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      12-23-2018, 05:19 PM   #1937
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Originally Posted by lybaasta View Post
Hi guys,
So, i had DEPOs for more than a year now and they have been really great, no problems, i even got my cut off line like OEM xenons. But there's a thing, a inner (high beam) light, can you turn it off? I mean, if we have a bi-xenon shutter why do we need that inner part? I realized that when the low beam is turned off, when i flash during the day, only that inner (high beam) part flashes and really poorly and yellowish, but still i can hear the shutter snaping in the projector but low beam light is not working.
So, my question is, did someone managed to bypass that inner part, so that when we flash, the outer projector part flashes, not regular inner reflector?
Thanks anyone who has the answer!
Anyone?
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      12-24-2018, 10:36 PM   #1938
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Anyone?
Depo headlights are not bi-xenon, only oem are. Oem bi-xenon headlights only utilize one projector for low and high beam and the other one is fake. With depo headlights, the high beam housing is a reflector housing and the low beam is a projector housing. There is no shutter in the depo headlights
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      12-31-2018, 07:31 PM   #1939
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DEPO replacement for Eagle Eye?

Hello-my first post since buying a 328d Xdrive---much nicer ride than my old Mercedes diesels. Great car but one problem: The previous owner installed Eagle Eye headlights; I have a Left High Beam Malfunction error and the local independent BMW repair shop found that both sides had "fried resistors." After reading posts here, it seems that I should get Depo replacements. Only problem: supplier sites show headlight assemblies for 328i Xdrive and 328d, but no 328d Xdrive. One supplier said they "should" work---but does anyone have experience with replacements on a 328d XDrive? Thanks!
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      12-31-2018, 11:21 PM   #1940
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Originally Posted by Dieselover View Post
Hello-my first post since buying a 328d Xdrive---much nicer ride than my old Mercedes diesels. Great car but one problem: The previous owner installed Eagle Eye headlights; I have a Left High Beam Malfunction error and the local independent BMW repair shop found that both sides had "fried resistors." After reading posts here, it seems that I should get Depo replacements. Only problem: supplier sites show headlight assemblies for 328i Xdrive and 328d, but no 328d Xdrive. One supplier said they "should" work---but does anyone have experience with replacements on a 328d XDrive? Thanks!
No good then, the headlights won’t have a diesel juice receptacle. The car won’t be able to steam power the cogs that produce light
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      01-01-2019, 09:26 PM   #1941
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No good then, the headlights won’t have a diesel juice receptacle. The car won’t be able to steam power the cogs that produce light
Monstar- Thanks, I guess---could you please explain, or am I hunting snipes?
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      01-02-2019, 06:02 AM   #1942
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Originally Posted by Dieselover View Post
Hello-my first post since buying a 328d Xdrive---much nicer ride than my old Mercedes diesels. Great car but one problem: The previous owner installed Eagle Eye headlights; I have a Left High Beam Malfunction error and the local independent BMW repair shop found that both sides had "fried resistors." After reading posts here, it seems that I should get Depo replacements. Only problem: supplier sites show headlight assemblies for 328i Xdrive and 328d, but no 328d Xdrive. One supplier said they "should" work---but does anyone have experience with replacements on a 328d XDrive? Thanks!
There’s no difference between headlights on a 328d, 328d XDrive, or 328i XDrive. The part number for the OEM halogens is the same across the lineup for example. Does the supplier show different part numbers or are they just filtering for compatibility and forgot to add 328d XDrive?

(I just got a set of the Depo headlights to put in my 328d XDrive and they only had a single version listed.)
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      01-02-2019, 08:53 AM   #1943
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Thank you Sgimips---that is the response I was hoping for. Have you installed the headlights yet and if so, did everything go OK?
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      01-02-2019, 11:37 AM   #1944
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Thank you Sgimips---that is the response I was hoping for. Have you installed the headlights yet and if so, did everything go OK?
Sorry bud, I was just messing with you. The headlights are all the same -- as long as you have pre-LCI halogens, they will work just fine. There are 89 pages here of mostly OK installs.

As a side note (as I commented on the previous page), Ive had mine installed for 2 years now and my right turn signal just went out recently. Nothing seems to fix it....as the bulb holder works fine in the left housing. USR isn't helping with a solution or an offer to purchase a single headlight.

There aren't too many people on here rocking them for 2 years so many people may not have experienced my same issue yet. It is a little unsettling to think of spending $500-$600 for lights that will only work for 2 years
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      01-02-2019, 12:12 PM   #1945
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Originally Posted by Dieselover View Post
Thank you Sgimips---that is the response I was hoping for. Have you installed the headlights yet and if so, did everything go OK?
Sorry bud, I was just messing with you. The headlights are all the same -- as long as you have pre-LCI halogens, they will work just fine. There are 89 pages here of mostly OK installs.

As a side note (as I commented on the previous page), Ive had mine installed for 2 years now and my right turn signal just went out recently. Nothing seems to fix it....as the bulb holder works fine in the left housing. USR isn't helping with a solution or an offer to purchase a single headlight.

There aren't too many people on here rocking them for 2 years so many people may not have experienced my same issue yet. It is a little unsettling to think of spending $500-$600 for lights that will only work for 2 years
Monstar, sorry to hear USR wouldn't work with you. That said, last week I got a right turn signal malfunction warning. I was able to correct it by installing the OEM bulb holder. It was a really tight fit and hard to turn. Hopefully that means I have good solid connections and everything is solved. It was a lot easier than replacing the whole assembly as I had to do to fix the driver's side. Hopefully a right side assembly will pop up on the classifieds for you.
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      01-02-2019, 01:06 PM   #1946
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Thank you Sgimips---that is the response I was hoping for. Have you installed the headlights yet and if so, did everything go OK?
Not yet. I've got a few bulbs (HID and LED based) ordered that I want to try in the low beams in place of the Xenon it comes with. I was going to test all of those while the headlights were out of the car to check the beam pattern and thermals. I intend to leave all the other bulbs in the headlights alone. (Also swapping out the fog lights for BMW OEM LED assemblies at the same time as the headlights.) I'm hoping to have them installed by the end of the month.
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      01-03-2019, 05:11 AM   #1947
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MONSTAR View Post
Depo headlights are not bi-xenon, only oem are. Oem bi-xenon headlights only utilize one projector for low and high beam and the other one is fake. With depo headlights, the high beam housing is a reflector housing and the low beam is a projector housing. There is no shutter in the depo headlights
Ummm, sorry but you are wrong. If you got Depos you have been wrong the whole time. Put some object over the high (inner) beam part of the headlight and flash your high beams. You will see and hear the shutter open for the high beam. There's no need for that reflector inner part of the headlight!!
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      01-03-2019, 12:58 PM   #1948
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lybaasta View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by MONSTAR View Post
Depo headlights are not bi-xenon, only oem are. Oem bi-xenon headlights only utilize one projector for low and high beam and the other one is fake. With depo headlights, the high beam housing is a reflector housing and the low beam is a projector housing. There is no shutter in the depo headlights
Ummm, sorry but you are wrong. If you got Depos you have been wrong the whole time. Put some object over the high (inner) beam part of the headlight and flash your high beams. You will see and hear the shutter open for the high beam. There's no need for that reflector inner part of the headlight!!
Well I'll be damned... he's right! I reached out to USR to ask them about this directly, and they confirmed this is true!
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      01-03-2019, 09:28 PM   #1949
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My H7 LED lights came in today so I had a chance to test fit them in the Depo F30 housings. As an aside, I purchased the housings from USR and they definitely have a shutter for the low beam projector. The beam pattern is not as clean as I'd like but certainly better than the stock halogens. My shutters have the extra tab that some people have sanded off, I may do the same. Otherwise the build quality is excellent and they look very close to the OEM HID lights.

I compared the bulb that came with the Depo lights to an older H7 HID kit I had and a Broview H7 LED conversion kit that arrived today. The beam pattern across all 3 was identical but the HID and LED lights were definitely brighter. I'm planning to use the Broview LED kit for both high (if it'll fit) and low bulb positions. Also, there's a lot of loose cables and connectors inside the Depo lights behind the high beam so I'm going to clean that up and secure everything. I don't think it would cause any problems but I don't like it. I'll document that in a future post on this thread.

The pics are of the BMW Adaptive LED headlights in my F10 and G30 (hood visible) at about 25ft, as well as the LED in a single Depo light ~10ft from an office wall. My goal is to get somewhere close to the F10, without the auto leveling and other features of course. The G30 lights are amazing and I'd think that's really the best anyone can do these days but I don't think the Depo's will be able to do anything like that.
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      01-04-2019, 09:31 AM   #1950
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Originally Posted by gpjustinn View Post
Well I'll be damned... he's right! I reached out to USR to ask them about this directly, and they confirmed this is true!
I knooow right? We have to discuss this further! That inner reflector part is not helping at all!! Just helping to not look like oem headlight! I'm following this topic from now on to resolve this, it would be really cool if we manage to change our lights to work like oem's
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      01-04-2019, 11:46 AM   #1951
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lybaasta View Post
I knooow right? We have to discuss this further! That inner reflector part is not helping at all!! Just helping to not look like oem headlight! I'm following this topic from now on to resolve this, it would be really cool if we manage to change our lights to work like oem's
I’m trying to figure out what is there on the OEMs. It looks like another projector or maybe just a plastic lens that’s tinted. It’s hard to find high resolution images of the OEM lights with that much detail. Is there any light at all on that side? I’ll have to look closer at my Depo lights when I’m back in the office to see if there’s any sort of lens over the reflector side that could be tinted or painted.

In terms of disabling the actual high beam bulb; I assume they use it in place of a resistor to provide a load to the car since the shutter mechanism likely draws very little power. A 55W resistor will produce a lot of heat, more so than a 55W bulb. Presumably we could just code off the bulb out error for the high beam and either not install a bulb or leave it in place but disconnected. Or even use a much dimmer/smaller LED if the OEM version has one.

(I intend to leave my “extra” high beam in place, especially if I can fit an H7 LED on that side.)
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      01-04-2019, 12:04 PM   #1952
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Originally Posted by sgimips View Post
Presumably we could just code off the bulb out error for the high beam and either not install a bulb or leave it in place but disconnected.
This is what I was wondering too. Although the high beam reflector would still be illuminated a bit from the LED corona ring.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sgimips View Post
I’m trying to figure out what is there on the OEMs. It looks like another projector or maybe just a plastic lens that’s tinted. It’s hard to find high resolution images of the OEM lights with that much detail. Is there any light at all on that side?
The inner part of the OEM unit has a black plastic housing ring behind the corona ring, and then a "tinted" lens like you said, but I don't think you can see through it. There is no light that comes out of that lens, I think it's purely for aesthetics/consistency. On my previous F30, I did the OEM xenon retrofit, but didn't wanna go that route again for this F30. Below is a post from the OEM retrofit thread, the last pic has a sort of good quality image of the OEM headlight.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&postcount=114
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      01-04-2019, 02:18 PM   #1953
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Originally Posted by sgimips View Post

In terms of disabling the actual high beam bulb; I assume they use it in place of a resistor to provide a load to the car since the shutter mechanism likely draws very little power. A 55W resistor will produce a lot of heat, more so than a 55W bulb. Presumably we could just code off the bulb out error for the high beam and either not install a bulb or leave it in place but disconnected. Or even use a much dimmer/smaller LED if the OEM version has one.
That's actually a good idea for turning off reflector part, but than we have another problem during the day. When only DRLs works and the low beam is turned off, you can hear the shutter snapping when flashing, but low beam light is not turning on, only that weak reflector inner part.
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      01-04-2019, 08:26 PM   #1954
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gpjustinn View Post
This is what I was wondering too. Although the high beam reflector would still be illuminated a bit from the LED corona ring.



The inner part of the OEM unit has a black plastic housing ring behind the corona ring, and then a "tinted" lens like you said, but I don't think you can see through it. There is no light that comes out of that lens, I think it's purely for aesthetics/consistency. On my previous F30, I did the OEM xenon retrofit, but didn't wanna go that route again for this F30. Below is a post from the OEM retrofit thread, the last pic has a sort of good quality image of the OEM headlight.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&postcount=114
Got it! Thanks!

There’s no inner lens over the high beams on my Depo lights.
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      01-04-2019, 08:30 PM   #1955
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Originally Posted by lybaasta View Post
That's actually a good idea for turning off reflector part, but than we have another problem during the day. When only DRLs works and the low beam is turned off, you can hear the shutter snapping when flashing, but low beam light is not turning on, only that weak reflector inner part.
Good point. I suppose someone could do some sort of relay setup to activate the low beam with the shutter.

I was able to fit H7 LED “bulbs” in the high beam position so that’s the setup I intend to run despite it not being OEM looking to the trained eye.
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      01-05-2019, 05:21 PM   #1956
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Quote:
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Good point. I suppose someone could do some sort of relay setup to activate the low beam with the shutter.

I was able to fit H7 LED “bulbs” in the high beam position so that’s the setup I intend to run despite it not being OEM looking to the trained eye.
Did you managed to fit them without removing the whole headlight from the car? Cuz the opening for high beams is on a impossible location to get
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      01-06-2019, 01:02 PM   #1957
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Finally installed led bulbs in my projectors pictures can't do them justice the improvement is insane don't know why I didn't throw out the halogens earlier. picture shows halogen on left led on right the color difference is excellent too
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      01-07-2019, 12:53 AM   #1958
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Did you managed to fit them without removing the whole headlight from the car? Cuz the opening for high beams is on a impossible location to get
Yeah I noticed that I won’t be able to get to the high beams once these are installed. It was also very hard to fit everything given the tight opening so doing this even with access while they were installed would be very frustrating. The headlights are still sitting on my desk and not in the car yet. FYI the high beams use a wire latches and didn’t need clips. The low beams need retaining clips which I should have tomorrow. I’ll post up pics once I have it all wired up inside the headlight before it’s installed in the car.
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