High beam bulbs in lows?

[Bimmerman325i]

Has anyone tried putting 9005 high beam bulbs into the 9006 low beams in the US Projectors? I have heard of people doing this on E34s but have not on any other model. I don't want to upgrade to HIDs but want the best lighting I can afford right now.

Thanks!

[makaio]

I did it when I had my E34 because the lights sucked. It's pretty easy to modify the bulbs to do though.

[CorvallisBMW]

I just did it a few weeks ago. BIG improvement. You have to grind off the little tabs on the bulb housing, as well as removing the little tabs inside the connectors that prevent you from attaching the low-beam wires to as high-beam bulb. Compare 9005 to a 9006 bulb, look at the tabs around the outside and look at the tabs inside the connector and you'll see what I mean. It's a bit of a PITA to get the connector tabs, but it still only took about 1/2 hour.

[DaveSmed]

Something like 10 more watts, good mod.

[talltorontoguy]

^^ agree... been doing this for years on my E34 and also on my E30 until I went with HID. There is a procedure here... http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/more_light.htm

Same bulbs used in E30.

[ldsbeaker]

I guess that's the cheap, hack mechanic way.
A good reliable way is H1/H4's. You'll never want to go back to regular sealed beams. I swear.

[DaveSmed]

I guess that's the cheap, hack mechanic way.
A good reliable way is H1/H4's. You'll never want to go back to regular sealed beams. I swear.

Hes talking about putting a higher wattage bulb in an ellipsoid. Sealed beam?

[Bimmerman325i]

Thanks for the replies! I'm contemplating spending the money on a set of Cibie CSR lamps from danielsternlighting.com but want to see if I'll be happy going the much cheaper route. Does anyone here on r3v or e30tech have the Cibies?

For those of you who have swapped the 9005 in, did you do any re-wiring of plugs or harnesses? Is the stock harness capable of sustained high-wattage(~100W) 9005 bulbs in both highs and lows? Have you guys heard about the hella 9011 and 9012 bulbs that put out an obscene amount of lumens and are easily retrofitted to 9005/6 sockets? (rallylights.com) What are your opinions on these?

As for the H4/H1, will either fit in the US ellips or do I need to convert to Euro?

[DaveSmed]

Thanks for the replies! I'm contemplating spending the money on a set of Cibie CSR lamps from danielsternlighting.com but want to see if I'll be happy going the much cheaper route. Does anyone here on r3v or e30tech have the Cibies?

For those of you who have swapped the 9005 in, did you do any re-wiring of plugs or harnesses? Is the stock harness capable of sustained high-wattage(~100W) 9005 bulbs in both highs and lows? Have you guys heard about the hella 9011 and 9012 bulbs that put out an obscene amount of lumens and are easily retrofitted to 9005/6 sockets? (rallylights.com) What are your opinions on these?

As for the H4/H1, will either fit in the US ellips or do I need to convert to Euro?

The H4/H1 setup spoken of above is similar to the Cibies. The Cibies are the high end H4/H1 setup, and (just guessing) ldsbeaker is probably talking about the Hella units. (which are also a fine choice)

You cannot fit a H4 in any ellipsoid light for the E30. The euro ellipsoids use H1 bulbs for low and high beams.


I personally cannot say what the 9005/9006 swap will net, nor with going with the HIR bulbs you mentioned, though I have found them interesting myself, and have dealt with rallylights.com myself and can say that they are a good company to do business with and are very knowledgeable about their products.



In your position, the ellipsoids are excellent lighting IF and this is a big if, the reflectors are still in good shape. To check, pull the light assemblies out of the car, and on the back of the projector housing, you will notice something like three screws. Remove them and inspect the shiny backing taking great care not to touch it!

Is the backing uniformly shiny, or is it more of a matte finish? Is there any reflectivity at all left? If it is still in decent condition, I would recommend higher wattage bulbs if you are still dissatisfied with light output, or an even better option is HID conversion which works very well with the ellipsoid style lights.

If your reflectors are in poor shape, it is time to look into some new lights of your choice. There's a myriad of options for the E30, with some excellent performing options, and enough variety to find an aesthetically pleasing option that performs to your taste as well.

[Burning2nd]

im runing 4 of the hella's with all h4's

[TrentW]

I did the 9005 upgrade in the lows and bought the Sylvania Xtravision bulbs (black and pink package) for like $15 each for the wife's car. Used my smallest wood chisel and took like 5 min each to mod. For $30 bucks it's a hell of an upgrade. Plus, I'm not a fan of the light from HID's. Ended up having to buy a new connector from Rallylights though, as the brown ground wire had broken inside the connector. The actual strands of wire were blackened and slightly brittle.