Projector39/Umnitza BMW Headlight & Re-Installation for E39s Predator Angel Eyes, and Lamin-X Installation

Projector39/Umnitza BMW Headlight & Re-Installation for E39s Predator Angel Eyes, and Lamin-X Installation Now it is time to remove the headlights! Obviously you have to open the hood to do this. 100_3630.jpg There are basically 4 bolts holding each light on. 2 are on the top. The other 2 are down lower (left and right). You will find them easily enough when you get into the job. Be very careful getting the bottom 2 out as it is easy to drop the bolts and you will spend 10 minutes at least looking for them. Ask me how I know. 100_3631.jpg Page 1

Once you have the bolts removed you have to remove the 4 pigtails on each side. Easy enough. Then the whole light assembly comes right out! Once out you need to remove all the bulbs (leave all the Xenon stuff on). You will also remove the rubber trim and the painted trim piece on the bottom. 100_3632.jpg Since these are going on EBay I decide to give them the full Janvil treatment again. Once more - I started with the heavy polish. 100_3633.jpg Page 2

Then the light polish. 100_3634.jpg And finally a much better looking light ready for ebay! I did hear something rattling around in there but when I tested the lights on the car they worked fine so I don't get it? 100_3635.jpg Page 3

Here are the lights semi restored. 100_3636.jpg Another picture of the lights with the amber turn signals. Still a nice Xenon upgrade for someone! 100_3637.jpg Page 4

These little turn signal bulb housings both broke on removal. Horrible design as they have little wings that just crumble! 100_3638.jpg Well I want to slam dunk something so I take a break to install the side markers. They basically "pop out". I wedged a very small eye glasses screw driver on one side to pull them out. 60 second mod! :) 100_3639.jpg Page 5

Here they are with the new side marker. 100_3640.jpg You will need to remove the old high beam light from the old housing. 100_3716.jpg Page 6

Here is what the car looks like eye-less! 100_3717.jpg Here are the new predator Xenix bulbs for the high beams. 100_3719.jpg Page 7

Here are the new Depo lights. Nice! 100_3731.jpg Here is my clipping in the new bulbs on the Depo headlights and connecting up the pigtail. 100_3720.jpg Page 8

The lights come with some rubber boots. You need to cut a hole in them so that you can pull through the wiring harness. I basically pinched the top of the rubber boot and made a couple cuts to get a square that was smaller then the harness. It still formed a very tight seal! You then pull the harness through so it seals tightly. NOTE - make sure you clip the big boot (the small boot needs no modifications) 100_3721.jpg Here is the connector for the high beams. 100_3722.jpg Page 9

There are 2 dongles and you only use one on our cars. 100_3723.jpg I taped off the dongle with the yellow wire. 100_3725.jpg Page 10

here is what it looks like taped off. 100_3726.jpg Now you can cover the smaller opening. It fits right into the slot. 100_3727.jpg Page 11

You are now ready to hook up the OEM dongle to the Xenon ballast and the ballast to the Depo lights. 100_3730.jpg Once everything is all hooked up you need to transfer over the plastic painted piece and the rubber gasket underneath it to the new Depo headlight. 100_3732.jpg Page 12

Here is the new light. There is a bolted on piece under the light that you will have to remove as it won't fit otherwise. Why they even have it on there is a mystery to me! 100_3733.jpg Connection #1. 100_3734.jpg Page 13

Connection #2 100_3735.jpg Connection #3 100_3736.jpg Page 14

Hang on to this one. It plugs into the harness we will install in a minute! 100_3737.jpg I decided to tape together the igniter and the ballast. I wanted to mount them vertically just like the original OEM and off the bodywork. There is a spot horizontal by the oil filter but it has a valley to collect spilling oil and looks like it would pool with water. Ideally there would be a mounting bracket like the OEM unit. 100_3738.jpg Page 15

I screwed back in the lights and started wire tying things together. I used 20 wire ties in this project. It still looks like hell but you can at least make it look a little better. 100_3739.jpg OK now time to install the harness that will trigger the angel eyes. Since my car never had angel eyes you need the harness that activates them and power to them. I popped open the battery connector, removed the bolt, inserted the eye connector, and tightened everything back up. I ran the wire out the back for cable management. 100_3740.jpg Page 16

I then removed this bolt as it will be used in a for the negative connector. You basically run the eye connector under this bolt. There is another bolt under it that you can attach the relay too (or at least I believe it is a relay!). 100_3741.jpg Here it is all installed. I used the bolt below it to mount the control box as shown. The red wire I am showing needs to find it's way to a wire in the ECU that will operate the daytime running lights. The harness will also have a shorter and longer cable that connects to the angel eyes. 100_3742.jpg Page 17

Here is everything all connected (+, -, and control box). I did a lot of clean up or it will look like crap! 100_3744.jpg Here you can see I wrapped and routed the wire to other wires and used existing cable management to make it look clean. I run the long angel eyes power wire to the passenger side by running the wires under the trim by the radiator. It runs perfectly in there and keeps everything looking good. 100_3745.jpg Page 18

Now for the trigger wire! You will need to go to the firewall on the passenger side and remove the cabin air box and filter. It should be self explanatory how to remove this. Under it is the ECU that removes with 4 bolts. Remove the cover. 100_3746.jpg Here is the spaghetti of wires. 100_3747.jpg Page 19

Here is a close-up of the passenger side light. Notice how I ran the braided power wire through the radiator gap under the hood and I also ran the trigger wire too. You have to connect this trigger to a wire in the ECU so as you may have figured out by now - it is not long enough. I went to Radio Shack and purchased a wire pack (Red, White, Black of I believe 20 gauge wire). You will also need a but connector or be handy soldering wires. 100_3760.jpg Here is my attempt to clean up the installation on the driver's side 100_3761.jpg Page 20

Another picture of the engine compartment after more wire ties and clean up. 100_3762.jpg Here is a picture of the angel eyes from the front. Big improvement! 100_3763.jpg Page 21

OK - here is the but connector and some simple snips and wire stripping tools. You basically feed the new extension wire and the existing wire into the but connector and crimp them down with lineman pliers! Easy and foolproof! 100_3765.jpg Here is the connected wire. You will want to wire tie these together to protect them from pulling apart. 100_3766.jpg Page 22

I took a break to do the Lumin-X covers. Basically you wet the lights, peal off the Lumin-X cover, position (water allows them to move), trim, and wait. I cleaned them one last time. 100_3767.jpg After I had them on I marked the excess following the lines of the car. 100_3768.jpg Page 23

I peeled them back and trimmed with scissors. They look terrible after installation and to be honest - after a week still looked bad. I tried a hair dryer and other tricks to get them to clear up. I found them acceptable on the fogs but ran out of patience and thought I would always see them so I am risking it and I removed them after a week. I was told eventually they would look awesome but I couldn't wait and figured I would always see them. YMMV. 100_3769.jpg More cable management on the passenger side light. 100_3770.jpg Page 24

Here I wrapped the trigger wire around the harness going back to the ECU. 100_3771.jpg I can't "brake into" the harness so I ran it through the cover. 100_3772.jpg Page 25

Here is the magic wire you need to tap into. It is a red wire with a purple stripe. There are 10 of them and I am told any of them will work fine! OK - I pick one out for surgery. 100_3773.jpg You basically run the but connector through the ECU wire and your trigger wire into the other side. Crimp, cover the ECU, and setup the cabin air filter again! You are now done!! 100_3774.jpg Page 26

Here is another pic of the front. 100_3776.jpg Make sure you wire tie your new trigger wire before putting everything back together. Also TEST TEST TEST everything. Daytime running angel eyes, turn signals, low Xenon beams, and high beams. The new lights are easy to position up and down / left and right. I pointed them mostly down on mine as they are pointing straight into space by default. YMMV. 100_3777.jpg Page 27

Another picture of the front with the side 100_3927.jpg Another of the front 100_3928.jpg Page 28