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OEM Celis Tail Light retrofit

27K views 24 replies 10 participants last post by  Dking078 
#1 · (Edited)
Does anyone know what the difference between the pre-facelift celis lights and the post-facelift celis lights are?

From the info ive found, even the pre facelift celis lights require you to cut a bit of sheet metal to fit...

Also if the only difference between the euro and us spec celis lights that the euro ones dont have the celis bars continuing to the edge of the light where as the us spec does? anyone have pics of them(from the side of the car)?

i forgot that the euro ones also have the rear fog bulb and socket already..
 
#2 ·
The reason i ask is because ive contacted a company in germany who carries the euro spec celis retrofit kit from hella for both pre and post facelift bmws, they claim that you cannot use the post facelift lights on the prefacelift car since the curvature of the body is different???? also the price on the pre lift kit is close to 500, where as the postfacelift kit is only 300? Could anyone shed some light on this?
 
#3 ·
Info ive found so far:
BMWDIY:
Note that the Euro-spec assemblies do not have the 4 red LED's on the side, which is required for DOT-approval.

WARNING: I currently do not recommend attempting to fit US-spec assemblies into pre-2001 E39's due to reports from other owners that even with the appropriate drilling and notching, they still do not fit in the car's tail-light buckets. I haven't investigated this firsthand, but heard of a number of owners purchasing US-spec lenses off sources such as eBay and being misinformed they will fit with minor modifications into pre-2001 E39's which proves to be incorrect.

m5board:
I have a 2000 BMW M5 which of course means I have regular clear tail lights which are a certain fitment only for E39s that range from 1997 to 2000. From 2001 to 2003 the Celis crystal tail lights came out and all E39s got this new look which are also deeper tail light fixtures. You cannot buy OEM tail lights from a 2001 to 2003 E39 and expect them to fit, they are too deep, plus you need ballasts for the celis LEDs.

so i guess once they are installed they seem to stick out beyond the body about an inch..
 
#4 ·
You are correctly informed..

I bought the Post FL. taillights including a set of ballast.. and they didn't fit that fine.. they don't seem to stick out, they DO stick out !

And I had to drill 2 extra holes for fitment in my '97 528i ....

I've got 1 pic. where you can see i had to mess it up to get it fit..

My advice buy the retrofit kit!!!!
...
 

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#7 ·
I also had the same problem with my 1997 540i I was about to give up, but my friend got the drill and yes a hammer out and made it fit. I did not take pictures after where he modified the car, but I did grad a before and after picture of the lights. This can be done, but it does require some work.









Jeff
 
#5 ·
Riskant thanks for the info and photos, by any chance do you have photos of your lights after you made the cutouts, or a close up of the drilling you had to do?

is this similar to what you had to do?
 
#6 ·
That's exactly the same as i had to do... (except the blue arrow)....
On the outside there's the CELIS that's the point that doesn't fit..

But 500 $ for the retrofit?
I can get it in NL for € 333... incl. the ballast

Grtzzz...
 
#8 · (Edited)
thanks Jeff, so you used the oe us spec celis lights?

also is your 230 still for sale? if so i might have to drive up and take a look at it. is it a w114 i6 or w115 i4? if its a w115 consider it sold!
 
#9 ·
Jeff whenever you get a chance could you take a close up of your tails from the sides, if you could show where the 4 dot lights on the side are?

Also has anyone ever noticed this on their celis lights?


"I do have one problem however that I bet none of you noticed until I bring it up and I apologize in advance because once I say this, you will notice it and it may bother you too.

I am currently in contact with the Hella representative. It appears that at a certain angle when standing over the tail lights looking down, there are gaps or what looks like air pockets in the celis lines running horizontal. These gaps show up both during the day and at night when the celis strips are illuminated. If you lower your view and look directly at the back of the tail lights, the problem goes away and the tail lights look fine.

Thinking the tail lights I received were a defect I had Hella ship me another set. As soon as I got them I saw they have the same problem. I'm now being told that after close inspection, all these tail lights have the same issue and there's no fix. Hella is not responding with any answers as to why." ~from m5board
 
#11 · (Edited)
ok i understand the whole drilling & other instalation, but there ar no pics from the wiring? anyone have pic of what i would do with the 2 ballast and their wires? like from ballast > lights > original wiring. it has me confused on what i do from there, like what/where do i plug in? ...US spec 97' ..i find eurodyne has a nice celis set for $165..good?
 
#12 ·
the eurodyne led lights are good, but still not oem, they dont need any ballasts, there are only 3 light bars instead of the stock 4, also the most annoying thing with them is that the reverse light area is a perfect square unlike the stock ones which are skewed.
 
#16 ·
yep all the north american 01+ e39 have the 4 lights at the ends of the light bars..


there is no such thing as nam spec retrofits... you have to get the stock lights of a crashed car, and there is some creative installation required.. slight massaging of the rear quarter panel.. if you search my username for celis diy you will find directions to install the oem nam spec lights on prefacelifted cars..

you could always wait until you find a good set of oem set of lights and then sell your euro retrofits..
 
#18 · (Edited)
Hey guys,
Nothing like resurrecting a worthy and interesting thread, like this one.

I have recently met another die hard e39 owner who has upgraded his h/lights and tail lights with admirable improvements. He has gone the route of celis t/lights and man, what an improvement. I believe he did not have to go through the 'mark out and drill extra holes to accommodate his upgrade with these particular lights, they are plug n play. I'm going to contact the seller and ask him about the ballasts and fixing recommendations.

As noted above re extra lights on the outer corners, I'm not sure if these provide same. They aren't cheap, but we all know the addage "you pay for what you get!!!"

I've sen these tails up close and they are definately a very good, snug fit.

Looking for comments and especially if anybody has installed and or come across these on offer, via ebay of course: BMW E39 5-Series -00 Clear/Red Celis Style Tail Lights :
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BMW-E39-5-Se...=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2eac82102c

Interesting side note here for those who are going to poke around this ebay sellers' site, and that is that the (just) smoked/tinted version of the celis was an actual M5 option. Plus these tails have the reverse light frame at an angle, like oem and not squared straight up square like a lot of other ebay options.

Pics below of my mates upgraded tail and h/lights (which are DEPO's BTW).
 

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#19 ·
So I rang the ebay seller about the celis tails, he said they are not genuine celis (no LED's).
Apparently the light source to the 3 bars is halogen. So that answers the question on why my mate didn't have to drill out holes.

I've asked the ebay guy for some more pics of what he's offering, I'll post them up if they look ok.
 
#23 ·
Am I the only one....

who has a problem with one of these? Yes, I know this is an old thread. But my right side tail/running lap is now inop. It's an 02 with the OE "crystalline"/cellis type lamp, US model. I did see that the fuse card says that there are two fuses for "lamp control" (#16/41), which makes me wonder if there is a left/right for that. My back is not up to checking the fuses today, I'm going to look at that in the AM. Anyone suggest an aftermarket vendor if it is in fact a bad lamp? My BMW wrench (over 20 years at our local BMW store) says he has never replaced one...anybody else? Thanks in advance....
 
#25 · (Edited)
my lamp is dead. Anyone know of a good place for a replacement short of the $302 that the BMW store wants for a new one? It is the passenger side, BTW. Thanks in advance....
302?!?! What are they smoking? If that was for 2 lamps ok, but wow. Cant belive the want so much for such dated parts..
Are running OEM NA spec or Euro spec lights?

try esctuning.com > http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/63216902530/ high yes.. but only if all else fails.

Try ebay :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
 
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