Community Forums

Rusty Kramer · 02-23-2020, 02:51 PM

Hello Alpine community. I hope you don't mind me invading your space?

I have a Monaco coach that uses the BMW 5 series headlamps. They are pretty worthless. I have tried new HID bulbs and LEDs with very little improvement. Polished them, Even modified to put the LEDs different depth did not help. I have called every possible source that I can find and have received no help. Some Monaco owners have found LEDs to be a bit better. Not mine.
The only thing I have not done is called a BMW car dealer to see if they are available in the projector type, and would not cost more than my coach is worth.

I think some of you Alpine owners have these same headlamps from looking at photos of Alpine early 2000s? If I am mistaken on this let me know and I will delete this thread.

My question is has anyone used and aftermarket lamp that was not junk and if you found a "brand" that works well would you mind sharing that information? There are dozens of options and not a fan of China lamps but I am not sure what else to do.

Thank you all!

Alpine36 · 02-23-2020, 06:12 PM

I replaced the lenses with these from ECS Tuning and couldn't be happier.
Also upgraded to Silverstar Ultra halogen bulbs. These are probably your best options without upgrading the entire lens assemblies. Any HID or LED bulb upgrades to the stock housings will probably not give real good performance without projector housings. Personally not a big fan. And yes, stay away from the China housings. Junk.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bremmen-...63128362832kt/

andy29847 · 02-24-2020, 11:20 AM

I replaced the entire headlight units on my Alpine Coach. I bought my headlights here:

https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/bmw-E...39%20headlight

They are not BMW made, but they are advertised as OE quality. I've had them installed for ~2 months and found them to be a big improvement over the ones I removed. Fitting them was a little more work than just bolting them in. I spent some time while installing them to get the lights pointed straight before adjustment. FWIW, the mountings on my Alpine tend to point the headlights at the ground in front of the camper. I had to enlarge a couple of the mounting holes to get the headlights positioned where I wanted them.

paul65k · 02-24-2020, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alpine36

I replaced the lenses with these from ECS Tuning and couldn't be happier.
Also upgraded to Silverstar Ultra halogen bulbs. These are probably your best options without upgrading the entire lens assemblies. Any HID or LED bulb upgrades to the stock housings will probably not give real good performance without projector housings. Personally not a big fan. And yes, stay away from the China housings. Junk.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bremmen-...63128362832kt/

I replaced our old and yellow lenses with these last year for ~$125 total. It took me about 20 minutes for the first one and 5 minutes for the second one once I had it figured out.....I think they came out great.

After and before

vito.a · 02-24-2020, 06:07 PM

I replaced our BMW 5 series headlamp assemblies with original Hella BMW housings I found on eBay. They are much better than the originals, but still lacking. I also upgraded the bulbs to aftermarket HID's and that helped some.
Like Andy says, the hard part is aiming them. BMW used tabs on the housing that fit into slots in the the car for proper placement and the RV folks cut these off.

New lenses/housings really do make the front of the coach look much better.

The greatest lighting improvement I found was replacing the original Hella FF300 fog lamps with Hella FF300 driving lamps. These are easy to aim and really light up the pavement in front of the coach.

Rusty Kramer · 02-25-2020, 08:41 PM

Thanks to all here. I found some new HELLA Projector lights, I think I will go this route.
Vito I have already installed HID driving lights and they helped a little bit.

Schuby · 02-27-2020, 10:04 AM

Schuby · 02-27-2020, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schuby

Attachment 276350

These fit and plug right in, I think blinker need to be wired. But I replaced original with new lens. Still in box and will be selling.

GSPx2 · 03-02-2020, 08:48 PM

Are all of the headlights the same throughout the years ?
I have a 36’ 2005 FDDS with very bad lenses and wondering if the ones from the ecs link will fit.

paul65k · 03-02-2020, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSPx2

Are all of the headlights the same throughout the years ?
I have a 36’ 2005 FDDS with very bad lenses and wondering if the ones from the ecs link will fit.

Yes....except the Alpine Avalanche

GSPx2 · 03-03-2020, 07:47 AM

Thanks Paul,
I think I’m going to order a pair this week. What tips do you have for putting them on as I see the second one you did took a lot less time.

paul65k · 03-03-2020, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSPx2

Thanks Paul,
I think I’m going to order a pair this week. What tips do you have for putting them on as I see the second one you did took a lot less time.

You'll go through a small learning curve taking out the assembly....just take your time and do them one at a time on the bench.

Not difficult but just take your time.

Alpine36 · 03-04-2020, 10:36 AM

Fyi, the replacement lenses from ECS do come with new gaskets, although they will try to sell you additional gaskets, not required. As Paul says, take your time insuring you do not break the retainer tabs on the original Hella housings. Additionally you may need to grind off the lens "tangs" to make them fit the Alpine fg cap opening correctly. Youll see where WRV did it on the originals you are replacing.