Changing E46 Sidelight/Main Beam Bulbs

SaBBz

SaBBz

SaBBz

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I currently have an E46 with xenon lights and would like to change my side lights and main beams for some bulbs which are whiter than the current ones as they look a bit stupid next to the white xenons.

I can easily get to the bulbs on the drivers side but on the passenger side the main beam light seems very hard to get to as the air filter is in the way. Does the light unit have to be taken out to get to these bulbs? Seems a very stupid design! Perhaps I just don't have small enough hands.

I was also thinking of changing the bulbs in the front fog lights - are these easy to change?

Thanks.
 
I thought the E46 was BiXenon and therefore already has a Xenon main beam?

Why would you want to change the foglight bulbs - for those rare occasions when the foglights are in use the conditions are such that how white the lights are surely does not matter?
 
changing the light on the passenger side is a nightmare if you have anything bigger than a childs hands it seems! i had to get someone else to do mine.


Fox - his is probably like mine, non OEM, just bulbs with the power pack behind the light units.
 
Morba said:
Fox - his is probably like mine, non OEM, just bulbs with the power pack behind the light units.
Click to expand...

But the non Xenon E46's don't have projector headlights therefore its not really a good idea to have Xenons retrofitted without getting projector lights surely?
 
There is only one xenon on each side on mine, but there is no headlight adjuster inside so I assumed it was fitted originally to the car.

When I put full beams on there is a bulb on the inside of each light which comes on and is definitely not a xenon light!

With respect to the fog lights I just though if they were easy to change then I might as well just so they matched.
 
[TW]Fox;14599604 said:
But the non Xenon E46's don't have projector headlights therefore its not really a good idea to have Xenons retrofitted without getting projector lights surely?
Click to expand...

I dunno. Mine were on when i bought the car. they have been a pain in the ass though tbh.
 
fox surely you know that when you put it on main beam the xenons get (a lot) brighter and the projector lens moves, AS WELL as a halogen bulb coming on in the middle of the cluster? :s

I've been maining to change my main beam ones, especially for when flashing people (when flashing only the halogen bulbs come on) as it looks stupid (according to a friend, they look extra yellow because of how blue the xenon beams are)

All 3 are exactly the same camera settings (advised to open them in tabs and flick between to see real difference :p)

Low beam (just xenon)
lowbeamxenon1.jpg


High beam (normal xenon, halogen high beam)
flashbeam1.jpg


BiXenon: (xenons in high beam mode + halogen)
xenonhighbeam.jpg


PS changing the sidelights makes a MASSIVE difference to how the car looks:

piaaextremevsnormal.jpg


piaaextremevsnormal2.jpg


Tom.
 
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rG-tom said:
fox surely you know that when you put it on main beam the xenons get (a lot) brighter and the projector lens moves, AS WELL as a halogen bulb coming on in the middle of the cluster? :s

I've been maining to change my main beam ones, especially for when flashing people (when flashing only the halogen bulbs come on) as it looks stupid (according to a friend, they look extra yellow because of how blue the xenon beams are)

Tom.
Click to expand...

Oh right so mine are definitely bixenon? I had a google and it seemed to say that if the inside halogens came on as well that my lights weren't bixenons? I had a look last night but it wasn't very dark so I couldn't really see whether the xenon part got brighter.

Thanks.
 
I had a quick check this morning and the xenon part does get quite considerably brighter with full beams on. Tom, can you suggest which bulbs I should use for the sidelights and the halogen main beam? Would like to get them as close as possible to the colour of the xenon light.

Thanks.
 
[TW]Fox;14599604 said:
But the non Xenon E46's don't have projector headlights therefore its not really a good idea to have Xenons retrofitted without getting projector lights surely?
Click to expand...

They did both BiXenon and Xenon on the E46 even on facelift coupe, I think only the Saloons were all BiXenon.

Mine for example are Xenon, not BiXenon.

Well at least I assume so from the printed specsheet the dealer gave anyway.

AFAIK BiXenon when you punch the stalk forwards with the lights on the inside bulbs do not light up but instead the Xenons increase in brightness and you can hear the lens move, right? and the purpose of the inside bulbs are just for flashing.

On mine The Xenons increase in brightness as well as the inside bulbs lighting up to aid the high beam.

The sidelights are not that hard to change either, I managed it fine :p

maybe it's different on the non facelift lenses though.... but it was a tight fit!

PIAA sidelights here btw, they were £15 or something for the pair.

Edit*
Aha, from what RGTOM says his light's behaviour is the same as mine, this means mine are BiXenon then?

Perhaps I understanding failed :p

Edit2*

Still, on the specsheet it only says "Xenon" so I assume this is just standard text they use on the sheet...meh. BiXenon it is!
 
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mrk said:
They did both BiXenon and Xenon on the E46 even on facelift coupe, I think only the Saloons were all BiXenon.

Mine for example are Xenon, not BiXenon.

Well at least I assume so from the printed specsheet the dealer gave anyway.

AFAIK BiXenon when you punch the stalk forwards with the lights on the inside bulbs do not light up but instead the Xenons increase in brightness and you can hear the lens move, right? and the purpose of the inside bulbs are just for flashing.

On mine The Xenons increase in brightness as well as the inside bulbs lighting up to aid the high beam.

The sidelights are not that hard to change either, I managed it fine :p

maybe it's different on the non facelift lenses though.... but it was a tight fit!

PIAA sidelights here btw, they were £15 or something for the pair.

Edit*
Aha, from what RGTOM says his light's behaviour is the same as mine, this means mine are BiXenon then?

Perhaps I understanding failed :p

Edit2*

Still, on the specsheet it only says "Xenon" so I assume this is just standard text they use on the sheet...meh. BiXenon it is!
Click to expand...

(Push stalk forward: bright Xenon light; Pull stalk back: Bright Halogen light) = Bi-Xenon.
 
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