Souping up the reversing lights...any ideas?

storminmike · Post by **storminmike** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:52 pm

It's very dark sometimes where I park with no street lights for miles

The reversing lights could do with some help me thinks on my facelift

Thoughts so far

Uprate the original bulbs....dunno can it be done and is the lens mount already compromised?
Mount some sympathetic wide beem spot light type things discretly...where....dunno...maybe tucked under the roof spoiler spointing down or is this illegal....bumper maybe in the exhaust holes (diesel)
Mount spotlights on the roof rails pointing backwards....i'm sure I saw on here some rabbit type lights meant to point forwards

Any ideas?

jaynana · Post by **jaynana** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:56 pm

[quote=""storminmike""]It's very dark sometimes where I park with no street lights for miles

The reversing lights could do with some help me thinks on my facelift

Thoughts so far

Uprate the original bulbs....dunno can it be done and is the lens mount already compromised?
Mount some sympathetic wide beem spot light type things discretly...where....dunno...maybe tucked under the roof spoiler spointing down or is this illegal....bumper maybe in the exhaust holes (diesel)
Mount spotlights on the roof rails pointing backwards....i'm sure I saw on here some rabbit type lights meant to point forwards

Any ideas?[/quote]

how'bout simply up-rating the wattage of your reverse bulbs, and driving them through a relay just so that you don't fry any original switching gear? (i'm one for preserving the original look).

pvw10 · Post by **pvw10** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:23 am

If i was rich i would try these babies;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Rear-Reve ... 415f7309b2

jaynana · Post by **jaynana** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:36 pm

[quote=""pvw10""]If i was rich i would try these babies;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Rear-Reve ... 415f7309b2[/quote]

nice, except no mention of the lumens or relative power compared to stock (21Ws?).

storminmike · Post by **storminmike** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:15 pm

[quote=""pvw10""]If i was rich i would try these babies;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Rear-Reve ... 415f7309b2[/quote]

LEDs on my small experience seem to come up short for chucking out a floodlight experience

Even the multi LED torches seem to be bright but point them at something and they seem pitiful

Can't see these being any better IMO

storminmike · Post by **storminmike** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:16 pm

[quote=""jaynana""][quote=""storminmike""]It's very dark sometimes where I park with no street lights for miles

The reversing lights could do with some help me thinks on my facelift

Thoughts so far

Uprate the original bulbs....dunno can it be done and is the lens mount already compromised?
Mount some sympathetic wide beem spot light type things discretly...where....dunno...maybe tucked under the roof spoiler spointing down or is this illegal....bumper maybe in the exhaust holes (diesel)
Mount spotlights on the roof rails pointing backwards....i'm sure I saw on here some rabbit type lights meant to point forwards

Any ideas?[/quote]

how'bout simply up-rating the wattage of your reverse bulbs, and driving them through a relay just so that you don't fry any original switching gear? (i'm one for preserving the original look).[/quote]

Wattage of the original appears to be..... 21w?

Can't seem to go higher than that....the reflector must be poor

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=63&fg=20

jaynana · Post by **jaynana** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:44 pm

that link is for the trunk lid light, not the reversing light. although they might be the same wattage.

in any case the reflector has no bearing on the wattage of the bulb, although it has a bearing on the effectiveness of the floodlight.

what u have to be careful about when increasing wattage of bulbs is extra load on switches (can say wires as well but unlikely). which is why if i do it i'd play safe and drive the lights through a relay.

or like i think u said originally u can fix some extra lights but in my opinion that would look ugly.. btw even that will increase load on switching gear so u should drive through a relay... unless they're LEDs.

storminmike · Post by **storminmike** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:02 pm

[quote=""jaynana""]that link is for the trunk lid light, not the reversing light. although they might be the same wattage.

in any case the reflector has no bearing on the wattage of the bulb, although it has a bearing on the effectiveness of the floodlight.

what u have to be careful about when increasing wattage of bulbs is extra load on switches (can say wires as well but unlikely). which is why if i do it i'd play safe and drive the lights through a relay.

or like i think u said originally u can fix some extra lights but in my opinion that would look ugly.. btw even that will increase load on switching gear so u should drive through a relay... unless they're LEDs.[/quote]

Me and my grammar

Reflector...what I meant was as you say....with a 21w bulb the effectiveness of 2 x 21w bulbs seems iffy

I dare say there aren't any other bulbs that style greater than 21w nor halogen style

Rebeccabuck · Post by **Rebeccabuck** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:48 pm

Just read this topic, and I totally agree, I live in the middle of nowhere on narrow roads when reversing I find myself switching on the rear fog lights with foot slightly on the brake to reverse anywhere, would love to know how you get on before my other half sticks some ugly light on the back!!

---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=50.963011,-3.701045

storminmike · Post by **storminmike** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:03 pm

[quote=""Rebeccabuck""]Just read this topic, and I totally agree, I live in the middle of nowhere on narrow roads when reversing I find myself switching on the rear fog lights with foot slightly on the brake to reverse anywhere, would love to know how you get on before my other half sticks some ugly light on the back!!

---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=50.963011,-3.701045[/quote]

I'm tempted to put either a single or a pair of fog lights in the slot where the exhaust would be (diesel you see) amd somehow pick up the reverse (not sure where) and feed via a relay

fenj66 · Post by **fenj66** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:46 pm

Reverse light pos feed easy to find in boot. Read my info in. The reverse camera thread.

storminmike · Post by **storminmike** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:06 pm

[quote=""fenj66""]Reverse light pos feed easy to find in boot. Read my info in. The reverse camera thread.

[/quote]
will do

edit....in this post viewtopic.php?f=22&t=86&hilit=reverse+camera&start=15#p11699

you say "would add that the reverse light positive wire is the white with yellow stripe wire in the boot area, as per photo"

where's that in relation to the boot area...and could I pick an earth and + there too or take it from the battery?

fenj66 · Post by **fenj66** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:41 am

the reverse light wire can be found just under the removable boot floor between the spare wheel and the rear of the car. iirc its in a loom covered with black tape that just needs removing to expose all the wires.
if it were me fitting high power lights for reverse i would use heavy duty cable through a relay and just go from the battery posts with a suitable in line fuse.

Raj · Post by **Raj** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:29 am

Just try not to reverse anywhere then no problems...lol.

Seriously though, I replaced my standard bulbs with xenon look ones but they still probably aren't bright enough for what your after I guess.

What fitting a reversing camera instead?

lezmtaylor · Post by **lezmtaylor** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:32 pm

I always thought that reverse lights had to be non beaming and 21w max,
Lez

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