Ok so ever since I have gotten my headlights with ZKW installed, I noticed when driving I have gotten flashed quite a few times by semi truck drivers when only my low beams have been on. I found it curious but what made me wonder more was last week I was driving behind some family members who were in a truck and they had asked me why I kept flashing them when the whole time my lowbeams were the only lights on. I have noticed BMWs show a purple/blue hue from farther away and wonder if perhaps the refraction from the ZKWs as I'm driving can be interpreted as flashing? Anyone else have any ideas or experience with this? My headlights are aimed properly and my fog lights have not been on, only low beams on any of these occasions just to be clear.

 

That's because the cut off is insanely sharp. Comparing them to OEM lenses which kind of blend the light together. I get that a lot too, I had to aim mine slightly lower than normal.

 

Never thought of that but with the sharp cutoff it does make sense, seeing as it has only been taller vehicles flashing so I think I should be ok? I used to get flashed by everyone and had lowered my lights and it stopped flashing from cars but semis and tall trucks still have been flahing.

 

Yup just as he said above, the cutoff is so sharp if you hit a dip or bump when your beam goes up into the eyes of other drivers it is so instant that it appears your flashing people. Make sure your headlights are aimed correctly that is super critical when you have a nice HID projector. They are VERY bright to other drivers. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do when going over a hill for example and an oncomming driver is located under the beam pattern. Ofcourse they dont realize whats happening and think they are being high beamed.
James

 

can you take some pictures of your cut off so I can compare it with mines?

drive to a parking lot or somewhere flat and leveled with a wall.

park 25 feet away and turn on your headlights and aim it at the wall and than take a picture of the cut off.

Oh, and do you have authentic ZKW installed or ZKW-R? ( R = Replica )

 

He probably has the replicas.

You have the best projectors and a good lense = hell for everyone else = good for you.

 

like everyone else said, cut-off is something fierce...especially if not aimed correctly.

when i'm driving behind a car/truck...my cut-off stops almost perfectly right below the rear glass on the car/truck in front of me. i don't think it could be angled any better. even if i hit a bump or dip, it won't shine through to their line of vision.

 

Honestly I have no idea if they are authentic or not, I bought the headlights with them installed, if I have to guess I'd say replica because the seller didn't tout that they were authentic.

That's basically how mine is when I drive, the only times I'm flashed or it was noted as a problem was with semis and tall trucks thus making me think it possibly has something to do with the refraction from the lens at different heights.

 

This.

If you're getting flashed a lot, especially by truck drivers ( ), check the aim. No way that should happen on any kind of normal basis, regardless of the quality of the cutoff.

 

Another thing. You should see your cut off line hit the ground about 100' in front of you.

 

I have authentic ZKW's installed, however my installer did not space them correctly for optimum light output / sharp cut off. He also broke a lense clip while trying to remove one of the lenses and had to use JB Weld to hold it back together.

My cut off is very fuzzy and sloppy looking, however I did aim the lights using the wall and 25 feet method. I've never had anyone high beam me whether it be a car or truck. I really wish I could have gotten them properly spaced for a razor sharp cut off. Vendors I asked on here want to charge me $125 just to space em for a sharp cut off! I didn't even pay half that for the authentic zkw lenses!

 

I've received flashed with both OEM form, and ZKW-R w/ 85122+ bulbs.

Since the lens/bulb upgrade I've adjusted the aim to be a bit low. Even aimed low the light output and spread is great.

 

I get hibeamed all the time with my stock lenses and bulbs....and yes they are aimed perfectly fine.

 

How did you get a ZKW for ~$50 -- I bet you got ripped off :/

 

I got ripped off in terms of getting my headlights worked on but didn't get it properly spaced / aimed for a sharp cut off.

But I know someone who does retrofitting and when I went to him to get my amber diffusers removed to install clear diffusers, he just so happened to have authentic ZKWs laying around from a BMW he was working on earlier that month.

He told me he would sell it to me for $50 and I didn't believe him either. I asked him if they were replicas or authentic and he told me he was working on a BMW and had them left over sitting around for not even 1 month. When I got to his place he pulled out the lenses and showed them to me and I've seen pictures of ZKW-R's and authentic ZKW's before so I was able to distinguish between the two. Authentic ZKWs have little ridges / cut outs around the outer circular ring. ZKW-R's are just one solid ring all the way around. They are 100% authentic no doubt.

All in all, I paid him $80 to open my head lights, remove my amber diffuser, install my USR clear diffusers, replace my fresnel lenses with authentic ZKW's.

The only thing missing from that service was proper headlight spacing and aiming. He finished up around 3PM and there was still plenty of daylight outside so he said he wouldn't be able to aim them for me, so I went home and waited til the sun went down and aimed them myself using the 25 feet method.

When parked 3-5 feet from a wall, you can clearly see "hot spots" in the headlight when it shines on the wall.... that's how I know it's not spaced properly. Also like I said, my cut off is no where near as sharp as I know it can be.... Maybe I'll give him a visit sometime to do the finishing touches.

True, I could have spent $150 on vendors here to get it done right the first time, but paying shipping back and forth would probably add up to a little less than $200. I would have also needed to put down a $300 down payment on some headlights so I can use spare headlights while my headlights are being worked on (my car is a daily driver). In the long run, that would have been smarter, but I didn't have the funds for all that.

It was much more practical for me to just drive to his house (about half a hour from me) and just give him straight up $80 in cash and drive home that same day with newly modified headlights. No need to wait on shipping and the other inconvenient stuff. Also I was heading to San Antonio the next day for CupCake Meet 11 so I wanted to get my headlights done ASAP. It all worked out

I'm sure after I go to him to properly space my lenses and fix my cut off, I would have spent about the same or less than getting it done by vendors here without the need to shipping my headlights halfway across the US. Sounds like a good deal to me!

 

Same here.

 

i got yellow fogs and that cut down the amount of 'flashes' i got.

otherwise, this shows how many people think the same thing

 

^lol