Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216

    Replacing ZKW bi-xenon with Magneti Marelli (aka AL) headlight assembly

    So I am the original owner of a 2004 e46 330i sedan with the ZHP option.

    As with many others I suffered from the burnt bowl issue (still don't understand how this was not a recall issue for BMW...)

    A couple of years ago I did the Clemsone46 burnt bowl retrofit. It took a while to install, lots of lost knuckle skin, but in the end it worked and the cost was way less than buying new (AL) headlight assemblies, and I was not interested in the other retrofits out there as they did not seem plug and play.

    Here is that thread: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...nt-bowls-today

    So fast forward 2.5 years and I found a thread that MM was basically AL which is supposed to be the other OEM supplier for e46 bi-xenon headlights. I found one for the passenger side (new) on ebay for $425 shipped and decided to take the plunge.

    Here are the highlights:

    1. The headlight was NOT plug and play. There was a whole new "bracket" on the MM/AL bottom of the assembly that needed to be removed. And a "box" on the bottom of the MM/AL assembly that interfered with the headlight mounting area. I had to dremel material away to make the MM/AL headlight fit.
    2. MM is AL, at least that is what the sticker on the headlight assembly says
    3. The MM headlight came with all the screws needed (did not have to reuse any screws from original assembly)
    4. The MM assembly did NOT FIT FLUSH with the side turn indicator lights and there is a gap between the headlight and turn indicator
    5. The MM headlight beam did not require any adjusting, the self leveling capability worked fine
    6. The MM assembly came with bulbs, but I swapped out with an OSRAM Nightbreaker and it was noticeably brighter than whatever the D2S stock bulb was that came in the assembly
    7. The Clemsone46 retrofit was still OK after 2 years, but it didn't compare to the brightness or beam consistency of the MM/AL headlight with either the OEM bulb or OSRAM bulb

    Photos are all on my phone so going to post from there back to this thread with all the steps I took.

    There are numerous threads and youtube videos on pulling the headlight assembly so not going to repeat those steps for brevity.
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    Ok so when the MM headlight arrived it was in a nice sealed box



    And the sticker on the headlight indicated it was AL and included the bulbs





    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    Here is the starting point for light output. If u look back on my Clemsone46 thread the light output looks pretty similar.

    The inconsistency of the lower part of the beam is still there




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    Here is the MM/AL assembly on top of the OE ZKW headlight.




    And here is the ZKW light as I pulled it out. If you zoom in on the lower right of the white sticker the ZKW is between the BMW logo and the US letters.




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    So the only thing I needed to pull off the old assembly was the lower part of the body colored te where the headlight washers go.

    I tied these off years ago as they leaked like crazy and gave up trying to find the leak.




    Attached it to the new light assembly and ready to reinstall




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    So here is the new light output with whatever the D2S bulb that came in the MM/AL assembly.

    A significant improvement over the Clemsone46 burnt bulb replacement which was still more than acceptable IMHO.




    Notice how the irregularities under the new bulb beam are gone and it extends even to the area under the driver side light.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    So now I replaced the D2S bulb with the Osram Nightbreakers that I have been sitting on for a while.




    The Nightbreakers were noticeably brighter IMO.




    The spot of the main light was bigger and really extended the width of the beam. If you look under the driver side beam you can see a ripply light than angles down and to the left that was not there with the stock D2S bulb.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    So was really jazzed at this point and started to fully reassemble the headlight into the car and could not get it to fit quite right (didn’t notice when I was just testing the stock and Osram bulbs




    I thought I was just not finding the correct angle for reinstalling but the issue was a bunch of plastic on the bottom of the assembly.




    I had to pull the whole thing back out and turn it over and look at them side by side to figure out what the deal was.



    Here is the original ZKW assembly

    And here is the MM/AL assembly




    Since this was supposedly an OEM headlight I was not thinking I needed to do anything significant to make the new headlight fit.



    Took a few minutes but I figured out that all this plastic on the bottom was a removeable bracket. I was thinking I would have to cut it off . Whew.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    So home free right? Sadly no.

    Reinserted the headlight but now it fit on the side closest to the kidney grills but did not fit on the side closest to the side of the car.





    The headlight was sitting up too high on one side.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    216
    So the new issue is that there is a “box” protrusion on the MM/AL light and it is built into the headlight and interferes with a plastic “shield and skid plate” that protects the headlight washer.

    By feeling around under the assembly from where the turn signal should be, I determined/hoped that I could “cut away” enough plastic to allow the headlight to properly fit.

    I marked the area with masking tape.



    There was nothing underneath the plastic where the blue tape is so I decided to break out the dremel tool and start carving away.



    The material I removed was quite a bit.



    Not the cleanest job, but it got the job done.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package

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