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E46 - Facelift - Fitting Umnitza Angel Eyes

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53K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  isle of wight 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello Everyone

i have today fitted:
http://www.ca-automotive.co.uk/variants-cGFyZW50X2lkPTI0NDk=.html

I used a few tools for this:
  • rachet and extension bar (a flexivble extension bar would be a benifit)
  • 8mm socket
  • Torqs screw driver
  • Flat bladed screw driver
  • Heat gun

Most important thing, dont leave any finger prints inside the ehad light lense's. It will annoy you and you will take them apart again to get them out

These come with four rings, the wires to connect to the rings, two ballasts and a wiring loom


Firstly the facelift e46 has sealed head lights and were relativly easy to get apart, i have read of people cooking them to get them apart
I used a heat gun

I tested mine before i installed them because you never know if they are broken or what ever

So the first thing you need to do is remove the head light. The trim below the head light pulls out from the middle to the outside, remove all the weather seals. there are 4 bolts to undo 2 at the top 2 at the bottom



once they are undone, undo the connections on the back and pull the light out towards you,

to make it easeier reomove the indicator bulb, twist it it will unclip

UPDATE: If you have head light washers, you need to remove the bracket under the light to get it out,

It is part 1 in the below pic:



There are two screws that hold it into position, once they are removed it drops off and can stay where it is and the light unit can be removed more easily


take the light apart, there are two torq screws on the back that need to be removed

Now using the heat gun heat around the edge, where the black plastic meets the clear plastic. move quickly along so you dont melt the plastic

while heating use a flat head screw driver to leaver the two parts apart opening the clips as you go, you may need to go round a few times

once its apart put the black part away, use the torq screw driver to undo the three torq screws from inside the clear plastic to release the plastic bit



get two of your rings, and offer them over where you are going to mount them, the chrome ring that is larger needs to be removed
i used a dremel to remove a bit of the chrome so i could get the wires from the angel eye through


i used a heat resitive super glue to secure the two angel eyes over the chrome bits

i screwed the part back in to the clear plastic lense

Next the lights needed to be put back together, using the heat gun heat the glue back up on both sides. offer them together making sure you pass the angel eye wires through and out of the projecter cover

push the two parts together and let the clips clip back into place
screw the two torq screws back in

i mounted the balast on the inside of the projecta cover, i had to use the dremel to remove a bit of plastic so it would fit



i drilled a hole for the wires to come out, and filled the hole back up with silcone so water dont get in

now the light is back together it can be put back on the car

put it back how it came off

move to the next light

Wireing
You can wire these to come on with your side lights or to be on all the time as DRL's (daytime running lights) and also wire them to come on when you lock and off when you unlock

I wired mine as DRL so all you need to find is a switched live for this, there are several in the box that is covered on the passenger side at the top under the bonnet, run the cable back to the loom


If you dont want to wire them as DRL's you can have them to come on with either your side lights or your head lights - you need to run your trigger wire to the head lights, and 'tap' into either the side light +ive or head lamp +ive using a scotch lock

you get plenty of wire with the wiring loom so you can mount it pretty much anywhere,
i mounted mine


and ran my cables to the lights, you have a relay that needs to be connected to a permanent live, witch is right in the pic, and a good ground that is also there,

under the bonnet at the top on the drivers side you can find a spare gromet that goes into the cabin, for your remote on, i pushed my wire through and connected it the foot well light with a crimp and connected the other end to the loom

i heat shrinked all of my connections,

i connected in the angel eyes, cable tied all of the cables and tested

these are very bright and taking a decent pic was hard, but here is one


If you find this helpful please 'THANK' >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Also here are a few links for other DIY's:
Triggering Angel Eyes From Interior Courtesy Lights For if you dont have umnitzas with two trigger wires
Dimmin Your Umnitzas When Your Head Lights Are On
 
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11
#4 ·
Kool thank you,

i am about to make a dimming circuit up, consiting of a relay that connects into the side lights so that when the head lights are on they can be dimmed because they are really really bright at night

i will post this on this thread too when im done :)
 
#5 ·
Ok guys a quick Update on the umnitza angel eyes,

ive been running them for about a week now and they are really good, im shocked at how bright they really are!

ive made a few changes to my set up ive changed where my relay is postioned
from here:

to here:

i was a bit worried that it was to close to the engine and the wires would eventualy melt, :( so i took all the wiring off and swapped it arround, its much better in here theres loads of room to screw it down and its water tight. the trouble was i had to extend the power cable but it wasnt too much of an issue

The only real trouble with these angel eyes is there brightness, in the daytime there are perfect, you can even see them clearly on a sunny day but at night they are just too bright so at the moment i am making a little circuit which i can put on the angel eyes to dim them when the head lights are on

i will post up with pics when im done
 
#7 ·
#8 ·
angel eyes

hi i bought a kit of ebay for my angel eyes , and both eyes were the same size and could not get them to fit due to eyes on my car one is bigger than the other..................was this the same in your kit or were both eyes different sizes,thanks ellis
 
#9 ·
both eyes are the same size .... do you have a faclift e46?

in the head lamp there are two chrome rings, one eye will fit around the one chrome ring and the other sits on top of it :)

hope it helps
 
#15 ·
yup they will be the same, they will still be sealed and will come apart in the same way, iirc they are the same lense and box, its just the internals that are diffrent

although if you have head light washers its slightly diffrent to get them out,

you need to remove the bracket from the bottom of the head light, i will upload a pic to the DIY later on,
 
#16 ·
updated with diagram for removing head light washer, sorry no pics

If any one has a pic, paste it on to the thread please and i will add it onto the the DIY thanks

:thumbsup
 
#17 ·
Great Umnitza Experience

I wanted to buy LED tails for my 2003 E46 coupe for so long.. The dilemma was whether to go for an OEM or for an aftermarket product. And then also which one should I get, the DEPO or Eagle Eyes. Eagle eyes has a lot of really good feedback, but also a lot of bad feedback from people that had this product for a long tiem. So I was not sure. I spent some time reading some forums and then did a google search, but that didn’t really help a lot because there was just too much information and a lot of it was all over the place.

Umnitza luckily for me, offered me both options and I was able to call them to discuss my options. Why should I spend $500+ just to get the same look and feel, which I can get exactly same from one of those two products on Umnitza’s site (for much low price!). And I had bought an angel eye from them already, the Orion V2, so I knew I could count on their feedback to steer me in the correct direction.. I was taken away by their great product (oh boy! You gotta see this, it’s the brightest stuff I have ever seen), cool design, well packed shipping and fast delivery, even to where I’m located.

Their customer service is good as well, as they patiently educated the skeptic inside me over phone. I talked to Tim at length about which was going to be the best options for me. I saw the Eagle Eyes and DEPO as my ultimate options but I didn’t like the Eagle Eyes failure problems but also didn’t like the DEPO inside of the trunk. So after talking to Tim for about 30 minutes and him educating me on what I needed, I bought the Eagle Eyes. I think the Eagle eyes is much improved but I know Umnitza will back up my warranty if something happens. I did this because I wanted it to be smoked and DEPO doesn’t offer it.

Okay, so I went ahead and bought this product, have a look at the product specs here:- http://www.umnitza.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=1150

I hope you had a go through the specs. Before skimming through product features, let me share surprising stuff!

The package arrived within 10 days and I opened the box and was very happily surprised. The product was so nice on packaging I knew it was in great condition. It was packaged in this foam padding so that none of the parts touched and it was custom fit. I really like that for fragile parts like this, they take extra care. I think this might be a manufacturer thing but it was good. I contacted Umnitza, because I did not see install instructions. I talked to a tech and he walked me through a few things so I could get it installed more quick. Really good service to get it done. I only had good service like this before from Zappos. They made me feel like I could install it and not spend more money on installers. Okay and next day I put them on and it was a real good fit. I had some trouble with the install again and was able to call again. They must be tired of my calling but they helped me again and I was really happy. I was able to tuck all the wiring away very nicely even though I heard that was going to be quite a problem. But it wasn't at all and I don't regret spending a fraction of the cost of going OEM.

I had my friend then take the car out for a drive so I could see what they looking like. It looked just like OEM. LED were bright and no flicker. I saw an M3 at the same time and could not really see a difference.

Here you can watch a video about them: - BMW E46 LED Tail lights - YouTube

This shows how the turn signal and brake light LED look the same as OEM.

I got the 4pc LED designs in smoked, but you can get clear too. I know that each LED is replaceable but it looks so strongly built I don’t think I will need to worry. Umnitza provides 1 year warranty. It took me about 30-45 minutes like Umnitza claims, so yes, I was very happy.

The nice part about all this after driving is that there were NO errors on the dash. This is the key, too many products claim no error and you still are left with some errors sometimes.

When searching on Ebay, I was able to see this review also, it’s older but it does help.
http://m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=187420 My experience was the same on this.

Here’s an awesome article you should definitely read on:- http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=126876
I used this also as a DIY in addition to the help I got from umnitza

I hope you guys find this article really useful. Please share your experience with LED tail lights and other shopping experience. If some of you guys can write up a good DIY article on how to install, with photographs and videos, it would be great! :) Again, I don’t have photos, but I will get them. I think I will also show a video.
 
#19 ·
Hi look's good been thinking about doing this for a while but it is the parting of the light's and getting them back together water tight that worry me.
When you say you used a heat gun what type ? A hot air gun or a solder type heat gun with a blade ?
i have already upgraded my head light dip beam to HID and have the control box in the back of the light so no room for anything else in there will the wires reach out side the light unit say to the wing to mount control box ?
 
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