e36 headlights

[monkey]

does anyone know if coupe , saloon and touring headlights are the same on an e36 ? need to get one for the mrs car and i would make the ebay search easier if they are . thanks

[eko]

Matt im pretty sure that saloon and Touring are the same.
Coupe is unique and compact is also unique
Dont just buy on my say so though

[Jhonno]

Only coupe front end is different

[eko]

Only coupe front end is different

Compact same as sallon/touring then?

[Jhonno]

Yeah Compact front end is the same as the 'Loon and Touring

[eko]

Everydays a schoolday

[Zerotonine]

The compact does share the same front lights as the saloon and touring, but I believe the light bulbs changed with the facelift, as my 98 compact has a completely different set of bulbs compared to the 95 316i saloon I used to have. The coupe on the other hand is unique and can only be swapped with other coupes as previously mentioned.

[harry_p]

Nope, compact lights are different. They fit the same as saloon/ touring ones as indeed the rest of the front end is the same. However, all compacts use cheaper lights with a single large reflector behind a false lens tha gives the traditional e36 seperate light look. They use 9005 and 9006 bulbs. Coupes, tourings and saloons have a seperate projector dip beam and reflector main like the e30 setup and I think take h1 bulbs.

I did think coupe lights were the same as saloon/ touring and just the indicators were different, some sources say they're the same, others that the coupe ones are coupe only.

[monkey]

many thanks to you all for the info and i'm off to ebay then

[Zerotonine]

I stand corrected! I knew the compact had a different light set up but I figured it was due to the facelift. Learn something new every day!

[harry_p]

I only know because my compact lights were green and full of muck inside so I pulled them appart to clean them, up till then I assumed they were the same as saloon ones!

[steerfromtherear]

As far as fitment goes all e36 head lights will fit all e36s. Its only indicators (well and panels) that differ.
Coupe and vert are the same as each other,
Touring, Loon and compact are the same as each other.

Hth.

[harry_p]

As already said, compact ones are different. They'll physically fit, but the wiring connections and bulbs are different and you'd need a pair to stop them looking odd and performing differently.