The ZKW Burnt Bowls Thread

[danewilson77]

Now we do...thanks to Charlie.

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[nike001]

Now we do...thanks to Charlie.

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I'm talking about the whole assembly here boss

[danewilson77]

I'm talking about the whole assembly here boss

I hear ya. That won't cost < $200 though, right.

What's the price of your swap?

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[cakM3]

Dane,

I found each OEM M3 projector assembly on ebay for $50 shipped and the solenoid controller circuit was under $30 shipped so the whole thing cost me under $200 and I did the retrofit. I had spare M3 Xenon shrouds laying around, and you need them with the M3 projector assembly.

@ Nike001: Not that I'm sending a dig on you, but when I was doing my research to do the ZKW projector retrofit I did not come across any thread showing (in detail) exactly how to do the retrofit. Yes, I did see several threads saying that ppl did the ZKW (or BiXenon) retrofit but there was no well organized and documented DIY like you would see at BimmerDIY :http://www.bimmerdiy.com/dir/e46

So I wanted to get one out where anyone else with similar problems could follow and accomplish. Since I mounted the OEM M3 projector on ZKW baseplate the projector mounts do not line up with the screw holes on the ZKW baseplate so some modification/dremmeling/drilling is required but it is not hard to do.

You stated in your post "You need the part on this part: #10." That's nice but exactly how do you change this part out? For the inexperienced who only desires to save some money (since the ZKW headlight assembly costs @ $1200 ea) they wouldn't know where to start. The diagram is nice but having a procedure with pictures is much more helpful imo. I'm not trying to start any arguments and will not entertain them. Just saying my point since I am sharing my retrofit with the family...

There are many threads out there on M3Forum.net, Bimmerforums, and E46Fanatics as well as other websites but nothing all inclusive that will allow an inexperienced person to perform the retrofit with any level of confidence. I know because I was one of them...

I'm currently working on a procedure to outline everything I have done with links to other DIYs (headlight removal for example) to minimize the posting but DIYs that I used to accomplish my retrofit. Once I get all the pics that were taken (BP is working on them now), I will be able to place each pic to each step so others using my procedure will understand how to do each step.

I think this will be very helpful to anyone with ZKW headlights since BMW does not seem to think this is a problem... I took both burned out projector bowls to show my service manager the problem with my headlights and the response I got was that they were not aware that this was a problem....

Anyway not meaning to rant here but this is something that is very important to me - driving safety, and if I can contribute to the community with a procedure that will help others to do their retrofit then I am very happy to contribute. Of course I want to state that everyone is more than welcome to either add/or modify what I put out with the intent to make this procedure the best it can be since I'm posting it here on ZHPMafia.

All I ask from everyone is to allow me some time to get this DIY out. This week I am on travel to Washington DC on business so I will be delayed (good for BP so he can get all the pics squared away ) but I will get back once I return from my trip back home. I posted earlier that I had urgent family business and some of you know what I am currently going through so I figure it will be about two weeks before I'm back and going.

If any of you have questions concerning the retrofit you are more than welcome to PM me and I will get right back to you. Am I correct Channing ?

Again, my apologies to the family for such a long response...as I said earlier I sincerely hope I did not offend you Nike001, this is not my intent.

[nike001]

No offense taken. The #10 in the diagram is just a screw or two IIRC. Its right below the headlight assembly.. and that part is what the lower part of the headlight screws into.

I took the route of getting complete m3 lights because I didn't want to dremel or anything. The way I see it is, my way is a little more expensive..but it involves almost no labor. >>ZKW headlights out>>ZKW holster out>>AL holster in>>AL housings W/ sedan bezel's & headlight lens in.

I'm not entirely sure how much everything cost me.. I think it was around 250-275. Plus I got ballasts, extra low beam xenons, pre-facelift coupe headlight lenses & black bezels that can all be turned around.

I think it just matters where & how you get your headlights/projectors and how much.

[cakM3]

The frustrating part for me was finding so many useless threads from people who did the retrofit but didn't explain how they did it. This is why I waited to do my driver's side so that BP could stop by to see for himself how I did my retrofit. I suppose your way would be easiest but more $$ for sure. The problem is having a proven procedure laid out by forum members, all contributing for the good of the community. This is my intent. There are some who have PM'd me already on this and I have answered them.

My goal is to put something out that isn't way too difficult to do and at the same time instill some confidence in people who are a little apprehensive about tackling a project like this.

It took me over a year to get enough courage to go ahead to do this type of retrofit. Since I had two bimmers, I felt safe enough to try this. To my amazement, what I did was not that hard to do, which is why I am working on a easy to follow procedure to retrofit OEM M3 projectors w/ ZKW lens.

I look forward to yours as well as everyone's feedback when I post my DIY.

imo, I think using OEM M3 projector assemblies w/ ZKW lens are the way to go with minimum modification to the ZKW housings. I'm sure the FX-Rs are better but they will require extensive modifications and right now I'm not too confident in doing this retrofit....yet.

[danewilson77]

Nike, I would additionally like to see your writeup on the ///M3 headlights retrofit, then we can make an informed decision with 2 options put there.

Thanks to both you guys.

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[iZHP]

thanks Mitsubishi for using plastic bowls...

and thank you BMW for recognizing a tail light wiring issue as a RECALL ($~100) but the famous ZKW's burned bowls isn't even a service bulletin and costs ($1k+) and is a safety concern.

I've been looking at my options for over a year now and have looked at every thread there is on the issue.

[cakM3]

Nike, I would additionally like to see your writeup on the ///M3 headlights retrofit, then we can make an informed decision with 2 options put there.

Thanks to both you guys.

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+1

Not everyone might want to go the route I went regarding retrofitting my burnt ZKW bowls but it cost me under $200 and was worth it in the end. I have ample lighting and am very happy with the results

I'd like to see how you went about doing your retrofit Nike...

[danewilson77]

I'd like to see how you went about doing your retrofit Nike...

+1

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