Need an opinion Headlights. OEM ZKW Vs. Depo W/ Angel Eyes

[ZHP_Brandon]

I purchased my Imola Red ZHP from Pensacola, Florida (45
Minutes away from Mobile, Alabama) from Pete Moore VW, it must have been a trade in by an enthusiast of some kind. The car had semi new Alcantara Boots, Aftermarket headlights & Tails amongst other goodies
Its Imola Red/Black Leather/6MT

The car has decent mileage and now I'm looking to get into modding it moderately.
I have OEM ZKW Headlights off of my crashed Black Metallic ZHP Sedan, and I want to know from the outside looking in what I should do from here

The car has DEPO HEADLIGHTS, mounted and wired almost perfectly & has normal 4500K Bulbs from the looks of ots yellowish/white appearance. They must be a few years old because the Angel Eyes are very, very dim & the leveler on one side is broken

Now moving on, I want to know if I should just invest money into my OEM ZKW headlights - the bowls are completely burned, the "Glass Eye" or projector Lens is very foggy and looks super hazy
I've found that on TheRetroFitSource.com that the kit is available for 240$ after shipping & will take minimal hours to do the work to get perfect headlights

Or should I just get aftermarket bulbs, new lenses & new angel eyes for the depo headlights?

Im still teeter tottering on what I should do.
I have to invest money into either one so I'm just looking for some guidance.

I wish I had AL Headlights! 😭

[Vas]

Personally I would get rid of the DEPO headlights.

I have a similar problem with my ZKW headlights. The projector bowls are burnt and do not provide adequate output. As far as fixing it, you can do the retrofit yourself using the kit in the link you posted. Or you an source AL headlights like some members have.

The third option is to send your lights to lightwerkz. They do a complete retrofit using new projectors. Cost of labor is $285, and the projectors run $140 for this application. Cost is $425 plus return shipping.

[az3579]

Ditch the Depo's. The overall quality of them is garbage. I'd do a proper projector retrofit on the OE ZKW's instead.

BTW, the angel eyes on that particular set of Depos were never good, even from new. Looking at those, the rings are CCFL, not LED, so the lighting is uneven and not nearly as bright as LEDs, which is why they look like that.

[ELCID86]

My car had Depos also. I replaced with OE from a seller on e46f.


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.

[KevinC]

Depo is Chinese garbage.

[Sockethead]

I got my ZKWs rebuilt by LightWerkz. Fast turnaround and great output. All I had to do was install assemblies and aim using the instructions on their website.
They can put in angle eyes at the same time.
A good alternative if you don't feel like doing it yourself...

[Vas]

I got my ZKWs rebuilt by LightWerkz. Fast turnaround and great output. All I had to do was install assemblies and aim using the instructions on their website.
They can put in angle eyes at the same time.
A good alternative if you don't feel like doing it yourself...

Out of curiosity, how much did they charge? I got a quote from them and thought it was a bit high.

[Sockethead]

I think it was $425? I can't remember exactly, it was a few years and a few kids ago. That was for FXR conversion. They also swapped my angel eyes over.
To me, I was fine with that price because I was just too busy to figure it out and do it on my own and everybody has to make a living.... but yea, you can save money by purchasing on the Internet for cheaper and doing it yourself, if you have the time.

[Vas]

I think it was $425? I can't remember exactly, it was a few years and a few kids ago. That was for FXR conversion. They also swapped my angel eyes over.
To me, I was fine with that price because I was just too busy to figure it out and do it on my own and everybody has to make a living.... but yea, you can save money by purchasing on the Internet for cheaper and doing it yourself, if you have the time.

Since it has been a couple of years ago, how are they holding up? Still the same as day one?

I was quoted $510 plus return shipping.

[Sockethead]

Yep no issues at all and still bright as ever