US vs. CAN vs. Euro Headlights

[Slowered318]

I'm trying to find out if the headlight switches (late model) are different internally, is it the wiring, or a combination of the two?

My Canadian switch (PN. 61311386631) works as follows:
Off Position (all the way in) - parking/dash lights lights on, low beams on, high beams and fog lights do not work.
Position I (one click out) - parking/dash lights only, no low beam or fog light function, lights stay on even with ignition off.
Position II (all the way out) - parking/dash lights lights on, low beams on, high beams or fog lights on by switch
Dial position controls the interior light intensity, no dome light function from this knob

I was thinking to order a standard "US" switch PN 61311377281 from ebay but maybe it's the Euro switch that I need.

I usually leave it in position 3 but the heat from low beams constantly on damages the housing and burns out bulbs. I have European headlights (H1 single filament) so I would like to make use of the "city lights" in position 1 if possible, they are wired to my parking light circuit. My car originally came with sealed beams BTW and I plan to use the X Mon guide to rewire my fuse box/relays to work for single filament headlights.

Also wondering if other peoples headlights stay on and flicker when the car is cranking or do I have a faulty unloader relay?

[Nick_318is]

Not sure on the differences are but here is what my American switch does in case it helps.

All the way in - everything off
One click out - parking light and dash lights
All the way out low beams on
Dial position controls the interior light intensity.

[Slowered318]

Thanks Nick,

So when the switch is one or two clicks out do the exterior lights stay on with the ignition off?

With the American switch I assume its possible to wire the fogs or the city lights to come on without low beams.

[Nick_318is]

Yes, if I turn the car off the parking lights stay on but not the headlights. Yes, I've come out to a dead battery because of this.

Can't help with the fog lights as my car doesn't have them. I think they were a separate switch

I think I've seen people rig up the smileys to light up with the parking lights before.  Did a quick search and found this DIY for a guy wiring his fogs to the parking lights:
http://e30.bmwdiy.info/indy-fogs/

[Slowered318]

Yes, if I turn the car off the parking lights stay on but not the headlights. Yes, I've come out to a dead battery because of this.

Can't help with the fog lights as my car doesn't have them. I think they were a separate switch

I think I've seen people rig up the smileys to light up with the parking lights before.  Did a quick search and found this DIY for a guy wiring his fogs to the parking lights:
http://e30.bmwdiy.info/indy-fogs/

Interesting.. So you have to push in the light switch all the way when you park the car, you can't leave it in either of the pulled out positions?

You're not missing much, the fog lights take a lot of stone chips and are expensive to replace. Although they do help in spotting pot holes on the road.

[DesktopDave]

+1, my US-spec parking lights stay on if the headlight switch is out either one notch or two. I do get a warning chime if I turn off the key and leave the headlight switch on. Headlights will only turn on if the ignition switch is in 'Run' position.

Our Yankee switch (PN. ??) works as follows:
Off Position (all the way in) - all lights off, low beams off.
Position I (one click out) - parking/dash lights only, no low beam or fog light function.
Position II (all the way out) - parking/dash lights lights on. Additionally, with ignition switch in 'Run' position, low beams on. igh beams or fog lights on by switches.
Dial position controls the interior light intensity in positions I and II, no dome light function from this knob. Furthermore,  with the ignition switch in 'Run' position the turn signal stalk can always be used to "flash" the high beams (stalk pulled toward driver) regardless of headlight switch position.

I've upgraded my lights to NA ellipsoids, same wiring. I might upgrade to LED headlights soon, and I was also thinking I'd do the foglight mod - it really helps with heavy fog.

I have a few US switches if you're interested.

[Slowered318]

+1, my US-spec parking lights stay on if the headlight switch is out either one notch or two. I do get a warning chime if I turn off the key and leave the headlight switch on. Headlights will only turn on if the ignition switch is in 'Run' position.

Our Yankee switch (PN. ??) works as follows:
Off Position (all the way in) - all lights off, low beams off.
Position I (one click out) - parking/dash lights only, no low beam or fog light function.
Position II (all the way out) - parking/dash lights lights on. Additionally, with ignition switch in 'Run' position, low beams on. igh beams or fog lights on by switches.
Dial position controls the interior light intensity in positions I and II, no dome light function from this knob. Furthermore,  with the ignition switch in 'Run' position the turn signal stalk can always be used to "flash" the high beams (stalk pulled toward driver) regardless of headlight switch position.

I've upgraded my lights to NA ellipsoids, same wiring. I might upgrade to LED headlights soon, and I was also thinking I'd do the fog light mod - it really helps with heavy fog.

I have a few US switches if you're interested.

Thanks for the offer, I went ahead and ordered a used Yankee switch, It was only $25. I guess I will have to connect the chime again but I like the ability to turn off the headlights, good for the drive-in movies or stealth maneuvers. lol

I wonder how everything will function once I add the relay and convert using the X Mon wiring guide. Using the Euro single filament headlights on N/A wiring is a headache.

Are you sure the LED's will be bright enough for ellipsoid headlights?

[Nick_318is]

One other option for headlights.  I upgraded from sealed beams to hella h1/h4, its a direct swap and fairly cheep and a huge lighting upgrade. I put in an upgraded fuse because the high beams were killing the old fuse.

http://classicgarage.com/53hehekit.html

[DesktopDave]

One other option for headlights.  I upgraded from sealed beams to hella h1/h4, its a direct swap and fairly cheep and a huge lighting upgrade. I put in an upgraded fuse because the high beams were killing the old fuse.

http://classicgarage.com/53hehekit.html

I had a few cars with the Hellas and I can vouch for them. Drop-in upgrade for the sealed beams. Great upgrade, if you can find them at a reasonable price. Cibie made an even better unit. There is also the cheaper Autopal EBay H4/H1 units. They're not as nice as the Hellas,  but still far better than sealed beams and half the price.

I was pleasantly surprised with how bright the LED headlight was, and I had high expectations. I'll post a link once it passes my durability testing. Definitely superior to HID or halogen, and a drop-in H4 replacement. Very low current draw, should be invulnerable to vibration, stock high/low beam functionality. The only downsides are the very large heat sink and the slightly diffuse lighting from the Cree LED element. It has something like 36 individual LEDs on each element - it's blindingly bright - but the element disk is nearly an inch wide. With light being emitted from a large area like that, they won't give that nice crisp cutoff that the Hella composite H4 or projectors have.

It's just an aesthetic thing with the LEDs - the beam stays relatively well focused. They're not perfect, but at least the glare won't blind other drivers. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but these are 10x better than those crap re-based H4 HIDs that ricers and rednecks think are cool. Happily, a lot of those dumb kids buy the darker purple >10K shades; they're putting out less actual lumens than a decent halogen.

[Slowered318]

I had a few cars with the Hellas and I can vouch for them. Drop-in upgrade for the sealed beams. Great upgrade, if you can find them at a reasonable price. Cibie made an even better unit. There is also the cheaper Autopal EBay H4/H1 units. They're not as nice as the Hellas,  but still far better than sealed beams and half the price.

I was pleasantly surprised with how bright the LED headlight was, and I had high expectations. I'll post a link once it passes my durability testing. Definitely superior to HID or halogen, and a drop-in H4 replacement. Very low current draw, should be invulnerable to vibration, stock high/low beam functionality. The only downsides are the very large heat sink and the slightly diffuse lighting from the Cree LED element. It has something like 36 individual LEDs on each element - it's blindingly bright - but the element disk is nearly an inch wide. With light being emitted from a large area like that, they won't give that nice crisp cutoff that the Hella composite H4 or projectors have.

It's just an aesthetic thing with the LEDs - the beam stays relatively well focused. They're not perfect, but at least the glare won't blind other drivers. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but these are 10x better than those crap re-based H4 HIDs that ricers and rednecks think are cool. Happily, a lot of those dumb kids buy the darker purple >10K shades; they're putting out less actual lumens than a decent halogen.

I'm not looking for a replacement for my European ellipsoid headlights, just want to fix the wiring/relays/switches so they operate properly.

I've tried the Hella drop-in headlamp's as well as the eurolite version, they work good if aimed properly but you have to be very careful at the car wash. Cold water on the hot glass will easily crack the lens.

Ideal setup IMO is to have the city lights on with ignition (switch in off position) and optional fog lights, for this I may have to run dedicated power wire from the "hot in run" circuit to the city lights. Also need to rewire so the low beams don't shut off when I switch on the high beams.

I'm not a big fan of anything over 6,000K, sure they stood out 15 years ago but the light output is useless. Have you looked into some of the newer H4 dual beam HID kit's with the solenoid operated reflector? I installed a Lumens kit on a friends Acura Legend and it worked pretty good, nice to have HID low and high beams without warmup delays.

Well do you have any pictures of the LED headlights installed and turned on, what brand are they? If LED bulbs would fit and put out the same light, the power savings would help the battery/alternator just like it did my hydro bill at home. haha!

[Gabs]

My Canadian switch (PN. 61311386631) works as follows:
Off Position (all the way in) - parking/dash lights lights on, low beams on, high beams and fog lights do not work.
Position I (one click out) - parking/dash lights only, no low beam or fog light function, lights stay on even with ignition off.
Position II (all the way out) - parking/dash lights lights on, low beams on, high beams or fog lights on by switch

I'd like to chime in here, albeit a little late.

My 318iS is Canadian Spec with winter package.

I've yet to notice any difference between the us spec and Canadian spec, headlight wise. As Dave said:

Off Position (all the way in) - all lights off, low beams off.
Position I (one click out) - parking/dash lights only, no low beam or fog light function.
Position II (all the way out) - parking/dash lights lights on. Additionally, with ignition switch in 'Run' position, low beams on. igh beams or fog lights on by switches.

To expand upon that, In Canada all vehicles imported after January 1, 1990 required daytime running lights.

Edit: Somewhat contradictory to my statement, My manufacture date was September 1990, yet it does not meet import requirements of the time. Go Figure.

[Slowered318]

Still working on this one, my goal is to lose the DRL feature (where the headlight and dash lights are on when the switch is off)

Wired my low beam relay pin 30 to C100 so the euro headlights are working properly... That's all good and done.

Tried to use a US spec headlight switch but post 1990 Canadian wiring is missing the GY/WT, GY/YL, and GY/RD wires. Instead I have a GN/BU and a second BR wire. It appears that the YL/GN (switched ground for the low beam relay) is getting a ground somewhere else on my car. Parking, plate, and interior lights are on with ignition... regardless what position the light switch is in, they are even on if I unplug the switch it self. LOL

This is so stupid and I've been searching and studying for hours. I really don't want to pull wire loom again as I just got it back together with my alarm and interior light timer installed and working.

Any help from a fellow Canuck?

[Slowered318]

Finally found the culprit!

These extra relays are located beside the accessory connector and control the interior, parking and head lights. I've gone ahead and removed them, now all I have to do is duplicate the US wiring circuit and use the US headlight switch I previously bought.

Can't wait to have control over my lighting and not burn through bulbs. Just gotta remember to shut them off when I park, a slight burden to have such powers. lol

[DesktopDave]

Glad you found it! I was unaware that there were any differences between NA cars.

[keflaman]

Can't wait to have control over my lighting and not burn through bulbs. Just gotta remember to shut them off when I park, a slight burden to have such powers. lol

Here's what I did to solve that problem. I can't tell you how many times I've been alerted and saved from returning to a car with a dead battery.
http://www.m42club.com/forum/index.php?topic=7090.0

I left my headlights on the last time I drove my car and the battery was completely dead when I returned...two weeks later.

That wasn't the first time the lack of an audible signal left me stranded or inconvenienced, but I was determined it would be as close to last as I could make it!

My car is an 09/89 ECE 318is without a buzzer/chime/gong module anywhere in it, so I spent a few hours of perusing wiring diagrams and forums looking for a cheap and easy solution to my problem.

To cut to the chase, I used a gong module from a 520i. Do a search on ebay for "gong" or "BMW buzzer" for reference. When I removed the module from the car I clipped the wires and took the connector as well.

On the back of the module there are 4 pins labeled: (-) (T1) (T2) (+).

Run wires from the module as such:

(+) Light switch pin #1 12V (Gray/Red wire)
(-) Light switch pin #2 ground (Brown)
(T1/T2) to the driver's door jamb switch

Now when the lights are on and I open the driver's door the gong module signals me to shut off the lights.