TABLE OF CONTENTS at bottom of page

PROJECT PHASE III: OmniTec Gen II Demon Eyes - FINAL CHAPTER

OmniTec Motor Sports is beginning to take orders on their fiber optic version of "Demon Eyes" for the E36 and E46. This is their Generation II version of the product and appears to be much more substantial. This product may be our long awaited answer to proper "Angel Eyes." The Generation II Demon Eyes should be available soon for our E38's. The halo promises to be of much higher quality and they are fired with a 35 watt halogen bulb. We should be able to see these in daylight - exactly the look I'm hoping for.

This is a pic of the Generation II Demon Eye kit being offered by OmniTec. This pic was taken from their site and is copyright owned by OmniTec. I have been in contact with Bruce via email and the phone to discuss his plans for this product. I will be evaluating one of these kits for use in the E38 and documenting my experience for Bruce. I am hoping that this proves to be our answer.

Project Update � 23-Jun-2002

As a reminder to everyone, this is the look I am trying to achieve. This picture is of a 2002 540i E39 that I downloaded from the BMWNA site. I believe this is an outstanding look on any late model BMW.

Bruce Bharat of OmniTec Motor Sports asked me to evaluate his �Daylight� Generation II Demon Eyes kit for use in the 1995 � 1998 BMW E38 7-series and, if I could successfully install the kit, write instructions for him that he could include in his kit for other 1995 � 1998 E38 owners. Disclaimer: I am not employed by, an agent or representative of, or compensated by OmniTec Enterprises, Inc. I am simply another E38 enthusiast who volunteered his services for personal reasons. That said, I am very pleased with Bruce�s product. It is easy to install (no major surgery required on the headlight housing), is of good quality, and the results are exactly what I was hoping for. I would highly recommend his product to anyone who is interested in installing �Angel/Demon Eyes� on their 1995 � 1998 E38.

I received the kit from Bruce late in the afternoon on Thursday, 13-Jun-2002. I did the install on Friday and Saturday. I took my time because I did a lot of experimenting, comparing the OmniTec and Schott OEM versions, installing, and taking pictures. I did my experimenting on the driver�s side headlight, and then took pictures of the process on the passenger side. I believe the install can be easily achieved within a 3 � 5 hour timeframe; longer if you decide to wrap the back half of the halos with aluminum foil tape as described in Phase II: Schott OEM Fiber Optics of my �Angel Eye� Chronicles � there isn�t a lot of reflection from the halos into the headlight reflectors, but wrapping the back half of the halos in aluminum tape eliminates it altogether and helps make the halos more distinctive when the headlights are turned on. NOTE: (added 25-Jun-2002) I spoke with Bruce yesterday. He is experimenting with an addition to his kit that will wrap the back half of the halo in a plastic ring that will serve the same purpose as what I did with aluminum tape. The product is currently in testing (extreme heat and cold durability testing, etc.).

The first thing I did was to construct the light boxes included in Bruce�s kit. These are constructed completely of aluminum and are very lightweight. This is important because the 35 watt halogen bulb used in this kit generates a lot of heat. The light box is an effective heat sink. I was concerned that the heat buildup would be too great and cause a potential hazardous situation under the hood when fully installed. So, after constructing the light boxes, I drove around with them on under the hood for approximately one half hour as a test � No Problems. This picture shows the components included in the OmniTec kit for one headlight. I have already constructed the light box in this picture. Notice that I wrapped the wires coming out the back with black cloth electrical tape to be consistent with the way BMW wraps the wiring harness in the car.

Then I trial fitted the Schott halos and the OmniTec halos to compare them for light output quality. The OmniTec halos are a little hazier (slightly milky, yet clear) when turned off as compared to the Schott halos. The Schott halos have the ridges in the rear embedded into the circular halo whereas the OmniTec ridges are outside the circular halo � both methods are equally effective when viewing the halos from the front. The point is that they are designed slightly differently but, as you can see, there is NO difference in light quality or projection when lit up. The Schott halo is on the left and the OmniTec halo is on the right in this picture. The output quality is identical.

Point of Clarification: Before I proceed, a lot of folks have asked questions about wiring options. I will cover that in more detail below. However, understand that the Demon Eyes are not a replacement for headlights or DRLs (daytime running lights). There are different halo systems, primarily LED or Halogen driven. The LED systems may have an LED directly attached to the halo or may employ fiber optics. The halogen system employs fiber optics only. In either case, the halo is the only part visible from outside the car and is a passive lighting system (as compared to headlights or DRLs, which use active lighting systems (light bulbs)). As a passive lighting system, the halos cannot be used as a replacement for headlights or DRLs. Why? There are two types of fiber optics: Endglow and Sideglow.

The fiber optics included in the kit (and also the OEM Schott fiber optics) are "Endglow" fiber optics. They transmit light through the optical fiber end-to end, just like on the fiber optic trees you see in novelty stores. You can see the ends glow even though they look clear from the side (the light you can see from the side as you get close to the light source doesn�t count as this is usually hidden).

The halos are essentially a �Sideglow� optical fiber. Sideglow optical fibers transmit and accept light from the sides of the optical fiber cable, and are usually fired (light source) from one or both ends. Because they both emit light and accept light to the side rather than end-to-end, they are susceptible to the environment around them. As it gets darker outside, there is less light for them to absorb, so they transmit more light. The brighter it is outside, they more they absorb the light around them which, in turn, means that they effectively emit less light.

The point is, Angel/Demon Eyes from any source won't truly function as DRLs or any other major lighting functions on the car, since they will mostly washout in bright sunlight (they can still be seen, though). However, they can be very clearly seen on a very sunny day if you are driving down a shade covered road. I took a drive today through some mountainous roads (at least for Maryland � near Camp David) to verify this. It looks very, very good and is quite distinctive. If the sky is overcast or it is approaching the evening hours, the halos are very distinctive. By the time evening or nightfall arrives, they are amazing.

Below are some of the components I included in the installation instructions I prepared for Bruce. The instructions I gave him have a lot more detail and are step-by-step � this is a summary of the key elements. I�ve also added some info not included in the instruction, such as some wiring options that don�t involve the Demon Eye installation.

To install the Demon Eyes, the first thing we need to do is remove the headlight assembly from the car. Before we begin the Demon Eye installation process, there are two things we need to consider:

1. A little fabrication is necessary to adapt the Generation II Demon Eye kit to the E38. This is due to the fact that the E38 has an inner lens frame and clear plastic lens setup that is unique to the E38. The plastic clips that are included with the kit that are used to attach the halos to the reflectors in the E46 cannot be used on the E38. Therefore, some minor fabrication is required to secure the halos to the inner clear plastic lens. The 1999 � 2001 headlight assembly may be able to utilize the clips included with Bruce�s kit since they do not use the same type of lens frame as in the earlier E38s.

2. The Generation II Demon Eyes can be installed either in front of or behind the inner clear plastic lens on the 95 � 98 BMW E38. We need to decide where to install them. Consider the following:

Installing in front of the inner clear plastic lens (between the outer glass lens and the inner clear plastic lens) � this approach makes the halos clearly visible through the outer glass lens and gives a very crisp, clean look when looking straight-on at the car whether or not the Demon Eyes are turned on. However, this approach does have two drawbacks to consider: 1) this approach requires the drilling of holes in the inner clear plastic lens to pass the fiber optics through to the halos, and 2) each halo has two clear plastic connectors that connect the halo to the fiber optics � the outboard clear plastic connector is visible on each halo resulting in a slightly �tacked on� look - IMHO.

Installing behind the inner clear plastic lens (between the inner plastic lens and the internal bulb reflectors) � this approach does not require drilling any holes in the inner clear plastic lens and it effectively hides the clear plastic connectors that connect the halos to the fiber optics, resulting in a more elegant and clean looking installation. The halos aren�t as obvious when turned off and the final product looks a little more like a factory installation. However, this approach also has its drawback as the refraction patterns in the inner clear plastic lens distort the look of the halos slightly, especially on the low-beam side.

I installed my halos in front of the inner clear plastic lens because I thought that would be more in keeping with the E39 example and eliminates the slight distortion caused on the low-beam side if installed behind the inner clear plastic lens. The instructions I provided Bruce and the pictures here follow this strategy, but I do include notes in the installation instructions where deviations would occur if you decide to install the halos behind the inner plastic lens.

Since I have lived with the results for just over a week now, I would install my halos behind the inner plastic lens, if I were to do this again, for two reasons: 1) I don�t like drilling holes in visible components of the car, and 2) installing the halos behind the clear plastic lens results in a more elegant look consistent with the personality of the car - IMHO. No matter which approach you choose, the result is well worth it.

The optical fibers will fit snugly above the reflectors. I pushed them through, aiming toward the rear-center of the housing. This is a very tight, but manageable fit. I did not have to do any surgery on the reflectors or the headlight housing to fit the optical fibers. Note that the ends of the optical fibers that have the heat shrink tubing are in the front of the headlight housing.

I removed the bulb covers for the high-beam and the low-beam. While pushing the optical fibers from the front, I reached through the low-beam side to route them down and through the 7/8� hole that I drilled into the back of the headlight assembly at this location. This required some manual dexterity since the clearances inside the E38 headlight housing are very tight, but I was able to do it (even with my fat fingers � glove size XL).

Since I installed my halos in front of the inner clear plastic lens, I had to drill holes in the lens to pass through the optical fibers to the halos. I drilled two 5/16� holes near the center of each lens, as can be seen, fed the optical fibers through the holes, and reinstalled the lens frame to the headlight housing. I bent the optical fibers at sharp angles at the clear plastic connector (supplied in the kit to connect the halo to the optical fibers) and where they enter the headlight housing to get them ready for final fitment. The fibers have a surprising amount of memory and it doesn�t harm them to bend them. If you look closely, you will notice that I installed small nylon plastic zip ties into the lens (required additional small 1/8� holes) to secure the optical fiber tightly to the lens. I pressed the halos against the clear plastic lens and secured them with the nylon zip ties. There is sufficient downward force that the bottom of the halos don�t really need to be secured (epoxy can be applied if desired). Rather than using the small nylon zip ties, I could have used a small amount of epoxy. I did this on the first headlight, waited about 2 -3 hours, and then installed the optical fibers. Worked great, but when I came back out the next morning (Saturday), the memory strength of the optical fibers popped the epoxy off (maybe I didn�t let it cure long enough, but then I did polish the lens, too, so maybe that prevented the epoxy from holding well). So, I used the nylon zip ties � fool me once �

If you are going to install the halos behind the clear plastic lens, turn the headlight housing upside down and fit the optical fibers into the clear plastic connectors on the halos. Lay the completed assembly into the back of the lens and secure in place. I would recommend using several small pieces of aluminum tape all the way around the halo, taping the halo to the clear plastic lens. This has the added benefit of preventing headlight light leakage around the halo.

Here is a picture of the completed assembly from the front, with the glass outer lens reinstalled.

Using the components included in the kit, I trimmed out the optical fibers and prepared them for light box installation.

I inserted the optical fibers into the light box connector with the black tubing on the outside and secured the black tubing to the light box using a nylon zip tie. Care must be taken when installing the optical fibers to the light box. The optical fibers will melt if they are too long and come in contact with the bulb (that error also has the added benefit of destroying the bulb). The light box is now secured to the fiber optic system.

Test firing the completed assembly. You can now see the lighting effect in bright light. Even though this is inside my garage, it is still brightly lit. I have 16 four foot fluorescent lighting fixtures (2 bulbs each) in my garage (I like to have a little light when I work), plus the reflection in the glass lens is due to the bright sunlight streaming through the southside windows that are right behind my back. The lighting is very bright. Now we�re ready to prepare the car for reinstallation.

Now, we need to discuss lighting options. The Demon Eyes are fired with a 35 watt 12 volt halogen bulb (replacement is easy as these are the same bulbs used in overhead projectors and other like equipment and are commonly available in office supply stores and hardware stores). Halogen bulbs have no polarity, so they are very simple to hook up. All you need is one 12 volt power source and one ground connection � you can connect either wire from the bulb to either the hot or ground source. You can wire the Demon Eyes to be on all the time when the car is on (independent of any other lighting system) by simply connecting one wire to any ground on the car and one wire to a switched fuse circuit in the engine compartment fuse box. You can also wire it to the parking lights, as I did. This is the way the Angel Eyes are installed on the E39. I ran two wires through the side wall in the engine compartment, near the front. There are three wires running to the front corner lamps: a light gray wire (parking lights), a blue wire (turn signal), and a brown wire (common ground for the other two). Using quick connect connectors, I spliced one wire into the light gray wire (parking lights) as my + power source. Then I spliced into the brown wire for my ground. I used this wire as my ground source rather than grounding to the car body because I wanted to use my Demon Eyes as my parking lights and disable the stock parking lamps. BMW has built in circuitry to identify and notify the driver on the instrument cluster when a bulb is malfunctioning. The LCM sends small pulses of electricity to all of the bulbs on the car to determine whether one is malfunctioning. Since the Demon Eyes are using 35 watts of power (most of the major bulbs on the car use something like 20 watts), the LCM believes the parking lights are functioning correctly even though disabled, as long as the circuitry it measures is intact.

I wrapped the all the wires with black cloth electrical tape to more closely match the tape used by BMW on the car�s wiring harness. The finished assembly is a little more bulky due to the quick connects, but looks good. (Ignore the smudges on the chrome. I forgot to rub it down before I took the picture.)

I reinstalled everything in the car. It is important to note that the halogen bulbs do generate a lot of heat. The light boxes are constructed of aluminum and function effectively as heat sinks. However, they do get very hot. Be careful positioning them in the car so they are not in contact with anything flammable and they have as much air space as possible to dissipate heat. This is a challenge on the passenger side for all E38s and both sides for 750iLs.

I bought my clear corners from John Luttrell at Bekkers Import. They included this pigtail (wiring adapter) that plugs into the corner lamp wiring harness. It includes a new lamp socket that functions as a turn signal only (uses an 1156 amber bulb). I removed my old 1157 bulb socket from the wiring harness and plugged this pigtail in. Since I wired the Demon Eyes into the parking light circuit, I don�t receive any error messages on my instrument cluster, even though the parking lights in the front corners are no longer functional. Of course, I can always revert back to parking lights in the corners by simply removing this pigtail and reinstalling my 1157 bulb socket. This gives us the option to run both the Demon Eyes and the front corner lamps as parking lights or use only the Demon Eyes as parking lights.

So, you see, we have lots of options.

Below is a comparison pic showing the E39 (our benchmark) and my 1995 E38. The pic isn�t great, but it does demonstrate that fiber optics is the way to go. The picture of the E39 was downloaded from the BMWNA site. The picture of my E38 was taken in early evening. The halos are really more distinctive when seen in person.

Additional Pictures of the 1995 � 1998 BMW E38 7 Series with OmniTec Demon Eyes

This picture was taken in early afternoon. It�s blurry, but it does demonstrate how the Demon Eyes look in bright daylight. Unfortunately, I don�t have a high-res digital camera yet. I only have a 35mm film camera that has automatic focus. As you can see, that automatic focus really misses sometimes.

This picture was taken in mid afternoon with overcast skies. The camera shows more side-glow reflection than actually exists. This effect results from a combination of the reflective properties of the Chromeline lens frame and the way the camera lens responds to the lighting conditions. The halos are very distinctive with no backlighting when viewed in person.

This picture was obviously taken at nighttime. The low-beam headlights are turned on. It actually looks like this at night.

Project Update � 19-Jul-2002

As mentioned above, and in the instructions I wrote for Bruce Bharat of OmniTec Motor Sports, I originally installed the OmniTec Gen II fiber optic kit between the inner plastic lens and the outer glass lens of the headlight assembly. I state the pros and cons of the various installation methods above and in those instructions. Having lived with my original installation for a couple of weeks, I decided to try the installation on the inside of the inner plastic lens (between the inner plastic lens and the bulb reflector frame). I ordered another replacement chromeline lens frame (with the clear plastic inner lens) from John Luttrell at Bekkers Import which I received on Tuesday, 9-Jul-2002. I reinstalled the halos using the new clear plastic lens to replace the ones I had drilled holes in. This picture shows a close-up of the results. The lens are secured to the back side of the inner clear plastic lens with several small pieces (approximately one inch by one half inch) of aluminum tape (the type used on HVAC systems and available at any hardware store). I removed the clear plastic lens from the lens frame, connected the optical fibers to the halo, then applied the tape by adhering it approximately 1/8� on the outer lip of the inner plastic lens and wrapping it over the end and onto the backside of the halo (which I had placed on the inside portion of the back of the inner plastic lens). I did this all the way around the halo. When the lens is reinstalled into the lens frame, the 1/8� portion that was wrapped around the edge of the clear plastic lens cannot be seen from the outside at all. Patience is required, though, to secure the optical fibers in place so they don�t pull out while you�re working on it. I resolved this by drilling a small 1/8� hole in the top of the clear plastic lens (not the large surface area that can be seen from the outside, but the lip area that goes into the lens frame) where I wanted to secure the optical fibers and secured them in place with small nylon zip ties. It worked well and cannot be seen from the outside.

I like this installation much better than the original one. The black wrapping on the optical fibers is much less noticeable, the connector that connects the optical fibers to the halo requires very close scrutiny to be seen at all, the overall look is much cleaner and more elegant and, most importantly, there are no holes drilled in the lens that can be seen from the outside.

I went to the Curry�s meet (see pictures on Page 8) on Saturday, 13-Jul-2002. I stood at a distance and observed several people looking the car over. They immediately noticed the chromelines and the fiber optics, even though the headlights weren�t on. Several folks seemed very surprised to see �Angel Eyes� on the E38 because they didn�t think it was a factory option. They mentioned that it did look like a factory installation, though. Needless to say, I was very pleased when I heard the remarks.

Page 1: Cool Pic and E38 General Info (for all 1995 E38 models)
Page 2: The "Ultimate Driving Machine" (new interior pics - 22-Jun-2002)
Page 3: The "Ultimate Driving Machine" (Continued)
Page 4: The "Angel Eye" Chronicles Phase I: OmniTec Gen I Demon Eyes (LED)
Page 5: The "Angel Eye" Chronicles Phase II: Schott OEM Fiber Optics
Page 6: The "Angel Eye" Chronicles Phase III: OmniTec Gen II Demon Eyes - FINAL CHAPTER
Page 7: Headlight Removal and Disassembly
Page 8: Curry�s Meet on 13-Jul-2002 and Simeon�s Dyno Run

Page 6