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m78

They have the euro ellipsoids that turner used to carry

http://abrahamsmotorsport.com/e30.html
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Lachssilber Metallic 203 1988 325i sedan with 200,xxx miles

Top Speed 220 km/h

(OO=00=OO)

beejay · Joined: 18 Nov 2002 Posts: 1136 Location: Eastern, Pa

They've been around for a while.
Pricey headlights though.
Why not pick up a set off ebay. You can get the US spec ellipsoids pretty cheap. But you probably have those in your I.
Looking to upgrade?
The Hella smiley with city lights would be cool. and are probably better light that the stock ones.
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Bob
92 325ic
05 Tundra SR5 TRD
01 VFR800fi - 03 DR650S - 83 CB1100F - 82 CB900F - 69 CB750

dale · Joined: 22 Aug 1999 Posts: 3050 Location: Seattle, WA USA

I bought 2 sets of 15x6.5 Alpina Kopi wheels from them.
The first set were fine, but were stolen with my old black cabrio.

The second set were delivered from them bent. There were no more in the country and on backorder with no new delivery date.
He offered no refund or credit for the damage.
He said he would replace them when he got another shipment in, that was 3 years ago, and still nothing from them.

I spent around $800 on the wheels, then another 200+ getting 2 straightened, then several hundred more getting them rebalanced several times trying to get rid of a vibration.
The vibration problem was caused in part by some bad tires from Continental. Ugh. I love how these wheels look, but they have been a royal PITA.

I don't think I would buy anything from Abraham Motorsport again.
Or if I did, I'd expect nothing in terms of follow up customer service.
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beejay · Joined: 18 Nov 2002 Posts: 1136 Location: Eastern, Pa

That was a bad experience.
Good to know.
Might want to steer clear......
_________________
Bob
92 325ic
05 Tundra SR5 TRD
01 VFR800fi - 03 DR650S - 83 CB1100F - 82 CB900F - 69 CB750

m78 · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:38 pm Post subject:

I just wish there was someone else out there that sells the Hella euro eliips, with the adapters.

Anyone know of another vendor?

.

.
_________________
Lachssilber Metallic 203 1988 325i sedan with 200,xxx miles

Top Speed 220 km/h

(OO=00=OO)

dale · Joined: 22 Aug 1999 Posts: 3050 Location: Seattle, WA USA

Hella euro ellips? Do you mean the H4/H1 headlights?
plenty of suppliers of those, but if you're looking for the euro headlights, those are harder to find.
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m78 · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:38 am Post subject:

looking for the Hella euro ellipsoids that are a drop in replacement for US ellipsoids.

Turner motorsport used to sell them, but no longer do and it appears that Hella has stopped manufacturing them, which is very disappointing. The price will most likely only continue to rise now.
_________________
Lachssilber Metallic 203 1988 325i sedan with 200,xxx miles

Top Speed 220 km/h

(OO=00=OO)

dale · Joined: 22 Aug 1999 Posts: 3050 Location: Seattle, WA USA

The euro smiley headlights look cool, but the H4/H1 drop in replacements for the sealed beam lights work very very well. I've had them on a number of E30s and love them. Especially if you upgrade to xenon bulbs and ballasts.

You can get the sealed beam style buckets at a salvage yard for around $25, and the 4 headlights, H4/H1 are less then $200. Great lights for a decent price.

If you have to have the euro smiley's, well, if they have them in stock, they'll probably ship them out fine.

Dale
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m78 · Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:15 pm Post subject:

The H4/H1 unfortunately are not drop in replacements for 88-91 E-30's as they have the US ellipsoids.

That's why the Hella euro ellips are preferred as they are a drop in replacement (albeit kinda pricey)
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Lachssilber Metallic 203 1988 325i sedan with 200,xxx miles

Top Speed 220 km/h

(OO=00=OO)

dale · Joined: 22 Aug 1999 Posts: 3050 Location: Seattle, WA USA

As another option you can pickup the bucket assemblies from an 84-87 E30 for around $20-$30 from a salvage yard, and grab the light connectors.

Swap them in, once the grills are out they are held in with 3 large screws.

Cheaper then spending 600-ish on the euro smileys.
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m78 · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:11 pm Post subject:

Can anyone point to photos that might illustrate the wire connections for the older headlights being rewired to ellipsoid 9006/9005 connections??

.

.
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Lachssilber Metallic 203 1988 325i sedan with 200,xxx miles

Top Speed 220 km/h

(OO=00=OO)

dale · Joined: 22 Aug 1999 Posts: 3050 Location: Seattle, WA USA

The rewire is really trivial.

For older sealed beam:
outer lowbeam has 3 wires, +12v for low beam, +12v for high beam, and ground
inner highbeam has 2 wires, +12v for highbeam, and ground

On newer ellipsoids, I believe it's only +12v and ground to each bulb.

Convert 88-89 ellipsoid to sealed beam or H1/H4 style:
+12v low beam, ground to appropriate wires on outer lamp
+12v high beam, ground to appropriate wires on inner lamp
run +12v high beam power from inner lamp to outer lamp to the correct terminal on the outer lamp 3 prong connector

H4 low beam connector

More info:
http://www.billswebspace.com/E30LightingConversionInformationXMon.pdf

source for the Hella 5-3/4" lights
http://www.rallylights.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=366

Note: be sure to check your headlight fuses, they should have a 15amp fuse in each of the high beam and low beam spots.
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