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Headlight options
Hi,
I have a 98 740iL as well and I have done several things on my car's headlights that may be of some interest to you in your situation. First I would answer your questions this way
1. The normal OE headlights that BMW used in 98 were Halogen bulbs. These can be replaced with bulbs available from any auto parts store. They come out very easily and go back in the same way.
2. HID/Xenon headlights were an option on the 740 in 98. HID also known as Xenon use a different technology to create light. The light is created from an electrical arc created inside of a glass capsule that is filled with the Xenon gas. The light quality from the electrical arc is quite blue when compared to halogen / filament type bulbs. These can be retrofitted to your car in any of several ways.
a) The easieist and most expensive way is to purchase HID Xenon headlights complete from a BMW dealer and have them installed. This would run you somewhere close to $3,000.00.
b) Next easiest and less expensive way is to find a used set of the original BMW HID headlights and install them yourself. This would run you somewhere in the $1500 range, labor from yourself.
c) The next method is harder but costs a lot less which is to buy an aftermarket HID retrofit kit and install this yourself. COst fo these kits run from $450-550.
d) Finally you can purchase HID parts from Ebay or other places and install these into your headlights. BMW uses the same components for the E38 (95-98 7 Series) and the E39 (97-03 5 series) so parts are pretty widely available plus the same Bosch HID components are also used in Audi cars and some others as well.
I had previously modified my 98 headlights to look like the 99-01 type before I decided to go HID, so I bought some parts from a 99-01 headlight from a fellow E38 forum reader (James) and I instaleld them myself into my 98 headlights. It was a bit complex because the parts were from a 99-01 type housing and I was trying to fit them into the 98 housing, I found some obstacles that would not arise if the parts I bought were from a 98 in the first place. The project was not hard to do if you are handy. You can read my description of what I did on my Web site which is linked in my signature.
good luck,
John
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