Headlight mod fail - BMW 750i conversion

Well, we all try and fail sometimes. I'm putting this out there so the next guy doesn't waste a weekend trying this.

So, I seen the other BMW headlight conversions on here, so last time I was at the junk yard I looked around.
They only had a 99 BMW 750 there that still had headlights. Well, I figured I could make it would. The shape was close,
except the angle towards the grill. And, it had projectors, yay!

So, for $35 each, I got the lights. Not a bad price to experiment with. The depth of the BMW headlight box its waaaay to deep to even think about a direct swap. So, I took the stock headlights, removed the cover and started drilling.
I took a few different hole saws to get it right, but I got the projector mounted with a few self tapers.
The high beam is a biach to mount. Nothing really works, but after a few options, a clip and a speednut got it mounted.

So, I used the factory buick headlight clips to mount the bmw clear glass housing. There is some open space that I planned on filling in with some plastic and silicone, but wasn't going to go that route until it was mounted. So, taking it to the car, my only real issue is the grille The angle on the lens contacts the grille when the hood is closed. You cant angle the lights enough to clear the grille. If I slotted the headlight mounting bolts, maybe, but then the beam aim would be completely off.

I really need to buy a different clear housing lens, and then this set up would be balls. Until then, a swing and miss

Hey, thanks for trying!

I'm still on the hunt for clear 5 series lens covers. One I find them, this project is back on.

Aren't 5 series lights too pointy on the inside? You are talking about 97-03 e39 lights?

We had Xenon projector on oir 2000 540it and they were awesome.

Ya that could be. The other thread on here the guy says a e36. All I know is what they look like

Ah, e36 iz 92-99 3 series. That makes sense.

With any real projector head lights you will need to cut, and trim the core support. Just take your time, and be patient, measure twice, cut once. I used the BMW buckets (late '90s E36) with clear euro style lenses for the Caprice/Roadmaster from feebay. The buckets you have would look sweet if you get them to work.

Did you cut up the BMW buckets to remove the projectors?

Check the size of the buckets compared to the stock B lenses before going any further. The E36 light buckets are very close to the same size as B buckets, that's why I used them. I should have gotten the buckets to fit the car, aimed and all, before getting too concerned how they look on the car. Once mounted with the lights turned on the pattern wasn't great, so I had to almost start over. If you get to that point, start cutting up the lenses for the right lines. Try using some old B body lenses over your BMW buckets and practice on those. Once you have the pattern down, get some clear lens and do the same. Little by little. Don't give up.

Oh, and the clear euro lenses:
  1. They are a bit smaller than the factory lenses in all dimensions, so be aware of that.
  2. They are much more fragile, so they brake and crack very easily when cutting them.

Did not cut up the BMW buckets, only disassembled the BMW lights to remove the projector and high beam buckets. I then used the stock B-body headlight buckets to mount. I had to drill out (well, hole saw out) the buckets to get the projectors to fit. I had to grind down the mounting tabs to get it to completely sit in the bucket.

Had to do the same to the highs. So far, the lows aim pretty good, the highs are way off. I will get another set from the junkyard and try again. Right now, they aim way left, but that's more on how I drilled the high beam bucket. I forgot about the angle they sit in the car, just based the aim on a flat surface.

Only thing I don't know is if the E36 headlight covers will have the same depth as the 750i. I didn't have much clearance between the projector housing and the headlight cover.