ellipsoid cuttoff mod

[Boone.Msi]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443478

has anyone done this to the e34/e32? I thought about doing it, but it looks like alot of things could go wrong removing the headlights. That and the car is my daily driver so i cant aford to F up.

whats everyones thought on this?

I also have retrofitted 9005 Sylvana silverstars(bluish/purple bulb) so i thought the cuttof color would work pretty well.

[Itsnotme1988]

This looks pretty cool!

[Qube]

I'll put it on the todo list. I have a brand new set of Depos that I'm butchering with CCFLs (instead of four bulbs). Three weeks of vacation and I'll be back to tackle them.

[Macv]

Haven't done it for my car because of the pain to get the headlights off (plus it's cold). But my buddy did it to his volvo and it's actually really nice. I've always loved how the newer HID cars have the HID flashes.

[Boone.Msi]

I'll put it on the todo list. I have a brand new set of Depos that I'm butchering with CCFLs (instead of four bulbs). Three weeks of vacation and I'll be back to tackle them.

awesome, I dont know how much you read but after a few pages one of the guys came to the conclusion that the washer trick wasnt very effective and actually blurred the cuttoff.

So bending the shield is the key part in this experiment. I believe the shield we are going to bend is actually what creates the ____ ____/ pattern right?

Qube, if you do end up being the first to try this, please post a few pics.:D

[markus]

seems like a lot of work. personally i want to upgrade my headlights but im thinking about doing the smileys. how hard is it to retrofit those babies? also who sells the most affordable?

[nizmainiac]

you're right, the shield that needs to be bent is responsable for the headlight beam kick up , and if i remember rightly in the u.k. if you have no beam kick up your lights will fail the m.o.t.

[Boone.Msi]

seems like a lot of work. personally i want to upgrade my headlights but im thinking about doing the smileys. how hard is it to retrofit those babies? also who sells the most affordable?

What exactly do you mean by retrofit? bulb? headlight swap?cuttoff pattern? cuttoff mod?

[Macv]

Smileys are just swapped, no work needed. Only wiring from 9005/9006 to H1.

This thread is about bending the cutoff line inside the headlights. (For no specific headlight)

[AngryPopTart]

So what happens if you remove the shield completely? Does it blind people? Also, the shields look like they are made of aluminum or tin. I would hit this with some 2000 grit and some buffing compound and see what happens. (carefully, of course) ^_^

The last thing I tried (because I was being cheap) was using paint stripper to take the coating off of the tips of my 9006's. This did brighten them, but obviously they aren't as bright as 9005's.

[Boone.Msi]

So what happens if you remove the shield completely? Does it blind people?

not sure, it would probably just cause the light to go in all directions, which would actually put less light on the road.

I have the 9005's retrofitted and it still isn't bright enough. Sometimes when it rains i keep checking the light switch to see if the lights are even on...

HID will fix this obviously, but im on a tight budget so i don't see that happening anytime soon.

[nizmainiac]

it would be like driving on high beam exept that it is low beam, and you would get an awful lot of people flashing they're lights at you thinking you were on high beam

[romeox929]

ive done this mod with my halogens on my euro ellipsoids and its not as exact because of the lack of brightness that the other examples portray. but against my garage wall around 10 feet or less, i can clearly see the more purple/blue cutoff...so all i need is HID :D

[Jon K]

This is an old school trick from HID Planet. What they DONT tell you is that you lose precision. You no longer have a ___/ sharp cutoff, and its more of a blurry line with rainbows at the top. It's not worth doing.

[Boone.Msi]

Been doing some research, found this...

http://www.geocities.com/JVXdriver/beam_comparison.htm

Ive been going back and forth on how to do this, keep the stock projector or swap for a tsx... I would rather just retrofit the tsx projectors but i have no idea if they are the same size as our e34 projectors.

Qube, any chance you have time to try something like this? i know you've got some depos laying around...:D

[Boone.Msi]

Been doing some research, found this...

http://www.geocities.com/JVXdriver/beam_comparison.htm

Ive been going back and forth on how to do this, keep the stock projector or swap for a tsx... I would rather just retrofit the tsx projectors but i have no idea if they are the same size as our e34 projectors.

Qube, any chance you have time to try something like this? i know you've got some depos laying around...:D