Two things that I’ve wanted to do for a LONG time on this car is buy new headlight bulbs and buy amber indicators. I don’t know why its taken me such a long time to do this, but finally I have and I’m very pleased.
- E46 Amber Indicators Model
- Bmw E46 M3 Amber Indicators
- E46 Amber Indicators Meaning
- E46 Amber Indicators Vs
2Pcs Smoke Lens Sequential Flashing LED Turn Signal Side Marker Amber Indicator Light For BMW E90 E91 E92 E60 E87 E82 E83 X3 E46 US $11.33 - 12.95 / lot 2 pieces / lot. Genuine BMW Additional Turn Indicator Lamp, Left This item fits the following BMW Chassis: E46 M3,E46 Genuine BMW Amber Fender Side Marker - Left - E46 325Ci 330Ci Free Shipping on orders $49 +.exclusions apply.
First, the install of the new headlight bulbs – Osram Night Breaker D2S.
There’s some guides online on how to change E46 headlight bulbs, which I glanced over very quickly, but its pretty obvious and pretty easy. Un-clip the cap and get it out the way first
Then un-plug the connector to the bulb itself
Then un-screw the black bayonet-style fitting which is holding the bulb in. Once that’s un-screwed, the bulb is loose so be careful!
E46 Amber Indicators Model
Here’s the old vs new bulbs alongside each other. Osram Night Breaker on the right
Bmw E46 M3 Amber Indicators
2x Black Smoked Side Indicator LED Repeater Light Amber BMW X5 E53 97-99 E36 LCI (Fits: BMW) 5 out of 5 stars (1) 1 product ratings - 2x Black Smoked Side Indicator LED Repeater Light Amber BMW X5.
Once done, I obviously had to test with 1 side an Osram Night Breaker and the other side left un-touched. In this photo, the nearside has the Osram fitted. Can you tell a difference?
… Probably not much due to taking the photo in daylight, but after doing the other side then going for a drive at night, I certain can tell a difference! Much nicer & safer to drive with at night now.
And the other thing that arrived a couple days after the bulbs were my amber indicators – finally!
E46 Amber Indicators Meaning
I’ve wanted amber indicators for such a long time, and I was worried about buying them too as I wanted to make sure the quality was to OE standards. These were purchased from “onlinecarparts.co.uk” (seemingly based in Berlin).
That website actually has quite a number of different variants of indicators, all looking the same in photos, but made by different manufacturers. I went for TYC priced at just under £10 each (bargain!). TYC is stamped on my existing indicators, so going by that, I would assume that TYC-made parts are OE standard, if not actually OEM?
Anyway, here’s a before photo…
… And after …
E46 Amber Indicators Vs
Much much MUCH better!
For the front-end now, ideally I just need new fog lights and perhaps a repainted front bumper as it does have a LOT of stone-chips and paint starting to flake off.
Perhaps I’ll get round to that one day! 🙂
| Author | Message |
|---|---|
◊ 2004-10-07 21:25 | 00-34-15 -- Last edit: 2019-09-23 17:44:28 (afonso) |
◊ 2005-06-09 03:10 | BMW 3-Series E46 |
◊ 2006-03-16 23:15 | Okay, only the experts like myself will notice this...when watching this scene in 'White Chicks', pay close attention to the interior of this BMW. It is NOT an E46. It isn't even an E36. It's an E30. Those who know the E30 will agree with me. How weird is this? Check out the dash in the movie, and the seats, and windshield - it's an E30 for sure. They are using a red E46 cabrio for the exterior shots, and a red exterior with black interior E30 325i cabrio for the interior shots. I guess they felt the E30 was better for interior shots. The car is used for only one scene I believe...when they are singing, that's it. The car is driven sedately, nothing special or worthwhile. 2 Stars. |
◊ 2006-03-17 00:20 | The scene was a little long for giving it only 2 stars I think... I do not remember exactly actually It is not because the car is not used for a chase that it should not get 3 stars |
◊ 2006-07-25 18:49 | Really strange. Anyway 2001 model Cabrio (USA). |
◊ 2006-11-07 22:43 | Can't we give credit to the E30 for the interior scenes? See my previous comment on this movie. |
◊ 2006-11-07 23:07 | Well, as the E30 is only seen from inside I would keep it grouped with this E46... But if we have a good picture for it maybe we could add a page, even if I personally prefer to keep together cars that are supposed to be the same one. What think the other admins? -- Last edit: 2006-11-07 23:09:39 |
◊ 2013-08-16 09:18 | Watched this film on TV last night. Did any one notice that another red covertible was used? When they pull up to the clothes store this time a later facelifted e46 in sport spec was used. |
◊ 2017-07-05 21:46 | 2000 was first model year for E46 cabrio in North America, not 2001. -- Last edit: 2017-07-05 22:38:46 |
◊ 2017-07-05 22:11 | Weren't the white blinkers introduced in 2001? |
◊ 2017-07-05 22:15 | Not that I'm aware of. Besides, most of the E46s on that list have amber indicators. |
◊ 2017-07-05 22:20 | I renamed as 2000 the '3 Cabrio' with the amber indicators indeed, but left as 2001 the ones with the white ones for now. |
◊ 2017-07-06 05:07 | @walter - from what I can gather, all US models had amber indicators - some kind of regulation requiring them on the front lights. Some EU models had clear indicators (the M3 I believe), so many Americans swapped them over using those parts. As such, having clear ones is no indication as to the year. -- Last edit: 2017-07-06 08:35:34 |
◊ 2017-07-06 13:07 | I don't think that so many US owners put the clear indicators on their cars Again, to me we are talking about late models. |
◊ 2017-07-06 13:23 | i don't think so either.. there is just too many of them.. my opinion is that they were in the option list E36 on the other hand are sometimes fitted with the clear ones while originally coming with the amber ones i know they're not 2001 but Link to 'www.auto-brochures.com' and http://www.auto-brochures.com/makes/BMW/3%20Series/BMW_US%20M3_2004.pdf shows them with it while being US brochures -- Last edit: 2017-07-06 13:24:57 |
◊ 2017-07-06 21:37 | @Baube - the second link you provided shows EU-spec cars, not US ones. They even have German plates on them! |
◊ 2017-07-06 22:03 | nice mix then.. speedometers are MPH !.. can't they do a good brochure ?? .. anyway, if you scroll down to the standard/optional equipment list, it says white turn signal are standard -- Last edit: 2017-07-06 22:06:27 |
◊ 2017-07-06 23:31 | Couple pages that I found that talk about this: Link to 'www.bimmerforums.com' http://www.bimmerfest.com/wiki/index.php?title=BMW_E46 One poster summed it up like this: 'Prefacelifted coupes for USA from 99-01 regardless of sport package or not had amber corners, side markers, and rear tailights. Prefacelifted coupes from 2002-2003 if equipped with sport package in the USA had clear corners, markers, and tailights. Facelifted coupes 2004-2006 if equipped with sport package had clear corners, markers, and tailights.' From what I can tell, all M3 had clear lens |
◊ 2017-07-06 23:48 | then this one would be 2002-2003 |
◊ 2017-07-08 07:44 | we might have to check the sedans as well, i've seen some clear turn signal ( at least on the rear ) too |
◊ 2017-07-09 12:59 | Years fixed. |
◊ 2017-09-05 00:34 | Made for CDN (filmed in BC) |
◊ 2019-09-23 19:21 | The one in the (new) thumbs is a 2004 model, different from the main one. |