Project BMW X5: Step 4 – Headlights And Steering Wheel

Next on the to-do list is getting lights and a new steering wheel.

Because there are a myriad of places to get BMW parts, I called my trusty source, Leigh at Irvine BMW. He’s the most honest, knowledgable parts guy I know. I’m not blowing smoke. He’s the polar opposite of a used car salesman. Simply put, he’s never steered me wrong. (no pun intended). Anyway, he suggest I call Tom at European Auto Source in Santa Ana.

Click more for the installation!

So naturally you’re asking, “What’s wrong with the lights? Why would you get new ones unless the old ones were burned out?” Well, everything’s wrong. The headlights were not only pitted from years of sand and debris but they were standard lights… Standard meaning ordinary Halogen bulbs.

I don’t mean to sound snobby but after having HID (high intensity lights) on my last car, I can’t use anything else. Standard lights, especially when driving through the desert is like using candles mounted to the bumper. The difference is literally night and day.

HIDs are often at least six times brighter, and more importantly, they’re directional. You don’t waste all that light brighting up oncoming cars, trees etc. They’re narrowly focused where they should be, in front of you. No, I’m not talking about those Sylvania Silver Star bulbs you find at Pep Boys. Those are just bulbs with a blue hue. I’m not insinuating that those bulbs suck, it’s just that HIDs are a totally different animal.

For a few hundred bucks you can upgrade almost any car’s headlights to HIDs.

Luckily for EAS, I had saved them some work because the old headlights had already been removed by Joe at Wetworks Garage so he wouldn’t get white paint on them when spraying the hood etc.

So, with some quick and crafty wiring, the techs tied the new lights right into the stock wiring harness.

Another reason for new headlight assemblies is to get amber corner markers. If you’re going to do Euro, you have a run clear corner markers. You see, European countries don’t require amber corner lenses so most are clear. Take a look at your car, either the lens has a little piece of amber reflective plastic or an amber bulb. A clear lens with an amber bulb is just a much cleaner look.

Above, you can see the standard amber plasitc reflectors that nearly every new car comes with. Below, the new headlight assemblies are completely clear with an amber bulb.

Rather than paying super close attention to the install like I should have, I found myself strolling through the warehouse isles digging through EAS’ gazillions of aftermarket parts exclusively for BMW cars.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention that later model BMWs came with “angel eyes.” These are the lighted halos surrounding the headlight. By putting in these lights, even BMW fans are confused about what year the car is. And, unlike older angel eyes that use neon-like tubes, these are LED which means they’re far brighter and will probably outlast the rest of the car without ever fading.

EAS even wired them into the interior lighting system so when you lock and unlock the car from the key’s remote control, the angel eyes fade up and down. It’s way cool.

Now for the steering wheel…

The steering wheel that came stock on the car was worn around the top from normal use and it was just too huge. I wanted a smaller M5 style wheel with hand grips and some style.

Take a look inside sports cars. Their wheels are typically smaller and more ergonomic.

This old four-spoke wheel has gotta go. But first, they had to carefully remove the air bag.

The last thing you want is the air bag to blow up in your face.

The new M5 wheel slid on like a perfect match. And, the controls all worked perfectly. EAS offers custom wheels with hand grips, perforation, embedded switches and all kinds of cool creature features. You’re gonna have to call them for details about your make and model.

I grabbed a bag of roundels (official name for that little BMW logo). Rather than the official BMW blue, I opted for black since I’m going for a black and white Storm Trooper look.

As they were buttoning up the last bits of the install, Tom ushered me outside to take a look at their newest toy. A 400+hp twin turbo BMW 1 Series. I hopped in and went for an unsuspecting ride down some side streets in a Santa Ana warehouse district.  Holy shit. I mean holy shiiiiit.

He took off slowly in 1st, eased into 2nd then smashed 3rd. The car not only broke both wheels free but it did so at 50 mph. Again, holy shit. Then I was thrust forward as the decelerated even faster. I was freakin’ dizzy. I was having flashbacks of my ride in the Red Bull acrobatic airplane.

I had never even given BMW’s 1 series a second look… Until now. This was one super fast car. And, you’d never expect it.

If you’ve got a Bimmer, call these guys today. They offer a boat load of products to make your BMW even faster and more distinctive.

By the time we returned, Tom, Steve and crew at EAS wrapped up the install.

Now it was time to drive the beast back in the trailer and head off to Alpine for the Audio/Video system!

If you missed Step 3 – Suspension, click here.

SOURCES

European Auto Source
1305 E. St. Gertrude Place., Unit B
Santa Ana, CA 92705
www.europeanautosource.com
866.669.0705

Eibach Springs, Inc.
264 Mariah Circle
Corona, CA 92879
800-507-2338
Eibach.com

Wet Works Garage
779 West 16th Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 646-1867
wetworksgarage.com