Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    New Orleans
    Posts
    264

    Magneti Marelli Headlight Assemblies - Plastic Reflector?

    Hey everyone, my passenger side bi-xenon is not working. After pulling it out of the car to troubleshoot, the insulation on all of the wires is breaking off. I don't have the time to re-wire it, and I am considering buying new headlight assemblies for both the passenger and driver side instead of throwing money at ballasts, bulbs, lenses, etc. Does anyone know if the Magneti Marelli ones have plastic reflectors, or are they of better quality?

    Does anyone have any comments on Depo P46 assemblies? They seem to get mixed reviews. If the ballast isn't attached to the light assembly, where do you put it?

    I'd prefer not to pour a lot of money into this, which make the Deops an attractive option. But I don't want to waste money on something that is junk and having the ballast loose in the engine bay doesn't sound very good...

    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    22841
    Posts
    9,921
    Magneti Marelli are the same thing as AL headlights which are far superior to the zkw units. No burnt bowl issues with them

    Avoid depo brand at all cost.

    Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

    His - 2004 Imola Red / Alcantara 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

    Her's - 2005 Black Sapphire Metallic / Black Leather 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by edlvrt View Post
    Hey everyone, my passenger side bi-xenon is not working. After pulling it out of the car to troubleshoot, the insulation on all of the wires is breaking off. I don't have the time to re-wire it, and I am considering buying new headlight assemblies for both the passenger and driver side instead of throwing money at ballasts, bulbs, lenses, etc. Does anyone know if the Magneti Marelli ones have plastic reflectors, or are they of better quality?

    Does anyone have any comments on Depo P46 assemblies? They seem to get mixed reviews. If the ballast isn't attached to the light assembly, where do you put it?

    I'd prefer not to pour a lot of money into this, which make the Deops an attractive option. But I don't want to waste money on something that is junk and having the ballast loose in the engine bay doesn't sound very good...

    Thanks.
    WARNING DO NOT ORDER FROM NEWPARTS!!! I received a UPS tracking number that has still not been picked up. I'm waiting for a reply to my email to cancel my order but will probably have to call my CC company and dispute the order.

    Just ordered a Magneti for my drivers side- which is still the original ZKW. At some point my passenger side was replaced with an AL assembly. I did loads of reading and the Magneti is as close to the AL you can get anymore. I bought mine at NewParts for a lot less than FCP. Part number LUS4162 (left side).


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by OrientBlauZHP; 07-23-2020 at 04:53 AM.
    ’05 OrientBlau ZHP - fun
    ’19 RAM 1500 Laramie - mine
    ’13 MB ML350 - wifes

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    OC, CA
    Posts
    322
    I had a few headlight wires break for me as well. I soldered them with pieces of extra wire and covered them with liquid tape, along with the rest of the wires. These have held up for 3 years. Also, I hardly use the adaptive headlight feature now as I believe it stresses the already fragile wires.


    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP, Silver Grey Metallic, Dinan: Stage 2 Software, High Flow Intake,
    Free Flow Exhaust, Front Strut Bar, Stage 2 Suspension System, Staggered Hartge Replica Wheels,
    M3 Mirrors (Side and Interior), M3 Seats

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Austin TX
    Posts
    7,606
    I only hear good things about Magneti Marelli.
    2005 IR / black / 6MT
    157,000 miles

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Branford, CT
    Posts
    16,055
    Magneti is an OE supplier, so if you buy this, you'll get an OE quality headlight.
    Depo lights are low quality; I would avoid them if you can.
    BP
    2005 330i ZHP / 6MT
    Imolarot / Naturbraun
    2003 330iT / 6MT
    Orientblau / Naturbraun




    It's not the car you drive, it's how you drive it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Socal
    Posts
    1,739
    The Magneti is way better quality than P46s, so go with those. The quality is almost OE. The plastic is slightly thinner in a lot of places, but it doesn't affect the headlights performance at all. You can't tell a difference at all if you didn't have something to compare it against. I never seen the Magneti ones for the sedan, but for the facelift coupes, they are exceptional quality. They use the Bosch projectors ,so metal reflectors.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    New Orleans
    Posts
    264
    Thanks for all of the replies. I wish I could find them for ~$1000 for the set like I have read in some older posts...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Branford, CT
    Posts
    16,055
    Just buy a used AL headlight. Problem solved.
    Good ones can be had for about $150-200 per side.
    BP
    2005 330i ZHP / 6MT
    Imolarot / Naturbraun
    2003 330iT / 6MT
    Orientblau / Naturbraun




    It's not the car you drive, it's how you drive it.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Atlanta/Macon, Georgia
    Posts
    573
    Quote Originally Posted by edlvrt View Post
    Thanks for all of the replies. I wish I could find them for ~$1000 for the set like I have read in some older posts...
    Yeah I got mine on eBay but looks like the prices have gone back up to the $1500 range again. Here's a link to the Ebay store I bought mine from. You could probably put it as a saved item and watch the price until it hopefully comes back down again. https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn...netti&_sacat=0

    2004 Titansilber Metallic BMW 330i ZHP

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