Blog · research notes
What we learn while building the configurators: changeovers, part families, the traps. Every article names its sources and how sure we are.
The E46 Compact shares its name, not its nose: own headlights, own bumper covers front and rear, no facelift split. What that means when you buy parts.
A general guide to buying genuine BMW E46 parts in Europe: what a listing must show, why a headlight needs both sides, new versus used, VAT and shipping.
Every US-market E46 headlight has a different catalogue number from its European twin, and some units exist in one market only. What an imported car needs.
BMW renumbered most E46 headlights up to three times. What a seller's old number means, which old numbers still fit, and the one chain step that never does.
Adaptive E46 bi-xenon units share their electronics with the beam levelling. Fit the wrong pair and the lamp lights but the levelling stops. How to check.
The E46 Compact had its own headlights, shared with no other E46, unchanged in production and never sold in the US. Two families: halogen and bi-xenon.
BMW splits E46 headlights by body and two dates: 09/2001 (Sedan, Touring) and 03/2003 (Coupé, Convertible). The owner's table, and why 2001 is the hard case.
Try it on your car
Pick your model, year and body style in the configurator and get the part that fits it, with the OEM number and offers side by side.
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