Looking to buy some new headlights

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Arya2.0S
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Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Arya2.0S »

Any recommendations? Not looking to spend a fortune, just want something that takes halogen bulbs and looks more like standard. My old BMW conversion lights are knackered so I just want to go back to original for simplicity sake, and the fact that replacement BMW headlights cost a fortune.
Thanks.
Not_Anumber
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Not_Anumber »

After all the time and trouble you went to with the BMW light conversion that cant have been good news. What went wrong with them ?


I spotted these, priced per pair -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crystal-Halo ... 1438.l2649
They have both dipped and high capability (takes dual filament bulb) so if you add an extra relay you could use these to give 4x dipped and 4x high beams if you wanted.


also saw these, priced each
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-3-4-Clear- ... 1438.l2649
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Andrew 2.8i
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Have a word with Nick or John, they've both used modern replacement lights that are a straight swap for the standard ones.

Andrew.
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Arya2.0S
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Arya2.0S »

Not_Anumber wrote:After all the time and trouble you went to with the BMW light conversion that cant have been good news. What went wrong with them ?


I spotted these, priced per pair -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crystal-Halo ... 1438.l2649
They have both dipped and high capability (takes dual filament bulb) so if you add an extra relay you could use these to give 4x dipped and 4x high beams if you wanted.


also saw these, priced each
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-3-4-Clear- ... 1438.l2649
The issue I'm having is brightness, or lack of. The BMW lights are about as useful in the dark as having candles stuck to the bumper, and even worse if the road is wet. I took everything apart to check wtf was wrong, including checking voltage and earths and everything checked out, the issue is the lights themselves. The reflective surface on the inside which reflects the beam outwards is peeling away, and just totally gone on one side so the beam can't shine properly.
If it hadn't been for that the lights would have been great and they were fine when I first fitted them but they were already old hence why they were so cheap and I guess as they've gotten older they've just got worse and now they're pretty much useless.
A shame too because the white LEDs I have in the halo rings look great but I need to be able to actually see so time to go back to the cheaper originals.
I'm having to buy new backing plates too as the old ones were heavily modified to fit the BMW lights, so moral of the story is if you're going to buy BMW lights make sure you can afford to buy brand new ones or you'll end up like me.
I'm going to be buying a full set of the crystal ones off eBay and fitting them before the winter hits.
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Arya2.0S
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Arya2.0S »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:Have a word with Nick or John, they've both used modern replacement lights that are a straight swap for the standard ones.

Andrew.
Thanks. Nick has reassured me on the quality of his so I'll be ordering them next.
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by 4TR3X »

Arya2.0S wrote:
Andrew 2.8i wrote:Have a word with Nick or John, they've both used modern replacement lights that are a straight swap for the standard ones.

Andrew.
Thanks. Nick has reassured me on the quality of his so I'll be ordering them next.
Hi, are you able to say which ones they went for as I would be looking to change mine sometime soon.
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

4TR3X wrote:, are you able to say which ones they went for as I would be looking to change mine sometime soon.
Hi,
I found a link for you:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361940222731?ul_noapp=true
From this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=51782&p=355973&hil ... ht#p355973
This thread on the same subject is also worth reading:
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=51401&hilit=crystal+light

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Arya2.0S
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Arya2.0S »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:
4TR3X wrote:, are you able to say which ones they went for as I would be looking to change mine sometime soon.
Hi,
I found a link for you:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361940222731?ul_noapp=true
From this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=51782&p=355973&hil ... ht#p355973
This thread on the same subject is also worth reading:
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=51401&hilit=crystal+light

Andrew.
Thanks, I have it all sorted now. Went with these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-M ... %7Ciid%3A1
Bit more wiring mods involved than I expected but thats what friends who are mechanics are for lol.
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Bod9084 »

You can ues cibis ihave some h4 from a jag in mine you can ges some 4 1/2 “ lamps from EBAY or just put LED bulbs in
4TR3X
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by 4TR3X »

Thanks for this. I don't think I'll go with the quad setup for each light stage and just keep it as it is.
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Bod9084 »

I when for a pair of H4 and a pair of H1 the you can have a better headlight and main beam I was thinking of putting 4x4 H4 and have the two inner lights a fog lights
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Arya2.0S »

Got to admit I'm very surprised with how bright these lights are.
They required more wiring mods than I expected so they're definitely not a straight swap, but boy are they worth it!
They're so bright and I don't even have decent bulbs yet! (I'm going to get some osram nightbreakers when I can afford to)
Looking forward to giving them a proper test once the wet early nights start kicking in.
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by 4TR3X »

Arya2.0S wrote:Got to admit I'm very surprised with how bright these lights are.
They required more wiring mods than I expected so they're definitely not a straight swap, but boy are they worth it!
They're so bright and I don't even have decent bulbs yet! (I'm going to get some osram nightbreakers when I can afford to)
Looking forward to giving them a proper test once the wet early nights start kicking in.
Are you able to advise what mods you had to do?
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Arya2.0S
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by Arya2.0S »

4TR3X wrote:
Arya2.0S wrote:Got to admit I'm very surprised with how bright these lights are.
They required more wiring mods than I expected so they're definitely not a straight swap, but boy are they worth it!
They're so bright and I don't even have decent bulbs yet! (I'm going to get some osram nightbreakers when I can afford to)
Looking forward to giving them a proper test once the wet early nights start kicking in.
Are you able to advise what mods you had to do?
Not really as they required wiring mods and I didn't do them as I don't understand electrics, but the lights use h4 bulbs so when I was turning on the sidelights (which also needed extra wiring to work) the headlights were coming on, and when I turned the what is normally the headlights setting, the high beams of the h4 's were coming on on the outer lights, so I basically could have all 4 lights on high beam which obviously wasn't going to work so that had to be changed back to normal but they work fine now.
The headlight backing plates also needed modding because the location lugs on the lights themselves are very poorly made and don't fit, but this was only a case of cutting one off each light and then cutting an extra notch out of the backing plates to allow for some adjustments so that the lights sat level in them.
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Re: Looking to buy some new headlights

Post by 4TR3X »

Arya2.0S wrote:
4TR3X wrote:
Arya2.0S wrote:Got to admit I'm very surprised with how bright these lights are.
They required more wiring mods than I expected so they're definitely not a straight swap, but boy are they worth it!
They're so bright and I don't even have decent bulbs yet! (I'm going to get some osram nightbreakers when I can afford to)
Looking forward to giving them a proper test once the wet early nights start kicking in.
Are you able to advise what mods you had to do?
Not really as they required wiring mods and I didn't do them as I don't understand electrics, but the lights use h4 bulbs so when I was turning on the sidelights (which also needed extra wiring to work) the headlights were coming on, and when I turned the what is normally the headlights setting, the high beams of the h4 's were coming on on the outer lights, so I basically could have all 4 lights on high beam which obviously wasn't going to work so that had to be changed back to normal but they work fine now.
The headlight backing plates also needed modding because the location lugs on the lights themselves are very poorly made and don't fit, but this was only a case of cutting one off each light and then cutting an extra notch out of the backing plates to allow for some adjustments so that the lights sat level in them.
When I get round fitting new headlights I will write up what I do to get it working. That's if I can get it working :p
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