Has anyone fitted OEM xenons on a pre-LCI E90/E91?
Discussion
Hi all,
As per title really.
Has anyone upgraded the standard reflector halogen headlights on an E90/E91?
There are many videos on it on youtube but mostly all from the US. Its not clear what needs to be done for example:
There is also no mention that I can see of whether the manual level thumbwheel would work on a xenon unit (which would normally be fed from an autoleveling sensor not a manual thumbwheel).
In terms of legality - I believe an OEM xenon unit can be retrofitted without having to fit headlight washers or self leveling. This is because it is only retrofitting HID/LED bulbs into halogen housings that is explicitly against the MOT rules, and auto leveling and headlight washers only have to be tested if present.
As per title really.
Has anyone upgraded the standard reflector halogen headlights on an E90/E91?
There are many videos on it on youtube but mostly all from the US. Its not clear what needs to be done for example:
- Some sources suggest pre-LCI xenons can be a direct fit with no mods.
- Some sources suggest a ground wire (brown) needs to be spliced in for an extra pin on the connector.
- Information on the need for coding is unclear.
There is also no mention that I can see of whether the manual level thumbwheel would work on a xenon unit (which would normally be fed from an autoleveling sensor not a manual thumbwheel).
In terms of legality - I believe an OEM xenon unit can be retrofitted without having to fit headlight washers or self leveling. This is because it is only retrofitting HID/LED bulbs into halogen housings that is explicitly against the MOT rules, and auto leveling and headlight washers only have to be tested if present.
danlightbulb said:
Hi all,
As per title really.
Has anyone upgraded the standard reflector halogen headlights on an E90/E91?
There are many videos on it on youtube but mostly all from the US. Its not clear what needs to be done for example:
There is also no mention that I can see of whether the manual level thumbwheel would work on a xenon unit (which would normally be fed from an autoleveling sensor not a manual thumbwheel).
In terms of legality - I believe an OEM xenon unit can be retrofitted without having to fit headlight washers or self leveling. This is because it is only retrofitting HID/LED bulbs into halogen housings that is explicitly against the MOT rules, and auto leveling and headlight washers only have to be tested if present.
IIRC at a minimum you'll need to retrofit the self levelling mechs and wiring etc...As per title really.
Has anyone upgraded the standard reflector halogen headlights on an E90/E91?
There are many videos on it on youtube but mostly all from the US. Its not clear what needs to be done for example:
- Some sources suggest pre-LCI xenons can be a direct fit with no mods.
- Some sources suggest a ground wire (brown) needs to be spliced in for an extra pin on the connector.
- Information on the need for coding is unclear.
There is also no mention that I can see of whether the manual level thumbwheel would work on a xenon unit (which would normally be fed from an autoleveling sensor not a manual thumbwheel).
In terms of legality - I believe an OEM xenon unit can be retrofitted without having to fit headlight washers or self leveling. This is because it is only retrofitting HID/LED bulbs into halogen housings that is explicitly against the MOT rules, and auto leveling and headlight washers only have to be tested if present.
If washers aren't fitted, they can't be tested; so they don't need to be fitted
I found this headlight plug wiring diagram from another forum:
Ive come across this information before, its essentially saying that you have to add a ground wire to pin 2 by splicing in to another ground wire, later in the thread it says the best way is to splice into the existing pin 4 ground.
But what I am more interested in, is how these lights vertical alignment works? According to that diagram, there is no pin for headlight leveling at all, so how can it work, even with the standard halogens?
Ive come across this information before, its essentially saying that you have to add a ground wire to pin 2 by splicing in to another ground wire, later in the thread it says the best way is to splice into the existing pin 4 ground.
But what I am more interested in, is how these lights vertical alignment works? According to that diagram, there is no pin for headlight leveling at all, so how can it work, even with the standard halogens?
danlightbulb said:
I found this headlight plug wiring diagram from another forum:
Ive come across this information before, its essentially saying that you have to add a ground wire to pin 2 by splicing in to another ground wire, later in the thread it says the best way is to splice into the existing pin 4 ground.
But what I am more interested in, is how these lights vertical alignment works? According to that diagram, there is no pin for headlight leveling at all, so how can it work, even with the standard halogens?
You'll have an adjuster wheel for your current halogen set up won't you?Ive come across this information before, its essentially saying that you have to add a ground wire to pin 2 by splicing in to another ground wire, later in the thread it says the best way is to splice into the existing pin 4 ground.
But what I am more interested in, is how these lights vertical alignment works? According to that diagram, there is no pin for headlight leveling at all, so how can it work, even with the standard halogens?
d_a_n1979 said:
You'll have an adjuster wheel for your current halogen set up won't you?
Yes, but according to that diagram there is no pin connected to the headlight for that function?Do you think a halogen adjuster wheel will work with an OEM xenon headlamp that would have originally had self level sensors?
danlightbulb said:
Yes, but according to that diagram there is no pin connected to the headlight for that function?
Do you think a halogen adjuster wheel will work with an OEM xenon headlamp that would have originally had self level sensors?
The adjusters will work manually on Xenons. The motors and sensors within the headlight are the same regardless of whether the car has automatic levelling. The difference is that the FRM (footwell module) will adjust the headlight based on either the manual control or the levelling sensors. There is a coding option for this.Do you think a halogen adjuster wheel will work with an OEM xenon headlamp that would have originally had self level sensors?
As stated above, you'll need to add a separate ground pin to the assembly, and also add a pin to the bi-xenon flap (which can be connected to the halogen main beam wire if you don't want to run a new wire back to the FRM and fit an FRM with xenon capabilities to operate the flap independently of the main beam wire).
You'll also need to code the FRM for Xenons, otherwise it will attempt to modulate the voltage to what it thinks is still a halogen bulb via pulse width modulation, which will cause your Xenon headlights to flicker and shut down.
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