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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Cosmetic and Lighting Modifications (exterior/interior) > Anybody have GOOD results replacing the 4350k stock bixenon with budget brands 6000k?



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      12-11-2017, 12:46 PM   #1
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Anybody have GOOD results replacing the 4350k stock bixenon with budget brands 6000k?

I feel the 4350k is starting to look dated... but I'm not interested in bulbs for several hundred bucks a side.

Anybody swap Chinese 6000k into their stock bixenon setups and have good results? What brand and how long has it lasted for you?

Thx
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      12-11-2017, 01:59 PM   #2
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Please don't put cheap Chinese bulbs in your car. You can get a good set of osram d1s for less than $200
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      12-11-2017, 02:19 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atwal187 View Post
Please don't put cheap Chinese bulbs in your car. You can get a good set of osram d1s for less than $200
Except i absolutely HATE osram sylvania products lol. I'd rather eat their bulbs than willingly put em in my car.

If you look at some of the shit they actually dare to charge money for (bulbs rated for 65 hours lifetime, yep, Im looking at you).... a frikkin lightbulb should NOT have fine print like a credit contract, and if it still somehow does, then the text should still never dare say anything quite as damning.


Im never giving these fools another penny, much less $200. Yep im that disgusted.

Last edited by Adieu; 12-11-2017 at 02:24 PM..
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      12-11-2017, 02:38 PM   #4
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FWIW, I've been running CBIs in my car for the last four years without any issues. My sister owns a Hyundai Santa Fe and she ordered a set for it which has also been going strong. IMO, Osram bulbs last long enough to justify their price.
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      12-11-2017, 03:35 PM   #5
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Don't use the cheap chinese bulbs , I did it before and it slowly melted my headlight lens in my previous car
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      12-11-2017, 04:53 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 600WHP View Post
Don't use the cheap chinese bulbs , I did it before and it slowly melted my headlight lens in my previous car
The lens, not the bulb? Thats not the bulb's fault but the headlight assembly's, and since this is a pretty common story it sounds likely that you ran a 55w kit in a bad retrofit, low-end aftermarket projector, or straight up in a reflector housing.


There's nothing much the chinese or anyone else can do about a technology's light output vs
heat efficiency, and besides if it were a botched design the part that would melt would be the base of the housing.... if the melting occurred on the lens, which is the lit up end, then it was the headlight lens that wasn't spec'd to seal with output.

Now if the cheapie bulb ITSELF were the charred part, THAT would indicate a defect / design fault
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      12-11-2017, 06:20 PM   #7
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I heard good things for the Morimoto bulbs, so you might wanna look into them. I don’t have any first hand experience with them though. They are quite a bit cheaper than Osram from what I remember.
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      12-11-2017, 06:39 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
The lens, not the bulb? Thats not the bulb's fault but the headlight assembly's, and since this is a pretty common story it sounds likely that you ran a 55w kit in a bad retrofit, low-end aftermarket projector, or straight up in a reflector housing.


There's nothing much the chinese or anyone else can do about a technology's light output vs
heat efficiency, and besides if it were a botched design the part that would melt would be the base of the housing.... if the melting occurred on the lens, which is the lit up end, then it was the headlight lens that wasn't spec'd to seal with output.

Now if the cheapie bulb ITSELF were the charred part, THAT would indicate a defect / design fault

It absolutely can be the bulbs fault. One of the biggest issues with inexpensive HID bulbs, especially those with high color temperatures is their high intensity of UV light output. This high concentration of UV is what can tear up parts of the headlight including the lens and reflector. Companies like Philips and Osram produce a higher grade glass on the bulb itself that filters this UV much better. It's one of the reasons the cheap bulbs are cheap.
A sunburn on the human skin can occur with 500 micro watts/square centimeter of UV. Some cheap HID bulbs have been tested to produce twice that amount of UV light. The OEM bulb suppliers seem to be able to keep their UV outputs in the 200-300 micro watt/CM^2 range even on the higher color temperature bulbs.
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      12-11-2017, 06:41 PM   #9
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Btw I just looked it up, Osram D1S has a quite LOW rating on Amazon.... somewhat worse than dodgy-tier China bulbs, and waaaaay worse than the good ones (which trail 0.1* behind Philips bulbs that cost 5x more)

So uhm...yeah.
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      12-11-2017, 06:47 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by biz77 View Post
It absolutely can be the bulbs fault. One of the biggest issues with inexpensive HID bulbs, especially those with high color temperatures is their high intensity of UV light output. This high concentration of UV is what can tear up parts of the headlight including the lens and reflector. Companies like Philips and Osram produce a higher grade glass on the bulb itself that filters this UV much better. It's one of the reasons the cheap bulbs are cheap.
A sunburn on the human skin can occur with 500 micro watts/square centimeter of UV. Some cheap HID bulbs have been tested to produce twice that amount of UV light. The OEM bulb suppliers seem to be able to keep their UV outputs in the 200-300 micro watt/CM^2 range even on the higher color temperature bulbs.
Big whoop, a headlight lens is supposed to be a bit more resilient than human skin....and as to sunburn? Y'all planning to tan yourselves leisurely sticking your face in front of the housing???


Hate to disappoint, you'd have to lay down for that, else the only thing your E90 LCI headlight will be hitting point blank is the knee and shin area of the pants of a person standing in front of it.


And, on another note, youre not supposed to use reflectors for HIDs period, so if it burns reflectors like you say youve only got yourself to blame
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      12-11-2017, 07:08 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
Big whoop, a headlight lens is supposed to be a bit more resilient than human skin....and as to sunburn? Y'all planning to tan yourselves leisurely sticking your face in front of the housing???


Hate to disappoint, you'd have to lay down for that, else the only thing your E90 LCI headlight will be hitting point blank is the knee and shin area of the pants of a person standing in front of it.


And, on another note, youre not supposed to use reflectors for HIDs period, so if it burns reflectors like you say youve only got yourself to blame
It's not about the sunburn. It's about the comparison and conveying how much UV is produced. This was clearly lost on you.

All HID-based lights use a reflector, weather it be a standard style reflector as used in the 2004-2005 Subaru WRX STi and 1999-2003 Acura TL (both cars came equipped with HID from the factory, but don't have projectors.) or a projector-based system that has guess what behind the projector lens... A REFLECTOR bowl.

Just go buy your cheap HID bulbs since you really don't want anyone's opinion unless it aligns with your own.
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      12-11-2017, 07:27 PM   #12
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Cheap hid's will work just fine but like others have said, they will have adverse effects on the reflector bowl. Over time you will start to notice that the light output is not as bright as when you first put in the bulbs. This is due to the bowl losing it's reflective ability because of the UV light from cheap bulbs.

With cheap hid bulbs you take a gamble with longevity too. They could last a long time or they could go out in 2 weeks.

If you want good 6k bulbs, I suggest going with Morimoto but you seem pretty set on the cheaper alternative so all we can do is give our opinion and experience.
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      12-11-2017, 08:45 PM   #13
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The problem with responses from people who always shop expensive name brands.... is that they really have no way of knowing.


By definition.


Yeah some of the cheapies suck. But some don't. Would be nice to hear from someone who has had one or more GOOD experiences and remembers the brand.....
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      12-11-2017, 09:16 PM   #14
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Morimoto are great bulbs for the money, they are around $70 for a pair
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      12-11-2017, 10:17 PM   #15
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Morimoto are great bulbs for the money, they are around $70 for a pair
....and have a whopping 3.2* rating with amazon

Meanwhile, there's $25 china bulbs with 4.3* ratings.
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      12-12-2017, 07:08 AM   #16
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Quote:
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....and have a whopping 3.2* rating with amazon

Meanwhile, there's $25 china bulbs with 4.3* ratings.
Why are you asking people's opinions if you're so dead set on the Chinese bulbs???? If there's some that have a high rating on Amazon, get them. I've had CBI's in my 135i for over 4 years without a single problem and they have been proven to have the brightest output over everything else tested (with a meter) There's so many Chinese brands, it's impossible to know which are better than the others, but I do know I would never use any of them since it's a bitch to change them in these cars and run the risk of having to constantly change them. I'm using the latest morimoto XB's in my 328i for over 2 years with no issues. Just saying
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      12-12-2017, 07:14 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
....and have a whopping 3.2* rating with amazon

Meanwhile, there's $25 china bulbs with 4.3* ratings.
Are you like addicted to Amazon or something??... You should take those ratings with a grain of salt. I've only read great things about the Osram bulbs but will admit I haven't tried them myself.
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      12-12-2017, 10:49 AM   #18
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By the looks of it you seem like your very interested in the Chinese ones , so go wifh the highest rated ones then .
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      12-12-2017, 01:47 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
Btw I just looked it up, Osram D1S has a quite LOW rating on Amazon.... somewhat worse than dodgy-tier China bulbs, and waaaaay worse than the good ones (which trail 0.1* behind Philips bulbs that cost 5x more)

So uhm...yeah.
That's because there are counterfeit Osram sellers on Amazon, and the reviews get grouped together onto the same posting. If you have justified reason to avoid Osram, fine, but have proper facts to back it up.

Owner of genuine Osram CBIs for 3+ years now, from The Retrofit Source. They are on pretty much every time the car is driven, never skipped a beat, still amazing output. Paid $160-180ish at the time, but check their site for other genuine, quality bulbs. They also sell Sylvania, Morimoto, etc if you're stuck on the wrong research.
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      12-14-2017, 08:56 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
....and have a whopping 3.2* rating with amazon

Meanwhile, there's $25 china bulbs with 4.3* ratings.
Do some REAL research. I presented to you what is probably the best value in HID bulbs on the market. At $70 I'd still consider them budget, a $45 difference on a product that will last for years is trivial. If it's not, then good luck once some real maintenance is due.
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      12-14-2017, 02:45 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
....and have a whopping 3.2* rating with amazon

Meanwhile, there's $25 china bulbs with 4.3* ratings.
Toyota Corollas get better ratings than BMWs do and they are less expensive. Why are you driving a BMW?

You have to take Amazon ratings with a grain of salt. I have purchased many things on Amazon where I was contacted by the seller offering compensation in exchange for a fresh 5-star review. I have also been offered a full refund on products I have left less-than-favorable reviews on in exchange for removing said negative reviews.
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      01-02-2018, 06:41 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
I feel the 4350k is starting to look dated... but I'm not interested in bulbs for several hundred bucks a side.

Anybody swap Chinese 6000k into their stock bixenon setups and have good results? What brand and how long has it lasted for you?

Thx
Low beam-6000k morimoto xb purchased from theretrofitsource.com
Angel eyes-Led GP thunder 6000k
Fogs-amazon budget 8000k hid kit
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