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      06-16-2015, 09:19 PM   #1
Zishan
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Lightbulb Angel Eyes- disappointed and my observation

Hey guys,

I just purchased a 2008 BMW X5 4.8i with the sports package, etc. etc. I really love it thus far. My first mod was the led angel eyes. Like a lot of posts I've read, people tend to be disappointed that the outer angel eyes are noticeably dimmer than the inner. I happen to join that crowd recently.

So I was playing with the H8 bulb trying to make sense of it. I happened to notice that the LED lights don't line up with the 2 holes in the headlight that transfer light into the outer rings. Anyone else notice the same? I'm using the CREE H8 led 40w bulbs.

I tried to turn the bulb so that the led lights shine directly into those holes for the outer rings, but the bulb then unlocks and isn't secured.

Wondering if there's a way to resolve this? I was thinking I could dremel the tabs on the bulbs in a way that I can adjust the angle of the bulb placement. Would it help, or am I wasting my time...

Anyways, just thinking out loud, since I can't afford doing the headlight conversion to get the true LED angel eyes experience.

Regards,
- Zishan
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      06-17-2015, 01:19 PM   #2
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Really, another thread?

This one is better, has pictures!
http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showt...=795630&page=3

Quote:
Originally Posted by blue dragon View Post
Thats not the reason at all. Here is the pre lci design, a single bulb to drive both rings with a much longer light path for the outter ring.



With the LCI design there is an LED driver for both the inner and outer ring. You cannot achieve this with your single lux bulb no matter what your marketing pitch is. People keep believing they will achieve the look of the LCI by sticking LED bulbs in the E70, and it just won't happen

LED drivers for the LCI headlight, there is one of these for each ring
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      06-17-2015, 01:25 PM   #3
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supposedly, LUX is your best solution right now.
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      06-17-2015, 03:48 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by serge1 View Post
Really, another thread?

This one is better, has pictures!
http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showt...=795630&page=3


Really? Did you even read my post? Or did you just ignorantly assume I did no search/research?

Like I stated earlier, I’ve read multiple threads on this, which I discovered via the “search” function. Btw, I’m on xoutpost, xbimmers, and bimmerfest. I’m on a number of other forums, I’ve been on forums since 2000. So I know what the search function is…and I used it.

Now, I understand there is no way to mimic the true LCI led rings. My observation/question was, if the LED’s aligned better with the holes that transfer light into the outer rings, would it help brighten them.
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      06-18-2015, 12:20 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zishan View Post


Really? Did you even read my post? Or did you just ignorantly assume I did no search/research?

Like I stated earlier, I’ve read multiple threads on this, which I discovered via the “search” function. Btw, I’m on xoutpost, xbimmers, and bimmerfest. I’m on a number of other forums, I’ve been on forums since 2000. So I know what the search function is…and I used it.

Now, I understand there is no way to mimic the true LCI led rings. My observation/question was, if the LED’s aligned better with the holes that transfer light into the outer rings, would it help brighten them.
sure, who offers this solution? I think Lux currently has the strongest light output. I had asked them repeatedly to post a side by side of a OEM LED system next to their setup but they (nor their customers) have done so yet, so I'll keep waiting until someone does before I buy a set for my M3.
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      06-19-2015, 07:22 PM   #6
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Hello fellas!
I have 2011 LCI and have the same issue with angle eye just not being bright enough.

I have read than LUX Angel eyes h8 led V4 is supposed to do a better job of lighting the halo.

Any insight???
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      06-19-2015, 08:28 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e70msportmia View Post
Hello fellas!
I have 2011 LCI and have the same issue with angle eye just not being bright enough.

I have read than LUX Angel eyes h8 led V4 is supposed to do a better job of lighting the halo.

Any insight???
I had asked Lux repeatedly to post a side by side of a OEM LED system next to their setup but they (nor their customers) have done so yet, so I'll keep waiting until someone does before I buy a set for my M3.
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      06-19-2015, 09:11 PM   #8
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I'm having this issue. Scroll to the bottom.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=848816
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      06-19-2015, 09:48 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flying Ace
Quote:
Originally Posted by e70msportmia View Post
Hello fellas!
I have 2011 LCI and have the same issue with angle eye just not being bright enough.

I have read than LUX Angel eyes h8 led V4 is supposed to do a better job of lighting the halo.

Any insight???
I had asked Lux repeatedly to post a side by side of a OEM LED system next to their setup but they (nor their customers) have done so yet, so I'll keep waiting until someone does before I buy a set for my M3.
I think the ones that might solve the problem are LUX H8 160.

Check this link out: there are several pics towards the end of the thread.

http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showt...630&amp;page=5" rel="ugc" target="_blank">http://<a href="http://www.xbimmers....amp;page=5</a>


http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showt...=795630&page=5
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      06-20-2015, 10:00 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e70msportmia View Post
I think the ones that might solve the problem are LUX H8 160.
I just installed the LUX H8 160's yesterday
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      06-20-2015, 07:08 PM   #11
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Pics don't tell the full story... How do you like them? Are they bright? I know it's never going to be like OEM LED LCI but is it close?

Thanks!
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      06-20-2015, 08:57 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e70msportmia View Post
Pics don't tell the full story... How do you like them? Are they bright? I know it's never going to be like OEM LED LCI but is it close?

Thanks!
Honestly i like them, their a little bit brighter than the V5's i have on my other X5 but with the 160's the outer ring doesn't fade out as much as the V4/5's i have. Pics definitely don't show how bright they really are, they look similar to LCI from a distance. I was planning on doing a full LED retrofit on both X5's but imho it's a waste of money, these will do until either LUX or another distributor comes up with something better. Here are pics of the V5's and 160's side by side, again i couldn't capture the true brightness with my iPhone but in person they look very similar
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      06-21-2015, 04:32 PM   #13
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Outer ring still dimmer than inner. Only way is to get the proper lights at oh 2k or whatever they cost. Not worth it.
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      06-22-2015, 09:29 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Devilman6 View Post
I went the easy route PIAA Xtreme White 4150K
For the simple reason that all others are a pain in the ass
With story's that they start giving problems after the warranty is up (usually a year) I figured il save the money from the retrofit for the down payment for my 2019 X5 ///M
I bought the PIAA Xtreme White 4150k as well and after i installed them, they looked same as OEM so i threw them in the garbage...another $100 down the drain
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      06-22-2015, 12:16 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cattivo View Post
I bought the PIAA Xtreme White 4150k as well and after i installed them, they looked same as OEM so i threw them in the garbage...another $100 down the drain
I went with the Philips Diamond Vision H8 5000K and coded the voltage higher. They look about as good as they could without going for LED's - which I wasn't willing to do. $60.
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      06-22-2015, 03:23 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 135ivert View Post
I went with the Philips Diamond Vision H8 5000K and coded the voltage higher. They look about as good as they could without going for LED's - which I wasn't willing to do. $60.
I've never used those before, any pics to compare to OEM? I'm not spending anymore $ on headlights...so far i tried PIAA, CREE, D-TEC, LUX, and a few others i can't remember. I think the LUX looked the best out of all of them so far. For $200 I'm happy with the look and have no intention on spending $2-5k on headlights...I think by now all of us PRE LCI E70 owners know the internal headlight design sucks and no aftermarket distributor will ever fill in both rings
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      06-22-2015, 04:42 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cattivo View Post
I've never used those before, any pics to compare to OEM? I'm not spending anymore $ on headlights...so far i tried PIAA, CREE, D-TEC, LUX, and a few others i can't remember. I think the LUX looked the best out of all of them so far. For $200 I'm happy with the look and have no intention on spending $2-5k on headlights...I think by now all of us PRE LCI E70 owners know the internal headlight design sucks and no aftermarket distributor will ever fill in both rings
It looks better than OEM, but the light still looks a little yellow. I'd say that the color temperature is probably closer to 4000K than 5000K (if OEM is 3000K . . ). It's not as good as LUX, but it was cheap and I don't have to worry about adaptive headlight errors from the ballasts coming loose.

This is a reasonably accurate picture of what I have:

Last edited by 135ivert; 06-22-2015 at 04:54 PM..
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      06-22-2015, 06:27 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 135ivert View Post
It looks better than OEM, but the light still looks a little yellow. I'd say that the color temperature is probably closer to 4000K than 5000K (if OEM is 3000K . . ). It's not as good as LUX, but it was cheap and I don't have to worry about adaptive headlight errors from the ballasts coming loose.

This is a reasonably accurate picture of what I have:
Those look a lot better than OEM
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      06-23-2015, 09:27 PM   #19
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I have the PIAA bulbs and they look better than the OEM bulbs. Cannot complain for $50. I'll never piss my money away on LEDs.
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      06-23-2015, 10:42 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by P1et View Post
I have the PIAA bulbs and they look better than the OEM bulbs. Cannot complain for $50. I'll never piss my money away on LEDs.
P1et: the only other forum member that I know that has both a 135i and an X5. If you have a 4th gen 4Runner as well . . .

I think upping the voltage (through BMWhat or whatever) made a big difference. Past that I don't think people are seeing a big difference between the PIAA and Philips?
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      06-24-2015, 08:04 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 135ivert View Post
P1et: the only other forum member that I know that has both a 135i and an X5. If you have a 4th gen 4Runner as well . . .

I think upping the voltage (through BMWhat or whatever) made a big difference. Past that I don't think people are seeing a big difference between the PIAA and Philips?
Haha, no, just an '01 Explorer!
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      09-25-2015, 04:52 AM   #22
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Side question

You guys seem very familiar with the lights on this series X5. Any guidance on changing the actual low beam light bulb. One of mine now has pink glow which according to other post signals it is going bad. I ordered new but not finding any post to guide me on this series X5 to access the bulb to replace. Any help would be appreciated.
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