and it throws a nice tint so people don't think the bulbs are going out.

[tschultz]

I find headlights to be a matter of personal preference. I had stock sealed beams in my 535i and did not complain about their output. I used to drive a 2002 before that, that car with sealed beam headlights was rather poor for illumination.

I went to Andy to get some better headlights when I started a new job and began commuting 90 miles a day, mostly in my E28.

Although I wasn't sold on the new headlights, I figured it was good insurance for my commute. Andy helped me do the relay swap and wire in the front headlights which require only minimal work.

The city lights are probably one of the features I like best about these lights.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t31.0-8/10397272_10204377828548665_1211313202352310522_o.jpg

First thing I noticed with the headlight, when compared to the sealed beam, they distribute the light much more evenly throughout the projected pattern, whereas the sealed beam is focused at one point right in front of the vehicle. There is also much better cutoff of the pattern (ie the light is going where you want it, not all over everywhere else).

As Andy indicates, the inner reflector is being fully utilized for one task of low beam illumination, so no longer are you compromising for both low and high beam performance.


As I have found out more and more about the BMW ECE (European) headlights such as H1, H1/H4 and Ellipsoids, my findings seem to indicate that they are all very similar in performance as long as the lenses are not chipped, cracked, or milky.

My Euro E24 has the ECE headlights from factory, and they are practically the exact same headlight (using h1 bulbs) even up to the part number on the exterior glass.






Bottom line, they work nicely and I have started upgrading my vehicles to the Euro light setup because it is superior and I really like the Euro city light for some reason.

My 635:

[Mo Brighta]

Smoked depo

Depo sells aftermarket replica Hellas (stock Hellas). Their smoked lights are smoked the same way the stock lights are, not with film.

OK, I just learned something! I love this forum. :p

[AndrewBird]

Depo sells aftermarket replica Hellas (stock Hellas). Their smoked lights are smoked the same way the stock lights are, not with film.

[Mo Brighta]

Bifocal lights don't blind

Mo Brighta, i have another question.

how would you consider the "blinding" factor of the hella bifocals with a high output bulb to be?

would they look like an hid inside a reflector housing??

obviously they wont have a "cutoff" like projector housings.

Well, let's take these one at a time.

1- the blinding factor (glare)... Hella BiFocals do not glare, they have a standard cutoff like you're used to seeing in European Hella, Cibie, etc. lights. A pretty sharp cutoff from center to left side of their range, and a wedge shape up and to the right from center. The area above the cutoff is pretty dark, like any Hella. Tom can address this issue, he's had them in his E28 for a couple of years, I'll forward a link to this post (don't think he's a member here) and ask him to share his experience. He has high output, Narva Rangepower +50 H1 bulbs.

2- look like an hid... They look like any other reflector headlight, with an H1 lamp. Nothing specially remarkable about the appearance, they just use the lens and optical design principles to make the entire reflector and lens project a low beam pattern. My Cibie CSR is the same way, no problem with glare.

3- cutoff like a projector... No indeed, they are not like a projector at all. Most projector cutoff patterns I see are sharp, horizontal in both directions, and have a step up in the center with the right side a tad higher than the left. This comes from a mask inside the light, physically blocking the light path and more or less casting a shadow to form the cutoff.

BiFocals use specialized flutes in the lens to direct the light, more or less like a Fresnel lens would, but far more specialized in their design.

+++++

Smoked ellipsoids do not reduce light output at all. The lens and reflector are not smoked, the shroud around the reflector is (in the low beams) and a crosshair made from thin metal (painted black) is used in the high beam.

You're correct, but I believe he was referring to paint/films to "smoke" the lenses as opposed to crosshairs since it's a much more common solution.

Yes, I was in fact thinking about a tint film or spray-on tint, assuming that when Stanley said "depo smoked smilies" he was not talking about stock lights with the darkened interior bits that make it look dark. I believe that depo is a brand of replacement light close in design to the original projector. If I am wrong, can you straighten me out Stanley?

Hope this removes the fog... clears things up.

[AndrewBird]

He was replying to Stanley who said he would just get smoked depos, which don't use film.

[ELVA164]

Smoked ellipsoids do not reduce light output at all. The lens and reflector are not smoked, the shroud around the reflector is (in the low beams) and a crosshair made from thin metal (painted black) is used in the high beam.

You're correct, but I believe he was referring to paint/films to "smoke" the lenses as opposed to crosshairs since it's a much more common solution.

[AndrewBird]

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

Smoked ellipsoids do not reduce light output at all. The lens and reflector are not smoked, the shroud around the reflector is (in the low beams) and a crosshair made from thin metal (painted black) is used in the high beam.

Mo Brighta, i have another question.

how would you consider the "blinding" factor of the hella bifocals with a high output bulb to be?

would they look like an hid inside a reflector housing??

obviously they wont have a "cutoff" like projector housings.

Actually, the Hella lights do have a cutoff (the e-code ones anyway), but they use optics rather than a shield to do it. Look at the lens and you can see the shape. Hella makes several sealed beam lights (often called Vision Plus). My GF has a set in her Jeep and they are great. You get a cutoff just like e30 euro ellipsoids. They aren't nearly as good as my rebuilt euro smileys with standard H1's though. They were miles better than worn out euros with HID's however.

Here is more info on the Hella Lights:

http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/default/auxiliary-lamps/sealed-beam-conversion-headlamps/vision-plus-5-75in-conversion-headlamp/

[blazinxpk]

Mo Brighta, i have another question.

how would you consider the "blinding" factor of the hella bifocals with a high output bulb to be?

would they look like an hid inside a reflector housing??

obviously they wont have a "cutoff" like projector housings.

[ELVA164]

^ I'll say this is a good starting point, but what I did after this was take a drive and pay attention to the foci of the beams. My vertical adjustment puts the cutoffs for both low beams as far up the trunklid of the "typical" car as possible without frequently crossing into another driver's sightline, and my horizontal adjustment puts the left-hand beam about a foot from the road centerline and the right-hand beam maybe a foot or a bit more to the left of the road border line.

I also adjusted my high beams slightly higher and farther outside than that document suggests; it should never affect other drivers as high beams are for "private time" driving only, and it helps spread a bit more light on the sides of the road as well as moving the beam a bit farther down the road without sacrificing light in the center of the road.

I can provide a couple pictures tomorrow night if anyone would like.

Also, I bought my Narva RangePower+ H1 bulbs from Mo Brighta and he's a great guy to deal with.

[JasonC]

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

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

[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?

[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

[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

[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.