MoBrighta

Will check - some were ordered, some time ago, but don't know if they arrived yet. Shoot me an email, I will reply directly. (see my sig) Andy

I am also in Golden, be glad to come out for a local gathering in my E28 (my second BMW after the 2002). Be happy to work with you, 1974_Verona, maybe promote your shop and share the many things I do with lighting. I'd also be happy to bring a couple of tail lights to demo the upgrades and restoration, maybe even install one in a car for show and tell, side by side with an original... and help folks decide if it's 'worth it.' Chris (Golden) has installed a pair of Hella upgrade headlights ("SUPER") I sell, maybe he will come out, show them off, report his night-time driving impressions of them and the protective film? just66horns - be not afraid, come out anyway to share and soak up the love! I'll even be happy to do a minor tech session, hand out fuses, do a relay tutorial, 6V-12V circuit conversions, or whatever to keep things interesting and informative. Lord knows, we could all use brighter lights front and rear to make driving these older ladies competent and safe on the road. Anyone is invited to PM me directly or reply here with special requests once this is on the calendar. Andy

I am happy to recommend Hella Supers, 7 inch round, use an H4 lamp and perfect for you. They are a 1996 design, far better optics than anything from the 1970s. I have a pair on order, should be here in a week, I can let you know the Hella part number if you like. $80 each, and if you like they come with a 'city light' (4 watt) for city centers with main beam restrictions. Common in Europe. I sell lots of them in the US to 2002faq members. They are designed as US SEALED BEAM replacements, so the headlight buckets may be different. They are sold in Germany, you might be able to find them over there to fit a UK bucket for cheap?

Amen to that! Look around on the forum and you'll see much chatter about rear lights - and making them brighter. One of the discussions is from me, after I got sick of being crunched from behind. After my 1972 2002 was totaled five times, I invented the upgrade to: (A) Be safe by helping sixth and subsequent idiots to avoid crashing into my car again; (B) Make the lights in back look bigger, brighter, and easier to see - I boosted brakes, tails, and turns. (C) Restore the silvery goodness in the old dull reflectors to project the light outwards instead of just warming up the light and the trunk. Once you find a 2002 you like, let me know if you need help. Square or round tails, I can help with either. BTW- my avatar is my tail light only, no brakes applied. Twice as big, three times as bright as stock tails when new, ten times better than 50 year old tails! And when the brakes are on, it's WAY brighter. Welcome to the forum, and good luck finding a nice car.

I just bought what I thought was a rear light from an older NK - 1500 or something - the seller did not know what it came from, and did not know that a light consists of a lens and a bulb carrier - the back half. All I got was the lens, red/white/red. It appears from the lens that it is brake/turn on top, reverse center, and tail on the bottom. It appears to be intact - no lens cracks - though a bit dirty and pitted on the frame. I will clean it up and take some pics. I need help in identifying the model it will fit ... thanks in advance. In order to do anything useful, I need to have the back half for this light, or will sell it and buy another light COMPLETE with all the parts. I have asked for a refund, as I made it clear I wanted to buy a complete light with all the parts, but who knows how that will go - English may not be his first language.

OK, I thought so. I would do the same if I had one... Love those wheels! (seen in the 'more pics' link) I will let you know what I get after it arrives ... still waiting, dammit!

Wow, I guess a good idea gets around! Your reverse light was the middle section that might be a turn signal in US cars... did you move the turn signal to that part? The cheap plastic thing - you mean the small round amber thing right next to the bumper is a reflector? Did you remove it or leave it there, and just add and wire a new round glass light (amber) as a reverse light - bumper mounted? I'd like to meet you, see this car in person! Are you in France, or just lucky enough to own a French Market 1600? Thanks for sharing pics of a clean car! Andy

Oh, that is fantastic! I hope they are different, I will learn more having a range of different parts to work with. It shouldn't be too tough to find out what I have once I publish a picture. Send me an email, I'll let you know when my light arrives, what it looks like, and what I think; we can compare notes. By the way - I recently designed a 'gadget' that converts a 6 volt circuit to 12 Volts so a modern High Output 12V bulb can be used in a 6V car. Prototype testing is going to start this week by Jake in his 1600 brake light circuit, so he'll have really bright brake lights (along with the tail light restoration I also did). Notice I say High OUTPUT, not high wattage. No problems -- no melting lenses, no blowing fuses, no overheating wires or switches! This gadget uses relays to power the lights directly from the fuse box, so the brake light switch carries very little current - only enough to trip the relay coil. The big amps go through a fuse directly to the lights. If it works out, I may offer it to more members to try in various other ways, some of which you will come up with yourself, no doubt. It must work safely and be effective in making the car more visible, i.e. brighter lights, to ward off rear end collisions. Lord Knows - there are few enough of these Neue Klasse cars on the road, no need to sacrifice even one to the Hum-V grinders! I am also testing some high output 6V lamps ... Thanks! Andy

OK, I have been trying to gain some working knowledge on NK rear and forward lighting, so I bought an NK rear light on this forum. The immediate issue is this- I do not know (nor does seller) what model it is from. He 'found it' in his garage in a box of leftovers or something like that. I will post pictures of it with any markings when it arrives. I am sort of excited (to put it mildly) to see what kind of upgrades and restoration processes are possible. Been working this week on E30, E24, and early 1600 lights with a 6 Volt system (similar to 2002 roundy lights) to boost output and make a high output 12V lamp work in a 6V car. Want badly to see what magic I can do with the vertical NK lights. Thanks for being there for me, in advance! Andy

Bravo- you have hit on a characteristic of most BMW wiring - the weak ground. I added a second ground for both rear lights in my E28 535i, it solved most of the check panel warnings and made the lights brighter by a bit. I looked at the amazon post for the lights Acid House used; they look larger, at 30 MM tall. How do they fit within the cluster? My '72 uses the 194 style, only 25 mm; I suppose that's not too much different.

I'm putting some door prizes together for this event, which I will ship to Bo unless I can be there and award them myself. I am considering a Cash Value coupon that you can use for anything I offer, and a High Output Bulb Set which you can take home. Last year's cash value coupon was not redeemed; I would encourage the recipient (unknown) to get in touch -- it has an April 30 expiration date. If you don't use it, you are throwing $50 in the trash... Go and Check Your Car for this, if you were the lucky winner last year. There are other upgrades and options I could offer; is there anyone with a suggestion for a door prize? I might consider repairs, or stripping / re-silvering reflectors in front turns, or headlights with a city light feature, or whatever your particular passion is... anyone? I know that I might be soft in the head for asking for suggestions, but aren't we all a bit soft when it comes to 'Die flüsternde Bombe' anyway? Andy LaMorte, Tail Light Guy

Depends on the LED, not the car. Some will, some won't. In any case, the output of an LED is dependent on current, the variable controlled by the panel dimmer is voltage. You can certainly try, experiment with an LED you like, and see what happens. There are circuits to control current at a constant voltage, but BMW did not install them in a 2002 headlight switch. In the world of LED manufacturing, like any IC process, there is variation among otherwise identical chips. Some will be bright and some dim at exactly the same applied voltage and current. Just like the life of incandescent bulbs. Saying a lamp has a 300 hour life means that for thousands of lamps tested, half lasted longer, half died before then, there are good ones and bad ones. Give it a try, let us know what you find out. Andy

'Bout 30 years ago, I had this exercise to replace the lamps because: (1) I wanted them brighter, and (2) Red, like brand new E28s had... Boy, you guys sure have it easy these days, with LED replacements in every color of the rainbow. My '72 has four #194 small wedge base lamps. I dipped them in some red gel-coat intended for theatrical lamps. Worked like a champ for about 15 years, before the red coating started to darken, and go dim all over again. Of course, that could be my eyes, but hey - I live and enjoy life in the state of Denial.... I do have access to amber and clear 194 lamps, not too expensive last time I checked. Of course LED will be more money, and probably more light. John T- I'll get back to you soon as I have a cost.

Be glad to help- After half a million miles on my 1972 2002, I had the wiring memorized! I have been doing a rear fog light conversion to tail + brake light for decades. Also have done conversions with working rear fog lights to provide tail and brake AND rear fog, all in the same light. There are ways to tap into the wiring in the trunk going to the stock lights, and no need to run a relay unless you want to - I think it's a good idea, and did it in mine, so I would recommend it. I would be happy to build you a harness that plugs in, just like the original wiring, and avoid alligator clips and cutting / damaging the original wires. Get in touch via email, we can work out the details and cost. I also want to know more about the rear fog light - specifically wiring details, and what the lamp socket looks like. Maybe you'll want high output lamps? Not high wattage, to avoid issues with fuses, wiring, or lenses melting of course. Andy

I second the filter - very important before the pump! One after is just as important, and (here's my lesson learned) check them often, clean and/or replace annually. a clogged filter will leave you on the side of the road... usually when Murphy is out prowling about the highways and byways. I had an electric pump in the trunk, it pulled fuel from my spare tank about 8 inches away, pushed it to the carbs. My stall occurred on I-70, west of Denver, late one night. Next morning I went back with a new filter to pick up the car, and they were getting ready to tow it away. Installed a new filter in minutes, and was off and running again. I dodged a bullet and a hefty fine, and learned a lesson.

In case you want brighter headlights... here is a twist on a very old subject... I just got a technical bulletin from Hella, and the first two posts - 1) Audi Cabriolet, 2003, 2004with Xenon Headlights, Dim lights- Inadequate output (faulty reflector coating; solution is "replace lights" - at least Audi pays for this) 2) Ford Galaxy and S-Max with LED bend lighting, mfd. 10/2014 to 2/2016- Lights go off while driving (faulty software for the headlight module; solution is "stop vehicle, switch ignition off, then start, repeat as needed") SO take heart, 2002 fans, there is nothing new under the sun, and new lights are just as unreliable as old ones!

Hey all, There has been a lot of chatter on the original post (below) so I decided to start a new thread. As of today only a few pairs are left, so IF YOU WANT A PAIR, let me know right away. Price has gone down a tad, as well! The lights are available with the small 4-watt 'city light' socket below the main H4 lamp. If you want, I have a harness to connect them, $17. HO lamps too, or just use any old thing if you don't care... they take the mini bayonet base, 9 mm diameter with two pins exactly opposite each other. Stick with nickel base if you can, the silver color. Stay away from brass... corrosion is sure to follow. I put together an installation kit for these, including Lamps, Wiring (as needed) and headlight protection film. For 'no city light' there are two H4 lamps, plug them in. 'With city light' add two small lamps and wiring. Or you can do your own wiring if you like, just let me know. City lights can be wired to work independently with the parking and clearance lights, if you have this feature and want to keep it. That's where the turn signal lights up the parking lights on one side of the car - Clearance Lights - works when the key is off, in case you have to tuck it into the hedge on a narrow road, to show the car to passing motorists. I believe this was common in the UK and Europe where off street parking is hard to find. Nowadays, most 2002s sleep in garages where it's warm and cozy! I had a wait list from last order in August 2015, so if you want to be back on an ACTIVE Wait List, send me an email or PM. I just installed a pair in Polyak's 2002tii, that is a VERY nice example. VERY clean! He's just up the street at Colorado School of Mines, in case you wondered. He also has my dual tail light upgrade, quite stylish and very safe. Maybe I can get him to post his reaction and pictures???

GONE- GONE - GONE All sets spoken for, I am taking names for the wait list. Remember, only the lights with city light or front position lamp (a small running light below the main bulb) are available at this time. For this option delete, you simply don't put that bulb or wiring to it. Main bulb is a plug-in H4 style that fits the stock harness connector. No-Brainer. Standard lamps are available from anywhere in the world, basically. High output lamps that use standard watts are available from me, but beware of high wattage lamps that may toast the connectors, wiring, blow fuses, or cause other issues. Installation kit includes lamps, headlight protection film and wiring for city light (if desired). Next order of these babies should arrive in less than a month; I'll know more later.

Mike- You were on the August 2015 wait list, and should get a pair, since it's been over a year... I'll put you on the list. The good news- I was told the wait time for a group buy is down to FOUR WEEKS (from 12-16 weeks last year). So don't fret, if you can wait a month more should be here. I understand another order for these lights has already gone in.

Total Price to Anaheim is the same as across town, using Priority Mail. If you want JUST headlights, it's $199 a pair delivered with no lamps (H4 or city light), no wiring and no film. Headlights WITH the above underlined items (the installation kit) is $292 delivered. The thread should tell you about the lamps, XPel headlight protection film, and wiring harness I build for the city lights. If you would like more details, email me immediately, the pair is going to the fellow who reserves and pays for them.

Some possibility that you can get the third set... the first two are spoken for. Email me if you need more info, but don't dilly-dally, or they'll be GONE. my email is in my sig, or use the forum private message utility, and let me know YOUR email so I can respond quickly and directly.

UPDATE- More Supers Available 3 pairs, all with city light. I will be going through the original order sheet with names of folks who wanted a pair last year but were too late, then opening this up to the forum. And here is more good news - the importer found a source in Germany who apparently gets them from Hella across the street ( or nearby) and then ships them here, arriving in about 4 weeks!!! This certainly beats the 12 - 22 weeks we had to wait for the last group buy. This looks like a permanent improvement over the official Hella 'going through channels' connection they used last time. More to come... Andy