One of the first things I began to tackle this year was updating the headlights for the 510. The old sealed beam units just wouldn’t cut it and I wanted something a bit more modern in both function and look. As I dug around the web looking for ideas I came across a fairly common conversion that utilized BMW E30 projectors.

I ordered a set online and once they arrived began working on getting them to fit. Thankfully they are the same diameter as the stock 510 headlights, so no problems there. What needed a bunch of work is making them fit the 510 buckets.

First task was to take apart the original headlight assemblies. This was a fairly simple task, few screws, some adjustment springs, etc. and everything was apart. The main area that needed work was the outside bucket/light mount for the low beam light. The projector housing from the E30 is substantially different in size and depth and involves cutting of the bucket to get it to fit.

Quick test fit of the parts after trimming. New on the right, old 510 lights on the left.

Once the bucket was cut and everything fit I had the entire assembly powder coated gloss black to finish.

Here you can see the difference in buckets in order to fit the new E30 projectors. The bucket on the bottom right is for the low beam housing and had to be cut quite a bit to fit.

Final completed headlights with E30 projectors: