Pics and writeup on e30 ellipsoids retrofit??

[vtbimmer]

Ive searched and all I found was Jesters Euro ellips writeup. Havent seen any pics installed. Anyone have any? Any other tips from people who have done this?
I want to get the smoked Hella's like I had in my e30.

[Jester323]

Did I make a post about this? Here is what I found on our local forum:

I'm embarrassed to say that it took me all weekend to build these, but it did. A much easier option could have been to simply adapt E30 ellipsoid buckets to my e21, but these turned out to be challenging to source. If you can find a pair of these, apparently it's pretty easy to slot the mounting holes and they can simply be screwed to the core support.

So I decided that it would not be an impossible task to adapt e30 euro ellipsoids to my e21 buckets, despite what I have been told by others. And no, you can not simply shave a bit off of the ellipsoid housing with a Dremmel to make them fit like I have also read.

To start, I removed the low beam buckets from the bracket that holds both buckets. this is done by simply unscrewing the the lamp adjusting knobs until the screw is completely removed, then wiggle the adjuster free from the bracket. I needed to figure out which housing belonged on which side as the beam cutoff doesn't just cut the top half of the beam off, but it also allows a slight angle up from the center of the beam pattern on one side. This helps to illuminate signs and other roadside objects better. To do this I installed an H1 bulb in one of the housings and used some alligator clips to a spare battery I had laying around and projecting a beam onto the wall of the garage to see which side aimed up a bit higher. there are three mounting tabs on the back of the housings, two on the top and one on the bottom. The mounting tab on the bottom will be on the outside. For example, this is the driver's side housing:






I then lined up the ellipsoid housing into the center of the bracket and noticed that a considerable amount of the center portion needed to be cut out in order to recess the ellipsoid housing deep enough, so I used a paint pen to trace the outline around the housing. Then I spent some time with a cutoff wheel and a grinding wheel cutting and shaping the inside of the bracket so that the ellipsoid housing would fit inside. As I learned on the second housing, cut more than needed to simply fit it in, you'll want some wiggle room.

I picked up some stainless steel hardware at True Value, I used some M6, allen head, countersink type machine screws that have a profile like this:

The V-shape of the bottom of the screw heads would allow each mounting position to pivot a bit that will aid in the adjustment process. I also got some nylon washers, also to aid in the pivot/adjustment, and of course a bunch of stainless washers and nuts.

The lower mounting tab on the ellipsoid housing fits closer than the upper two, so I used this as the "fixed" pivot point, and set it as close as I could to the bracket. In order to have a pivot at the bracket, I figured that the best thing to do would be to weld a screw to the bracket. So in order to line things up, I took one of the screws, temporarily attached it to the bracket with some super glue and reassembled the grill & lights and found the right place to permanently affix the screw to the bracket. I then drilled a hole in the bracket under the location of the lower screw, then welded the screw head to the bracket. I then put a nylon washer over it, and then put the housing on it, followed by a washer & nut. I then eyeballed where the opposite corner nut should be located on the bracket & marked it with a paint pen. Then took the bracket over to the drill press & drilled out a hole, centered a nut on to it, super glued it in place and then welded it to the bracket. Then reinstalled the assembly into the core support and checked the center in the grille. Then took the housing and lined up the third hole, marked it with a paint pen, drilled, etc. Then I used the wire wheel to clean up the entire housing and prime/paint it.

Okay, in all honesty, I somehow picked up two of the correct sized nuts, and two the were the next sized smaller and welded them in place before I realized it, so in some of the following pics, the paint is a bit fubared because I had to grind/drill the nuts off and re-weld the correct size back on prior to repainting them.


Here is what one of the housings looked like with the nuts/bolt welded in, prior to installing the ellipsoid housing:






Here is what they look like assembled, I have the set-nuts loose right now so that I can adjust them once I get them installed in the car. I'll have to adjust the beams prior to reinstalling the grilles, the primary failure in my design...










Here is what the buckets look like assembled:












Wiring modifications so that H1 low beams can stay on with the high beams... pray that I don't burn the car to the ground...

[Jester323]

here are some installed pics:













For the look of my car the smoked ellipsoids are not the right look, however, someone with shadowline trim & smoked high beams, it could be badass. I would currently like to trade me euro smoked ellip's for some nice shiny silver smilies....

[Tom D]

i have ellips on my e30 m3 and personally i'm not a fan, but then i'm not big on doing things just because it looks bitchen.

if you really want to light up the dark, then get some Cibie CSRs.

[vtbimmer]

Yeah Jester thats the write up I found. How was the wiring? Did you have to cut and splice in connectors?

[jrcook320]

there are 3 links posted in the faq concerning ellipsoid retrofit, including jesters. His is probably the best.

[vtbimmer]

there are 3 links posted in the faq concerning ellipsoid retrofit, including jesters. His is probably the best.

Yep, I saw those. Just wondering how these wire up to the e21. Should I find some e30 connectors to wire in?

[Jester323]

Yep, I saw those. Just wondering how these wire up to the e21. Should I find some e30 connectors to wire in?

sorry about that, I must have completely glossed over that. There are two connectors that are needed on each side, one for the 5W city light and one for the H1 plug. Mine came with the pigtails for the City lights & I got tired of searching for the city light plug, there are two different kinds & tons of information in the e30 section, on R3V & E30tech.

Also taken from my local forum:

Well, I'd do a writeup on the wiring, but I don't think my wiring for my headlights is stock... First it was modified to be brought to the US, then it was converted back to euro, then converted to smilies, then converted back to H4's when I got the car, now converted to Euro Ellipoids. I've done a pretty good job of yanking out bad wiring and replacing connections with solder and heat shrink, but some of the damage is done. I'm going to have to replace the entire lighting wiring harness one of these days. Several of the wires were corroded inside the insulation 6"-8" back where I cut, so who knows how far back it goes. I cleaned them up as best as I could in order to get them to solder, some of them harder than others. Maybe that will be a project for next winter, along with Volvo 240 calipers...

anyhoo, if any of you would like help wiring these up if you ever make the conversion, let me know & I'll do my best to help. Essentially what I did was run a wire from the parking light hot lead in the side marker to the city light, and the other to ground. My regular headlights were already configured such that H4's were really dummies, and H1's work just fine. I'm not sure where the wiring has previously been spliced, but I will eventually have to track that down to make sure they are permanent connections. I simply cut the wires to the H4 plugs (only two leads there anyway) and spliced in my new ellipsoid connectors. If you have to buy these new, they are not cheap, about $10ea for the plastic connectors that plug into the ellipsoid housings and about $10ea for the wires that go into them ($40 in wires and $20 in plastic connectors that the wires fit into) For the record, Here are the part numbers, as it took me a bit of searching to find them:

Connectors:
61 13 1 378 419
$10 ea, 2 needed

Wires:
61 13 0 007 446
$10 ea, 4 needed

[vtbimmer]

Perfect. Thank you Jester. Thats what I was looking for. I plan on getting the hella's from Abrahams Motorsport and they sell a install kit as well, intended for the e30 but I imagine it may work the same for the e21. Good to have those part numbers just in case. Thanks for the write up!

[Jester323]

Word on the e30 forums is that the Bosch units are higher quality than the Hellas. Metal housing vs plastic, etc.

[jjgbmw323]

Excellent write up, but I have the true euro set of clear 323i headlights, that I got from e21digest member Duckryder, and they are nice.
The cost me a lot of money and where basically brand new...

I think the smoked e30 lights would be nice in the right circumstances....just not on my car...any thoughts on running the HID high low combo on them?

[amarino]

If I'm not mistaken, unless they are ellipsoid/projector style lens you're going to be scattering light everywhere and everyone is going to hate you.

[sonomaGTLN2]

If I'm not mistaken, unless they are ellipsoid/projector style lens you're going to be scattering light everywhere and everyone is going to hate you.

The only thing that matters is that you don't hate yourself. I ran a set of shroudless Mustang GT foglights with HID as rally lights for about a year and they pwn'd.

[bassboy3313]

I have e30 ellipsoids on my e21. I went the modifying the e30 bucket way and they work great. Just had to do some grinding/cutting/drilling and such. I run HIDs with mine and I don't even need highbeams at all. They are fantastic!

[Tom D]

personally I'm not a fan of the ellipsoids, I have them on the M3. a set of cibie E codes is a better way to go.

[bassboy3313]

i have ellips on my e30 m3 and personally i'm not a fan, but then i'm not big on doing things just because it looks bitchen.

if you really want to light up the dark, then get some Cibie CSRs.

personally I'm not a fan of the ellipsoids, I have them on the M3. a set of cibie E codes is a better way to go.

Dejavu?

[Tom D]

not really, three years ago I was pushing the CSR's which are no longer available. so the next best thing in my experience is the E codes. gotta stay current.

[shauer]

Just another random opinion.

I have a set of Euro E21 323i lamps with city lights installed on my car. I sourced some 20w halogen bulbs for the city light sockets to replace the stock 5w bulbs and modified the wiring so they stay on all the time as daytime running lights. I then modified the low/high beam relay circuit to keep the H1 low beams on when the H1 high beams are turned on so that I still have all 4 lights on for high beams.

I like the daytime running lights. You can just make them out in direct sunlight as shown in my sig picture below. In overcast conditions they are just as visible as modern daytime running lights.

- Steve

[fauxpina]

I like the daytime running lights. You can just make them out in direct sunlight as shown in my sig picture below. In overcast conditions they are just as visible as modern daytime running lights.

I didn't notice them in your signature pic until you now when you pointed this out. They look good.