E46 Factory Xenon Retrofit (Wiring, Coding, Install + EURO Conversion!)

Today we're retrofitting factory xenon headlights on my facelift E46 wagon! The old halogen lights were very gross and lacked performance, but these new bi-xenon lights will definitely give us improved lighting at night. Along with the wiring and coding, we also install some euro corner lights, and do a budget-friendly rear tail light modification as well to tie the whole car together! Let me know what you think of the finished product in the comments below!
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Links to products used below:
Note: This video description contains affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, I may receive a commission. This occurs at no extra cost to you, but helps keep the channel going!
Vivid Red Tail Light Tint - amzn.to/3iSAc8x (affiliate)
INPA Switch-able Cable - amzn.to/2VVzTl2 (affiliate)
3in Polisher Kit - amzn.to/3CTfNIx (affiliate)
Meguiars Compound - amzn.to/3xURFSe (affiliate)
3m Wet/Dry Sandpaper - amzn.to/3CU4joc (affiliate)
Gloss Black E46 Facelift Grills - amzn.to/2VV2jLZ (affiliate)

[@kuk14i]

it's funny how you guys in the US are going for the Euro look and us in Europe are going with the US looks everything orange :D

[@rayray3009]

Holy cow. They buffed out much better than I expected

[@maciapp1262]

Super chill video. Great work!

[@black_touring]

Looks really nice now, Top job 👍🏻

[@Natanaelsjoberg]

Thank you so very much! This solved my very exact problem! The instructions and steps went by quite by quite fast so I had to pause at times but very helpful indeed. Big thanks

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Glad you enjoyed the video and got some value out of it, Sjoberg!

[@chadriddle3517]

Great upgrade , nice coding job !

[@pugs1377]

Looks sharp with the black outline on the corner lights

[@Nico_335i_DCT]

Very nice upgrades Chris. It's coming along! Regards, Nico.

[@brelamich]

Love tourings. Thanks for video, got xenon problems on my 330i touring.

[@iboyma]

Really need to do the xenon retrofit on my e46 after seeing this

[@samhdz5347]

Really great video!

[@hussam842003]

Great Work!

[@Bchara-Knio]

you're a pro buddy!

[@pugs1377]

Great job innthe headlights. You may want to think about spraying some clear on them still. It will keep them looking good for many years is you get a uv protecting clear

[@GioBMX]

def a fan of OEM stuff, the grills are cool but i prefer the original. for the tail lights, i personally like the clear indicators

[@technothor472]

We try to put USA-style tuning on our cars in Europe, and you do it the other way around :D

[@GordonMotloungFusionProjects]

Thanks, been struggling for a while, are you able to share the coding steps, I seem to be missing some steps from your video.

[@ricardotorreblanca1269]

Can you please make a detailed video of the coding I am completely new to this, I want to get the xenon’s but don’t comprehend the process

[@KhaoticKrozier]

How do you wire up the motor control so that the projector can fully illuminate?

[@marckim8807]

@The Bimmer Barn - I hope you read this! I have a factory halogen and have wanted to upgrade to Xenon for over a decade. I was under the impression that you needed a lot of other things to control the extra necessary power consumption, etc?

[@likits1999]

Hey brother, Nice job. I just looked under my hood and my 2001 330i is not prewired for the "Auto Leveling Plug" in the middle of the assembly. Do i really need that to be able to have working HID low beams? Please advise and thanks in advance!!!

[@cliffgiordane2969]

I was gonna buff my headlight lenses out before I found a pair of new lenses online for less than $100 with new gaskets

[@smileylocz46]

Quick question do u have to have to reprogram the exu like have to can u just replace the light nob to on that was once with the step if that makes any sense

[@aaronramsammy9980]

Hi there so where do you wire the two connectors ?

[@olehbobko4842]

Hello, it worked but the regulations are not working. Cannot adjust it up and down from the inside of the car. Is there any other option that I missed while setting?

[@nhaixin69]

Why need coding? Why make it so diffcult to restore the lens? The replacement lens are very very cheap and its easier plus faster and looks far better to replace than restoring it. For coding? I retrofited mine from halogens to projector kit to HID. No coding needed just plug and play a canceller kit and its all good. As for wiring, its completely plug and play too. Far easier than what you're doing.

[@youngapodaca9484]

What did you do with the other wires? How did you wiring them up

[@modaboi5239]

yeeeah czech republic represent

[@pointaDNB]

Do you have the modules that are attached to the wishbone on the front and rear right side and the respective wiring to the LCM? I think you have cos the LCM does not have manual wheel for adjusting it. The adding of xenon on the VO/FA implies for automatic headlight vertical aim control I think. I supose those people like me with older e46 and manual headlight vertical aim control lose the wheel function if we code by adding the vehicle order number for xenon light. For example, Pa soft bmw Scanner does not let you to add xenon with the manual HVAC…

[@galanonim3014]

If I have xenon and install regular lamps, will all the connectors and cables fit?

[@brokeking9586]

Hey man i need your help man,where do i connect the control lights wire ,what wire from halogen one ,connect with the wire for the control light for xenon ,can you help me please ,or can you show me somehow?

[@JRValdezLV]

Can I still switch back the original halogen headlights once the xenon module is no longer working?

[@Ganeatz69]

i coding xenon but i dont have facelift and i dont have pulse with modulation, how do I make it stop fluttering xenon on nfl?

[@flippy9133]

you need the auto leveling rod and sensors for xenons as well, not a complete guide.

[@parkerhogsten7038]

Very informative video, however, why wouldn't you just replace the lenses? It's like $40 for ones of Amazon and they look great.

[@user-xr3wp5wz9j]

Hello friend, I bought e46 with xenon lights, but it didnt came with washers. Can I retrofit only washers on current lights or I need to buy entire headlight unit with washers? Did some xenons came factory without washers? Thanks for awesome and detailed video.

[@TheBimmerBarn]

The washers are a part of the headlight bracket, and the painted trim underneath the headlight. You could get xenon from factory without washers. As far as retrofitting, probably would be easy if you bought all the parts needed from a junkyard car or similar. Good luck!

[@trimardiko8031]

Hi, can u help with the coding?

[@Sam808Sch]

Are you really wearing pink Crocs?

[@pickup4life225]

I did the same step, for some reason my left xenon is a greenish low power and my right xenon is a bright blue. Is this because of the lightbulb or? Thanks!

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Yeah, if the bulbs are different age, they will have different color/power. Best to replace both bulbs at the same time so they match! Thanks for watching

[@StupidBlokeStupidVideos]

I’ve just bought a pair of xenon lights for me e46, and looking at the coding section of this vid I feel like I might Have made a mistake…

[@roc676]

With the wiring and coding are the new lights connected to the computer like the stock lights?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Wiring is same between halogen and xenon, but the halogen cars are missing the harness for the Bi-xenon function and the auto-level function. Can be added in but you'd have to route the wires from the headlights to the light control module.

[@roc676]

@@TheBimmerBarn I hope I can find someone that can do it being as knowledgeable as you are.. I just want brighter lights

[@Keiffer34209]

Ok question, how about going from the factory Xenon to the factory Halogen headlights?? I’m wanting to convert the Xenon to LEDs….. my original Xenon’s are so dim that they are worthless….. thoughts and help?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Same thing as this retrofit in reverse I'd think! You'll want to change the wiring, recode the car for halogens, and be done with it! Although if you have dim xenon's, sounds like you may need a new ballast or bulb. Hope that helps!

[@iiplaya]

hey I bought OEM xenons for my pre lci e46 and it keeps giving me the vin faulty code .. I even soldered my k dcan cable with 7&8 and it’s still saying vin faulty, any recommendations? I also started the car and that’s when they freaked out and the xenons started glitching and flickering

[@iiplaya]

bruh i bought two additional adapters because my car has a 20 pin OBD too but i’m still stuck. it’s not letting me change the vehicle order and it’s blank

[@cody3329]

@@iiplaya you need to solder a jumper between pins 8 and 17 on the 20 pin connectors cap

[@iiplaya]

@@cody3329 thanks but i bought another coding cable box designed for e46 and coded it. i sold the car a couple of months later after that

[@nomore_gainless_getyours]

What software are you using and where did you download it?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Software provided by Bimmergeeks, they have a free download and many videos on youtube showing how to setup the software. Thanks for watching!

[@jessesward9429]

is the procedure the same for pre face lift?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Almost exactly the same, slight different looking headlight brackets, and coding options might be a little different, but shouldn't be any more difficult. Hope that makes sense!

[@Tr3nz0r]

Have you installed led tail lights ? I did and i have errors in my dashboard. I can't figure how to code them so my car will read the leds instead my bulbs. Any advice?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Yeah! Just turn off the fault code check in the coding options using NCS expert, that way you won't get a fault on your instrument cluster for the bad bulbs!

[@Tr3nz0r]

@@TheBimmerBarn i tryed to find the fault code in ncs expert but i had no ideea is that hard. To much german there and failed to find it. Any help or ideea of the name ?

[@m3clubracer]

I assume you can do the coding in ISTA?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

I think ista is only a diagnostic tool, you'd need ncs expert to do coding

[@vitalybrateev5548]

Its basically the same for the pre facelift ?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Essentially, yes! Maybe the coding or bracket looks a little different, but overall same idea.

[@dare2scheme904]

I heard the headlight washers are required by law for xenon headlights and that's why the washers are on the xenon headlights

[@vincentgarza5408]

Should paint those wheels gloss black will look nice with the black grills

[@dan8789]

Did this help with the terrible night time visibility you get with halogens?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Heck yes. Night and day difference, xenons all the way!

[@OmarB0]

How were you able to select value 2 in NCS dummy it’s not giving me the option to select out of them

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Maybe different LCM's? Not sure, but there's multiple ways to code them out! Maybe try looking on the forums?

[@cursanic8997]

Can you make a tutorial vid on how to download ncs expert and ncs dummy please?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

There's some good videos already out there if you search! Watch a couple and you'll understand the basics, and then download it from bimmer geeks!

[@cursanic8997]

@@TheBimmerBarn so I did the retrofit, did the same thing you did but I haven’t done the coding, you think if I take it to a bmw dealership they can do it for me? Or maybe at a Indy shop?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

@@cursanic8997 definitely an indy shop, just call ahead and ask them if they can do it. Or some people online offer remote programming!

[@secundinovazquez450]

My hi bean don’t work now

[@cursanic8997]

What’s the difference between the halogen and xenon bracket?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

It's got a different groove in it to except either headlight. You can modify the headlight/bracket to make it work if you can't get the brackets, but it's gonna require cutting/dremel.

[@cursanic8997]

@@TheBimmerBarn thanks

[@Goodbye_Horses]

@@TheBimmerBarn Is there a part number for the xenon bracket if we want to buy new vs modding? Can't seem to find online

[@TheDailyEG]

I just replaced my halogens for xenon headlights and could reuse my bracket without adjusting them. They slid right in

[@lewismitch15]

@@TheDailyEGyeah same here 💪🏼

[@dercisi9429]

Why are you pollishing youre headlight? You can buy the glasses seperate to the headlight, they Just Clip out

[@berniesutton7277]

Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead ………..

[@LetsCountBackward]

It looked easy until you brought out the soldering gun

[@driftspecgarage9939]

Why not Just pay the 35$ and get the lenses on eBay ?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

A lot more work to replace a lens, you can get the sandpaper cheap and quickly. But if your lens is beyond repair that's the way to go! Thanks for watching :)

[@vloniello]

Nice work. Most e46 lenses are literally six snaps to hold on the lense, 20 seconds per side (these look like snap on from the quick glimpses in the video). If you have a face-lift version though, baking would come into the equation

[@flippy9133]

@@TheBimmerBarn the lenses are just clip on, very easy to replace and definitely faster than polishing them