My E46 Retrofit

[trubluryder]

Whats up everyone, I recently got a set of BMW E46 Projectors from a friend of mine and decided to give the retrofit a try. I started earlier today around 4pm and just finished around 9pm. Overall it wasn't that hard to do, but you will have to take your time. I kinda rushed it and took some shortcuts, but overall it came out very nice. Maybe I'll do a second retrofit in the future with some Tsx's or TL's. I will post more pic up tomorrow, enjoy

[accordztech]

nice job, im surprised you didnt go with the tsx...e46 arent that bad though.

looks pretty centerd though, it looks a tad low though.

what are you going to finish it off with? e46 shrouds especially chrome would look saweet!

if you need a set of e46 shrouds i have a set. but the chrome is completly wipped off but you can paint it black like i seen on some STi's.

your using a d2s oem bulb or aftermarket?

man check out the 55 watt ballasts, they super increase the brightness of hids...i love them. www.retro-solutions.com or www.ddmtuning.com

there are a few knock offs with cheap 55 watt d2s bulbs, but those usually are crap. i run the stock d2s 85122+ bulb at 55 watts and loving them

see my retro in my sig =)

[lo_dit]

that really doesn't look bad for only a 5 hour job! people take days or weeks on a project like this. props to you

[Losiracer2]

damn it took me about 20-25 hrs on my TSX retro. nice work getting it done in 5. But I would suggest to seal the back area somehow, otherwise you'll get condensation when it rains and dust and all that crap will get in there.....happened to me a lot until I sealed it off w/ this gap filler insulating foam i got at walmart lol. Oh and i'm sure you used silicone for the glass lense right? But good work, lets see those nighttime pics!

[CB7_91/DX]

nice work

[trubluryder]

nice job, im surprised you didnt go with the tsx...e46 arent that bad though.

looks pretty centerd though, it looks a tad low though.

what are you going to finish it off with? e46 shrouds especially chrome would look saweet!

if you need a set of e46 shrouds i have a set. but the chrome is completly wipped off but you can paint it black like i seen on some STi's.

your using a d2s oem bulb or aftermarket?

man check out the 55 watt ballasts, they super increase the brightness of hids...i love them. www.retro-solutions.com or www.ddmtuning.com

there are a few knock offs with cheap 55 watt d2s bulbs, but those usually are crap. i run the stock d2s 85122+ bulb at 55 watts and loving them

see my retro in my sig =)

Thanks man. The reason why I did this retrofit was because I got them from a friend, but I heard the Tsx's and the TL's have really good projectors, I'll probably go with one of those for my next retro fit. Your retrofit looks bad ass I got the d2s bulbs from a local speedshop, I think its after market. How much are you asking for your shrouds? Those were the ones I was planning on getting Get back with me and let me know.

nice work

Thanks man

damn it took me about 20-25 hrs on my TSX retro. nice work getting it done in 5. But I would suggest to seal the back area somehow, otherwise you'll get condensation when it rains and dust and all that crap will get in there.....happened to me a lot until I sealed it off w/ this gap filler insulating foam i got at walmart lol. Oh and i'm sure you used silicone for the glass lense right? But good work, lets see those nighttime pics!

Thanks for tips, I will be sealing the back up pretty soon. What did you use and where did you buy it? I will get night time pics up soon

nice work

Thanks dawg

[trubluryder]

Here are few more pics that i just took right now, will get some night time pics soon

Overall they came out really nice, better then I expected. The only slight flaw that I will need fix is the driver side projector. Its centered but aimed slightly to the left.

Let me know whatchu guys think

[F22HB]

Goodjob man, they look nice. I wanna see some nighttime pics though lol.

[JoshM]

Goodjob man, they look nice. I wanna see some nighttime pics though lol.

Word.

[trubluryder]

Goodjob man, they look nice. I wanna see some nighttime pics though lol.

Thanks dawg, urs looks really clean too Which projectors did you go with? I will try and get some night time pics up later today.

[trubluryder]

Word.

Thanks mang

[F22HB]

Thanks dawg, urs looks really clean too Which projectors did you go with? I will try and get some night time pics up later today.

I cheated and went with ebay, just blackhoused them and put 8000k hids in.

[King James]

Did you seal the back with anything?.....I highly suggest doing so before driving around in the rain.....I use fiberglass to seal the back when I do retros.....If you know how to work with fiberglass it looks oem

Looks good though.....Retros are one of the best mods you can ever do to a car....IMO

And we need cut-off/night time pics lol

[JSMexUsa]

Looks good, you will double or triple the light output you used to have from the useless halogen bulbs.

The easiest way to seal the back of the headlight is with aluminum tape; now if want something better you can buy 2 small kool aid type containers, cut the bottom half and glue it to the back of the headlight and it has a lid where you can make a little hole to pass the wires or you can also buy a plumbing pipe reducer from any hardware store and glue it, with this 2 ways you can keep the bulb holder and bulb fully enclosed just make sure that you check the space with the battery.

Here is a link of my retro from years ago:
http://high-intensity.org/forums/showthread.php?t=236

TSX projectors will fit and are maybe 10% brighter and have more color.

TL projectors are like 25% brighter or more but do not fit.

[King James]

The easiest way to seal the back of the headlight is with aluminum tape

it doesnt seal it well.....I used aluminum tape right after my first retro just to get it up and running....water will find a way to get in.