Zkw projector bowls shot

It's not hard to find some way to mount it, but getting it straight and centered and also having it be up to the quality you want is the diff. My Bosch retrofit is "good enough" but it's not really the quality I want.

What you don't see in that picture is the ZKW frame has a lot of bracing and support in the back which you also have to cut away. Look at my DIY pictures to see what I mean.

Yes there is a lot of bracing back there, but if you get the projector mounted securely to the frame it will take up the slack of that bracing when it sits flat on the frame as appose to the zkw/al which are held by the frame as the frame is acting as the fulcrum of a lever.
It was not that bad if you have time to think and do a good job and get all the right parts you need. Not something you should try if you haven't done lots of research on how to take the light apart and what kind of plan you need to have. I spent a good two months almost everyday looking, reading and sourcing parts. I got an extra frame and got the projectors and put one together before I ever took the light apart. Time span was about two and half weeks. I walked some from bimmerfest through it in email, and he succeeded because he researched what was needed.

I would re-read that thread I posted...there has been a lot of new activity and I would strongly recommend against the FX-Rs after reading it. If you really want FX projectors for some reason, get OEM ones.

This is the thread so you don't have to go hunting for it:
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/view...718dfd935a6e56

Here are the posts:

just a follow up to this post. I actually switched jobs and now drive alot in the dark at night. I absolutly love the e-46's. I put the fx-r headlight in for a couple days to see how I liked driving on the high way with them and went right back to the e-46's. they light up the highway amazingly.

I have FR's in my car right now, and personally i find the distance lacking with them i've never been happy with the low beam, the high beam when combined with my factory highs are great, but the distance with the low beam has never impressed me, I'm planning on switching over to Murano's if they will fit, if they wont i may switch ro RS6's cause i had those before and loved them

Wow, that shot is great! Yeah, the E46 are great for frontward visibility..... nice, bright hotspot.

the e46 is a very interesting projector for how tiny it is. it makes use of extra light better than any projector ive seen. sc430, TL, etc all pale in comparison using a 50w setup. the e46 just seems like it was made for it. i still miss that old retro, my current 35w valeos are like candles. when i had e46, streetlights were no match and s2k looked like halogen when i was passing lol. i would be driving in a group of cars and it looked like i was the only car with lights on

I have E46 in one of my cars and love them.

FXR have so many defects and most of guys that have them never compare them before buying them or had any other projectors before.

Just to name a few defects:

They have most of the light output on the foreground so close to the car and very little to nothing under the cutoff for far distance lighting where is most needed.

They have a really annoying pencil laser beam in the middle of each projector.

The cutoff on both sides is not straight, they both go slightly upwards which is dangerous for oncoming drivers.

You can not use them without the bulb spacer/adapter.

You can only use them with 1 brand of bulbs, because some other brands won't fit properly.

Some guys found out the chrome peels and even if they have warranty will be a nightmare and expensive to re-do the retro to exchange the bowls a few times.

The good:

Small and easy to retrofit.
Have clear lens which produces some nice color.
Good high beams.

I never will buy these defective projectors and I do not understand that the sellers never fixed them.

That proves again and again that fakes are never better than original 99% of the time.

You know I agree with some of the things people say about the fxr's, but most of the people on that forum are on their because they are hid enthusiasts. I have had other cars with hid's and I will say that the fxr's that I have are better than any of the others. I don't have a lot of the problems that people talk about. My cutoff is straight as it can be from side to side, the light is not brighter in the foreground but more at the cutoff. I am not worried about using other brands of bulbs without the spacers. One thing I will agree with is that there is nothing better than oem. The coating on the bowl may start to peel, I won't doubt that, and when time permits I will do the real tfx. No sense in trying to get warranty out of anyone. It would cost more in time and shipping than it is worth.
So with that I would say yes go oem, but if you want easy (relatively with the mounting holes) use the fxr's. If you want it done right forever use the oem fx and tsx lenses. No replicas. I guess I got sold because it came as a complete assembly.

Can anyone please show me a pic of what a burned Out bolw/ dead reflector looks like. I'm told this may be my issue with dim lights. But looking from the outside, I can't see anything. But I don't really know what I'm looking for. They seem like they have always been. And I have only just notice the dim lights.

If you drive 2000 330ci you dont need to worry about burnt hid bowls.

Your problem is probably a dieing bulb.

all these mixed feelings about which one is better and which ones is easier to install is making my head spin...

i suffer from the zkw burnt bowls and the nights are getting longer this time of the year and i need to see!
ugh decision decision... :/

Just add 35 watt 5000K or 6000K HID fogs to your car to replace what you have lost until you make a decision. It's a cheap bandaid to give you more time to decide. I haven't had anyone blink me because of the fogs. I guess because the fog reflectors are meant to keep light lower to the ground it doesn't shine as high as a reflector headlight setup. Use 5000K in a reflector if you want to match 6000K through a projector. My 6000K fogs look like they would match an 7-8000K projector bulb. My next mod will be FXR retrofit. For a couple hundred bucks, you can't beat the light output/price!

There is a vedor on this site, can't remember the name of the company but they sell the FX-R projector. It is a replacement for the bowl and has the projector. Shipped to the US is like $130 a pair. I am in the same situation you are and am going to use this option. His name is Sword and his email is auto1999@gmail.com
Here is a picture of what you get.

an anyone confirm this theory:
-If one were to purchase the whole frame off a Bosch / AL headlights with projectors in them, they would fit the ZKW headlight. Are the frames that the projector is held by interchangeable between AL/ Bosch and ZKW?

Can anyone please confirm this theory.

Originally Posted by ozymandias

I would re-read that thread I posted...there has been a lot of new activity and I would strongly recommend against the FX-Rs after reading it. If you really want FX projectors for some reason, get OEM ones.

This is the thread so you don't have to go hunting for it:
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/view...718dfd935a6e56

Here are the posts:

Ugh, I'm just about ready to start my fx-r retrofit, and then I read this post.

Anyone manage to fit TLs in e46 housings? Or how about hella e55 projectors? If I'm not mistaken, that's what my dad's e60 has, and they definitely light up the road nicely (probably the best bixenon highbeam I've seen)

Originally Posted by Blocked Out

an anyone confirm this theory:
-If one were to purchase the whole frame off a Bosch / AL headlights with projectors in them, they would fit the ZKW headlight. Are the frames that the projector is held by interchangeable between AL/ Bosch and ZKW?

Can anyone please confirm this theory.

Ha, I'll answer my own question .

Yes.

See sig, I did this retrofit and it was a breeze.

I have ZKW Bi Xenon headlights on a 2003 325i sedan and plan on buying AL Bi Xenon headlights off eBay.

Can someone please confirm that it's a direct fit/plug and play? No mods necessary. Thanks...

To anyone who is interested, the ZKW bi xenon headlights will be for sale as soon as their replaced. Haven't checked the bowls yet, but I'm pretty sure they're toast. Can't see squat at night...

I am in the same position that you were in. I have ZKW's and want to replace the assembly with either the AL's or Bosch. What did you end up doing?

I just finished the E90 to ZKW bowl swap. Minor retrofitting involved and it only took me 1.5 hrs. Total cost $104.00...

E90 bowls still get burnt up from what I've seen.

Best thing to do is either get AL projectors or retrofit in FXR 3.0 projectors.

I don't see how they could. They're completely metal...

Hmm, alright. maybe some misinformation floating around. I did see a thread on hidplanet by a moderator that they put in Osram CBI bulbs into their E90 and the output wasn't the best.