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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Cosmetic and Lighting Modifications (exterior/interior) > “The Ultimate” HighPerformanceBulbs.com Review: 20W LED Angel Eyes and MORE!



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      07-20-2012, 10:49 PM   #1
rollinstone157
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“The Ultimate” HighPerformanceBulbs.com Review: 20W LED Angel Eyes and MORE!

Hello all!

I have been a HighPerformanceBulbs.com customer for almost as long as I have owned my BMW. I have kept up PM and email conversations with Jeff@TopGearSolutions (who sells HPB products here) and Fred (the owner of HighPerformanceBulbs), and I recently met Fred for the first time to test out some new products. I cannot praise Fred enough--he really is a great guy who has the community's satisfaction in mind. He pushes his suppliers to create not only brighter LED-products, but also more durable ones. The LED map (which I purchased two sets of) and new no-tape dome lights, for example, use high heat circuit boards to help dissipate the heat more efficiently and safely.

Like my previous "Ultimate" reviews, I am trying to make this as fair and unbiased as I possibly can. Unfortunately, I left the factory H8 and 194 interior bulbs at home when I went to do this test.

Many people, myself included, have written multiple rants on the subjectivity of angel eye photos. Keep the shutter open for a long time, boost the ISO, and BAM, you can make a product look like it has great evenness and brightness in sunlight! I am going to try something different this time--I have taken a series of shots at different exposures, and I am going to try and create a slide-show, so you can see how the products perform under many different exposures! For each set of shots, I set a consistant white balance, all of the shots were taken within 30 seconds (eliminating the ambient light variability as much as possible), and the camera was on a tripod.

So without further ado, let's take a look at the all-new 20-Watt angel eyes from HPB!

PACKAGING: Simple, my pre-production version came in a very basic black box, with no instructions. This may or may not change before they are put up for sale. Some people don't like the lack of instructions, but I have found LUX's installation instructions, available at his website, to always be top-notch. No sense trying to rewrite what has already been done extremely well!

DESIGN/BUILD QUALITY: Simply, fantastic. The units are solidly built, as is the external driver pack and resistor pack. The LEDs are solidly attached, and I simply have no worries about the durability of this product. These are a pure, pure white, while the outgoing 10-watt AE's I had were around 7000K or so. I like the pure-pure white look!

NOTICE: My car (2010 E90 LCI) does not seem to require the resistor pack (the smaller black box), likely due to the decreased tolerances for bulb-out errors on the FRM3. Those of you with early-build E92/93's will likely not be able to run them without the resistor pack. It really is not a huge deal at ALL, just something I thought I should note. I installed a set in my dad's 2010 M6, and it requires the resistor packs.

INSTALLATION: Not bad at all for a guy with medium/medium large hands (I think?), but I've done this a few times already, so your mileage may vary.

COMPARISON SHOTS: Here are a few shots, as well as a short video-slideshow of the product at various exposure levels. I'm going to retake some traditional pictures too, let me know how you feel this video-slideshow comparo works. Was it worth the effort?




20 Watt Left, 10 Watt Right: DARK RING EVENNESS COMPARISON--UNDEREXPOSED, NOT ABOUT BRIGHTNESS! by RobStone, on Flickr


20W Outer Ring Illumination--UNDEREXPOSED, NOT ABOUT BRIGHTNESS! by RobStone, on Flickr


20W's Installed--AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE, AVG. METERING by RobStone, on Flickr


20W's Both Sides by RobStone, on Flickr


20W--SLIGHTLY UNDEREXPOSED by RobStone, on Flickr

CONCLUSION: Honestly, these are a HUGE improvement over the HPB 10W's I previously reviewed. I promise you, HPB has a winner here, in both quality and price, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants great AE's on a budget. Look, my mother (who is DEFINITELY not a car person!) commented on how much brighter, more even, and whiter the new 20W AE's are when compared to the old 10W's.

Here is a link to where they can be purchased: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=721070

Now, on to the redesigned map and dome lights!

Last edited by rollinstone157; 07-04-2014 at 02:46 PM..
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      07-20-2012, 10:49 PM   #2
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The NEW Map Lights

MAP LED DESIGN: Much better than the outgoing version. In the E90, the old map lights would literally point in to a corner., and you’d get almost no light output…let’s be fair, they were pretty limited. In my original interior kit review, I suggested a bulb with an offset plug could do the job perfectly…and HPB deilivered. This bulb has an offset plug, and extremely thick high-heat circuit boards. There is also one more LED than the old lights. (NOTE: My kit was one of the first “current-gen” kits, and as such, my map lights are not as white as the current 4-LED ones are.) These new 5-LED bulbs are just better in every single way.

DOME LED DESIGN: Again, much better than the old tape-required version. Built solid with more high-heat circuit board, this 12-LED unit fits perfectly in the housing. It’s extremely bright, and again, a pure white.

INSTALLATION: Covered in my original review, no more or less difficult.

PICTURES: I won’t have comparison pictures of the new Dome unit, but I will have pictures of the new map unit!


New Dome + Map Lights by RobStone, on Flickr

CONCLUSION: I’m 100% satisfied with the new map bulbs, and I love to see HPB pushing such high quality products, keep it up!

Last edited by rollinstone157; 07-20-2012 at 11:04 PM.. Reason: Formatting & All That Jazz
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      07-20-2012, 11:15 PM   #3
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Those AE's look fantastic!
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      07-21-2012, 02:36 AM   #4
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So stoked! Can't wait for my set to arrive!
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      07-21-2012, 11:17 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E90Company View Post
Those AE's look fantastic!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBrass View Post
So stoked! Can't wait for my set to arrive!
They are fantastic! And for $120 (see the vendor section) you really can't beat them. Nothing even comes close to them really...
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      07-21-2012, 02:53 PM   #6
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I would be VERY cautious from purchasing from highperformancebulbs.com. By far the worse customer service experience to date! I purchased a set of LED turn signals that specifically says it fits "e60 5 series" on their website, and upon receiving them they do not! I emailed them and stated their website has the wrong information posted on their product and simply asked for a return and as a nice gesture asked if they would pay for the return of the item. They replied in a condescending manner and started to give me excuses. Fine, so I returned the item. Initially they agreed to return my item without the 25% restocking fee and upon return they charged me for it! After filing a dispute with paypal, they had the audacity to say they were going to have their attorney pursue a "chargeback fee of $25" Business must be bad.. I would highly suggest anyone thinking of purchasing from them to purchase ELSEWHERE! These guys are crooks!!

Sorry to derail you from your original thread, i don't want another member to have to go through a similar experience.

Last edited by r9ndy; 07-21-2012 at 02:59 PM..
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      07-21-2012, 03:28 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by r9ndy View Post
I would be VERY cautious from purchasing from highperformancebulbs.com. By far the worse customer service experience to date! I purchased a set of LED turn signals that specifically says it fits "e60 5 series" on their website, and upon receiving them they do not! I emailed them and stated their website has the wrong information posted on their product and simply asked for a return and as a nice gesture asked if they would pay for the return of the item. They replied in a condescending manner and started to give me excuses. Fine, so I returned the item. Initially they agreed to return my item without the 25% restocking fee and upon return they charged me for it! After filing a dispute with paypal, they had the audacity to say they were going to have their attorney pursue a "chargeback fee of $25" Business must be bad.. I would highly suggest anyone thinking of purchasing from them to purchase ELSEWHERE! These guys are crooks!!

Sorry to derail you from your original thread, i don't want another member to have to go through a similar experience.
That's very strange...I've never heard of anyone having any sort of Customer Service problems with HPB. I have never had any, the people I have referred have never had any problems. With all due respect, I'd like to hear the other side of the story before accepting what you're saying...because what you're saying vs. what I KNOW about the company don't line up.
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      07-21-2012, 04:34 PM   #8
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I had great purchase experience with HBP. Matter fact they took an extra step to make sure I am happy with the purchase. I placed an order of 12W H8 AE bulbs from HBP a month ago and was waiting them to arrive. A few days later I got an email from HPB stated they encountered a problem with the shipment of 12w bulb from their supplier and they are very sorry. For the inconvenience, they offered to sent a pair of 20w bulb instead at no extra cost. I am very happy with the performance of the new 20w bulb. They are bright for a great price. Thank you HBP.
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      07-21-2012, 04:40 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rollinstone157 View Post
That's very strange...I've never heard of anyone having any sort of Customer Service problems with HPB. I have never had any, the people I have referred have never had any problems. With all due respect, I'd like to hear the other side of the story before accepting what you're saying...because what you're saying vs. what I KNOW about the company don't line up.
Understood. If you would like, PM me for the exchange of emails we had.
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      07-21-2012, 04:52 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by waynesreef View Post
I had great purchase experience with HBP. Matter fact they took an extra step to make sure I am happy with the purchase. I placed an order of 12W H8 AE bulbs from HBP a month ago and was waiting them to arrive. A few days later I got an email from HPB stated they encountered a problem with the shipment of 12w bulb from their supplier and they are very sorry. For the inconvenience, they offered to sent a pair of 20w bulb instead at no extra cost. I am very happy with the performance of the new 20w bulb. They are bright for a great price. Thank you HBP.
nice first post!

Last edited by r9ndy; 07-21-2012 at 05:19 PM..
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      07-21-2012, 09:11 PM   #11
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awesome review and a concidence we did 20w LED angel eyes reviews within days of each other haha. I really like your idea of making a progressive slide show!

and i just want to add to your comment in the OT about minimizing variables in exposure, ISO, shutter etc etc. even the slightest angle in which you capture AEs can change everything. AEs have to be seen in person to judge.

can't argue with these for the money.
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      07-22-2012, 09:48 AM   #12
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awesome review and a concidence we did 20w LED angel eyes reviews within days of each other haha. I really like your idea of making a progressive slide show!

and i just want to add to your comment in the OT about minimizing variables in exposure, ISO, shutter etc etc. even the slightest angle in which you capture AEs can change everything. AEs have to be seen in person to judge.

can't argue with these for the money.
Haha I know, I had the same thoughts when I saw yours.

I'm glad you liked the slideshow, I thought it would help take out some of the subjectivity.

And you're so right, the angle is everything with these.

For the money, these are amazing for sure.
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      07-22-2012, 10:58 AM   #13
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Thanks for the review! Glad you like em!
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      07-22-2012, 06:12 PM   #14
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Here are some pictures I took during the installation. Sorry, the quality of the IPhone picture is not that great. But you will get the idea.



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      07-23-2012, 09:11 AM   #15
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are these the exact same units that mr gaifun purchased from e92-lighting.com and reviewed in another thread?
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      07-23-2012, 12:18 PM   #16
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Quote:
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are these the exact same units that mr gaifun purchased from e92-lighting.com and reviewed in another thread?
Pretty much the same but I think a different manufacturer and found cheaper here.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=721070


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Originally Posted by waynesreef View Post
Here are some pictures I took during the installation. Sorry, the quality of the IPhone picture is not that great. But you will get the idea.




Wow those looks great.
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      07-23-2012, 02:22 PM   #17
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rollinstone157, can you confirm that these also fade in/out like oem lights?

thanks for the excellent review.
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      07-23-2012, 09:53 PM   #18
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rollinstone157, can you confirm that these also fade in/out like oem lights?

thanks for the excellent review.
Yes, these DO fade in and out when I unlock/lock the car. Which is nice to have.
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      07-23-2012, 11:07 PM   #19
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      07-24-2012, 03:33 AM   #20
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Are these up on the HPB website yet? I can't find them anywhere.
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      07-24-2012, 06:46 AM   #21
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Are these up on the HPB website yet? I can't find them anywhere.
Go rough the vendor section of e90post and you'll see them on topgearsolutions!
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      07-24-2012, 11:22 AM   #22
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Quote:
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Are these up on the HPB website yet? I can't find them anywhere.
We have them on sale here :http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=721070

There is also a link in my signature.

They are also available on our homepage.
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