H1/H4 headlight upgrade

[P. Kennedy]

Just wanted to pass along how easy, affordable and worthwhile this was. Sorry, no photos, as it was barely above zero and the camera kept fogging up.

I purchased 1 pair each of Autopal brand H1's (high beam) and H4's (low beam) from an eBay store called Rimi Inc. If I remember correctly, they were something like $26 per pair. A far cry from HID's costing hundreds. I paid an extra $8 for H4's with 100/55w bulbs.

Remove the negative terminal on the battery, pop the hood (don't open it) and simply remove the black plastic grills by prying off the clips along the top and two phillips head screws along the bottom.

Each headlight has a metal trim ring around it held on by three phillips head screws. Remove these trim rings, and the headlight assemblies fall right out.

The H4's (the outer low beams) are plug and play, three spade connectors into a three receptacle plug.

The H1 high beams have two spade terminals at the back of the lens housing, and once you remove your old sealed beam housings, you just need to wrestle the wires WITH connectors out of their black plastic housings. I used a Dremel tool (love that thing) and had the wires out in seconds. The brown wire is ground, and simply slips onto the 45 degree ground lug on the back of the H1, and there is a pair of hot wires that slip onto the center H1 lug.

Reassembly is the reverse as they say, and I now have greatly improved night lighting giving me a better chance of avoiding deer, wild turkeys and other assorted varmints that insist on testing my reflexes and my braking system, which is a near future upgrade.

Final step I almost forgot: Upgrade fuses 1,2,13 & 14 from 7.5 amp to 15 amp.

[hoevesruperd]

does the bulbs look similar to stock or is it more like an ellipsoidal ? are H1 common products i could probably find at my local parts store? it seems like a good and cheap alternative to the seal beams and if you can post pictures when you have time it would be appreciated!

[P. Kennedy]

They do not look like stock bulbs, and I know you can get H1 bulbs at an AutoZone for example. Not sure what ellipsoid bulbs look like.

[sheepdog]

To pull the connectors, if you look next to each terminal slot, there is a second smaller slot. Shove a small, thin screwdriver in there and the tab you need will pop right out of the connector housing.

[sand_m4n]

we neeed pics :D

[sheepdog]

Oh, and I did not upgrade my fuses except for one.

I did however put Silverstars in the low/high, and the highs had 100 watters when I got them. The road is my bitch when the highs are on, it is like daylight.

[gearheadE30]

I have H1/H4's as well, the bulbs are availible at any major autoparts store. They are great ligths, and they are far cheaper than ellipsoids, euro or otherwise.

[eric16v]

hi i was also intersted in doing the h1/h4 upgrade and iwas just wondering if you need to upgrade the wiring or will they be able to handle the more power of the h1/h4. ive heard some people say this and i was just wondering. thanks

[Wise Old Dog]

They handle the power just fine. I had to change out 2 fuses to 10 amp.

[sheepdog]

They handle the power just fine. I had to change out 2 fuses to 10 amp.

Yep, I did not change them at first and blew one out.

[fruit_bearer]

what wattage do we need to get for the H1 bulbs? 100w? 55w?

will these work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/H4-9003-HB2-12V-100-55W-WHITE-BULB-KIT-2-BULBS_W0QQitemZ230172250002QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3371 0QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/H1-12V-100W-WHITE-BULB-KIT-2-BULBS_W0QQitemZ230200294016QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3371 0QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

thanks!

[sheepdog]

100 watters are supposed to be illegal.

[BMWManiac]

So the stock headlights are H4? My headlights suck, but my brights are just fine. I wouldn't mind upgrading the low beams....I'm a noob with this car and a little confused...did you upgrade the stock low beams with a different type of H4 bulb that required uping the fuses?

[ak96ss]

Stock US headlights are sealed beam, not H4. The H4's have replaceable bulbs, where sealed beams are, well, sealed.

The only reason you need to upgrade the fuses is if you use higher power bulbs, which many people do, since they are available for H4 capsules. I would definitely recommend checking your wiring, though, and not just swapping in higher-rated fuses. OEM fuses are sized according to the size of the wire, which means that when they use a 10A fuse, the wiring is really only good for 10A. When you factor in the higher draw of, say, 100W bulbs with 20 year old wiring (ok, maybe only 17 years, but still...), it is good policy to make sure that your wiring can handle the extra heat that will be generated.

A fire would suck.

[Sam Cogley]

100 watters are supposed to be illegal.

No one has ever troubled me about them. Non US-spec H4 and H1 housings are supposed to be illegal anyways...not that anyone has troubled me about those, either.

[gearheadE30]

Actually, the H1 and H4 bulbs still aren't used by most U.S. automakers due to restrictions on the bulbs. Euro ellipsoids are also illegal, which makes no sense becasue they make driving safer. Most modern U.S. spec cars still use the old 9006 and 9005 bulbs found in e30 and e34 U.S. ellipsoids.

[BMWManiac]

So, bottom line, can I go to Advance, get some Silverstone H4 bulbs and plug them into my low beams?

[Wise Old Dog]

No, you have to switch to a headlight made for the H4 bulb. OEM is a sealed beam.

[BMWManiac]

Gotcha....a headlight like an ellipsoid headlight? When he said sealed beam, that is what I thought, but at the same time, it sounded like just a straight swap. So the headlights go out, you have to replace the whole unit?

[RustyTheDriver]

Go on Bavauto.com and order yourself a pair of the Hella Quartz Headlight replacements. They're technically not DOT approved and they're not the popular 'smiley' lenses, but their light output is significantly better than stock and comparable to projector lenses in those fancy-pants new cars. BavAuto will be nice and send you a low beam H4 bulb with the correct adapters and wiring doodads per lens you order, however I recommend you buy a pair of the PIAA Xtreme White H4 bulbs (Keep the ones they send as backups). You will need to bump up the fuses for the headlights to the next highest rating (I forget if it was 10 or what...)Not only will your lows light up the road like the sun but the blue reflection in the back of the bulb housings looks pretty cool. Take a look at my sig for an example. Oh and Hella's High-Beam lenses pack quite a punch as well. There's my 2cents.

[P. Kennedy]

What he said ^^^

[vonkamp]

Thanks for the input! I'm on the night shift and was thinking I really need some more lighting. I almost hit a deer a couple of months ago, did'nt see it till it was just about too late...

Here's the Bav Auto part numbers and prices. I should have shopped the bulbs for a better price but it's done.


71 456
Hella Quartz Headlight Replacement - 5 3/4" round low beam H4 bulb - 55 watt 1992 318i Convertible $59.95 2 $119.90


15260
PIAA Xtreme White Bulbs - H4 Bulbs - 60/55 watts- sold as a pair
1992 318i Convertible $64.95 1 $64.95





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Subtotal: $184.85
UPS Ground: $0.00

Total: $194.85

[RustyTheDriver]

you won't regret it dude congrats with the purchase