[Lotus99]

Hi all, I'm new to tackling this project, so thanks for your help!

I want to replace a few bulbs in the cargo area of my car (3 series as well as my 5 wagon) and am wondering if some of the things I've learned are correct or not.

1 - Is the bulb error only show up for exterior lights if you don't use a CAN BUS compatible bulb, or does the system check interior bulbs too?

The cargo area for example uses these, and I'm wondering if I should get a CAN BUS compliant bulb or save the money and get a regular LED one?

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...oon/1264/2937/
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2 - I think I'm beginning to understand why people go with LED lights, when just replacing bulbs. It's mainly for esthetics to get the whiter light. You get about the same or slightly less lumen output as before it seems for most of the replacement bulbs I've found. But they use 1/4 of the wattage as a regular tungsten bulb.

But my goal's not to use less power. I want more light. I wanted to use an LED bulb that uses about the same power as the regular bulb, but since it's more efficient, I'd get way more light/lumens. But since they don't seem to make such bulbs, it doesn't look like just replacing the bulb with an LED type will do me any good.

Right? For the above bulb I linked for example, it says it's 60 lumens. But the standard bulb (a 10W 6411 bulb) gives off 100 lumens.
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I also want to replace my backup lights (and don't want to pay the huge Lux price). Same thing. I believe they're 921 bulbs / T10 socket, which are 16 or 18 watts from what I've seen. But replacement LED's for that bulb don't seem to come close to the 250 lumens it gives off.

Or are there LED replacement bulbs that give off more light than stock?
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[Lotus99]

Are my questions that boring?

The CAN BUS one I thought is a good one!

[Dark_Knight_335]

Buy the best, buy it complete. Canbus and the shizim shamboozle!

Http://Www.highperformancebulbs.com

Buy the complete set for your car, bam! Done like a bean bun.

[Lotus99]

Thanks for the idea, but hoping for an actual answers to my questions. Your suggestion also doesn't actually add more light, which is what I want to do. Plus, I am trying to understand how the car works.

[beetle6986]

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Thanks for the idea, but hoping for an actual answers to my questions. Your suggestion also doesn't actually add more light, which is what I want to do. Plus, I am trying to understand how the car works.

He did show you an option with brighter lights.
http://www.highperformancebulbs.com/bmwe90hipoin.html

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by beetle6986

He did show you an option with brighter lights.
http://www.highperformancebulbs.com/bmwe90hipoin.html

Wow. Did you read anything beyond the thread title?

I can't figure out why it is so hard to answer my questions... I DON'T want to replace all my interior lights. I've already said that. So why do you guys all just keep telling me to buy the kit???

I have two simple questions!

I asked if the interior bulbs also set off the Bulb Out warning or not. Guess noone knows that by the replies above.

Plus, I specifically said that most LED bulbs just put out the same lumens as stock bulbs, and are just whiter light. I want a lot MORE light, not just whiter light. Which your suggestion actually will not even do that... Notice how highperfbulbs doesn't post up the lumens on their bulbs?

I'm surprised they won't address my questions either.

[ferocity02]

Originally Posted by Lotus99

I asked if the interior bulbs also set off the Bulb Out warning or not. Guess noone knows that by the replies above.

Plus, I specifically said that most LED bulbs just put out the same lumens as stock bulbs, and are just whiter light. I want a lot MORE light, not just whiter light. Which your suggestion actually will not even do that... Notice how highperfbulbs doesn't post up the lumens on their bulbs?

I'm surprised they won't address my questions either.

Not sure about your first question. But for your second, I went with HPB's LED interior kit with factory brightness output and they are brighter than stock, not by much, but definitely brighter. It was like $45 shipped, good luck buying the bulbs individually for less than that. They also have a high brightness option. As you said, the color is a nice clean white which I think is why most people get them, including myself. The color might contribute to them seeming brighter than stock. This kit didn't cause any codes and takes about 30 mins to install all of them.

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by ferocity02

Not sure about your first question.

But for your second, I went with HPB's LED interior kit with factory brightness output and they are brighter than stock, not by much, but definitely brighter. It was like $45 shipped, good luck buying the bulbs individually for less than that. They also have a high brightness option. As you said, the color is a nice clean white which I think is why most people get them, including myself. The color might contribute to them seeming brighter than stock. This kit didn't cause any codes and takes about 30 mins to install all of them.

Thanks for the reply. The first bulb I linked which is a festoon one for the cargo area is only $5. But it puts out LESS lumens than the stock bulb!

Something like this, (you just need to buy the right dimensions that would fit under the cover you'll be using it under), puts out 200 lumens. Double the stock output. I was hoping there might be an LED bulb instead that puts out light like this, which would look a lot cleaner, assuming CANBUS stuff is a non-issue.



And maybe these for backup lights (which aren't included in the kit):

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2x-50...776804507.html
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PS Isn't it Jeff@TopGearSolutions who owns the Highperformance bulbs site also? He's usually so good at answering questions. Surprised he hasn't chimed in here yet...

[ferocity02]

You want brighter, and we just told you that the HPB factory output kit is brighter, and they even make a high output kit. They are direct fit, cheap, complete, bright, white, and error-free. Not sure what else you want here.

Trying to choose bulbs based on lumens probably isn't a good approach since there doesn't appear to be any standard testing method and it seems that manufacturers will inflate their values.

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by ferocity02

You want brighter, and we just told you that the HPB factory output kit is brighter, and they even make a high output kit. They are direct fit, cheap, complete, bright, white, and error-free. Not sure what else you want here.

Trying to choose bulbs based on lumens probably isn't a good approach since there doesn't appear to be any standard testing method and it seems that manufacturers will inflate their values.

Thanks, I didn't realize they sell two versions, a Factory Brightness kit and a High Powered kit. I'll look into that. He sells the bulbs also as a Build Your Own kit, so I can just buy the trunk one.

I might just pull one of the trunk bulbs myself just to see if it sets off a Bulb Out warning or not.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Thanks, I didn't realize they sell two versions, a Factory Brightness kit and a High Powered kit. I'll look into that. He sells the bulbs also as a Build Your Own kit, so I can just buy the trunk one.

I might just pull one of the trunk bulbs myself just to see if it sets off a Bulb Out warning or not.

[Agentphish]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

Buy the best, buy it complete. Canbus and the shizim shamboozle!

Http://Www.highperformancebulbs.com

Buy the complete set for your car, bam! Done like a bean bun.

lol. where are you pulling these things out from today man. "done like a bean bun." hahaha

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by Agentphish

lol. where are you pulling these things out from today man. "done like a bean bun." hahaha

Meds bro...or lack thereof

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Wow. Did you read anything beyond the thread title?

I can't figure out why it is so hard to answer my questions... I DON'T want to replace all my interior lights. I've already said that. So why do you guys all just keep telling me to buy the kit???

I have two simple questions!

I asked if the interior bulbs also set off the Bulb Out warning or not. Guess noone knows that by the replies above.

Plus, I specifically said that most LED bulbs just put out the same lumens as stock bulbs, and are just whiter light. I want a lot MORE light, not just whiter light. Which your suggestion actually will not even do that... Notice how highperfbulbs doesn't post up the lumens on their bulbs?

I'm surprised they won't address my questions either.

I know people are directing you to HPB's site but keep in mind they do have a "build your own kit" on their site.

I'm not allowed to send links as a vendor but it's there if you look where there interior kits are.

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Thanks, I didn't realize they sell two versions, a Factory Brightness kit and a High Powered kit. I'll look into that. He sells the bulbs also as a Build Your Own kit, so I can just buy the trunk one.

I might just pull one of the trunk bulbs myself just to see if it sets off a Bulb Out warning or not.

Nevermind, looks like you found it haha. By the way the build your own kit would be the "max output" version.

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Thanks for the reply. The first bulb I linked which is a festoon one for the cargo area is only $5. But it puts out LESS lumens than the stock bulb!

Something like this, (you just need to buy the right dimensions that would fit under the cover you'll be using it under), puts out 200 lumens. Double the stock output. I was hoping there might be an LED bulb instead that puts out light like this, which would look a lot cleaner, assuming CANBUS stuff is a non-issue.



And maybe these for backup lights (which aren't included in the kit):

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2x-50...776804507.html
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PS Isn't it Jeff@TopGearSolutions who owns the Highperformance bulbs site also? He's usually so good at answering questions. Surprised he hasn't chimed in here yet...

I do not own High Performance Bulbs haha.

[Lotus99]

Thanks Jeff. I saw the cross posting to that site on yours, and thought it was one of yours too.

I'll take a look at all the bulbs I need (for my 3 and 5 series wagon) and let you know.

So, to my first question, are the interior bulbs monitored by Canbus too?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Thanks Jeff. I saw the cross posting to that site on yours, and thought it was one of yours too.

I'll take a look at all the bulbs I need (for my 3 and 5 series wagon) and let you know.

So, to my first question, are the interior bulbs monitored by Canbus too?

A lot of the manufacturers/suppliers we work with give us advertising, it's their way of saying thank you.

RE Canbus: Yes, I'm not sure if all of the interior lights are canbus but I know the dome lights are for sure.

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

RE Canbus: Yes, I'm not sure if all of the interior lights are canbus but I know the dome lights are for sure.

When a light is Canbus monitored, I presume popping it out and driving like that should give the Bulb Out warning, right?

Because I tried that with the cargo bulbs in my wagon as a test, and nothing happened, so I'm thinking they're not Canbus monitored. Would that test make sense?
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PS The guys at the bulb place really need to check their emails. I've emailed them a couple of times about a bulb over two weeks, and gotten nothing back... Which doesn't give you a lot of comfort in terms of shipping speed, dealing with warranty issues, etc....

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Lotus99

When a light is Canbus monitored, I presume popping it out and driving like that should give the Bulb Out warning, right?

Because I tried that with the cargo bulbs in my wagon as a test, and nothing happened, so I'm thinking they're not Canbus monitored. Would that test make sense?
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PS The guys at the bulb place really need to check their emails. I've emailed them a couple of times about a bulb over two weeks, and gotten nothing back... Which doesn't give you a lot of comfort in terms of shipping speed, dealing with warranty issues, etc....

No I'm afraid the interior lights do not throw an error like the exterior bulbs.

If an LED doesn't have enough resistance (canbus) the vehicle will shut down the lights. So for instance if you installed a dome light that wasn't canbus it would initially light up and then shut off after a few seconds.

All the lights that come with the HPB kits are error free and canbus where necessary, so it's really nothing to worry about it.

HPB ships Next business day for items in stock.

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

No I'm afraid the interior lights do not throw an error like the exterior bulbs.

If an LED doesn't have enough resistance (canbus) the vehicle will shut down the lights. So for instance if you installed a dome light that wasn't canbus it would initially light up and then shut off after a few seconds.

All the lights that come with the HPB kits are error free and canbus where necessary, so it's really nothing to worry about it.

HPB ships Next business day for items in stock.

Thanks, in touch with him now.

[Lotus99]

Just got some bulbs from HPB, but man, they're a pain to get a reply from... It's like one in every 4 emails gets replied to, so I have to resend each question 3 times... But the bulbs I got the first round were great quality and super bright.