9 min read
The E46 headlight that works, until it doesn't: the adaptive-unit trap
Adaptive E46 bi-xenon units share their electronics with the beam levelling. Fit the wrong pair and the lamp lights but the levelling stops. How to check.
Blog · research notes
Articles about bi-xenon
What we learn while building the configurators: changeovers, part families, the traps. Every article names its sources and how sure we are.
6 min read
The loner: why the E46 Compact's headlights fit nothing else and never crossed the Atlantic
The E46 Compact had its own headlights, shared with no other E46, unchanged in production and never sold in the US. Two families: halogen and bi-xenon.
8 min read
Two dates decide every E46 headlight, and 2001 is the trap
BMW splits E46 headlights by body and two dates: 09/2001 (Sedan, Touring) and 03/2003 (Coupé, Convertible). The owner's table, and why 2001 is the hard case.
Try it on your car
See it on your exact car.
Pick your model, year and body style in the configurator and get the part that fits it, with the OEM number and offers side by side.
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