DIY - Euro Ellipsoid Headlight Installation

[One21Two]

ok cool. what gauge wire did you use?

I had some leftover 16 gauge wire. Its a little thick but does the job. I would go something a little smaller. I had to cut some of the wires to fit.

Have fun doing it cause they are hard to take out.

[ian e30 318is]

ok cool. what gauge wire did you use?

[One21Two]

im thinking about doing this now too. So all you do is wire one relay to the other? Does it matter what part of the relays you use?

Yes, i think it does matter what part of the relay you use. From the side fender the prongs should be closest to you. Look at the previous post in the picture. Make sure you use those. I never tried to use the other prongs.

[ian e30 318is]

im thinking about doing this now too. So all you do is wire one relay to the other? Does it matter what part of the relays you use?

[One21Two]

BBY1104, I did the wire jump this morning. It works great. I have some HIDs on order. Now all I have to do is figure out how to align the headlights.....Ugh. I have a hard time raising them up. Theyre pointed down, DAMIT. Heres a pic:

[JasonC]

So, I was overwhelmed by all that was said but this, and correct me if I am wrong will be turn both high and low beams on at the same time; if car was not wired for ellipsoids or smilies.

I might do this so they both come on

Yes the highs will come on with this setup, only if you put ellips in a sealed beam car. Plus the fogs will stay on when the highs are on with this relay jump.

[One21Two]

So, I was overwhelmed by all that was said but this, and correct me if I am wrong will be turn both high and low beams on at the same time; if car was not wired for ellipsoids or smilies.

I might do this so they both come on

Im going to try this tomorrow. If doing it this way will work. Ill just solder them to make a better connection. Ill let you know if it works.

guys I did my lights as well a little ghetto I hope I dont burn anything will see

So, I was overwhelmed by all that was said but this, and correct me if I am wrong will be turn both high and low beams on at the same time; if car was not wired for ellipsoids or smilies.

I might do this so they both come on

[One21Two]

Installed my Euro Smileys today. It was real easy, just took a little bit of time. Just wanted to add to James Crivellone's original DIY post w/ some pics.

Here's my mini writeup:

I ordered my connectors from BMA.
Low Beam Cap: 63-12-1-378-333 (x2)
High Beam Cap: 63-12-1-381-190 (x2)

Low Beam Connector: 61-13-1-378-419 (x2)
High Beam Connector: 61-13-1-378-417 (x2)
City Light Connector: 61-13-1-378-418 (x2)

Wires: 61-13-0-007-445 (x2 per Beam)



Remove the grills and seald beams. Check the bentley manual to take these off. Its easy about 8 or so clips and about 10 screws including the 2 for the front grills . This is the easy part.



Look at the rear of your headlight assembly. You should have 3 sets of connectors


2 wires for the City Lights (top of the elip)
2 wires for the low beam
2 wires for the high beam.

Next lets look at your bmw stock wiring.

For my high beam i had 2 wires (1 brown, 2 white/purple) wires, I spliced into the ground and into one of the white/purple wires (both wires were connected to the same terminal) for the high beam.





For the low beam connectors I had 3 wires as well (1 brown, 1 yellow and 1 white/purple). The sealed beams are dual filament. I used a 12V test light check where the 12V was coming from and it was the yellow wire. Just connect the brown and yellow to the new connectors.





Heres a pic of my weak ass Soldering:



For the city lights, I spliced into the sidemarkers (2 wires + white/purple and - brown)





Always check your fuses and make sure the key is in the ON position when testing to see if the lights work.

That was pretty much it. Just had to tie up all the wires and put back all the panels.





Hope this helps someone. Peace.

[bfdbatt2]

why cant everthing be this easy

just finished swapping my sealed beams for euro smileys, thanks to Euro3!

i used this thread, and this write-up too. http://bmw.e30tuner.com/articles_eurolight.php


ran out of time (cold december rain) before i got the city lights done, but I popped out one of the side markers before I quit for the day, and it didnt look as self explantory as i hoped. anything i need to know? also, do i have to solder a jump on the relays, or have some of you just wrapped it? thanks, again, r3vlimited FTW.

[whiltebeitel]

now the question I pose is, can you switch from ellipsoids to sealed beams?

[atomic]

I just converted my sealed beams to US ellips and did the 30 to 30 jumper wire for low beams with high beams. After finishing and tested it also gives me fog lights with the high/low beams. I assume this is normal ??? As a post from above had as well....

[Low Level E30]

Will Work fine.

Here is a mini writeup I wrote awhile ago to help somebody else with it.


Look at the rear of your headlight assembly. You should have 3 sets of connectors


2 wires for the Running Lights (top of the elip)
2 wires for the low beam
2 wires for the high beam.

Next lets look at your bmw stock wiring.

for your high beam you will have 2 wires, those two wires will be spliced into the connector for the new elip high beam.

Do that for each side. got it? okay high beams are done =)

Now lets look at the low beam connectors that are on the car. As you have a 91, you have sealed beams, so you should see a connector that looks like this.



You will see 3 wires that come into this connector, this is because a regular sealed beam low has 2 filaments and a common ground, when you turn on your highbeams the bump switches filaments. This is no longer needed as the H1 bulbs that are inside the euro elip are a single filament.

Looking at the front of the connector as seen above, you will have a brown/black ground wire (I forget the exact color) and 2 other wires. Using a 12V test light, or a voltmeter (if you don't have one...BUY ONE) you will need to determine when 12volts is being sent down this line.

Turn on your cars headlights, and make sure the high beams are OFF, using your test lamp, connect one end to the ground wire on teh connector (black or brown usually) and tap one of the other wires, find the one that turns the test light on, these are the two wires that you will connect to the new low beam elipsoid headlight, the 3rd wire you can simple tie off (make sure its nicely insulated away from anything metal)

Now for the driving lights, you simply splice into your sidemarkers, pretty simple, 2 wires.

Now if you are not getting power, you screwed up somewhere, check your fuses, check your relays, and make sure you didn't pop anything, if you find a bad fuse...replace it.

Also remmeber that the headlights do not work unless the ignition is on, so make sure its set to ignition and not ACC.

any other questions?

Any chance that these pictures can be re-posted?

[franco90]

does any one think I am going to burn anything

[franco90]

here goes pics 2 and 3