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      09-29-2019, 06:21 AM   #1
tasosstav
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BMW E90 LED Headlights conversion

Hello, I have 2011 E90 320d with standard halogen headlight bulbs and standard halogen angel lights. I want to convert these into LED and I was wondering what LED bulbs do I need to buy. I’m very confused as to what type of bulb I need as there are a lot of different characteristics I need to consider. Does it need to be H13? I need one for high and low beams but I’m not sure if that fits my car. What colour looks best and most similar to factory BMW led lights, 6000k? How many watts or lumens? I’m clueless in this sector so any help on which bulbs I need for my car specifically, would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying not to spend a lot of money so affordable choices are welcome. I also don’t want any lights that look blue-ish. If you have done the same LED conversion with your BMW, would love to see pictures and the product details that you chose! Thank you
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      09-29-2019, 02:44 PM   #2
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There are lots of options available for drop-in bulbs. With that said, I would implore you to spend the extra cash to purchase bulbs that are designed to work with halogen reflectors. From what I recall these do exist. If you buy just any bulb, it’ll throw a ton of light up into the faces of other drivers.

Ideally you would do a projector retrofit, or swap in aftermarket projector headlights if on a budget.

I would suggest checking out theretrofitsource.com. They have great customer service, so if you reach out to them and explain you’re looking for swap-in LED bulbs that will work correctly with your existing reflectors/cutoff, they should be able to recommend a product or let you know if it doesn’t exist.

Hopefully someone will have more direct experience with this, though I believe what you’re looking to do is somewhat of an exception. I’ve seen lots of posts about HID retrofits, but these usually involve headlight housing swaps or projector installs.

As for color temp, 5000k should be fine. OE HID’s tend to be around 4200K, which is a bit yellower than I like.

Good luck!
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      10-03-2019, 03:18 PM   #3
tasosstav
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thank you so much! will do
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      10-06-2019, 05:19 AM   #4
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H7 LED
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      10-09-2019, 09:05 AM   #5
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I have halogens in the E90 and E85, but output of the Z4 is really bad!
I used the retro company to get an HID conversion kit a few months ago. Massive difference. My E90 for whatever reason puts out a great amount of light so I never thought about changing it. I added a link of me standing in front of each side of the Z4 attempting to cover the light. With just the HID light blocked, you will see how awful the halogen is.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AnlavCs9oGBdlM90...w5_JQ?e=esAAVL


Last edited by Mantraxalos; 10-09-2019 at 09:14 AM..
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      10-09-2019, 03:53 PM   #6
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www.theretrofitsource.com

Do our eyeballs a favor and stay away from all LED headlight bulbs.
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      10-10-2019, 01:49 PM   #7
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I put "Daywalker" H7 LED's in my E90 LCI for both high and low beams. They're about the same brightness as a standard halogen; no wild five or six figure claim for output lumens. A few things that led to this choice: No fans or braids for cooling, and no need for external "drivers" so the cap to close the back of the headlight remains intact. These have three LED elements in a triangular pattern so the output is uniform around the bulb instead of being radiated out in only two directions, and there's a circular "cap" at the top of the bulb so all output does go out into the reflector and not directly forward.
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      10-10-2019, 06:59 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcorn View Post
www.theretrofitsource.com

Do our eyeballs a favor and stay away from all LED headlight bulbs.
OEM Factory LED lights on most cars are obnoxiously bright. Especially when you're driving an E90 which is relatively low, it seems like the beam cutoff from oncoming traffic seems to be just above my eyeballs. I'm not a fan of this trend. Halogen and even factory HID lights aren't nearly as painful to my eyes.


Quote:
I put "Daywalker" H7 LED's in my E90 LCI for both high and low beams. They're about the same brightness as a standard halogen; no wild five or six figure claim for output lumens. A few things that led to this choice: No fans or braids for cooling, and no need for external "drivers" so the cap to close the back of the headlight remains intact. These have three LED elements in a triangular pattern so the output is uniform around the bulb instead of being radiated out in only two directions, and there's a circular "cap" at the top of the bulb so all output does go out into the reflector and not directly forward.
This sounds interesting. Do you have any photos showing the beam pattern and cutoff? I know LED bulbs aren't supposed to be used in halogen reflectors, but many LED bulbs (such as these) are designed with that in mind and attempt to mimic the halogen bulb's patterns. Does it provide usable light? I like the look of the white light, but a nice beam pattern with usable light is much more important to me.
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      10-14-2019, 10:32 AM   #9
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I purchased the H7 LED bulb, but because the rear space of the lamp holder is too small, the LED lamp holder is larger than the halogen lamp, and can not be installed. If you can't return it, you need to be careful.
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      10-15-2019, 09:34 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowrydr310 View Post
OEM Factory LED lights on most cars are obnoxiously bright. Especially when you're driving an E90 which is relatively low, it seems like the beam cutoff from oncoming traffic seems to be just above my eyeballs. I'm not a fan of this trend. Halogen and even factory HID lights aren't nearly as painful to my eyes.
Not what I meant. This guy is trying to put LED bulbs into a halogen housing, which is probably worse than HIDs in halogen housings. I suggested he get actual retrofit housings made for LEDs or HIDs instead.

These thread titles always say "conversion" but all people are doing is replacing the bulb and blinding the hell out of everyone on the road.
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      12-09-2019, 02:57 AM   #11
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I just want to say you here that There are heaps of choices accessible for drop-in bulbs. All things considered, I would beg you to go through the additional money to buy bulbs that are intended to work with halogen reflectors. From what I review these do exist. On the off chance that you purchase only any bulb, it'll hurl a huge amount of light into the essences of different drivers.
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      12-09-2019, 11:49 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcorn View Post
Not what I meant. This guy is trying to put LED bulbs into a halogen housing, which is probably worse than HIDs in halogen housings. I suggested he get actual retrofit housings made for LEDs or HIDs instead.

These thread titles always say "conversion" but all people are doing is replacing the bulb and blinding the hell out of everyone on the road.
I know you were referring to the drop-in bulbs. I was just commenting that even OEM LED headlights which seem to be popping up everywhere (come from the factory on a base model COROLLA!!!) are obnoxiously bright. It might not be an issue when you're driving a high vehicle, but in a car as low as an E90 I get blinded by oncoming traffic all the time.


Quote:
Originally Posted by tonnyguetta View Post
I just want to say you here that There are heaps of choices accessible for drop-in bulbs. All things considered, I would beg you to go through the additional money to buy bulbs that are intended to work with halogen reflectors. From what I review these do exist. On the off chance that you purchase only any bulb, it'll hurl a huge amount of light into the essences of different drivers.
Better yet, avoid any of these LED bulbs regardless of what they're designed for. If you have a halogen housing, stick with halogen bulbs!!! The drop in bulbs *might* not be too bad, but they're never going to be as good as halogen bulbs especially with regard to scatter and beam pattern.

If you want white headlights on your E90, buy an original set of HID/Xenon headlights or do a proper retrofit. I'd argue that even the proper retrofit doesn't include the leveling feature, but it's still infinitely better than HID or LED bulbs in a halogen reflector.
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      01-02-2020, 03:25 AM   #13
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Not what I implied. This person is attempting to put LED bulbs into a halogen lodging, which is presumably more regrettable than HIDs in halogen lodgings. I recommended he get genuine retrofit lodgings made for LEDs or HIDs. These string titles consistently state "change" yet all individuals are doing is supplanting the bulb and blinding the damnation out of everybody out and about.
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      01-02-2020, 07:48 AM   #14
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My short experience with LED drop in replacements for halogens has been:
2009 Maxima with halogen projector housings: dimmer than stock halogens
2009 GMC Sierra with halogen reflector housings: blinds *everyone* including me walking towards the truck. Good thing I never drive this thing, and hopefully I can find the Silverstars I ordered last summer.

To the OP: Recommend you buy some of the better halogens (silverstar series, for example), instead of trying to use LEDs.

Also, using LEDs might cause the car to fail MOT. Probably depends on the garage.
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      01-02-2020, 09:52 AM   #15
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LED's should not be used in reflector low beam housing. Someone mentioned halogen housings but that is incorrect. LED's are brighter and not exact filament as halogen and the reflector housing throw its beam towards oncoming drivers. This with the brighter light/less controlled is not a good combo.

However LED's do a great job in projector housings, which also can house halogens. This will take advantage of bright light but will have a top cut of not to blind oncoming traffic.

I use F7 LED's lights in my lows (projector) and highs (reflector) for two years now and have never had anyone flash me but have a very distinctive cut off the is properly aimed. The high beams in the reflector can see into peoples souls though. And is bright but lot of wasted light going everywhere.
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      02-07-2023, 01:30 PM   #16
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Quick question. Looks like there are a bunchbof LED bulbs on amazon that claim that they havr great patterns and are not blinding. I have 2008 328xi E91. Does anyone get errors ehrn replacing halogen bulbs with LED bulbs due to them not drawing enough power and car thinking they are not there. I have heard some need a decoder?
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      02-07-2023, 03:45 PM   #17
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Yes, you get errors.

I was meddling with High beam H7 Leds for quite some time.

I found ones that actually consume ~50W and are upgrade over halogen due to the sheer amount of lumens (they have expected lifespan of about ~200 hours of usage and then they just burn up).

Only these did not throw error, previous three products i tried were garbage in terms of output + threw error. They can promise you anything but better check the reviews of actual output.
The F5 leds did not throw error but then there was another problem, car does periodic checks of bulbs and every time it would momentarily flash my high beams.

This meant high beam check had to be coded out and this way it doesn't really matter what you put there.

Only those leds have good pattern that try to mimic halogen wire position. Better design ones have tiny leds on both sides. I'm getting pretty similar focus as with halogen.
It's not a concentrated dot like with halogen but instead it's like a light cannon. The output is definitely worth it. Basically same as Osram CBI D1S. I had to adjust the offset slightly between the high beam and low beam. Meaning adding some washers to projector bottom holder.

Pretty similar to ledbar users but there is more usable light (less foreground light) and no external lights.

Last edited by Captain Buumer; 02-07-2023 at 03:50 PM..
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      03-01-2023, 03:48 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Buumer View Post
Yes, you get errors.

I was meddling with High beam H7 Leds for quite some time.

I found ones that actually consume ~50W and are upgrade over halogen due to the sheer amount of lumens (they have expected lifespan of about ~200 hours of usage and then they just burn up).

Only these did not throw error, previous three products i tried were garbage in terms of output + threw error. They can promise you anything but better check the reviews of actual output.
The F5 leds did not throw error but then there was another problem, car does periodic checks of bulbs and every time it would momentarily flash my high beams.

This meant high beam check had to be coded out and this way it doesn't really matter what you put there.

Only those leds have good pattern that try to mimic halogen wire position. Better design ones have tiny leds on both sides. I'm getting pretty similar focus as with halogen.
It's not a concentrated dot like with halogen but instead it's like a light cannon. The output is definitely worth it. Basically same as Osram CBI D1S. I had to adjust the offset slightly between the high beam and low beam. Meaning adding some washers to projector bottom holder.

Pretty similar to ledbar users but there is more usable light (less foreground light) and no external lights.
Thanks for al the info. Fyi I used ones on amazon they threw errors but I used carly to code the car to stop voltage monitoring of low beams (the ones I changed) that seemed to work
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      03-01-2023, 04:35 PM   #19
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I've had good results retrofitting Philips Ultinon H7 into another vehicle with reflector housings. Incredible output while maintaining a decent cut off with acceptable glare. And let's be real, these are nothing compared to the blinding lights on modern SUVs and pick ups.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/produc...al-led-h7-twin

Bulb Facts also has more info: https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/chart/
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