Completed Bi-Xenon Projector Retrofit Upgrade

[3002 tii]

Overview
After swapping out various bulbs, the last step in my headlight project was retrofitting new projectors. There’s no shortage of aftermarket options but for me it was an easy choice. I went with the Morimoto EvoX-R 2.0 because it's known for having the most intense hot spots and is considered a "direct" replacement for the Hella E55 (i.e. the same projector found in the Z4 and many other cars). The install is generally straightforward since the factory projectors can be removed without disassembling the headlight. But it wasn't until midway during the installation I realized not all Hella equipped vehicles used the same igniter. So why does that matter?

The Z4 uses the larger, 4th gen Hella igniter, which clips directly onto the back of the factory projector. In contrast, the Morimotos use bulb retainers that sit in between the projector and igniter. So there’s 2 ways to get around this issue:

• Option 1 - Buy a D2S male to female extension cable from the Netherlands
• Option 2 - Buy a Volvo D2R igniter and modify factory harness connector

Option 1 is probably the best in terms of cost and simplicity as long as you're willing to wait for overseas shipping. I didn't have the luxury of waiting so I went Option 2 and kept costs down by going with a refurbished unit from Dorman.

With respect to Option 2, you’ll need to make 2 slight modifications to your stock igniter harness, all of which shouldn’t take more than 2 mins:

• You need to shave down a mm or so on the side of the plastic connector (really easy with a dremel).
• You need to bend the plug in the other direction

The reason you need to bend the plug is because the female socket on the D2R igniter is downward facing whereas the factory unit has it off to the side.

Installation
As always I am not responsible for any damage to your car resulting from this upgrade. I'm just merely documenting the process I followed for this upgrade. If you're not comfortable with performing any of these steps you should take your car to a professional installer.

Tools

• 7mm magnetic deep socket
• 1/4” extension + socket wrench
• Optional: flex magnetic pickup tool and dremel

Removal

You should first review Jumbo's Clear Lens Swap DIY as it's very detailed and includes really helpful videos.

1. Jack the car up, take off the wheel, liner access and plastic cover to headlight. Wedge a flashlight in between rotor and backing plate so you can see what's going on.
2. Disconnect cable going to igniter. Then rotate the igniter CCW slightly to remove it.
3. Using your 7mm socket and wrench/driver, take off the 4 nuts securing the old projector.
4. Unplug the solenoid wire and then slide the projector out. If the plug won't come undone, try using a pick tool to gently lift the locking tab inside the connector.
5. Lift the bulb clips and take out the D2S bulb. Nothing else needs to be transferred over.

Retrofit

1. Inspect the new projector for any dust or smudges and wipe down if necessary.
2. Push any wiring to the side so you have a clear path to slide the new projector over the 4 studs. The projector should only go in one way but if you forget, the solenoid plug should be on the bottom. After you've tightened all 4 nuts, reconnect the factory solenoid wire.
3. Look at the bulb retainer for the little notch cutouts. That's where the base of your D2S bulb will line up. Place the bulb inside the retainer and clasp the retainer closed.
4. Now that you've assembled the bulb and bulb retainer, you need to install the bulb inside the projector. The stem of the D2S bulb should be facing down at 6 o'clock inside the projector. But you'll initially want to position the bulb slightly left (say 11 o'clock) and twist CW until the retainer locks onto the projector.
5. Reconnect your igniter cable and make sure it's fully seated. Match the notch cutouts on the igniter against the tabs on the D2S bulb's base. Push the igniter onto the bulb, and turn CW to secure it.
6. Turn the key and test your headlights to see if the HID bulbs turn on. If not, pull the key out and go back to check your igniter connection. For option 3, the female socket on the Volvo is much deeper than the Hella and my harness wasn't fully plugged so I only got flickering. After I pushed it in further I heard a snap and the bulb then lit up.
7. Reinstall the covers and anything else you might've pulled off.
8. Adjust headlight aim if necessary. Surprisingly my horizontal aim was wayyy off on driver side.

Final tip - if this is first time you’re taking off the headlight covers, you should consider buying new replacements as the rubber gasket tends to dry out. So it may no longer provide a tight seal and can introduce moisture into the housings, which could lead to damage down the road.

Purchasing

• Morimoto Projectors from Lightwerkz
  
• Option 1: D2S Extension Cable from Retrofitlab
  
• Option 2: Refurbished D2R Igniters from Advance, AutoZone

[3002 tii]

Impressions
I first heard about projector retrofits a decade ago on sites like e46fanatics but I wasn't crazy about them back then. I could see the case for someone starting with halogens but I didn't see the value in ripping apart your headlight if you already had xenons to begin with. But seeing how good headlights have gotten in recent years, it’s very apparent how far behind the Z4 xenons stack up to the latest hardware.

I would've normally called it a day after swapping bulbs but the availability of high quality, aftermarket PnP kits have really changed my opinion on this mod. And FWIW the factory igniter not mounting is NOT a knock on the Morimoto kit since the Hella E55 was used for so many years over for different makes and models. But if you took a look at my pictues Below, you'd have no clue there was an aftermarket kit installed. No spliced wires, ballasts galore hanging off my bumper, etc.

I'd easily rate this retrofit in my list of TOP 5 favorite mods for our cars, especially when you factor cost and relative ease of installation. Since I've already figured out how to deal with the igniters, the install should be essier for anyone else contemplating this. But overall, I could not be happier with how it turned out. The hot spots everyone refers to is a real and the cutoff on the beam pattern has way more precision. My Z4 xenons now look comparable to the LED headlights on my i3, with the i3 having an edge with respect to beam width.

[3002 tii]

Didn't mean to mess with exposure, courtesy of iPhone 11 Night Mode lol.

[pungo]

Great job on the light upgrade. Are you saying that if I sourced the male to female D2S cables, I could use the stock igniter and just secure them within the light assembly?

Good point on the magnetic 7mm deepwell since if you drop the nut in the light assembly, it might not be easy to retrieve it.

BTW, not sure if you have a typo, but the Morimoto EvoX-R 2.0 at Lighwerkz are $120 ($102 after discount) so this ends up being a very reasonable upgrade.

Have you had much real world driving on some pitch black roads to see how much of an improvement they made over the stock projectors? Many of the rural roads I drive are very dark so any improvement in usable light output is appreciated, especially during deer season.

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by pungo

Great job on the light upgrade. Are you saying that if I sourced the male to female D2S cables, I could use the stock igniter and just secure them within the light assembly?

Good point on the magnetic 7mm deepwell since if you drop the nut in the light assembly, it might not be easy to retrieve it.

BTW, not sure if you have a typo, but the Morimoto EvoX-R 2.0 at Lighwerkz are $120 ($102 after discount) so this ends up being a very reasonable upgrade.

Have you had much real world driving on some pitch black roads to see how much of an improvement they made over the stock projectors? Many of the rural roads I drive are very dark so any improvement in usable light output is appreciated, especially during deer season.

Correct if you sourced those cables, then you should be able to reuse your factory igniter or at least that's what they claim:

"Why do you need them? Because a lot ot times the original igniter won't fit the new bulb/projector setup. With this extension cable the male connector can be connected to the original igniter and the female connector can be connected to the bulb."

And they specifically package this cable with their own (non-Morimoto) EvoX-R 2.0 kit. The only thing I'll add is with option 3 at least I knew I was getting OEM quality at min. With Option 2, I have no idea if their custom harness is the equivalent of "iJDMTOY" garbage or something OEM worthy.

Thanks for pointing out the typo. Total upgrade was $175 after I factored the 2 Dorman igniters.

After moving to CT I was surprised to see how poorly lit some of the roads were. They have them but they're rarely lit, weird... And the further north you go, the more rural it gets so there's definitely areas that qualify as near pitch dark. Luckily I don't make my way up there often but the pics above were taken on roads I frequent when taking the back roads home.

[rsutoratosu]

Thats NE for ya.. I drive up to boston sometimes and wish I have those big led light bars... so I can see the road.. lol

[pungo]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

Impressions
Notice the difference in lighting distance vs factory projectors (same bulb).

Great pics showing usable light on the road

If the top pic is the stock projectors and the bottom 2 pics are the aftermarket ones, the stock projectors looks like they are aimed slightly downward, while the aftermarket projectors look like they are aimed nearly level.

Properly aimed headlights will drop 2+" for every 25' of distance, though as low as our cars sit, I set them to drop a little less then 1" over a 25' distance.

[Finnegan]

Nice work! Compared to my 16 SRT Challenger the Z4s lights look more like stagecoach carriage lamps. 😑

I live in a rural area, frequented by turkeys and suicidal deer. Carriage lamps aren't enough. I'm going to dig in to this to up the light game. Thanks!

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Nice work! Compared to my 16 SRT Challenger the Z4s lights look more like stagecoach carriage lamps. 😑

I live in a rural area, frequented by turkeys and suicidal deer. Carriage lamps aren't enough. I'm going to dig in to this to up the light Gabe. Thanks!

Ron - if u don’t mind experimenting with option 2, go with that. If quality is as good as they claim, the install will be very easy. The hardest part will simply be stuffing that extra wiring in the assembly. Worst case then u go option 3 which isn’t bad at all. Regardless though the ROI on this mod is better than almost anything I’ve done so far to the car.

[CJW2OO4]

How time consuming is this retrofit? I'm coming back to a Z4M from an M2 and the headlight output is quite dull in comparison.

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by CJW2OO4

How time consuming is this retrofit? I'm coming back to a Z4M from an M2 and the headlight output is quite dull in comparison.

Since I documented everything, it’s really not bad if you have the right tools. There’s nothing complicated, just need to take your time for the first side because you’re looking for stuff. Other side will be much quicker. Heck just getting the headlight cover back on takes 5 mins on your first try but I can now do it on 20 seconds.

If I had to guess, 2.5 hours first side taking taking it easy and 1.5 hours on the next side.

[GyroF-16]

I’ve been following this threat with interest... and will likely be doing the upgrade to my Z4MC in the spring/summer.
But I picked up a pretty low-mile E46 M3 in the fall, and would REALLY like to improve its headlight performance, as I drive it to and from work in the dark a lot this time of year.
Can anyone suggest a similar (that is, dramatic improvement for < $300 cost) upgrade for the M3?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by GyroF-16

I’ve been following this threat with interest... and will likely be doing the upgrade to my Z4MC in the spring/summer.
But I picked up a pretty low-mile E46 M3 in the fall, and would REALLY like to improve its headlight performance, as I drive it to and from work in the dark a lot this time of year.
Can anyone suggest a similar (that is, dramatic improvement for < $300 cost) upgrade for the M3?

E46 should be even easier, call Lightwerkz... I bet they can recommend a nice PnP kit.

[Terraphantm]

Originally Posted by GyroF-16

I’ve been following this threat with interest... and will likely be doing the upgrade to my Z4MC in the spring/summer.
But I picked up a pretty low-mile E46 M3 in the fall, and would REALLY like to improve its headlight performance, as I drive it to and from work in the dark a lot this time of year.
Can anyone suggest a similar (that is, dramatic improvement for < $300 cost) upgrade for the M3?

Clear lenses and brighter bulbs go a very long way with the E46 projectors.

[John_Romanos]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

Purchasing
My total cost excluding bulbs was $175 after discount ($100 for projectors and $75 for igniters) and I could probably resell my old projectors and igniters for $100+ but I plan to keep them for now. FYI you may find sites listing the projectors for less but if it doesn't actually say "Morimoto" in the description, it's most likely a replica. Maybe they're just as good but I didn't want to chance it.

• Morimoto Projectors from Lightwerkz (note Lighwerkz has 15% off your first purchase, code "WELCOME15")
  
• Option 1: D2S Extension Cable from Retrofitlab
  
• Option 2: Refurbished D2R Igniters from Advance, AutoZone, and eBay (if going with the first 2, be sure to find 20-25% coupon floating around)
  
• Option 3: Volvo OEM D2R Igniters from FCP

Impressions
I first heard about projector retrofits a decade ago on sites like e46fanatics but wasn't crazy about them back then. I could see the case for someone starting with halogens but I didn't see the value in ripping apart your headlight if you already had xenons to begin with. But seeing how good headlights have gotten on factory cars nowadays, the under performance from the Z4's headlights is very apparent (could also be due to projectors wearing out after 10+ years). Being an OEM+ guy I would've normally called it a day after swapping bulbs but the availability of high quality, aftermarket PnP kits really changed my opinion on this mod. And FWIW the igniter not mounting up is NOT a knock on the Morimoto kit since the Hella E55 was used for so many years over different applications. But if you took a look at my car underneath you'd have no clue there was an aftermarket kit installed. No spliced wires, ballasts galore hanging off my bumper, etc.

I'd easily rate this retrofit in my list of TOP 5 favorite mods for our cars, especially when you factor cost and relative difficulty of installation. Since I've already figured out how to deal with the igniters, the install should be simpler for anyone else contemplating this. But overall, I could not be happier with how it turned out. The hot spots everyone refers to is a real and the cutoff on the beam pattern has way more precision. Even the headlight's initial vertical adjustment looks more improved lol. My Z4 xenons now look comparable to the LED headlights on my i3, with the i3 having an edge with respect to beam width. We usually come up with excuses to take our cars out during the day but after this you'll be looking for reasons to drive the car in the pitch dark!

Notice the difference in lighting distance vs factory projectors (same bulb).

I have the halogens, wondering if I should just go straight to the LED or get xenon's, I like the clear plastic of the xenon's cause mine have that weird blue tint over them. What do you think?

[pungo]

Originally Posted by John_Romanos

I have the halogens, wondering if I should just go straight to the LED or get xenon's, I like the clear plastic of the xenon's cause mine have that weird blue tint over them. What do you think?

AFAIK, all Z4s have clear lens, not blue, someone probably added blue film or spayed them, which also reduces light output. If it's a film you can remove it and polish the lens to look nearly new.

Curious to know how you would properly retrofit LEDs since simply dropping in LED bulbs in a halogen reflector will blind oncoming traffic as well as output a bad uneven beam pattern.

[John_Romanos]

Originally Posted by pungo

AFAIK, all Z4s have clear lens, not blue, someone probably added blue film or spayed them, which also reduces light output. If it's a film you can remove it and polish the lens to look nearly new.

Curious to know how you would properly retrofit LEDs since simply dropping in LED bulbs in a halogen reflector will blind oncoming traffic as well as output a bad uneven beam pattern.

It's not a film, had a shop try to fix them up. And im guessing it wasn't meant to be "blue" it only looks blue in person and I think age made a gray spray into blue. I like the clear look of the xenon's but so expensive

[pungo]

Originally Posted by John_Romanos

It's not a film, had a shop try to fix them up. And im guessing it wasn't meant to be "blue" it only looks blue in person and I think age made a gray spray into blue. I like the clear look of the xenon's but so expensive

Both the Halogen and Xenon headlights have clear lens so not sure what you're talking about with "the clear look"

The biggest difference is that Xenon has improved light output compared to Halogen.

[John_Romanos]

Originally Posted by pungo

Both the Halogen and Xenon headlights have clear lens so not sure what you're talking about with "the clear look"

The biggest difference is that Xenon has improved light output compared to Halogen.

Attached a photo

[pungo]

IDK, the huge uneven hood to bumper gap, and unless the camera did something strange, the different hue of the bumper to hood, would bother me much more than some tint on the headlight lens

My guess is the vehicle was in a front end collision and not properly repaired...

Originally Posted by John_Romanos

Attached a photo

[John_Romanos]

Originally Posted by pungo

IDK, the huge uneven hood to bumper gap, and unless the camera did something strange, the different hue of the bumper to hood, would bother me much more than some tint on the headlight lens

My guess is the vehicle was in a front end collision and not properly repaired...

Nah, that's just lighting. Had the bumper redone because of previous owners (clean title). Original color is titanium silver but was respirated gray for some reason. So now I'm going to go for a fade. Bumper is in crap condition just about because of previous owners scraping on speed bumps and stuff. I have all the info, just not worried about paint right now

Here is a better pic for color

[pungo]

Yeah, that huge gap between the hood and the bumper is not normal so something is not right with the bumper. Just so you know, people don't report all accidents to their insurance company so you can't go by a clean record alone, you also need to do a proper inspection by someone that knows what to look for. With you being the 4th owner, who knows the complete history of this vehicle

The topic of this thread is about @3002 tii projector retrofit and since the discussion has has gone off topic, I'm done, unless people want to discuss Bi-Xenon projector retrofits.

Originally Posted by John_Romanos

Nah, that's just lighting. Had the bumper redone because of previous owners (clean title). Original color is titanium silver but was respirated gray for some reason. So now I'm going to go for a fade. Bumper is in crap condition just about because of previous owners scraping on speed bumps and stuff. I have all the info, just not worried about paint right now

Here is a better pic for color