[Zasquatch]

I recently had the opportunity to do a little comparison between LUX 5.1 and MTEC v3. My bro just bought his first BMW, a loaded 06 330xi. I decided that for his birthday I will give him some AE bulbs, and thought that although I had great luck with my v2's, I would give the LUX 5.1 a try due to all the hype on the forum.

I ordered the lights just before Hurrican Irene hit, so I was stuck waiting just over a week to actually get them. Not LUX's fault at all, I was out of power myself for about 4 days. I got written confirmation from LUX that the 5.1's would be WAY brighter than the v2's, but he was not sure about the v3's. I interpreted that to mean that the 5.1's and v2's are probably on the same level.

I installed one side and wow...... I frowned. I was actually so angry that I didn't take a picture The MTEC v2's were significantly brighter in both the sun and shade than the LUX 5.1's. They were certainly brighter than stock, but the MTEC's were just that much better. I took the LUX out and tried the other bulb to see if it was just a dud, double checked the ring alignment, and bam... same deal. I packaged them back up and am currently waiting to get a response to return them... but apparently they are closed until Sept. 25th! That is the main reason for my rant... not so good service (I realize this is mainly bad luck) and a not so good product (at least for the 5.1's for the e90... their other products may very well be the best for their applications).

Now with the MTEC's back in I decided to order up the v3's. Sonic Tuning shipped extremely fast and had extremely good customer service. I installed one bulb yesterday, and I honestly assumed I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, especially after seeing the actual LED on the v3 is a tad smaller than the v2. I was wrong... My god these things are bright. That's really all that can be said.... they are freakin' awesome.

In short, the V2's were very noticably brighter than the 5.1's and the v3's just blew everything out of the water. At this point in time, unless you are getting HIDs, these are by far the best option for pre-lci e90's.

DISCLAIMER: This post is not meant to bash LUX, but just give an honest comparison of three different products. This only applies to pre-LCI e90's.

I took some pics today and discovered how incredibly difficult it is to get an accurate photo without the lights bleeding. Here's the best I could do with the effort I was willing to put in I am also awaiting my CAN cable from China and have taken out my DAEOS harness so please excuse the corner lights...

First pic.... Direct sunlight. This one pretty much says it all. The MTEC V3's are almost 2x brighter than the LUX (and FYI, ~50% brighter than the v2's). I messed with the pic to try to get it as accurate as possible, as a result the MTECs actually look a little less bright than they actually are. MTEC on left, LUX 5.1 on the right.


Next pic.... Dark shade. This one is almost impossible to get right. They both look way brighter than they are. The MTEC's looked even brighter than the LUX then they did in the sun. If you look at the MTECs on the left you can see how much more the light is bleeding from the rings. The LUX look much more crisp because they are so less bright. Again, MTEC on left, LUX on right.


Any questions let me know. This is the best I could do without spending half my day on it

[anerbe]

Hopefully you have comparison pics of two different bulbs in the same pic with the same exposure setting on the camera.

V2 vs. Lux 5.1
V2 vs. V3

[Zasquatch]

Originally Posted by anerbe

Hopefully you have comparison pics of two different bulbs in the same pic with the same exposure setting on the camera.

V2 vs. Lux 5.1
V2 vs. V3

I will this weekend... I was going to do:

v2 vs. v3
v2 vs. LUX
v3 vs. LUX

That way I only have to swap one side haha. I guess I can do every combination to be thorough though... I'll just bring some brews out with me.

[rollinstone157]

I'm shocked you're unhappy with the LUX's (and just to make a disclaimer, I understand there's a difference between the 5.1's and the H8 V3's), they should be quite bright. But hey, whatever works for you!

[Zasquatch]

Originally Posted by rollinstone157

I'm shocked you're unhappy with the LUX's (and just to make a disclaimer, I understand there's a difference between the 5.1's and the H8 V3's), they should be quite bright. But hey, whatever works for you!

Wait for the pics The LUX would seem bright if I had been coming from the stock bulbs. Since I was comparing them to the already bright v2's, they just looked dim in comparison.

[rayguy24]

Thank you OP for posting this!! I've been asking this question for two weeks now. I really wanted to go with LUX 5.1, but ended up compromising with myself based on the cost factor and went with Mtec v3 bulbs. But I kept thinking to myself, I don't want to regret my decision if the LUX 5.1 are brighter, better, etc.

Regardless, can't wait to see comparison pics (day and evening) to reaffirm my decision.

[Zasquatch]

Originally Posted by rayguy24

Regardless, can't wait to see comparison pics (day and evening) to reaffirm my decision.

I don't have THAT much time on my hands haha. I will at least be doing pics in the sun and in the shade/garage. That should get the point accross I think.

[rayguy24]

Originally Posted by Zasquatch

I don't have THAT much time on my hands haha. I will at least be doing pics in the sun and in the shade/garage. That should get the point accross I think.

Works for me!

[zfyusuf]

just order me a set of some beautiful mtech

[Zasquatch]

pics added.... not a terribly accurate representation, but good enough to get the point across I think.

[Pete Schweaty]

Ordered MTEC's yesterday. Went back and forth between the LUX and MTEC for ever. Glad I went with the MTEC's now. Cant wait to see the pics.

[Cuba]

finally i think this is the comparison people have been waiting for.. I personally have the V2's if you're saying the v3's are 50% brighter i may have to upgrade in the future

[Zasquatch]

Yeah, the v2's fall in between the LuX and the v3's pretty much. The difference between v2's and v3's isn't as extreme but still noticeable esp. in daylight.

[_shim]

Nice, because of cost factor as well, I ordered a set of MTEC v3s for my e90 and they've been great. It's nice to see a comparison like this though, it was needed to be made. Thanks OP!

[remmib]

The MTEC v3 looks great.

[bpsu07]

I compared my Mtec v2 I believe with my friend's LUX..not the 5.1 the one before that, not sure which is it XD. But my Mtec surprisingly was bright as the LUX maybe brighter

[Kalimanjb]

Any pics???

Originally Posted by Zasquatch

Yeah, the v2's fall in between the LuX and the v3's pretty much. The difference between v2's and v3's isn't as extreme but still noticeable esp. in daylight.

[Zasquatch]

Originally Posted by Kalimanjb

Any pics???

Nope. Wasn't gonna put that much time into it. It was hard enough getting somewhat accurate pics of the v3 vs LUX and even those didnt come out that great.

[zfyusuf]

mtech ftw.
you can't bet that price compared to lux. also if lux 5.1 is brighter than the mtech v3, it is probably by a little.

[Zasquatch]

Originally Posted by zfyusuf

mtech ftw.
you can't bet that price compared to lux. also if lux 5.1 is brighter than the mtech v3, it is probably by a little.

: You clearly did not read my review or look at the pictures.... The MTEC v3 is WAY brighter than the LUX 5.1....

[Syndicategt]

Thanks Z, another great post!

I'm debating on wether to upgrade my V2's to V3 or just save the money for a future project.

[jose_sonictuning]

Great comparison.


Thanks for posting up the pictures