What else do I need to convert to xenon besides the obvious...headlight assembly with igniter. I have two oem hella xenon housings complete with igniter. What do I have to do to make them auto-leveling? My car is a 97 540. What about the plug that goes into my headlight. What do I have to do to convert it to go into the igniter. Thanks in advance.

Robert

*Prays for a FAQ or e39 wiki*

http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/t...nonoptions.htm

You can get Hella Halogen or Xenon here:

http://www.eurosportdesign.com/lighting.htm

Or a less expensive Xenon, plus better looking angel eyes (white instead of stock yellow) here:

http://www.umnitza.com/
http://www.umnitza.com/product_info.php?products_id=227

Depends if you like the stock look or want a different color angel eye then stock.

I went with the umnitza solution. I'll be installing them in a few weeks, since the car is in the shop getting a M5 bumper/mirror conversion.

You don't need self leveling, see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlight

"Xenon HID headlamps and very high output halogen bulbs are required in Europe to have automatic leveling systems that keep the beams aimed correctly regardless of vehicle attitude, without any effort on the part of the driver. These leveling systems are permitted but not required outside Europe."

"Laws and regulations

US laws required sealed beam headlamps on all vehicles between 1940 and 1984, and other countries such as Japan, England and Australia also made extensive use of sealed beams. In most other countries, and in the US since 1984, replaceable-bulb headlamps have been the norm. There are two different beam pattern and headlamp construction standards in use in the world: The ECE ("European") standard, which is allowed or required in virtually all industrialized countries except the United States, and the Society of Automotive Engineers standard that is mandatory only in the US. The differences between the two standards are primarily in the amount of glare permitted towards other drivers on low beam (SAE permits much more glare), the minimum amount of light required to be thrown down the road (SAE requires more), and the specific locations within the beam at which minimum and maximum light levels are specified. ECE low beams are characterized by a distinct horizontal "cutoff" line at the top of the beam. Below the line is bright, and above is dark. On the side of the beam facing away from oncoming traffic (right in right-traffic countries, left in left-traffic countries), this cutoff sweeps or steps upward to direct light to road signs and pedestrians. SAE low beams may or may not have a cutoff. Proponents of each system decry the other as inadequate and unsafe: U.S. proponents of the SAE system claim that the ECE low beam cutoff gives short seeing distances and inadequate illumination for overhead road signs, while international proponents of the ECE system claim that the SAE system produces too much glare. Comparative studies have repeatedly shown that there is little or no overall safety benefit to either SAE or ECE beams; the two systems' acceptance and rejection by various countries is based primarily on inertial and philosophical grounds.

Some countries require automobiles to be equipped with automatic daylight running lamps (DRL), which are intended to increase the conspicuity of vehicles in motion during the daytime. DRL may consist of the illumination of the low beams at full or reduced intensity, or the high beams at reduced intensity, or may not involve the headlamps at all. Countries requiring DRL include Canada, Hungary and most Scandinavian countries.

Headlights must be kept in proper alignment (or "aim"). Regulations for aim vary from country to country and from beam specification to beam specification. US SAE headlamps are all aimed alike, regardless of mounting height. This gives vehicles with high-mounted headlamps a seeing distance advantage, at the cost of increased glare to drivers in lower vehicles. ECE headlamps' aim declination is linked to headlamp mounting height. This gives all vehicles roughly equal seeing distance and all drivers roughly equal glare.

In North America, the design, performance and installation of all motor vehicle lighting devices are regulated by Federal and Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108. Elsewhere in the world, internationalized European ECE regulations are in force."