[jamiepstewart]

I own TWO BMWs... and thus have the need to replace 4 Angel Eyes. Having replaced two already in my wife's E61 and spent $90.00 in the process for their holders...I decided to find a workaround and NOT have to spend $45.00 for a bulb replacement. Its ridiculous.

I did this more out of principal since BMW charges so much for these units... without allowing us to simply replace the bulb. Not to mention its a total waste to throw away the bulb holder.

This will work for any Angel Eyes.... as far as I know.

What you will need:

A Dremmel

New Bulbs:
I successfully used the Osram - 12V 10W Mini SC Bay (BA9s) Clear - which is a DIRECT replacement for the Phillips bulb. In fact, Osram also makes parts for our headlights. They are not some cheap brand.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this place. FAST SHIPPING, VERY NICE PEOPLE too!
This is the bulb: http://www.lampline.com/64113-osram-91-p

Tools (Torx bits...) and ability to remove the headlight or access the Angel Eye (I suggest you use the forum on how to gain access for your car)

Cleaning Cloth

Once you have removed the carrier, take a very small dremmel bit and make one notch. It will have enough room to take it out. If not, you can always make another small notch on the other side. you wont need to take off much material since the pins on the bulbs base are very small. Just enough to slide it out. Don't go hog wild... just enough to cut the slot... and do NOT go deep. Take your time and be gentle. Remember, SMALL BIT. You can see just how small the pins are in the pictures.

Install the new one, but do NOT TOUCH THE BULB. The oil from your fingers can cause early burnout. To install, just slip the pins past the notch, gently wiggle it around in the carrier until you feel it catch, push it in as you gently twist.

I did NOT upgrade the wattage. I have read too many issues where it melted the carrier. I am keeping it totally stock. Best to play it safe when it comes to our headlights since they are stupid-expensive.

12 VOLTS and 10 WATTS.

To remove the bulb, simply push it down and twist.. you will feel it come out of the base. Very simple.

See the attached picts for visual help. If you are in the King of Prussia area, I may be willing to help you...

And to think you have just saved a LOT of money for a stupid bulb. Sorry BMW.... some things dont need to be over-engineered for profit reasons.

Btw, this is at your own risk, of course. This is just my little contribution. I hope it helps someone.

Picture of Bulbs:

[jamiepstewart]

Quick update... the AE on my e90 330i of course burned out just after I posted this. I did the exact same procedure to that car as well. Worked perfectly. However, I am going to buy some LEDs in the near future, if I can figure out which ones are the best, most durable and dont look cheesy. Ahhhhh, more research.

[robray]

This is great. My light has just gone out so I will give this a try. When I am making the notch in the carrier, where do I make the notch? Is the notch made directly above the pin on the bulb or should it be slightly offset to allow the bulb to twist as you take it out?

[envoid]

I'm a little confused on why the notch is needed. Is it to get the old bulb out or so the new one fits? It kinda looked like the pins didn't exactly match but the angle in the side-by-side pic wasn't too clear for me.

Thanks for this tut tho! Very helpful to not get screwed on the bulbs!

add: btw, here's a pdf of your invoice that can't be "cleaned" to show your info.

[jamiepstewart]

Thanks evoid...much appreciated. I dont know if I did a great job of explaining the notch and bulb removal.. I will give it another shot:

The base of the bulb has two little notches that fit into the carrier. When BMW designed this carrier. all they had to do was make the opening large enough for the pins on the bulb to clear the plastic concave reflective part. I did what BMW did..which was make the notch for one side of the pins to clear... in theory you could make two notches in the plastic and it would very easily come out. One notch was enough to get the bulb out.

If i am still not making sense, let me know and I can take more picts or whatever you need. Whatever I can do help out a fellow member!

[e90drvr]

I just had this bulb go out on my driver's side and have now realized that the replacement is a major PIA all the way around with tire and fender lining removal and all the covers...anyway once I get the carrier out, tell me if I'm understanding you correctly:

1. Twist bulb to "unlock" the bayonet
2. Create a notch on either or both sides of the bulb to make room for the pins to clear the reflector (how do we know where the pins are?)
3. Installation is reverse of removal

thanks for the write-up. very useful, especially for the older E90s.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by e90drvr

I just had this bulb go out on my driver's side and have now realized that the replacement is a major PIA all the way around with tire and fender lining removal and all the covers...anyway once I get the carrier out, tell me if I'm understanding you correctly:

1. Twist bulb to "unlock" the bayonet
2. Create a notch on either or both sides of the bulb to make room for the pins to clear the reflector (how do we know where the pins are?)
3. Installation is reverse of removal

thanks for the write-up. very useful, especially for the older E90s.

e90drvr, I wrote a DIY similar to this one, but specifically for the Pre-LCI E90s 325i, 328i, and 330i that uses a different halo light fixture than the one in this DIY. For the pre-LCI halo housings you need to make two holes to get the bulb out and my DIY answers your question about where the holes go. Hope this helps.

And I should note that this DIY from jamiepstewart prompted me to do one for the pre-LCI E90s after my halo light burned out for the 2nd time. I had thought after my first replacement that the bulb could be extracted using a Dremel but never got around to modifying the old housing until a few weeks ago.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=847734

[e90drvr]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

e90drvr, I wrote a DIY similar to this one, but specifically for the Pre-LCI E90s

Thanks for the link. I didn't realize this tutorial was for the 09+ E90s.

[omdabasha]

Thank you for the detailed guide, I followed it and replaced my angel eyes.

[guop]

would this be able to work for the lci halogen angels?

[RealPreshaanB]

https://youtu.be/5fP87Zs5dZY