[RedStripe]

Stating the obvious, if you do a HID conversion on your non-Xenon car, you will have HID lighting, but not the Xenon/Angel Eye look. Really, if you are more concerned about the look of the headlights, I would advise to just replace your headlamps unit with the BMW OEM xenon headlamp unit. The actual lighting system might not be very important to you at all.

Also, I agreet that the Phillips(Hella) brand is the best brand out there for HID conversion lighting.

Originally Posted by bmw330ipty

Yes, that is true. When doing this on BMW's and MB's you normally get like an error message. But it does not affect your car. You can take it to the dealer to get rid of this error message. This is what i did with my fathers Mercedes.

I think this is the best solution if you still want xenons but dont want to pay more than $1,000 (i think) for OEM angel eyes. And the lights on the sites are made by philips which is the best brand to use.

[bmw330ipty]

Originally Posted by RedStripe

Stating the obvious, if you do a HID conversion on your non-Xenon car, you will have HID lighting, but not the Xenon/Angel Eye look. Really, if you are more concerned about the look of the headlights, I would advise to just replace your headlamps unit with the BMW OEM xenon headlamp unit. The actual lighting system might not be very important to you at all.

Also, I agreet that the Phillips(Hella) brand is the best brand out there for HID conversion lighting.

Yeah, getting original angel eyes with xenon is the best solution, but its very expensive and a long procedure.. if you dont want to spend thousands on the original angel eyes but still want Xenon i would highly recommend a HID conversion kit...but if u can afford angel eyes then do it...

[BellasBmw]

Originally Posted by bmw330ipty

Yeah, getting original angel eyes with xenon is the best solution, but its very expensive and a long procedure.. if you dont want to spend thousands on the original angel eyes but still want Xenon i would highly recommend a HID conversion kit...but if u can afford angel eyes then do it...

Well im not too sure if i can afford the angel eyes, i mean why spend a few thousands, i might as well have gotten the 330, so i guess ill have to live with the fact that i didnt get angel eyes and in the future, maybe ill just replace the headlights with hella xenons.. do you know how much/ how to install?

[fredtoo]

I really don't see the big deal over tha "angel eyes".

If I don't see them while I'm in the car, it's not really a high priority for me. I see the value of leather, heated seats, satelite radio, power seats, and such. But, spend $800 for headlights for someone else to look at? (who most likely doesn't care anyway).
I have to draw the line somewhere.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by fredtoo

I really don't see the big deal over tha "angel eyes".

If I don't see them while I'm in the car, it's not really a high priority for me. I see the value of leather, heated seats, satelite radio, power seats, and such. But, spend $800 for headlights for someone else to look at? (who most likely doesn't care anyway).
I have to draw the line somewhere.

Hey, to each its own. I personally like it. Everytime my wife pulls the car out of or into the driveway, I can see the "angel eyes". The xenon comes with adaptive too, so you can definitely see the difference when going through twisty roads. If I were to rank them of importance, it would be power seats, leather, nav, xenon, fold-down seats, sat and heated seats (no crazy winter in LA!)

[bmw330ipty]

Originally Posted by BellasBmw

Well im not too sure if i can afford the angel eyes, i mean why spend a few thousands, i might as well have gotten the 330, so i guess ill have to live with the fact that i didnt get angel eyes and in the future, maybe ill just replace the headlights with hella xenons.. do you know how much/ how to install?

if you cant afford the angel eyes then i you shouldnt do it... but xenons do make a huge difference (angel eyes or not) and i highly suggest you get the HID conversion kits.

www.xenonpros.com
www.xenondepot.com

those are the best sites with Phillips HID's and the E90 uses H7 halogen bulbs.. the kit with shipping is around $400... you can install them your self (there are online tutorials) or you can get someone to install them for maybe $50 cuz it takes about 1 hour to do it.

[HRC]

I would not recommend HID kits. They are designed to go into Halogen reflector-based housing. This is not good because HID bulbs run really bright(about 21/2 to 3 times brighter than Halogen) and need a either a projector or a reflector designed for the HID bulb. The kits just make it so you can plug the HID bulb into your stock housing. You will blind oncoming traffic and your beam pattern will SUCK. The stock headlight housing is not designed for that much light output. Besides, HID kits are illegal here in the states now. Best way is retrofit the stock BMW projetor peices onto your car. I did this for my Prelude.

Danny

[Swoosh]

Well maybe there isn't a great solution right now, but the E90 is a new car and the aftermarket is always evolving/adapting to new models.

Who knows what options may be availible 6-12 months down the line.

[RichP]

Danny,
You get your prelude xenons from Specialque on the prelude forums?

I was thinking about retrofitting projectors into the E90 as well.

-rich

[HRC]

Originally Posted by RichP

Danny,
You get your prelude xenons from Specialque on the prelude forums?

I was thinking about retrofitting projectors into the E90 as well.

-rich

Yea, got my old e46 projectors from Luke and AndyOKC did the work. I just sold them trading my car in...

Danny

[RichP]

Haha, figured that. I have been friends with Luke since high school many years ago. He got involved because we put xenons without projectors in his prelude, and, as you know, it was a DISASTER. The same mess it would be if you just put xenons in the BMW halogen housing.

Preludes are/were fun cars..especially with JRSCs!

[Hunter399]

What type of shops could I get to install after market Xenons?
Any ideas on what a BMW dealer would charge to install angle eyes?

Thanks!

[tl_boy]

I was in the same boat that i have heard so much about.... 325 with xenons meant we would have to endure a minimum 2 month wait... which also meant being subject to a $600 price increase, and an increasing finance rate...my wife needed the car in at most a 3 week timeframe, so I couldnt' wait...while i kind of wish i did, i just couldn't.

In any case, I have an idea though and maybe someone can follow up on this, esp. someone in Canada. If, as stated by Canadians, the 325 ALSO has the xenon package, that means there are NO E90 3 series in Canada that do not have the xenons...meaning there aftermarket demand will be less...esp. the non auto leveling xenons, as are standard in the 325. Won't it be cheaper for these reasons (plus the stronger u.s. dollar to cd dollar) for us to just get in touch with a BMW dealer willing to deal and buy 'em?

Even in the U.S., some dealers give better deals than others (Chapman, Pacific BMW, Circle BMW) on E90 parts. If we can find a Canadian dealer, and do a group buy, say we commit to 20 units of non auto leveling Xenons (i don't care for the auto leveling, i just want angel eyes, and i am presuming 95% on the board w/o xenons are in the same boat).

what do you us guys/gals think? anyone have good connections with a canadian dealer/parts dept?

[BellasBmw]

Im down for it. I dont care about the leveling either, i just want the angel eye look.. And i def would have had to wait 3 months for them.. So, let me know what happens. Maybe a bday or xmas gift

[Hunter399]

I do not care about the leveling either, I just want ANGEL EYES!!!

Again, who could I get to install them?

The dealership is a rip off...


Is there anyone else?

[Hornet]

Originally Posted by hunter399@mac.com

I do not care about the leveling either

You mean the adaptive headlights. The auto-leveling is standard on every factory xenon system.

[getopts]

I'm down for it. My biggest regret is not getting xenons

[spitfire6000]

i have a 325i without xenons and i would definately want to see how much it would be to get it. Anyone know of what the dealership pricing is?

[Wolf359]

Wow, I hadn't seen this thread, and now that it's been bumped up I just saw my car at the lake, hehe!

[findtom]

Originally Posted by Swoosh

My car is almost here, I should have it on the 18th or 19th (Black 325i, sport package, sunroof, steptronic), but now I'm wondering about the Xenon option.

Note that while I think they're cool, the angel eyes (daylights) is something I really don't need or the the lights that can angle on turns.

But I am concerned that the non-Xenon lights look very different from Xenon lights (even when the lights are off)? Some pictures seem to make the the non-Xenons look quite different.

I just wanna make sure the look of the car isn't dramatically different with the regular lights versus Xenons (aside from when the Angel Eyes are turned on).

You're in Canada? The 325i comes standard with Xenons.

Edit: Whoops, someone beat me to it. The 323 is now out, and that doesn't come with Xenons.

[ska///235i]

Originally Posted by Swoosh

Hrm, that looks very different.

But I don't want to have to cancel my car order to reorder one with Xenons. If I do that I'll probably have to wait till September or later and miss out on the entire summer

You gonna regret it.........Xenon is a MUST for me, or I'll not buy...Seriously

[pprahlad]

So I got this amazing Silver 325i with ZSP, but passed on the xenons. I regret that everytime I look at my baby.

Did anyone get after market xenons that look and perform well?