Hella vs Bosch

Need technical Q/A then you're in the right place

Moderator: martauto

FinalD
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1098
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol

Post Sat Dec 29, 2012 3:59 pm

I have a matched set of Hella lamps and a mismatched set of Bosch lamps. The Bosch ones are manual adjust and the Hella are cabin adjust (but the system looks knackered so I don't want to retro fit it).

The car came with the Bosch ones and I much prefer the Hella ones (smoked looks better imo on this car). Can I just remove the Hella lamps and put them into the Bosch housing, giving me manual adjust lights?

Also, one Hella main beam is cracked and the other main beam is cloudy, can I swap the lenses from the Bosch ones onto the Hella ones?

The lenses look the same so I don't see there being any light output issues.


Pics of the lights, Bosch on top, Hella on bottom:

Passenger side.
Image
Image


Driver side.
Image
Image
Top
Gert_8
Married to the E30 Zone
Married to the E30 Zone
Posts: 11305
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:00 pm
Location: In your back passage faster than a rat up a drainpipe!

Post Sat Dec 29, 2012 4:24 pm

PM Rav335uk. He's the zone expert on lamps and will be able to advise on all your questions.
Image
PONY, 2013 - "Anyway span 360 degrees hitting the kerb and giving the old man two fingers as I was spinning like Michael Schumacher would
Top
Rav335uk
E30 Zone Meets/Events Team
E30 Zone Meets/Events Team
Posts: 27985
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Mad mad mad

Post Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:39 pm

Hi Rob.

No need to swap the housing over to get manual adjustment. just replace the adjuster over.
As for the swapping of lenses from bosch to Hellas you can't as they are slightly different.
Image
If you Got "Haters",Then your doing something Right!
CR24v??? Where's it all gone?? LOL
Top
DanThe
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 28646
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Staffs

Post Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:31 pm

You can swap the lenses, flick the outer trim rings off and have a look at where the locating tabs are on the glass as thats the only thing that might be different. If they are you just cut a bit of the outer lamp away.

But, as they are the genuine hella lamps I would be wanting to fit hella lenses, I might have some if you need to purchase a pair :D
Top
FinalD
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1098
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol

Post Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:05 pm

Rav335uk wrote:Hi Rob.

No need to swap the housing over to get manual adjustment. just replace the adjuster over.
As for the swapping of lenses from bosch to Hellas you can't as they are slightly different.
Ah, good stuff about the adjusters. I have had a play with the Hellas and there is also a manual adjust on them but I figure (provided the Bosch adjust works still) it'd be best to change it over to full manual.
Shame about the lenses, I guess the locating tabs as mentioned by DanThe are different. I'd rather use Hella lenses of course, keeping them genuine etc. just figured if I could do something with what I have that'd be easiest.
DanThe wrote:You can swap the lenses, flick the outer trim rings off and have a look at where the locating tabs are on the glass as thats the only thing that might be different. If they are you just cut a bit of the outer lamp away.

But, as they are the genuine hella lamps I would be wanting to fit hella lenses, I might have some if you need to purchase a pair :D
As I'll need to remove the lenses from the Hella units anyway I guess I might as well take a look at the Bosch although if they are different I'd rather just fit genuine Hella ones that aren't knackered...in which case I may have to PM you. :wink:


With regards to removing the Hella lenses, I'll need to 200C oven them for a couple mins won't I? Also, what sort of sealant/adhesive am I going to want to use on them when putting back together?
Top

Return to “E30 Technical Help”