smilies vs non smilies ?

[Philipangoo]

I was looking at some projector headlights for the E30,

and I noticed that the majority of headlights are either

Euro - Smiley

or US non-smiley.


whats the differenece if any in projection or performance ?

Or is there any differnce at all ?

If I was planning to put a HID kit in, would it matter which one I bought.

[devonjordan]

I think the euro has a different cut off for the light pattern, its a cleaner cut. Where as the US have more of a diffused cut off.

[BrewCity11]

I would be interested in a definitive answer as well. Just to know.

So far, nobody i know, knows what difference having the smiley in there does for light output.

And no, I didn't search. I don't care that much, but since this thread was started...................

[CAOSyAMOR]

FWIW I found this website very useful

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

about half way down the page Daniel Stern of Daniel Stern Lighting illustrates the light pattern of euro vs North American headlamps.

edit: there is no discussion specifically regarding the 'smiley' aspect, but it functions to splay the light almost like a fog lamp will splay light in a wider pattern.

[Philipangoo]

But basically all European projector lights are Smileys right ?

[JasonC]

The smilie part lets out some light extra infront of the car. But mostly it is not even noticable. They had euro ellips with and with out the smilie cut out. But both had city lights in them. Where the US ellips. have niether one of those.

[Zacm829]

The smilie part lets out some light extra infront of the car. But mostly it is not even noticable. They had euro ellips with and with out the smilie cut out. But both had city lights in them. Where the US ellips. have niether one of those.

+1, They can both be ran with Hids, they just use different bulb types.

[kamotors]

i cant tell the difference in output between my us elips or my smileys, but smileys look cooler in the day time.

[e34john]

My euro smilies seems to work better than the E34's euros with no smilie but I'm sure its just because of the car's different height, bulbs and battery.

[Sam Cogley]

But basically all European projector lights are Smileys right ?

They were made both ways. I have non-smiley Euro ellipsoids, they're a bit more stealth, IMHO.