head light assembly advice

[bbig119]

The bulb on my low beam on the driver side of my 540 came loose, and melted the part of the plastic assembly that the the clip that holds the bulb in place is fits in.

I've got a 9/93 E34 540 and I believe that the head lights are stock.

Looking at Real OEM (RealOEM.com * BMW E34 540i HEADLIGHT PARTS), it looks like there is a head light insert that is attached to the assembly (#1) that I need. Is it that simple?

It looks like I can get this new for about $70, but I wonder if this kind of thing is easily sourced used for cheaper.

-- Bryan

[BMWDriver]

They scarcely are sold as separate pieces when used, but rather full sets. You could upgrade to projectors (if you don't have 'em) or halos (ooh ! I'm gonna get flamed for that one!). All kidding aside, you should give a look here as there are plenty of e34 used parts for sale : E34 Classifieds - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum

And of course, you could post up in this forum's classifieds as a LF thread.

[Tiger]

My advice is to buy both low beam... left and right.... and swap it out. Don't buy used because the glass is chipped and sandblasted that it drastically reduce the light output. So buy new.

Other thing is I'd avoid those cheap headlight set... like Depo or all those other knockoff... they are realy poorly made and has poor light output.

[bbig119]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm on board with doing both the left and right side. The copper clips that hold both bulbs in place haven't fit snugly for a while, so this was bound to happen. A few years ago, with a younger car, I was considering upgrading the lights. Now though, I don't drive the car as much and age is starting to show, so I'm definitely interested in fixing this problem, but I don't want to spend extra for cosmetic upgrades. Yes I realize that upgraded lights is functional, but you get me point.