Ok guys. this writeup has been a long way coming however, I finally got the right projectors now! I purchased a set of real E46 3 series projectors. I say real because I previously bought a set on Ebay and they turned out to be the wrong units. Moving along, I've done some slight modifications to the cuttoff (by skillfully adding some bits of aluminum) to get a strong violet cuttoff pattern. Sever people have reported that we loose some color on the ES300 headlamp once we upgrade to HID projectors because the clear plastic lense coveing the headlight is too thick. Either way it goes, the pictures I've taken are from the test before I drop these projectors into my headlights. I'll have the final shots after the weekend when I can finally have time to finish modding the passenger side head lamp (dremmel etc) and then installing both projectors. For now, enjoy these pics and if anyone wants instructions on how to add color to your cuttoff pattern, PM me.
Mike

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BTW...here's a shot of the actual projector itself. These are the same size as the Audi TT units and the same units used by themasta3 and Amrit50.

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the bottom pic is Amrit's after his own modification. My beam is sharper however his is more colorful. Same technique, just different results. Has anyone else managed to do this to their retrofit project using projectors of any kind? Jmai22, do you hane any tips to share? I remember seeing you do a mod to you first gen GS lights.

 

well. i am currently ( like 6 months ago i did 1 side and haven't done other side yet) sanded down all the lines inside my passenger side headlamp to and cleaned up the lens a bit. i posted a picture and people said that my passenger side light was much better and the cut off line along the wall was much further and nicer. i have seen the ES lens and they are much better for HID than the first gen GS. the ES is actually a perfect platform for retrofitting HID.

 

Mike, glad to see your getting close. Check down the page, I've got a few pics of my finished retrofit scanned, I'll try to get more soon; but it's an idea of what they look like. They probably look a little "bluer" than the camera captured in the night pic, but it all depends on the angle and distance too. Anyway, looking forward to seeing your finally finished project.

 

Kyle, when you installed the 5 series units into your car, did you loose any color from the cuttoff pattern? Several people here have mentioned how a loss of color comes into effect once we place the HID projectors into our lamp. I noticed a loss of color at the cuttoff level when I was installing the Audi A6 units I had. That is why I'm not taking any chances this time around. I've modded the edges a bit more since I last posted. Hopefully some of that nice purple should remain once I place these in. I'd love to see how they would look on the actual BMW 3 series. Cuz these things flicker that purple color like crazy LOL.
I'll have pics up after this weekend.
Mike

 

I have 1 E46 projector headlight with me. If anyone ready to do this conversion, please PM me.

This headlight condition is not in 'plug and play' condition because the front lens is broken. However the whole projector type HID is still intact and working properly. It also comes with auto-leveling kit. I can post pictures,... just PM me or email me at yuloesen@hotmail.com

 

Ok guys I did it. I pressed and squeezed every bit of free time I had these past two days and the project is complete (with the exception of raising the passenger beam a little higher (its fine but I want it as close to the side mirrors of other people's cars as I can get). From the looks of things, 12+ hours of labor, 20 + of research over 6 month period and lots of trial and error and even some frustration= one DOPE headlight conversion. I've got pics. To save us all some time, check out the pics, read some of my past HID posts (by doing a search) and PM me and several of the members of the lighting section Rominl, Jmai22, lex400sc, See_fuu, Amrit50 and everyone that has contributed informative posts on HID retrofits and maintenance. You guys were my inspiration all along! (Seriously). But its done guys. I just realized that I first mentioned HID retrofitting back in November of 2001! Man has it been that long? But here are the final pics. (And yes the modifications carryed over and the blus prism effect is intact after all!)
L8tr

1. (AND no my car is not green! Its the camera and the dark setting not matching the current lighting situation that produced this horrible effect.

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That wonderful intense bluish-purple prism effect from the cuttoff colors! This was created by adding a special aluminum shield on top of the standard cuttoff.

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a messed up pic of my projectors after the modification

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my lights after HID...sorry I didn't clear them this time...maybe next

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the beam with me kneeling down in front of my driver side headlight taking the picture. (the car is angled down on a slope from the uneven surface of the parking lot)

Enjoy!!!

 

great job, glad you finally came through. wait about 2-3 days i'm gonna have some sweet pics of my latest mod to my HID retro.

 

Show us John...

 

Yes...please post pics!!!!! We're more than ready...

 

here it is

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...111#post582111