White headlight bulbs

[skins83]

Hi guys
Im after replacing the standard yellow bulbs for my xenon's for some nice white looking ones but there just seems to be so many different types for sale which just baffles me which to go for. Anyone have any recommendations of ones they have gone for or heard positive things off as i would rather pick some that way rather than randomly off ebay as there is so many.
Cheers

[jmhc]

Hello skins83,

I am a newbie so bear with this if you would.

Do you have halogens (H7) now, or is the vehicle fitted with factory HID lamps?

I believe many OEM HID's are around 4300K(Kelvin) so you should be able to obtain 5000 or 6000K replacments

You do not want to go over 6000K(kelvin) lamps (unless you want the visual effect) as the higher colour temperatures actually produce less usable light on the road. 5000K would be my choice, YMMF.

I have experimented with a UK sourced ebay supplier for the Landrover's H4 hi/lo (Dip/high) & have some light to cast on that subject.  I have though changed these for an LED H4 lamp again ebay this time from Shenzen, china.  All, LED & HID are available in most lamps types, H4, H7 etc...

The HID's (35w) were brighter than the Halogens(100/80w, not the std 60/55w, H7 are 55w I think) by a very great margin on Dip, but the high was not well defined & did not produce much reach.  Poor design which as far as I can see ALL H4 based kits have.  Dip also caused glare causing multiple flash's from annoyed motorists, poor beam forming & cutoff.  Aftermarket HID kits are apparently not OK (legal) for UK use BTW, I had to remove them for the MOT as it failed on this item.

If yours is using H7 halogens & a separate reflector for dip & main then you would need two kits ( four ballasts & lamps, Doh!) which are computer friendly to get the whole Bi-xenon light experience, Hi & Lo & no error codes?.  I suspect as it has a separate reflector for both, your beam definition & cut off would be much better than my H4's & may (I assume others here have tried this & will be along soon?) give good light control once adjusted?

From my research the slimline ballasts(my kit) are not as effective as the full size ballast types with crimped connectors(I can dig out some links if you want).  They do not drive the lamps as well & take a few seconds from cold to warm up, which I have found troublesome.

The LEDS have two leds & a reflector in the H4 design, the H7 is similar.  These are not quite as bright as the HIDS but the high beam is better & dip does not blind oncoming traffic, the beam forming & cutoff is not far off the halogens.  I will supplement these with a LED light bar combo type as the 150M range is still for my purposes not bright enough.  But I am on single track country roads with B & A roads.

The big problem with these is there length, they have a large heatsink & fan to keep the lamp cool in operation which would require the sealed headlight unit cover to be left off.

Another option is to use a replacement Halogen bulb with improved light output & whiter, higher colour temperature.  Philips, Osram, Ring, Halfords, Bosch etc. all make a variety from yellow tinted for bad weather, to longlife & 120%(1.2 times?) brighter lamps.  Have a look at there sites fro more info.  I have fitted these to the Audi Hi & Low & there a bit brighter but not as marked as the HID & LED's.

As we are looking for an X3 or 5 at the moment and Xenon equipped cars are less common I did wonder if a factory setup could be retro-fitted, either purchase parts new or probably much more likely obtain from the scrap yard.  Has anyone done this?

Cheers

JMHC

[X5Sport]

Or are you asking about the Angel Eye bulbs?

The first thing to say is that there are as yet no retrofit LED angel eyes that will give you the intensity seen in current model BMW cars.

You can spend a lot of money and still end up with something that looks fine at dusk, but is invisible in daylight!

A few of us used something like these: http://www.hids4u.co.uk/bmw-oem-angel-e ... 66-87.html

Straight plug and play swap taking less than 5 mins.  These are for facelift cars only!

Richard

[skins83]

Thanks for the reply guys some good info there, I have xenon lights and my car is a pre lci. When the side lights are on I just have 4 yellow rings. On my previous e92 m3 whoever owner it previous had changed the yellow look and they where a blue colour which looked smart but would prefer white. I know I won't achieve the sharpe brightness of the newer bmw lights but I just want it to look crisp white. I don't really understand the difference between angel eyes, halo, hids, lux etc ebay is full of all these but what is best I don't have a clue?
Cheers

[jmhc]

Skins,

Did you look at Richards link? : http://www.hids4u.co.uk/bmw-oem-angel-e ... 66-87.html

That seems to be exactly what you are after?

You may be able get them cheaper via Amazon or e-bay, but that will require a careful hunt I guess?

[MSPORTBMW]

Hi skins.....I'm after the same thing. I have a 2009 3.0d MSPORT.
I've got factory xenons but have yellow angel eyes.
On my previous E53 I done it and was an easy job even for a diy div like me.
But I'm not sure if I have H8 bulbs and don't even know what H8 bulbs look like.

Regards

[skins83]

I had a look at Richards link and they seem to be along the lines of what I'm after although the e70 isn't listed on those. I would say my main concern is getting good quality ones as I've heard they can flicker and over heat etc. They seem to range from the price of those linked to about £80 on eBay.

MSPORTBMW- im the same tbh not sure if I've even got the h8 bulbs I'm just kinda guessing from all the reading I've done that these are the ones put in from factory. Think I just need to take the plunge on a set or have been concidering seeing an auto electrician I know as id rather buy some on recommendation.
Cheers

[X5Sport]

The E70 option you could try is to go for MTEC HID lookalikes.  They are still 35W halogens but with a blue filter.  At about £19 a pair you can try them without being too out of pocket if you don't like them.

I have them on my X6 and they are fine - not perfect, but they'll do until the high power LED types come down in price and up in intensity.  Because our lights use a 'light guide' getting the light transmission into the guide properly is the issue.  That and the fact that to double the light intensity you have to quadruple the light output.  With LEDs that gives rise to heat problems.

I think BMW use an LED matrix with multiple sources under the headlamp and feed it along purpose designed light guides in order to get the brightness.  Hence no match being available except retrofitting that type of headlamp at obscene money.

Richard

[Mavster]

These are LUX V3 Halo replacement bulbs.

[skins83]

Thanks Richard some good info there, your 2011 x6 did that come with the yellow looking rings also then? I seen a 60 plate x5 this morning and they where very white so wondered if it has come like that being an lci or they have also changed there bulbs.

I've been looking at something like this on eBay
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 0478422796

Mavster they look great and basically what I'm looking for!
Cheers

[535dboy]

None of the aftermarket stuff will work unless it is dusk/dark

A 60 plate would be LCI and therefore the factory LED rings.

[skins83]

[quote="535dboy"]
None of the aftermarket stuff will work unless it is dusk/dark

A 60 plate would be LCI and therefore the factory LED rings.
[/quote]

When you say won't work do you mean they just won't be very bright as daytime running lights compared to the newer models? With ones like in the link i posted I should achieve the look that Mavster has got above will I???
Cheers

[535dboy]

[quote="skins83"]
[quote="535dboy"]
None of the aftermarket stuff will work unless it is dusk/dark

A 60 plate would be LCI and therefore the factory LED rings.
[/quote]

When you say won't work do you mean they just won't be very bright as daytime running lights compared to the newer models? With ones like in the link i posted I should achieve the look that Mavster has got above will I???
Cheers
[/quote]

Yes

That looks like a gloomy day in that pic!

[X5Sport]

There is nothing on the market as bright as OEM.  You will get the colour, just not the intensity/brightness.

Richard