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#1. Re: [E36M3] RE: Headlights that work - from Don Eilenberger
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:09:12 -0400 From: Don Eilenberger <deilenberger@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] RE: Headlights that work At 01:14 PM 9/26/2005, Reed wrote: >I did read (and enjoy) your article in Roundel, but I think you're >missing two points: > >1. Many harmonized US and Euro-spec HID housings throw up light to the >right like Euro non-hid lights do, regardless of what BMW stock HID >housings may do, so I feel that complaint is a non-issue. The BMW harmonized housings that come with HID's also have automatic leveling devices - which the ZKW conversion does not have. That is the law in Europe. It helps a great deal to minimize load/level induced glare. As far as the non-HID Z beam design vs the harmonized US/Euro design patterns - see the photos in the article. The ZKW/HIDs were in my M3, the harmonized HID design was SWMBO's E39. There is a considerable difference in the two patterns, and the lack of kick-up on the right side of the E39 pattern is the biggest difference. Problem with the kick-up when used with a conversion kit is the amount of light in it tends to blind drivers you're passing on multi-lane highways - in their left rear-view mirror. I have personally been blinded this way (not only by conversions but also the POS US/Japanese SUV-HID designs) and wouldn't wish it on anyone else. >2. Since the euro lights do throw up light to the right, if your >headlight bulbs are anywhere near as bright as HIDs, they will also be >close to as annoying/blinding. No - look at the patterns in the plots. The central portion of the +50 bulbs is brighter, the outer parts of the plots is generally not. The +50 bulbs typically change the pattern a bit (due to a different shape of the filament) putting the increased light towards the central and below horizon areas of the pattern. >So yeah, it will be more blinding than a BMW-spec HID light to put >HIDs in a ZKW, but it WON'T be more blinding than other stock >HID-equipped vehicles, especially SUVs that start out higher anyway >(Acura MDX anyone?). And frankly, I'll take the lighting performance >any day. Actually - it may well be more blinding than other stock HID equipped vehicles - or at least equal to the SUV's. The reflectors simply were not designed for this use. The movement I observed in the HID conversion of the capsule position increases the probability that glare will happen due to the light source not being in the intended spot in the optics. I personally feel some responsibility to not increase glare on the roads if I can prevent it.. and saying I'm doing it 'cause the other guy is doing it doesn't work for me. The end result of all the HID conversion kits is they are actually illegal to sell in the US. NHTSA issued a "ruling" forbidding the sale of conversion HID kits - due to complains on glare they received. If you want to see it - I can point you to their ruling. It appears many vendors are simply ignoring the ruling and hoping it will go away. I don't think it will. The glare issue also stood a decent chance of convincing the NHTSA to simply outlaw ALL HID lights - from auto manufacturers or aftermarket. >Disclaimer: I had ZKWs in my 95 M3, but never went the HID route for >cost reasons, I felt the euro beams were almost good enough with 55w >bulbs (before HIR's came out). I also find they provide excellent light used with the Osram euro +50 bulbs.. I had the HID and didn't like the downsides, the +50 doesn't seem to have the same downside, and puts out a color of light that actually makes it more useful, especially as eyes age. >ZKWs should be $400 new btw. Good luck. >- reid Best, Don Eilenberger, AKA SquidBOOF, Spring Lk Hts, NJ JMP#1 FOT2.A deilenberger@verizon.net NJ Shore BMW Riders web page: http://www.njsbmwr.org/ Moderator - BMW E39 Enthusiasts: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bmwe39 "One should do the stuff that makes you smile" - Ulf Bertilsson Hence: 1998 M3 convertible, 2003 5-touring, 1987 K75S
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#2. (no subject) - from Dave2664@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:25:19 EDT From: Dave2664@aol.com Subject: (no subject) Sold my 98 E36 M3 - If anyone is interested in my Conforti air intake system let me know. $300.00 shipping included. _Dave2664@aol.com_ (mailto:Dave2664@aol.com)
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#3. Re: Check Engine Light Question + Rough Idle Bulletin # - from Shane Kleinpeter
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 12:25:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Shane Kleinpeter <sak335@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Check Engine Light Question + Rough Idle Bulletin # >I believe that I didn't properly tighten my gas cap >during the last fill up. Any idea how long the light >will stay on until it resets itself? Brian, I don't know how long the light will stay on, but I'm in CLT and have a Peake tool. If you'd like me to read the code and reset the light I'd be happy to...I'm in South Charlotte off Park Road. Shane K. '96 M3 <--- haunted by F6 code at the moment '94 325i <--- back on track soon... __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
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#4. Re: [E36M3] Re: Check Engine Light Question + Rough Idle Bulletin # - from Funk@bvamotorsports.com
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:44:16 -0500 From: <Funk@bvamotorsports.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: Check Engine Light Question + Rough Idle Bulletin # I believe the F6 is air injection... ?? I will check when I get back to the shop. Joe Funk BVA Motorsports 503-319-3499 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shane Kleinpeter" <sak335@yahoo.com> To: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 2:34 PM Subject: [E36M3] Re: Check Engine Light Question + Rough Idle Bulletin # > Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 12:25:43 -0700 (PDT) > From: Shane Kleinpeter <sak335@yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: Check Engine Light Question + Rough Idle Bulletin # > >>I believe that I didn't properly tighten my gas cap >>during the last fill up. Any idea how long the light >>will stay on until it resets itself? > > Brian, I don't know how long the light will stay on, > but I'm in CLT and have a Peake tool. If you'd like > me to read the code and reset the light I'd be happy > to...I'm in South Charlotte off Park Road. > > Shane K. > '96 M3 <--- haunted by F6 code at the moment > '94 325i <--- back on track soon... > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > ************************************************* > Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: > > Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com > Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com > Eurosport High Performance http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com > Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com > Treehouse Racing http://www.treehouseracing.com > Elephant Motorsports Inc. http://www.elephantmotorsports.com > > DIGEST INFORMATION: > http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm > ************************************************* > > > >
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#5. RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work - from Sinha, Vikas
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:56:43 -0400 From: "Sinha, Vikas" <Vikas.Sinha@aam.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work Matthew, I was in the same boat as you about 8 months ago, and I found a post on bimmerforums that showed the difference in beam cutoff quality between ZKWs and one of the knockoffs. The ZKW had a far superior cutoff -- it showed a hard line as opposed to the fuzzy cutoff of the other light. That, combined with the less brittle plastic of the ZKW housing, was enough to convince me to go the extra mile. I had a hard time justifying spending $400 on headlights as well, but as Confucius say: buy the best, only cry once. Vik 97 M3/4 -----Original Message----- From: Matthew Teel [mailto:mteel@beluga.com] Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2005 4:35 PM To: E36M3 Subject: RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 12:27:48 -0800 From: "Matthew Teel" <mteel@beluga.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work Already, I was looking at the Projector36T Performance Euro Ellipsoids + PredatorT for $329 from Umnitza. I'm guessing not as good of quality as the ZKW, but cost less even with the addition of the angle eyes. That's pretty close to my cost pain threshold for a set of headlights. The question is, are they good enough quality? Better than stock? Matthew 98 M3/4 > -----Original Message----- > From: Shelhart2@aol.com [mailto:Shelhart2@aol.com] > Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2005 11:05 AM > To: E36M3 > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work > > > Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 16:01:39 EDT > From: Shelhart2@aol.com > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work > > Matt at Umnitza.com has quite a few options. The ZKW glass > set up looks > great and the price is very affordable as well. The 3M film > he sells is > excellent as is very effective. I think the set up was $450 > or so. I didn't go the > HID route due to cost and the fact I thought it was > overkill. I'm sure > you'll get many others that may disagree and the pricing may > have also gone down > since I looked. > > Shel > > > ************************************************* > Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: > > Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com > Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com > Eurosport High Performance http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com > Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com > Treehouse Racing http://www.treehouseracing.com > Elephant Motorsports Inc. http://www.elephantmotorsports.com > > DIGEST INFORMATION: http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm > ************************************************* > > > > > ************************************************* Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com Eurosport High Performance http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com Treehouse Racing http://www.treehouseracing.com Elephant Motorsports Inc. http://www.elephantmotorsports.com DIGEST INFORMATION: http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm ************************************************* ** Scanned by AAM SymantecMailSecurity XXXNT64 **
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#6. RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work - from jsp98m3
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:01:32 -0700 From: "jsp98m3" <jsp98m3@apexcone.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work FYI, The ZKWs for sometime have been made out of exactly the same plastic as the Depo and DJ Auto. I can't see a real change in the optics, but then again, I haven't sat and stared at them for long enough to really determine it. The adjustment screws now have all of the classic knockoff issues. Yippee! It also appears that the ZKW headlights are also now made in Asia. I'm not sure if ANY of them are actually made in Europe anymore. But the exporters are not quite clever enough to keep really good secrets. What this means? You are now paying top dollar for something LESS. Pisses me off because they haven't lowered my price one iota, so I can't charge you for actual value. But I can also promise you something else, when I find out where they are made now, and I will, I'll be selling them for considerably cheaper, they may just not have a ZKW label on them. My suggestion? Buy the knockoffs. The ZKW is now officially a knockoff of itself and has been for awhile. I suspected it and in the last shipment, the exporter forgot to check all of the labels for forwarding tags. I know what country and city they came out of. And I'm not amused. You shouldn't be either. It's your money. Jim Hello. I have the ZKW's with HID's that I bought from Matt at Umnitza. The quality is great, and the HID's really made a HUGE difference from the stock headlights. I thought about going with the knockoffs but from asking folks on the list, the quality of the housings was VERY poor (brittle plastic) on the cheaper units. Just the ellipsoid's are a BIG step up from the stock lamps.. There was a really good 2 part article that Don did in the Roundel recently. You may wish to review it.. Good luck! Mo
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#7. RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work - from Matthew Teel
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:00:55 -0800 From: "Matthew Teel" <mteel@beluga.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work OK then... And my mind was all made up. What does anyone know about Hellas? Matthew 98 M3/4 > -----Original Message----- > From: jsp98m3 [mailto:jsp98m3@apexcone.com] > Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 11:05 AM > To: E36M3 > Subject: RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work > > > Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:01:32 -0700 > From: "jsp98m3" <jsp98m3@apexcone.com> > Subject: RE: [E36M3] Headlights that work > > FYI, > > The ZKWs for sometime have been made out of exactly the same > plastic as the Depo and DJ Auto. > > I can't see a real change in the optics, but then again, I > haven't sat and stared at them for long enough to really > determine it. The adjustment screws now have all of the > classic knockoff issues. Yippee! > > It also appears that the ZKW headlights are also now made in > Asia. I'm not sure if ANY of them are actually made in > Europe anymore. But the exporters are not quite clever > enough to keep really good secrets. > > What this means? > > You are now paying top dollar for something LESS. Pisses me > off because they haven't lowered my price one iota, so I > can't charge you for actual value. > > But I can also promise you something else, when I find out > where they are made now, and I will, I'll be selling them for > considerably cheaper, they may just not have a ZKW label on them. > > My suggestion? Buy the knockoffs. The ZKW is now officially > a knockoff of itself and has been for awhile. I suspected it > and in the last shipment, the exporter forgot to check all of > the labels for forwarding tags. I know what country and city > they came out of. And I'm not amused. You shouldn't be > either. It's your money. > > Jim > > Hello. I have the ZKW's with HID's that I bought from > Matt at Umnitza. The quality is great, and the HID's really > made a HUGE difference from the stock headlights. I thought > about going with the knockoffs but from asking folks on the > list, the quality of the housings was VERY poor (brittle > plastic) on the cheaper units. Just the ellipsoid's are a > BIG step up from the stock lamps.. There was a really good 2 > part article that Don did in the Roundel recently. You may > wish to review it.. > > Good luck! > Mo > > > > > ************************************************* > Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: > > Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com > Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com > Eurosport High Performance http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com > Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com > Treehouse Racing http://www.treehouseracing.com > Elephant Motorsports Inc. http://www.elephantmotorsports.com > > DIGEST INFORMATION: http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm > ************************************************* > > > > >
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work - from Reid Conti
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:09:40 -0700 From: Reid Conti <reid@conti.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work .... other than the fact that they're Hella ugly? - reid > OK then... > > And my mind was all made up. > > What does anyone know about Hellas? > > Matthew > 98 M3/4
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work - from Reid Conti
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:07:14 -0700 From: Reid Conti <reid@conti.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work By the way, when I said "Hella ugly" I was referring to these horrible lights: http://www.motormec.co.uk/hella.html I thought the "real" Hella true euro lights were a freeform reflector design, not ellipsoid, so they'd not look quite the same as the ZKW. Is this incorrect? - reid On 9/26/05, jsp98m3 <jsp98m3@apexcone.com> wrote: > Hella is seemingly not made in Europe anymore either. And you can't > generally get spare parts for it. There are two lights that you want to > buy. Either the ZKW or the DJ Auto. The ZKW still has good innards (just > went and looked) but the case is now just like everyone elses. But it is > not worth a $200.00 premium. Not anymore. Both the ZKW and the DJ Auto > have spare parts readily available. > > Or buy the DJ Auto. The front bezel is a Hella/ZKW look-alike. > > The rest of the copies are goofy looking, some of them, DEPO as an example, > incorporate a groove at the bottom of the inner lens. With DDE, it covers > part of the ring so they look partially cutoff. With or without a ring, it > becomes a grimy spot over time because of other issues going on inside the > light. > > The DEPO Projector36 is ok, more or less. Generally more than less. > > Jim
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work - from Kent L. Shephard
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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:44:26 -0700 (PDT) From: "Kent L. Shephard" <kents@kls-consulting.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work Yes/No. There is a Free Form Hell. There is also an Ellipsoid Hella. I don't see many of the former, only the latter. Kent > Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:07:14 -0700 > From: Reid Conti <reid@conti.net> > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Headlights that work > > By the way, when I said "Hella ugly" I was referring to these horrible > lights: > > http://www.motormec.co.uk/hella.html > > I thought the "real" Hella true euro lights were a freeform reflector > design, not ellipsoid, so they'd not look quite the same as the ZKW. > Is this incorrect? > > - reid > > On 9/26/05, jsp98m3 <jsp98m3@apexcone.com> wrote: >> Hella is seemingly not made in Europe anymore either. And you can't >> generally get spare parts for it. There are two lights that you want to >> buy. Either the ZKW or the DJ Auto. The ZKW still has good innards >> (just >> went and looked) but the case is now just like everyone elses. But it >> is >> not worth a $200.00 premium. Not anymore. Both the ZKW and the DJ Auto >> have spare parts readily available. >> >> Or buy the DJ Auto. The front bezel is a Hella/ZKW look-alike. >> >> The rest of the copies are goofy looking, some of them, DEPO as an >> example, >> incorporate a groove at the bottom of the inner lens. With DDE, it >> covers >> part of the ring so they look partially cutoff. With or without a ring, >> it >> becomes a grimy spot over time because of other issues going on inside >> the >> light. >> >> The DEPO Projector36 is ok, more or less. Generally more than less. >> >> Jim > > > ************************************************* > Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: > > Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com > Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com > Eurosport High Performance http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com > Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com > Treehouse Racing http://www.treehouseracing.com > Elephant Motorsports Inc. http://www.elephantmotorsports.com > > DIGEST INFORMATION: > http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm > ************************************************* > > > >