[e90bmw328i]

This is still a work in progress but below are some pictures.

As some of you know, I acquired this headlights from a forum member who cheated me saying they were new but turned out they werent so much. . I paid through the nose for this set but he is still yet to refund me for the broken Tab.

Anyways, I had already spoken to 888Concept to get this work done but since these headlights weren't really new, I decided to take the risk and try to do the project myself. In a way that ass cheating me actually helped

Let me warn you that the projectors are not direct fit although the Mini H1's are meant to be H7 plug-n-play. The Reflector housing is fairly thick in the E90's. No wonder most retrofitters charge us an arm and a leg to retrofit. I had to trim the internals to enable the projector locknut to go in deeper and fit the H1 bulb holder.

Morimoto Mini h1
Mini gaitling gun shroud (i aso have IRIS shroud but they dont fit clean)
Orion v2 rings which are yet to arrive

Still thinking if i should blackout the low beam reflector.

I did not cut them open. Baked them.

• 275F for 15 mins
• Flat head screw driver and released the top layer carefully
• Used a plastic bicycle tire removal tool (I had a very stiff one that came with my bike) and used it to gently release the clear lens deep inside the grooves. The tire removal tool looked very similar to the Retrofitlab.com's permaseal tool. Just that it was plastic and not as thin as the metal tool.
• Then used the flat head screw driver again to release the lens from the housing
• It took 2 heat cycles to get this done

The real pain is that in LCI headlights, the inside trim is also permasealed. So the clear lens comes out but the trim is still glued to the housing. Cleaned up the permaseal really well from the grooves and released the trim carefully. I still broke one of the trims tab which was burried deep into the permaseal. Have spent almost 2 weeks on this. I know that i could have had it done professionally but thats not much fun is it?

I broke the angel eyes on both headlights trying to release the lens. That was my motivation for going to Orion V2's. Still waiting for the orion's. Hopefully this week.


REFERENCES:
1) LCI Halogen retrofit with E46 Shroud and V2.5 Angel eyes

2) Pre-LCI Blackout and Orion V2 install

3) Lightwerkz LCI with Orion V4, FX-R with Iris Shroud

4) Pre-LCI Mini H1 with E46 Shroud


UPDATE: 04/09/2015
Finally completed the project. Here is the pics of my finished install. I also broke the bulb in the passenger side while installing but I already replaced it. These pics are taken without the passenger bulb.

Before


After


Cutoff

[e90bmw328i]

Its been over an year since I did this project. The headlights are still holding on pretty well (touch wood!!). It has been through pretty heavy rainfall in texas in the last 1 year. No leaks or fogging or anything. The Morimoto's are indeed very good quality. I used 5500K bulbs in my setup but I think they are slowly becoming a little yellowish (pretty normal as you put a few hours on the bulbs). Wish I had bought the 6000K instead. But apart from that its been awesome. So far I have never been flashed by anyone for glare or anything.
On the flip side, my wife is taking my car to her evening classes at UT claiming that my car feels safer with the amount of light it has (even though her odyssey has xenons).

[uber]

looks great man. I like that you kept it chrome. Looks very oem

[e90bmw328i]

Thanks uber. I wanted to keep an OEM look. I may endup needing to paint the low beam bowl so that it does not reflect any stray light. Lets see.

[Mike.]

I couldn't decide on what shroud to get.. Now I know the mini gatling works. Thanks!

[e90bmw328i]

Originally Posted by Mike.

I couldn't decide on what shroud to get.. Now I know the mini gatling works. Thanks!

It totally depends on the projector. If you get the Mini D2S, you can easily fit the E46 or Iris. But with the Mini H1, its about 1cm long and hence those 2 shrouds dont reach the halogen bowl. That means, you could have stray light from that gap. This is true if you want to use the locking nut on the projectors. But if you plan to cut open the reflector and fit the projector with JBWeld, I would definitely go with Iris or E46. They looks more OEM'ish. If you see Lightwerkz gallery, they use Iris on most e90's. http://www.lightwerkz.net/photo/jaso...-ring-upgrade/

Mini Gaitling on the other hand looks good but I would recommend painting the halogen bowl with flat black or something (nothing Glossy). I havent done it but I dont want to re-open the projector now as I might screw up the locking nut's threads.

[e90bmw328i]

My Orion V2 will arrive tomorrow. I still need to figure out how to mount them and the mini gaitling may not play well. Will need to wait and see.

[Mike.]

Originally Posted by e90bmw328i

It totally depends on the projector. If you get the Mini D2S, you can easily fit the E46 or Iris. But with the Mini H1, its about 1cm long and hence those 2 shrouds dont reach the halogen bowl. That means, you could have stray light from that gap. This is true if you want to use the locking nut on the projectors. But if you plan to cut open the reflector and fit the projector with JBWeld, I would definitely go with Iris or E46. They looks more OEM'ish. If you see Lightwerkz gallery, they use Iris on most e90's. http://www.lightwerkz.net/photo/jaso...-ring-upgrade/

Mini Gaitling on the other hand looks good but I would recommend painting the halogen bowl with flat black or something (nothing Glossy). I havent done it but I dont want to re-open the projector now as I might screw up the locking nut's threads.

Right, I was looking at the morimoto mini stage III, i asked the retrofit source if I could fit e46 shrouds but the guy was like "its a different shape but its prob close" So i didn't know what to do.

[Karman]

Glad everything worked out, the clip probably got damaged in shipping. You paid 450$ for the lights its a fair price. Btw if you need help wiring anything I can help. I did this on my pre LCI. With Orion v2s

[e90bmw328i]

Originally Posted by Karman

Glad everything worked out, the clip probably got damaged in shipping. You paid 450$ for the lights its a fair price. Btw if you need help wiring anything I can help. I did this on my pre LCI. With Orion v2s

Dude, that tab cost $42.99 + shipping. And I paid another $39 to have your paint sparkles removed from the lens. So thats $450 + $89. So IT IS NOT A FAIR PRICE. I keep asking you to atleast refund the money for the broken Tab and I still havent seen penny of it. I just hope that guilt burns you.

[e90bmw328i]

Added a few key reference that I had used in the OP. Thanks to everyone of those adventurers

[e90bmw328i]

Orion v2 install. Epoxied the high beam side. The low beam one is tricky as there is nothing to attach to. So used a picture frame wire to tie it to the top and bottom.

[e90bmw328i]

Finished the project and updated the links of the final output to the OP.