DIY Facelift Coupe Angel Eyes

Originally Posted by szand

Hey Leo are your headlights aftermarket 6000K or the OEM Philips bulbs??

They are OEM

Originally Posted by LeontiyZHP

They are OEM

They look good!! How well do they match with the angel eyes in person? I cant really tell from the pictures...is there a noticeable color difference? (Im deciding between LEDs and CCFLs and the LEDs have a very noticeable color difference with the OEM headlight)

Originally Posted by LeontiyZHP

LeontiyZHP's DIY For Facelift Angel Eyes

I'm not a professional installer and I'm not going to be held liable for anything that may go wrong with the install. I'm simply stating the instruction I followed when installing my CCFL Angel Eyes. Anything you do wrong is your own fault. I've never done anything like that before, but still was able to accomplish this on my own. So do this at your own risk! Some of these steps might sound just like the ones that are listed in the sources I've used, which are very helpful BTW.
MAKE SURE TO TEST THE ANGEL EYES PRIOR TO GOING THROUGH ALL THE TROUBLE OF INSTALLING THEM. MAKE SURE THEY WORK!



I would recommend to start with the wiring in order to make sure that you have proper connections and that angel eyes are in working condition.



I followed the instructions of "FastM," which are found in the e46fanatics DIY forum. http://www.fastm.com/m3/angeleyes.html

Begin with taking off the headlight.
• Remove trim, under the headlight.
• Remove 4 screws, 2 on top, and 2 on the bottom, can be seen between the headlight and the bumper. (I used an 8mm driver)
• Unplug all of the headlight connectors, should be 5.
• Take out the headlight, have to wiggle it around some and get the right angle for it. (My left came out a lot easier than the right, not sure why.)
• You can also use "Sillieidiot's" instructions on removing the headlight. http://www.socale46.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1541#1541

Disassembling the Headlight.
• Torque wrench/screw driver needed
• Remove the connectors on the bottom of the headlight, 2 silver blocks with connectors, 3 screws each.
• Take off, 2 rubber tubes on each side of the headlight
• Remove the rubber trim on the side of the headlight
• Remove the turn signal bulb
• Remove 2 screws on the back
• REMEMBER WHERE EVERYTHING NEEDS TO GO BECAUSE YOU WILL NEED TO PUT IT ALL BACK TOGETHER



Heating and Taking apart the Headlight (Followed instructions from http://www.jlevisw.com/Bake.pdf)
• Preheat the oven: 250' F
• Make sure to have: a flathead screwdriver, Mittens, and Heat Protective gloves.
• Place the headlight onto an aluminum sheet
• Set timer to 15 minutes
• Place the headlight into the oven
• Watch the progress, make sure the headlight doesn't start to melt for some reason, 250' is not hot enough to melt the headlight, and did nothing to mine.
• Once the timer runs out, take out the headlight with the mittens or something to protect you from the heat, IT WILL BE HOT!!
• Start to wiggle the screwdriver in between the clear and black parts of the headlight. Make sure to unclip the clips between the pieces. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BREAK THEM!
• Pull the headlight lens apart from the base
• There will be a couple of screws that you will need to unscrew to take the interior pieces of the headlight apart.




Installing the Angel Eyes• Once the headlight is apart, place the angel eyes in the desired location and make sure to use double sided take to secure them in place.
• Run the wire to the back. Once the headlight was assembled back, I ran mine through the cap of the xenon headlamp.



Assembling everything back together
• Assemble the interior of the headlight back.
• Assemble the headlight together. Basically undo everything that you needed to do to take it apart.

I decided to smoke my corners at the same time.




• DO NOT SCREW ANYTHING BACK YET.
• Once everything is placed together, place the Headlight back in the oven just like you did the first time. This will allow the glue to heat up again, and will enable you to ensure that the headlight is glued back together. Once you take out the headlight, IT WILL BE HOT!!! Make sure to push everything back into place, and make sure that the clips are in the desired position. Make sure not to break anything.
• After the headlight is together in one piece, you can safely screw everything back into place, and place the rubbers back on it.
• You can now place the headlight back in place and test it out.

Complete setup Pictures




Sources:
1. Wiring - http://www.fastm.com/m3/angeleyes.html
a. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...=570822&page=2
This contains a video of the second trigger wire that I had to connect
2. Baking the Headlight - http://www.jlevisw.com/Bake.pdf
3. Sillieidiot's Guide to taking the Headlights off http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=9217044
4. There's might have been other sources that I've looked through, but cannot remember which ones, so I apologize for not quoting.
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=551767 - Another thread I used.
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=576910 - Questions I had.

Hello man! I was searching for photos of facelift models with angel eyes and i saw your DIY post! It's very accurate, and help me very much. Yesterday i put my angel eyes in my facelift coupe!!
Thank you very much!

John from Greece

Nice Write Up. We'll be waiting to see some pictures of your headlights when they're all done.

Hey there everyone, first post on this forum but anywho ... I have an Aug 1998 BMW 318i E46 Auto 1.9L 4D (Australian Model), could I somehow do this mod or somehow fit the Angel Eyes onto my car? I freakin LOVE them but I dunno how to do it or dunno if its even possible.

Originally Posted by Drizzles

Hey there everyone, first post on this forum but anywho ... I have an Aug 1998 BMW 318i E46 Auto 1.9L 4D (Australian Model), could I somehow do this mod or somehow fit the Angel Eyes onto my car? I freakin LOVE them but I dunno how to do it or dunno if its even possible.

Easily, you can go with either a CCFL or LED kit to retrofit rings into your existing headlights. These are complete kits that include everything you need for the entire install.

MyCarr 80+ LED Angel Eye Kit

MyCarr CCFL Kit

I know there's a lot of people that have done this to their cars.. Post pics here if you used this DIY!

i didn't use this diy but i did it lots of times to other people's cars ahah

Originally Posted by sillieidiot

i didn't use this diy but i did it lots of times to other people's cars ahah

You didn't have to use it since you contributed a lot to this DIY from the beginning!! lol

Post pics!!

Anyone have experience with Right-hand Drive E46 Facelift Coupes?
I cant seem to find an entry thru the firewall for my remote trigger, both sides of the "box" thing have stuff in it...

Originally Posted by JacksonY

Anyone have experience with Right-hand Drive E46 Facelift Coupes?
I cant seem to find an entry thru the firewall for my remote trigger, both sides of the "box" thing have stuff in it...

No idea..

Soooo.. I just spent 2 hours taking out and baking my headlights haha.. now when I get to the point of mounting my Orion V2's for my '06 325ci, I am dumbfounded,,, Why is there nothing to clip the actual halos in place??? Am I only supposed to used double sided tape and that's it? Also... I've looked through all the DIY's and can't find much on the '04 -'06 coupes.. any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I used clear silicon thin bead behind the rings they don't move and the silicon is heat resistant. Just my 2 cents.

yes, use double sided tape. i would suggest you replace the tape that they give you with something from 3m. the tape they provide are crap. i've had instances where they fall off and i have to redo the install

Originally Posted by JacksonY

Anyone have experience with Right-hand Drive E46 Facelift Coupes?
I cant seem to find an entry thru the firewall for my remote trigger, both sides of the "box" thing have stuff in it...

any pictures you have will be helpful. i remember helping some guy awhile back, but i don't remember where i told him to route it lol

Okay thanks guys, This install definitely exceeded the time I thought it would take, ugh. Wiring is gonna be a b****..

wiring is the easy part to me.

i just ordered the orion v2's.....im honestyl scared as hell to do this haha ANYONE FROM MARYLAND come help me!!!!

I don't believe this was covered or asked, but if it has, I apologize in advance. I know that silicone has been mentioned to use as an extra sealant in place of the glue, but does anyone know what the kind of glue the OEM glue is or would be most similar glue to the OEM glue?

you shoudnt have to use extra glue, there is enough prexisting gunk in there to get the job done multiple times