[evill1]

When comparing lights it's best to use the same distance when taking pics.

[i dunno]

Originally Posted by Accelerometer

A quick comparison of the EBay LED 20W vs. Halogen ABT "White" Bulbs

Unfortunately my iphone has no shutter control so the images may be a bit confusing. The phone is adjusting off of the light coming from the right headlight. As you can see the halogen solution comes really close to the stock OEM bulbs in terms of light output. The Ebay LEDs are not even close...

OEM Halogen Bulbs Left / Aftermarket Solution Right

what are ABT bulbs?

[1chanc3]

Originally Posted by volusia

just ordered a set! hope they're bright like LCI.

you will never get as bright and as consistant as LCI. LCI is super bright because the rings are made up of individual LEDs, where as these bulbs have to transfer light through a tube at a distance; you will loose brightness in the outter rings because it is further away from the LED bulb source.

Only way to get AEs as bright as LCIs is to do full LED conversion unfortunately, but those can run you a lot....

[Accelerometer]

Originally Posted by 1chanc3

you will never get as bright and as consistant as LCI. LCI is super bright because the rings are made up of individual LEDs, where as these bulbs have to transfer light through a tube at a distance; you will loose brightness in the outter rings because it is further away from the LED bulb source.

Only way to get AEs as bright as LCIs is to do full LED conversion unfortunately, but those can run you a lot....

I am not trying to match the E92 LCI AE output. I am simply trying to find an aftermarket solution that matches the pre-LCI OEM halogen output.

[dwells]

Originally Posted by 1chanc3

you will never get as bright and as consistant as LCI. LCI is super bright because the rings are made up of individual LEDs, where as these bulbs have to transfer light through a tube at a distance; you will loose brightness in the outter rings because it is further away from the LED bulb source.

Nope, not true - BMW is continuing to use the fiber optic inspired light conducting plastic technology (essentially some normal optically conductive plastic with rivets in it to diffuse the light froward rather than just transfer through) that our cars use. However, ring is driven by an individual LED (heavily heatsinked) mounted directly against the terminating point of the plastic ring. This allows all of the light to be focused into the plastic and none is lost bouncing around elsewhere.

Again, it's a single LED for each ring. The photo below shows the LED units in the F10 5 Series, just look over it a second and my above description should make a lot more sense. There are no LEDs giving off direct-view light inside the headlamp (like Audi and others) or angel eye ring, the LED is hidden and the light is viewed indirectly as it passes through the conductive media (the angel eye ring).



The reason why these drop-in mods don't result in LCI equivalent brightness is because of the design of the housing. Originally designed for a standard bulb, rather than an LED which emits all its light from a small point, there's a lot of space in the housing but only itty bitty terminated ends of the light rings. So a lot of the light emitted by the drop-in LED bulb diffuses and winds up bouncing around in the housing, rather than winding up in the conductive medium where we want it.


I'm trying to see if anyone is willing to donate a single or pair of broken or unneeded E92 pre-LCI headlights to me so I can work on retrofitting a very similar approach into them. The result would be headlights with no visible modifications, wires, or after market rings (like OSS and what have you that drop in their own rings and have ugly wires visible) and light output and style similar to BMW's OEM LCI headlights.

It's not rocket science, I just need a set to experiment on since I can't rip apart my daily driver. Chances are I could come up with an affordable solution for people wanting the LCI style and brightness.

tl;dr: LCI headlights use a single LED per ring and conduct light through them. No LEDs are mounted in the ring itself like OSS. It is, in fact, possible to retrofit a similar system in our headlights, it just requires some development. I'm seeking a donor set of unneeded or broke E92 headlights to make this a reality.

[i dunno]

Originally Posted by dwells

tl;dr: LCI headlights use a single LED per ring and conduct light through them. No LEDs are mounted in the ring itself like OSS. It is, in fact, possible to retrofit a similar system in our headlights, it just requires some development. I'm seeking a donor set of unneeded or broke E92 headlights to make this a reality.

i know there are some AEs that suspend the LEDs on arms to make them closer to the optic rings like weisslicht. havent heard much about them but ppl who have them seem to like it. i wonder if adding a lens or something on the bulb would help to diffuse the LED light in the housing.

[rattmobbins]

Anyone have trouble getting in touch with these guys?

I sent them money on Saturday and still haven't received a shipping notice. Sent 2 e-mails asking about it and NO response.

[dwells]

Originally Posted by i dunno

i know there are some AEs that suspend the LEDs on arms to make them closer to the optic rings like weisslicht. havent heard much about them but ppl who have them seem to like it. i wonder if adding a lens or something on the bulb would help to diffuse the LED light in the housing.

I've seen these, and they don't work that well. Good concept, but the don't cut it. That design was pretty much abandoned as well; haven't seen any with anything other than older low-power CREE emitters on them.

[i dunno]

Originally Posted by rattmobbins

Anyone have trouble getting in touch with these guys?

I sent them money on Saturday and still haven't received a shipping notice. Sent 2 e-mails asking about it and NO response.

yea me too. i decided to pick up a set because the guy said the older, easier to install versions were in. haven't received a shipping notice yet, but i'll wait til the end of the week before i start bothering him.

[rattmobbins]

Originally Posted by i dunno

yea me too. i decided to pick up a set because the guy said the older, easier to install versions were in. haven't received a shipping notice yet, but i'll wait til the end of the week before i start bothering him.

Just got my shipping notice. Apparently takes them 5 days after receiving payment to ship sh*t out. Nice.

[i dunno]

Originally Posted by dwells

I've seen these, and they don't work that well. Good concept, but the don't cut it. That design was pretty much abandoned as well; haven't seen any with anything other than older low-power CREE emitters on them.

i remember seeing only 1 led on each arm. i wonder if it would work better if 2 high power leds were put on each arm.

[dman918]

Ordered mine this morning. Can't wait to get them in!

[notnow]

I've bought 3 pairs of different looking 20W cree LED off eBay and they all looked the same with the outer circle extremely dim. Just a warning to all the potential buyers out there, what you see online is totally different from what you will see in person. Most cameras (especially phone cameras) will make even the super dim outer circle look super bright.


Now, I bought a pair of 32W cree LED yesterday and the outer rings are slightly brighter but the inner ring became so bright that it makes the outer ring look just as dim as before. Compared to my friend's LUX V3 H8 bulbs, my inner rings are WAY brighter but the outer rings on the LUX is more evenly distributed so they are more visible in the sun. These 32W Cree LED are much closer to the LUX compared to the 20W Cree in terms of color and brightness compared. These are actually PURE WHITE like the LUX and not WHITE-WITH-HINT-OF-BLUE.


Either way, for E92 owners, what you see on the internet with the "WHITE LED" angel eyes upgrade will be FAR from what you will see in person. You will be disappointed no matter which ones you get. IMO, only way to feel satisfied is to get custom headlights work done. (On e90's, pretty much any LED will light the outer ring up.)


Cost of the bulbs in CAD:
Set #1 (20w cree per bulb, ebay - dark and curved heatsink base) = $55
Set #2 (20w cree per bulb, ebay - brighter metallic color cylinder-shaped heatsink base) = $50
Set #3 (20w cree per bulb, bought locally, looks like set #2 but just larger) = $70

Set #4 (32w cree per bulb, bought locally, mega huge heatsink) = $110
Had a Set #5 that went for like $30 per pair, rated 10w per bulb, that was way too dim, not even worth mentioning about it.

Sold all of them locally, so didn't lose much money. But i am still disappointed in all of these plug and play LED bulbs.

Like I said, even with these 32W Cree LEDs, the outer circle is still really dim especially in the sun.

Even when they are so dim, this is what my camera captures: (The brightness of the outer ring would be maybe ~30% of what you see below)

[dwells]

So which would you say you prefer overall - the 32W or the LUX?

[notnow]

If you're planning to stick with just plug and play LEDs permanently, go for the best which is the LXU which is also the most expensive. I believe MTECs are nearly identical as well, couldn't tell the difference in person besides one being a little more blue. If your budget is less than $250 (LUX price), you can go for the 32W for like $90 on eBay.

If you want bright and defined angel eyes, just save up a bit more and get custom headlights done and you would probably be the only one in your area with custom headlights.

[dman918]

OK, just got them installed. It took me just over an hour, mainly because I kept referencing install threads to see about installation positioning for the bulbs and such.

It was one of those things since it was so difficult for me to get my hands in there and tighten them that I am paranoid if I truly got them in there tight or not. They both seem secure and such when I tugged at them, and the light output is the same on both sides so I think I've got them fine. Also, I take it we just shove the extra piece inside where there's room? Just want to make sure I shouldn't have any concerns over any heat or anything.

I think they look great. They are quite bright to me, and have a slight bluish hue that looks really good, in my opinion. I will have to look more when it is out in the daylight, but so far, I think these were well worth the money.

[N0Chill 335i]

Just got mines in the mail. I originally ordered the $42 set by mistake and had to send those back. Mustafa was great with email replies and kept me updated. Going to install on Sunday. Will post as many before and after, comparison pictures as I can.

[i dunno]

i still havent gotten mine yet

the usps tracking has been stuck at "Electronic Shipping Info Received" since 4/17

[dman918]

Originally Posted by i dunno

i still havent gotten mine yet

the usps tracking has been stuck at "Electronic Shipping Info Received" since 4/17

I'd contact him. Mine shipped out Friday and came in on Monday.

[Anon007]

Originally Posted by DeMerrisK

Just got mines in the mail. I originally ordered the $42 set by mistake and had to send those back. Mustafa was great with email replies and kept me updated. Going to install on Sunday. Will post as many before and after, comparison pictures as I can.

[luv135i]

Originally Posted by i dunno

i still havent gotten mine yet

the usps tracking has been stuck at "Electronic Shipping Info Received" since 4/17

Mine did the same thing. He claimed that USPS "lost them" even though it showed they never moved. Then sent me an email 4 days straight asking if I wanted another set sent or a refund. Even though I answered the email each time he still asked me 4 days straight. Sent me another set a week later. I think they were just out of stock at the time and just generating tracking numbers giving the appearance they were shipping.

[LuxAngelEyes]

I just want o put out a bit of information here to help people. There are so many people out there saying that their lights are 10W, 20W, 32W 40W or even i've seen 64W LED Angel eyes. ALL of these kits are made by 2 or 3 companies in China and what you's notice about them is the ALL use the same LED's, and the Same Power supplies . If everything is the same, then how can 1 be brighter then the other, regarless of the branding they use on them??

All of these power supplies act in the same exact way in that they do not compensate for the dimming that the headlights do, so therefor them also dim the same way the stock angel eyes do. When you turn the headlights on these dim to about 1/3 total brightness. To prove its true look at the angel eyes through your cell phone camera or any other camera.... you will see they are strobing or flashing. That's because they are only on 1/3 of the time. They do this at such a high frequency that you cant see from your eye, but any camera can pick this up

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion that everyone is talking about when comparing all the knock-off brands out there.