9005(high beam) to 9006 (low beam) conversion
 

I was looking and I cant find any pics of this being done. Does anyone have any pics or a more detailed instructions on how to do this? I just bought a pair of piaa 9005's and cant wait to get them in there. Thanks fellas (and the occasional lady).

Here ya go chief:

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/More_light.htm

you tha man, thanks alot brotha.

i did that conversion about 2 months ago. All good so far. Best mod for the $ by far!

I didn't use the extra washer, or have to weld anything. Also, I used a dremel cutter. I tried a dremel grinder and it sucked.

good luck!

Any long term effects from running 9005s all the time?

no problem. :)

that plastic piece that is in the housing on the low beam sides... that high beam bulb isn't hot enough for it to melt?? and it's electricaly safe to put that higher output bulb in the low beam socket?? thanks!

i put some 80watt 9006 bulbs in my car one time and the one on the right would blow out after a month

Its totally safe. Ive had mine in for almost a year now with no probs with melting or electronically thus far. I also have the Silverstars so they look really cool. When i had my Teg they looked better though because of the projectors.

i have done this b4. all you have to do is cut off the little nipple on the the low beam, and the high beam bulb will fit nicely. i used a dremel, and it took me a couple of seconds. i used the silverstar 9005, but it would burned out every 3 months. finally got tired and go with a HID setup. its a nice little conversion. the only set back is that high beam bulb do not last as long as low beam bulb.

ok...ok...I'm somewhat of a newbie here.

So this mod is for replacing the lowbeam 9006 with a highbeam 9005 bulb? By just grinding down some of the fittings? Cool! So basically, get some 9005's, take out one of the existing 9006 and make the 9005's look like the 9006?

the reason this mod is popular is cuz

1. u can get a 9005 bulb for $5 not $50+
2. since it is 65 watts instead of 55 it is brighter then most super white 9006s (my oem 9005 made my 9006 piaa look yellow!!)
3. the oem wiring can easily handle 65 watts
4. oem 9005 is extremely reliable
5. a higher wattage 9006 bulb costs more, might be brighter, but u risk melting the wiring harness and not as reliable
6. the mod to the 9005 bulb could be done by a 9 year old. its too easy

i ended up using piaa platinum 9005 bulbs in my lows, but had to move on to a true projector hid setup. the 9005 to 9006 conversion is by far the best lighting mod for the $$$ unless u get an hid setup for free

I did a 9005 conversion on my stock bulbs and my aftermarket supwhites. The stock 9005's were very noticeable, they were mcuh brighter. But with the superwhites, its just as bright, there's really no difference

so how often do the 9005s go out when you do this?

do the bulbs create the same effect as
an hid setup

My question is how long does a 9005 bulb last running for long periods of time? As I posted before I had some 80watt 9006's and they didn't last long and than thai said the 9005s only lasted him 3 months ... I really don’t want to be replacing bulbs every 3 months ... any detailed posts on my concerns will be appreciated

It depends on the quality of the bulb you get. You get a $10 set of bulbs, thats what you get. You spend a little more for the quality its going to last longer.

ok..so inside the plastic bowl thingy on the bulb...theres 2 metal prongs and then theres the plactic guides...all u gotta do is cut out the plastic guides and they fit then??? can u get like blue (not oem) 9005's???

Believe me they were much more than $10

I bought Silverstars and ive had them for almost a year now and no problems. (knock on wood)

i have "eurolite super plasma" high and low beams... so if i did the install with another set of 9005 eurolite's in the low beam housing that would work good?? i just don't wanna have to replace a $40 set of bulbs every 3 months... does ne one have this set up???

need more info on this, and perhaps a picture! so i know i dont trim the wrong fuckin thing... ONE PICTURE WOULD DO because it sounds so damn easy

sorry, didnt see bmw thread..

oem slyvania 9005 will last a long time

how much is that?

can u get theose in the blue color???

i installed this setup on my car in May of 02. the 9005 silverstar bulbs blew out on me February of 03. the filament of one bulb actually melted and separated, while the other bulb had a bit of a metal coating on the inside of the glass (indicating that it would fail in the near-future). i'm back to the standard 9006 bulbs for now, and they are noticeably dimmer than the 9005 conversion.

did anyone else with this mod have any glare problems? i noticed that when i had the setup, the light output went EVERYWHERE (and i do mean EVERYWHERE... above, below, and to both left and right sides of the road, especially towards oncoming traffic). my friends in other cars complained to me a number of times about how intensely bright, and distracting my headlights were. i was considering adding some coating to the tip of the 9005 bulb to make it look like a 9006 bulb. this may address some of the directional problems of the beam pattern (especially if the inside of the coating was reflective, and the outside of the coating were to be dark)? i haven't yet thought of any appropriate material with which to do this. any ideas?

i was going to install 9006 D2R HIDs just this last week, but i had to postpone due to the pricing. as long as the glare issues are addressed, i wouldn't mind using the 9005 conversion temporarily until i have my HIDs.

Has ANYONE EVER gotten pulled over for this conversion....i'd be afarid u'd get pulled over for like "driving with the highbeams on" or some BS...because their sooo bright...

Has this happend to anyone??

Well i just did the install....i didnt even have to cut down the guides much at all!! They were still sticking up some and they still fitted...i used 2 rubber washers per bulb....wasnt hard at all!! Easy and fun. Hopfully they look good. I coudnt really tell much while my car was in the garage in mid daylight...from what i can tell though, they dont look much brighter at all....the OEM highs are still brighter i think...humm...i donno...im gonna take my baby out tonight at like 10 and we will see how they look and if they were worth it...

i never got pulled over, but i did get complaints from my friends about the excessive glare. the backs of road signs on the other side of the road were also illuminated by my headlights quite a bit. Acura 3.0CL, let us know what you think after you've tested the lights out at night.

hmmm. still considering on doing this conversion or not

MOTHER FUCKER!!!! OK I AM SOOO PISSED OFF!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, i did the conversion and installed the lights...everything looked good and worked. Tonight i left my house at like 9pm and turned on the lights and they were soooo bright!! they were both illuminating the WHOLE garage wall....so that was cool. . .so im drivin around like on streets with NO street lights so that i can see the lights really good....so everything so sooo good and looks good so i deside to stop and look at them form a distance outside my car...so i get out to look at them and the passenger one ISNT on anymore!!! ahhh!!! I was totaly going to kill myself if it already blew out in the 5min i used it...so i went home and looked at the bulbs and heres what happend. The drivers side is still working fine and the passenger side still isnt...so i take the bulb out of the headlight assembly but its still hooked up to the power supply connector thingy...and i turn the lights back on AND NOW IT DESIDES TO WORK!!! the whole engine bay lit up with light....so im like ok, it was just a bad connection so i put it back in the headlight and NOT IT DOSNT WORK AGAIn!! so i took it out again and IT STILL DIDNT WORK!! so i got pissed, kicked some crap around the garage and left it alone...i donno whats wrong...

could it be that it like over heated or something?? Why would it work, then stop working for like 10 min then work again and then not work....I DONT UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

(sorry i needed to vent....anyone got any ideas???

ouch, that's no good... i couldnt think of anything being wrong other than a connection problem. you said you didnt shave off the plastic tabs all the way, maybe try going back and shaving off a little more from the plastic tab inside the connector? it may just give you enough clearance to make a solid electrical connection. a little bit of wiping with a clean cloth wouldnt hurt either, especially if your car's headlight connectors are dirty. overheating shouldn't be an issue.

what bulbs did you use? i used the 9005 Sylvania Silverstars (here), and they were great for the nine or so months mine lasted. other than the glare, i had absolutely no problems with my setup. let us know if you get it to work, and dont forget to talk about glare issues ;). good luck!

anyone know where you could get those cheap?

try ebay. i havent seen em for less than retail anywhere else. they retail for about 25 apiece, so that's $50 a pair.

dayum i wish i my cpu didnt crash when i did mine i took pics throughout the process and was gunna write up a how to but i was just to lazy .... never up loaded the pics o well ...

i have the silverstars hella brite and since im down 2+ inches i get no problems from other cars /glare u might have to aim ur lights a bit tho

It soundslike the conversion would cause excessive glare for normal night time driving. I live in Fairfax, VA and I'm thinking it would be too much for this congested area.

After the 9005 bulb is mod, could the same bulb be put back into the 9005 highbeam housing? I'm think of experimenting by using the OEM 9005's from the highbeam and if I don't like it, I can put them back where they belong and stick the 9006's back on. Is this possible? Or after you mod the 9005's, they won't fit back into the highbeam housing?

Not if you aim it down more

i donno whats wrong with mine..i think one of the bulbs is messed up...i mean i pluged it in and it was turned on, and it was in the headlight housing, but when i gave the bulb that final "click" to lock it in the headlighthousing, it turned off...and if i "unlocked the bulb...it turned on again...and now the damn thing isnt working no matter what im doin...(i thought i saw a spark inside the plastic as i was messin with it...but it sparked more than once...the bulb looks fine on the outside and its only be on for like 5Min total...could it alreayd be blown?? i dont undertaand...anyone know???

hmm.. CJ, maybe when i get my damn foot thing off, we can work on it or something-- i think i want to do this.. we can meet, fuck around with yours, and install mine... actually this could be something good to do at the KC meet, if there is one