Awarded "Best New Luxury / Prestige Car” in 2006, the BMW E60 E61 is a mid-size car renowned for its luxury appearance. It remained in production between 2004 and 2010. The lighting technology used in this car is however more than 20 years old today.
Factory-fitted options included H7/H7 halogen and bi-xenon headlights, all manufactured by Hella. The xenon headlights use a D2S bulb on pre-LCI cars (2004–2007) and a D1S bulb on LCI cars (2008–2010), with an H7 bulb for the high beam.
The original halogen version features a H7 reflector and the facelift (LCI) model features a 3,0-inch H7 halogen projector, both of which produce an average light beam even when new. In many cases, light output has been further compromised as bulb heat and general ageing cause the reflective layer to peel off.
The bi-xenon setup features a 3.0-inch projector, designed in the late 90s. These projectors are known to lose their reflective layer right to the point where they become black inside, causing dangerously low light output.
Needless to say, buying new or used original headlights for your BMW 5 E60 E61 is not recommended. But there is fortunately no need for that. Whether your car was factory-fitted with H7/H7 halogen, D2S/H7 or D1S/H7 bi-xenon headlights, there are upgrade kits that will fit inside your existing headlights.
These complete retrofit kits not only provide you with superior brightness and durability; they are also more affordable than average BMW 5 E60 E61 xenon headlights with bulbs and ballasts, and since all components are brand new, they come with a 2-year warranty. Additional benefits over OEM headlights include Canbus-proof designs and effortless halogen-to-xenon conversions. What’s more, the levelling systems will work without any adjustments to the headlight connectors, and you can use any ballasts that you might already own to save further on xenon upgrades.
For E60 and E61 headlights there is an upgrade for every factory version. Halogen cars can be converted to bi-xenon or to Bi-LED, and xenon cars get a bi-xenon repair & upgrade kit matched to their bulb type: D2S for pre-LCI cars, D1S for LCI cars. The kits fit inside your existing headlights, so your 5 Series keeps its original look while the light output improves considerably.
