Help with headlights please, AL / ZKW confusion.

Hey guys, need quick help. I don't have a lot of time to research. I looked for about an hour and still a little confused.

Someone kicked debris up on the freeway and smashed my headlight (05 ZHP ZKW). I need a new head light, so I ordered one off eBay and it just came in, turns out its an AL Xenon. I don't know wether this is a blessing or not since my ZKW are burnt to hell.

I seen that the the mount for the AL needs to be a modified ZWK mount, which I can do, ill just pull it off my old on. Im just wondering if all the plugs are the same? Will the plugs on the AL work just fine? Also is the AL self leveling like ZKW? Is there anything else I need to worry about that the AL doesn't have compared to the ZKW? Just curious because the price difference between AL and ZKW seems big.

If all I need to do is modify the brackets to make it work, Ill just swap over the ZKW lenses and order another AL headlight and do the same thing on the other side.

Thanks so much.

I believe its all plug in play. I think even the AL mounting bracket will fit if you just want to order those instead of modifying the ZKW mounting

The connections are all plug and play. Modifying that bracket is the only thing you need to do, and your plan of swapping in AL's and just putting the ZKW projector lenses on is a solid plan.

I borrowed a set of AL's over the winter last year so I could rebuild the wiring in my ZKW's and they were just fine with regards to functionality. Auto-leveling should all be there as well.

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Originally Posted by az3579

The connections are all plug and play. Modifying that bracket is the only thing you need to do, and your plan of swapping in AL's and just putting the ZKW projector lenses on is a solid plan.

I borrowed a set of AL's over the winter last year so I could rebuild the wiring in my ZKW's and they were just fine with regards to functionality. Auto-leveling should all be there as well.

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Exactly this. Modifying the bracket is super easy, just take a dremel and shave off part of the side. Took maybe 10 minutes.

Thanks guys super helpful. One last question since JPMo mentioned it. I do have both brackets. Will the AL fit with no mods? I think I remembering reading somewhere that the headlight doesn't line up correctly. I could be wrong. Thanks

I recently did this swap. I replaced the full zkw assembly and brackets on my car with a set of AL bixenon headlight assemblies and brackets from a partout 04 sulev 325i. Everything fits and works fine. Plugs are in different positions due to the design differences of the assemblies but all fit.

Only recommendation would be to make sure everything works on the ALs before you buy them. I tested two sets that the seller had in storage that ended up having issues when we did a test plug in, and ended up pulling the ones I bought from a running parts car.