depo or zkw?

noodles101 · 05-21-2009, 08:38 PM

so i decided im not gunna buy another car
and decided to fix up my E36 328i
im an ididot i shud be buying shocks for my car first
but i want to get headlights first lol..

im looking at umnitza website because thats the only site thats got the
zkw headlights.
ive been searching the forum looking at cars with zkw
and looking at cars with depo..
zkw with HIDs and angel eyes comes up to almost 800 dollars
and depo with angel eyes and HIDs come not even half of that..
so i was just wondering wat is the differencee. i googled and everything
and cudnt find anything.
and wat is this..TSX retrofit ppl talk about...little help plz.

dtm1 · 05-21-2009, 10:00 PM

I was reading on this myself. Pretty much ZKW is the OEM replacement for the Euro cars, it has thicker glass and better projector lens.

Fel · 05-21-2009, 10:20 PM

Depo blow.

That is all.

344i · 05-22-2009, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fel

Depo blow.

That is all.

Yup. Depos are crappy plastic. Im not complaining all that much, Mine are not cracked

but they are tooo fragile

noodles101 · 05-22-2009, 12:16 AM

so.. i shud really spend 800 bucks if i want it ot last long and better light outputtt

spoony_prelude · 05-22-2009, 12:22 AM

^^^ Depo is a replica to ZKW. And as most replica's your not paying the same price because your not getting the same quality. ZKW U pay more but you also get damn good lights. With depo's Their worth the money, but you might see warped glass a lot of fragile plastic... overall quality is ok, but not amazing.

Now whether the zkw's are worth the extra money, is debatable. U catch a nice rock from the car in front of you, and your 800 dollers worth of lights will go just as fast as the 300 doller set. I say Depo. Honestly Unless your building a complete show/lifelong car i dont think its worth the extra money...

Jay

344i · 05-22-2009, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noodles101

so.. i shud really spend 800 bucks if i want it ot last long and better light outputtt

Depends. If you plan on tinkering with them and taking them apaert, in and out, get ZKW. If you plan on putting them in and leaving them, Depo will be fine.

Depo have the biggest issues with corner light clips. These, however, are easily fixed with replacing the glass lenses ( which come with new corner clip plastics)

Honestly, I suggest the Depos or the slightly better Apexicone, because , you should really be investing in a suspension, to make your car handle proper and be safe again. The price difference is HUGE over the two brands.

noodles101 · 05-22-2009, 12:24 AM

could i see some pictures of depos.. any1 got depo with HIDs??
because ive searched google and depo and zkw look basically the same

sloveniaboy · 05-22-2009, 12:28 AM

go with zkw, I know they can be expensive but try and find them used on ebay, ebay.de, kijiji, cragslist etc....

e30bim · 05-22-2009, 01:06 AM

I bought my bosch euro projectors for $275 shipped to me from a guy on ebay.de They've been great so far. Trick is to search "e36 sheinwerfer".

Dr. Flyview · 05-22-2009, 01:49 AM

The depos will be just fine man. Unless you are going to keep this car 5+ years (unlikely considering a week ago you wanted to sell), they will be more than enough and 100x better than the stock US lights. I have depos...look at my thread about city lights for pictures (I took out my angel eyes).

Furious · 05-22-2009, 02:17 AM

If i were to choose again i would have gone ZWK.. ive had enough problems with my depos.. even though i think they look great.

King Luis · 05-22-2009, 08:33 AM

tfx retro fit is basically a rebuilt and modified projector and housing giving you the brightest legal light from hid's. its expensive though. for e46's, your looking around $600 or more. depo's imo, have low quality, i have their smoked corners and even though they look good they were a really tight fit and their weather stripping is more of a soft plastic instead of rubber.

Fel · 05-22-2009, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noodles101

could i see some pictures of depos.. any1 got depo with HIDs??
because ive searched google and depo and zkw look basically the same

You probably won't notice any differences in photos anyways.... it's more a matter of the quality of the materials and the fitment. You'll notice the difference holding each in your hands, but that's about it.

If you're torn over the price, you could always take a chance on the Depo ones, just put Lamin-x on them to try and minimize any risk of breakage. Little luck goes a long way. I had a set of Depo headlights on my e34, and one broke within the first 2 days, the other followed 3 weeks later. Could have been an unlucky stone, or quality... or both.

My 2 cents though..... maybe invest in suspension instead. You'll notice that much more on a regular basis and will thank yourself later.

1BADBMR · 05-22-2009, 10:09 AM

Do it once, do it right. Go with ZKW