[Bruce li]

Ok so I messed up guys I was in a rush and didn't get pics. I bought the nokya cosmic 5k bulbs from HPB and nothing against them but the bulbs were no better than what I originally had. I had the Phillips blue vision ultra's and the color was identical! The problem I had was that when I drove around, the nokya's gave off poor light on the road. I'm no bulb expert and don't understand? But anyway I'll be switching back to the Phillips because like I said color was the same but got better light output. So I've come to the conclusion that for halogen headlights there's nothing that will come close to the xenon look hope this helps guys, once again sorry didn't take pics

[Bruce li]

Originally Posted by bluecrab

Seems my casual observation matches measurement. I am a photographer, so I used my light meter to take light measurements (Lux and foot candle) of the bulb output. These readings were taken approximately 3 inches from the bulb itself (not installed in the reflector housing of the car):

Stock H7 Bulb: 41,000 lux (3,800 foot candles)
HIPRO POWER 5900K: 20,000 lux (1,900 foot candles)
MTEC 2X Super White: 29,000 lux (2,700 foot candles)

So, my eyes did not deceive me. Stock bulbs were brighter.

Yeah man seriously if you want a better looking bulb I would go with the Phillips blue vision ultra. You'll get a more appealing color and won't have to sacrifice light output. I bought mine from Powerbulbs.com for around $40

[Bruce li]

Gp thunders aren't much better. So far I've tried those, nokya's, Phillips extreme vision and blue vision ultra. Blue vision are the best I've tried and are 55w. If you go to performance bulbs.com they also have osram which I have not tried yet. Kinda pricey but I think you get higher quality bulbs since they are OEM makers versus the others. Keep up the research hopefully we can find something that will make us halogen guys happy!

[bluecrab]

Got all my bulbs!

I initially used my light meter to take lux (and foot candle) readings of each bulb on the bench, but I'm going to have to come up with a different method. I realized that if my light meter is off by as little as 1/4" (closer/farther) the readings change dramatically. I'll have to test with the bulbs installed in the housing and tape the meter to the lens so it will be in the same exact position for each test.

As for amp draw, I used a heavy-duty 12 VDC power supply (rated for 10A) to supply power to the bulbs. Here's the actual amperage of each bulb:

Stock H7: ???
Sylvania SilverStar H7 OSRAM 64210ST (55W): 3.97 amps
HIPRO Power 5900K (100W): 6.16 amps
MTEC 2X Super White 4350K (55W): 4.21 amps
GP Thunder Xenon Super White 7500K (55W): 4.29 amps

As expected, the 100W HIPRO bulb draws significantly more power than the others, so I am NOT going to use this bulb. Will take the photos and light meter readings soon, it's been cold here so I need to wait for it to warm up a bit before I stand outside in the dark testing bulbs.

[Chefjason]

I have a question....I have a 2011 e90 which is still under warranty if I switch out the angel light with some after market lights does that void my warranty? thanks

[bluecrab]

Ok, it was 45 degrees and cloudy this afternoon, so I got to play with my new bulbs.

First, the photos that I took at a distance comparing stock to the new bulbs didn't really capture the subtle differences between each bulb, so I'm not going to include those. Here are my notes:

Stock bulb is an OSRAM 64210L (Sylvania Long Life Halogen H7). It's rated at 55W and draws 4.12 amps. I measured it with my light meter and its brightness was about 37,000 lux.

I tested the following bulbs against stock:

OSRAM 64210ST (Sylvania SilverStar H7): 3.97 amps
HIPRO Power 5900K (100W): 6.16 amps
MTEC 2X Super White 4350K: 4.21 amps
GP Thunder Xenon Super White 7500K: 4.29 amps

I tested the HIPRO first. It was brighter than the rest (about 50,000 lux) but it was way too blue when viewed off-axis (straight on it was white). And this bulb draws over 6 amps, about 60% more than stock. Not worth the risk in overloading the headlight circuit.

Next was the MTEC. It was slightly dimmer than stock (about 29,000 lux) and had almost no blue when viewed off-axis. Viewed straight on it was nice and white and matched the LUX E90 Angel Eyes perfectly.

Next was the GP Thunder. Same brightness as the MTEC according to my meter. This bulb had a bad case of the blues when viewed off-axis. Nice and white when viewed straight on, but I didn't like the color shift to blue as I walked around the front of the car.

And, finally, the Sylvania SilverStar H7. I didn't measure the light output of this bulb because it looked identical (in color) to the stock bulb. Visually, it looked about the same brightness, but it had the same yellowish hue that the stock bulb had. Not an option since I am trying to match the color of my LUX E90 Angel Eyes (which uses Cree LEDs).

My testing shows that the clear winner is the MTEC 2X Super White 4350K. It was almost as bright as stock and matched the color of the LUX E90 Angel Eyes almost perfectly. And there was no color-shift to blue as I walked around the car.

Photos show STOCK vs MTEC (as viewed off-axis). Top photo is the MTEC, bottom is STOCK. I took the shots at an off-axis angle that (hopefully) shows how the bulbs match the LUX E90 Angel Eyes.

[bluecrab]

Here's a shot of my car with the new MTEC bulbs and LUX E90 angel eyes. The MTEC bulbs are a good match.

[bluecrab]

So now I need to buy another set of MTEC bulbs for my high-beams. And I'll probably do the fog lights with the MTEC equivalent.

Anyone want to buy a set of HIPRO POWER and/or GP Thunder bulbs cheap? They were only used for about 5 minutes and are like-new.

[bluecrab]

Here are some photos that show the color-shift of the GP Thunder and HIPRO Power bulbs. As you can see, as you move off-axis, the light shifts from white to blue. I didn't like this effect at all.

[bluecrab]

And, just for comparison, here are some off-axis shots of the MTEC bulb. As you can see, *much* less blue. And, the blue that's visible is much less pronounced (the camera doesn't do this justice, to the naked eye it's barely noticeable).

[bluecrab]

I just received new MTEC bulbs for my high-beams and fog lights. Will install them tomorrow (Saturday).

I must say, I really love the color of the MTEC Super White 4350K bulbs. I was driving down the highway last night and I noticed a car with Xenon headlights approaching me from behind (turned out to be a Lexus). As the Lexus slowly passed me, our headlight beams merged together on the road in front of our cars. When we were side-by-side, the roadway was lit, from shoulder to shoulder, by one large area of light having the same color... there was no shift in color from my headlights to his... in other words, the entire road looked like it was illuminated by the same light source. That alone tells me that the MTEC 4350K bulbs are the same color as Xenon.

I can't wait to switch over my high-beams and fog lamps!

[BOBKUR]

Originally Posted by bluecrab

I just received new MTEC bulbs for my high-beams and fog lights. Will install them tomorrow (Saturday).

I must say, I really love the color of the MTEC Super White 4350K bulbs. I was driving down the highway last night and I noticed a car with Xenon headlights approaching me from behind (turned out to be a Lexus). As the Lexus slowly passed me, our headlight beams merged together on the road in front of our cars. When we were side-by-side, the roadway was lit, from shoulder to shoulder, by one large area of light having the same color... there was no shift in color from my headlights to his... the entire area looked like it was illuminated by the same light source. That alone tells me that the MTEC's 4350K bulbs are the same color as Xenon.

I can't wait to switch over my high-beams and fog lamps!

Now you need to get rid of the amber bulbs are code them out so only they are on with signals.

[bluecrab]

Originally Posted by BOBKUR

Now you need to get rid of the amber bulbs are code them out so only they are on with signals.

I bought a cable on eBay and downloaded NCSEXPER, but I don't have a Windows XP box to use the software with (and I'm leery of using XP Mode on Windows 7). Plus I'm a little worried that I might screw up the car somehow. But I'd like to code the angel eyes to run as the DRLs too.

[dotzmugello]

I have lci halogen headlights with lux angel eyes and I am trying to find low/high beam bulbs which match with my angel eyes. I am going to buy some mtec super white 4350k h7 bulbs now, thanks to your test.

But what is that thing which hides that h7 bulb? where did you get that cover? I don´t want that when my lights are off blue bulb reflects blue colour all over. Does that cover prevent it?

Right now i have gp thunder 7500k h11 bulbs on my fog lights and they are not as crisp white as my angeleyes but i am pretty satisfied. Is there any difference between mtec 4350k and gp thunder 7500k? should I try mtec if its more crispier white than gp thunder?

[bluecrab]

Originally Posted by dotzmugello

But what is that thing which hides that h7 bulb? where did you get that cover? I don´t want that when my lights are off blue bulb reflects blue colour all over. Does that cover prevent it?

That cap is part of my stock headlight assembly. It's only on the low beam side. I'll take some photos of my headlights after I install the MTEC bulbs in my high beams and fog lights (with the headlights on and off). I have not noticed any blue in the headlight reflector with the lamps off.

[dotzmugello]

I tried to search that cap in realoem.com parts catalog but I couldn´t find it.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...&mospid=51041&
btnr=63_1069&hg=63&fg=05

Is it integral part or can you buy one and install afterwards? Because I have those same headlights without that cap and it would be nice to have those.

[itrocks4u]

Originally Posted by bluecrab

I just received new MTEC bulbs for my high-beams and fog lights. Will install them tomorrow (Saturday).

I must say, I really love the color of the MTEC Super White 4350K bulbs. I was driving down the highway last night and I noticed a car with Xenon headlights approaching me from behind (turned out to be a Lexus). As the Lexus slowly passed me, our headlight beams merged together on the road in front of our cars. When we were side-by-side, the roadway was lit, from shoulder to shoulder, by one large area of light having the same color... there was no shift in color from my headlights to his... in other words, the entire road looked like it was illuminated by the same light source. That alone tells me that the MTEC 4350K bulbs are the same color as Xenon.

I can't wait to switch over my high-beams and fog lamps!

An excellent review! You've convinced me as well. Just a quick question, when the lights are off, can you tell the bulbs has a blue coating on it?

[bluecrab]

Ok, I stand corrected. You *CAN* see the blue bulb reflection with the lights OFF and if you view the headlights at a certain angles.

Let me clarify this a bit more. If you walk around the front of the car and view the headlights at a reasonable distance (5-10 feet), you won't notice the blue. But the farther away you get from the car, the blueness of the bulbs begins to show. Or, if you stand close to the car, then squat to the level of the headlight, you'll see the blueness. I personally don't think it's a big deal, but some of you might not like the effect.

Here are some photos to illustrate my point. Photos start with me standing about 5 feet away from eye level. Each successive photo was taken at a lower height as I eventually squatted down to the same level as the headlight.

[bluecrab]

Here are some shots as seen from eye level walking away from the car.

The last photo was taken pretty far away, I'd guess at least 100 feet.

[bluecrab]

And, here is that last photo (100 feet away) zoomed and cropped.

As you can see, you can see a slight blueness reflecting from the headlights, but in my opinion it's hardly noticeable. As a matter of fact, I didn't even notice this effect until itrocks4u asked about it. So, let me reiterate, walking around the car (I'm 6' tall) viewing the car from eye level, from relatively close distances (5-10 feet), you won't see any blue. But, if you view the headlights straight-on, from a distance, then yes, you're going to see some blue.

[bluecrab]

And, here are some extreme close-ups.

First photo is low beam, second is high beam.

[bluecrab]

Will post more pictures tonight (when it gets dark) showing the headlights on.