They look fantastic!! But..(there is always a but !), I don't like pop-ups.So, I did something a bit naughty..I paint-shopped those lights onto your car, as a permanent fixed mounting... It would obviously mean cutting the hood front edge away, and the nose...if this is too much of a hijack, I will take it down straight away. Nick
Also check the local laws too, mine are setup to do the same as yours now, low beam on then low beams go out to get to high beams, I checked with the DMV in NC and they stated only one set on at a time, so hence the one or the other setup. I do not know what it would be like where you are at, but you may want to check first.
She looks nice, I think you have the same setup as I do in mine, (Well the one that Norm made) I love the light pattern on the high beams and the great low light out of the low beams.
Enjoy them, they look sweet.
------------------ Thank you, IZA TOY's Home Page www.IZATOY.com
[This message has been edited by rverhalen (edited 02-12-2006).]
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02:39 PM
LetTheGoodTimesRoll Member
Posts: 44 From: New Brunswick, Canada Registered: Jan 2006
Like you I wanted all four headlights on, on my truck (1988 GMC) so i used a jumper simmular to what others have suggested to but I added an on/off switch so i could have normal headlights or all of them on.
like this
This worked great and the wiring seamed to be handling it fine, the weak spot turned out to be the headlight switch itself, and one night it failed (luckily it was a straight stretch of road), and I had no headlights. Luckily flipping the switch off and back on got the lights back on, but i didn't dare use my headlights in the "all on mode". I realized that i was placing twice the load that the on the headlight switch that it was designed for, and it made the setup unsafe. (I also noticed in the wiring diagram that Marvin McInnis posted that the Fiero headlight switch has a built in circuit breaker that may also trip.) So i added a couple of relays like this to take the load off of the headlight switch.
this is simular to what i did
I admit the twelve gage wire may be a little overkill (well, alot overkill) but it is a long way to the battery, and the heavy gage wire will keep voltage drop to a mininum keeping your new lights as bright as possible (you might even find them slightly brighter than they are now). This setup will draw very little through your origional headlight circuit, and most automotive relays are rated for at least 20 or 30 amps so there will be no problems there. I would also recomend that you place the fuses as close to the battery as possible in case something does happen because this setup bypasses the headlight switch's circuit breaker.
I also noticed that other electrical equipment on my truck seemed to run better in cases where alot of things were turned on when the headlights were on, like windshield wipers, heater fan etc.
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03:17 PM
yellowstone Member
Posts: 9299 From: Düsseldorf/Germany Registered: Jun 2003
Shouldn't be a problem since all BMW's have four headlights and when the high beams are on the lows are on, too. I checked...
Is that different in BMWs in the US?
quote
Originally posted by rverhalen:
Also check the local laws too, mine are setup to do the same as yours now, low beam on then low beams go out to get to high beams, I checked with the DMV in NC and they stated only one set on at a time, so hence the one or the other setup. I do not know what it would be like where you are at, but you may want to check first.
She looks nice, I think you have the same setup as I do in mine, (Well the one that Norm made) I love the light pattern on the high beams and the great low light out of the low beams.
No progress, I put the stock lights back in until I have the time to do this right. It's not as straightforward as I thought it would be. The lights require some more cutting and I want to have the time to think this through.
quote
Originally posted by FieroWannaBe:
Is there any progress on the rear lights?
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07:00 AM
Marvin McInnis Member
Posts: 11599 From: ~ Kansas City, USA Registered: Apr 2002
Also check the local laws too, mine are setup to do the same as yours now, low beam on then low beams go out to get to high beams, I checked with the DMV in NC and they stated only one set on at a time, so hence the one or the other setup.
quote
Originally posted by yellowstone:
Shouldn't be a problem since all BMW's have four headlights and when the high beams are on the lows are on, too. I checked...
rverhalen: Something isn't right here. State laws regulating things like lighting are required to follow DOT, and virtually every DOT-compliant quad sealed beam headlight setup I've ever seen has two filaments in the low-beam lamp ... one for low beams and one for high beams. (If a sealed-beam lamp has three terminals, it is a combination high/low beam unit.) In fact, DOT regulations used to state (admittedly, many years ago) that "not less than two, nor more than four" headlights could be illuminated at a time. That was how I came to install a few DOT-compliant three-headlight systems in the late '60s and early '70s. I used to carry a copy of the regs in my car to show the cops when they stopped me for having only three headlights. The police attention eventually became too much of a nuisance and I went to four headlight systems, like the rest of the world.
[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 02-26-2006).]
