daytime running lights

StickMon · 07-15-2014, 10:49 AM

The panic brake lights and front turn signals are H21W, with the offset pins.
Here's a comparison.
The LEDs are slightly less bright than the incandescent H21W, and a lot whiter.
They should be way brighter than the stock halo, but will they fit, and will the side chips line up with the halo insert. Hmmm. May have to get some and see.

chickdr · 07-15-2014, 01:05 PM

What did you use for the reverse light LED's? I tried some and they set off the bulb out indicator.

StickMon · 07-15-2014, 03:43 PM

Used these.
I'm pretty sure back-up lights aren't monitored. Mine aren't.

chickdr · 07-15-2014, 05:09 PM

The ones I used before set off the bulb out warning. I think mine are monitored.

StickMon · 07-16-2014, 12:34 AM

Just bought these to try in the halos.
If I don't like them in the halos, I can always jam them into the hamburgers.

Rats. Just decided to do a light check as long as I was thinking about it and one of my halos is jazzed.
It's really dim and I can see light from the bulb shining through the headlight lens.
Like it fell apart.

Update: Yep. Bulb holder fell out. Must not have been locked in properly after the last time I changed the bulb.
Duh.

chickdr · 07-16-2014, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StickMon

Just bought these to try in the halos.
If I don't like them in the halos, I can always jam them into the hamburgers.

Rats. Just decided to do a light check as long as I was thinking about it and one of my halos is jazzed.
It's really dim and I can see light from the bulb shining through the headlight lens. Like it fell apart.

Those bulbs won't fit the hamburgers- they use 194/168 style. I hope they work in the halos...

StickMon · 07-16-2014, 12:53 PM

Believe me, I can get them to fit.
Bayonet sockets from Pep Boys, and little Dremmel here, a little glue there ...

DaveZ · 07-23-2014, 08:58 AM

The Cree XBD x10 BA9S bulbs arrived from China yesterday, $32 off EBay. Had to file down the center contacts by about 1mm, maybe less, in order to insert them into the socket as you can see on the left bulb:

They are definitely better and more solidly built than the previous set of LED bulbs I went with. They also do appear brighter, but I find the angel eye lenses create a narrow field of view effect. Move ever so slightly off center and the brightness of the halo goes down considerably. It makes it hard to take a picture that accurately reflects the perceived brightness. Anyway, the new bulb is on the left / passenger side, old bulb on right /driver side:

To my eyes the new bulb is definitely brighter, even if it is not well captured by the photo. Full set of photos here http://www.zeleznik-klein.com/z4/fixit/drl/index.html

Arsonism · 07-23-2014, 02:09 PM

I have a set of the bimmian white LED's in my rear brakes. I might take those off and attempt to slap them into the Halos to see what it'll do. I feel it'll have the same affect as Davez though.

Looks awesome with the blue car, not sure how it'll look with the other paints out there.

pungo · 07-23-2014, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skiddish

I have a set of the bimmian white LED's in my rear brakes. I might take those off and attempt to slap them into the Halos to see what it'll do. I feel it'll have the same affect as Davez though.

Looks awesome with the blue car, not sure how it'll look with the other paints out there.

The rear brake lights take a BA9S bulb?

What effect as DaveZ are you taking about? His newest LED looks much brighter and whiter than the previous one.

StickMon · 07-23-2014, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveZ

The Cree XBD x10 BA9S bulbs arrived from China yesterday,

Mine just arrived today. Will probably try them this weekend.
One thing I want to play with is the insertion depth.
I'm not sure how wide the inside of the plastic ring is.
There may be an optimum depth to get the side LED chips centered on the ring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pungo

The rear brake lights take a BA9S bulb?

No, they're BA15S, but where there's a will there's a way.
There's a thread on it around here someplace.

Arsonism · 07-24-2014, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pungo

The rear brake lights take a BA9S bulb?

What effect as DaveZ are you taking about? His newest LED looks much brighter and whiter than the previous one.

They are much brighter but he was stating that the viewing angle was poor for the overall brightness.

I will hopefully have a "broken" headlight here soon to play with.

One thing I want to experiment with is demon eyes... even if I could only have the center and not the halo, I think that would almost be an improvement.

StickMon · 07-26-2014, 07:26 PM

As expected, they're a bit brighter a couple tenths from full insertion.
I wasn't in the frame of mind to try and figure out how to back them up.
I'll save that for another day.

Now all my external lights are LEDs save for the front turn signals.
I need somebody playing with loose headlights to see if they can get a Cree stuck in the turn signals.
I'm afraid to try it blind. They're pretty long and I'm afraid of driving the end of it through the yellow lens.

bignosejim · 07-26-2014, 07:54 PM

Nice webpage Dave. Good job with the lights!

RossBMWZseries · 09-14-2014, 08:49 PM

I've read several threads on other forums that inserting LED's in the halo rings can possibly burn the lens or burn something else, don't recall what exactly. Have any of you guys encountered any other issues besides the light bulb warning on the dash? Mine is already lit up and all my lights work just fine. I'm thinking it lights up because I replaced the halos with an O'Reily bulb that's weather than OEM

StickMon · 09-15-2014, 11:43 PM

LEDs run cooler than incandescents, especially if they're non "error-free".
I measured a stock bulb at 900mA @ 13V so that's 12W.
The LEDs I replaced them with draw 150mA @ 13V so that's 2W.
6 times cooler.

The only burning/melting issues I've heard of were from replacing the stock 10W bulb with a 20W incandescent.

07-15-2014, 10:49 AM	#23
StickMon My other car is on Mars 636 Rep 3,124 Posts Drives: 2006 MR Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lo-Cal iTrader: (1)	The panic brake lights and front turn signals are H21W, with the offset pins. Here's a comparison. The LEDs are slightly less bright than the incandescent H21W, and a lot whiter. They should be way brighter than the stock halo, but will they fit, and will the side chips line up with the halo insert. Hmmm. May have to get some and see. __________________ Warning: May contain traces of nuts.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-15-2014, 01:05 PM	#24
chickdr Lieutenant Colonel 140 Rep 1,989 Posts Drives: 2006 M Roadster Join Date: May 2009 Location: Buford, GA iTrader: (0)	What did you use for the reverse light LED's? I tried some and they set off the bulb out indicator.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-15-2014, 03:43 PM	#25
StickMon My other car is on Mars 636 Rep 3,124 Posts Drives: 2006 MR Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lo-Cal iTrader: (1)	Used these. I'm pretty sure back-up lights aren't monitored. Mine aren't. __________________ Warning: May contain traces of nuts.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-15-2014, 05:09 PM	#26
chickdr Lieutenant Colonel 140 Rep 1,989 Posts Drives: 2006 M Roadster Join Date: May 2009 Location: Buford, GA iTrader: (0)	The ones I used before set off the bulb out warning. I think mine are monitored.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-16-2014, 12:34 AM	#27
StickMon My other car is on Mars 636 Rep 3,124 Posts Drives: 2006 MR Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lo-Cal iTrader: (1)	Just bought these to try in the halos. If I don't like them in the halos, I can always jam them into the hamburgers. Rats. Just decided to do a light check as long as I was thinking about it and one of my halos is jazzed. It's really dim and I can see light from the bulb shining through the headlight lens. Like it fell apart. Update: Yep. Bulb holder fell out. Must not have been locked in properly after the last time I changed the bulb. Duh. __________________ Warning: May contain traces of nuts. Last edited by StickMon; 07-16-2014 at 11:02 PM..
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-16-2014, 12:53 PM	#29
StickMon My other car is on Mars 636 Rep 3,124 Posts Drives: 2006 MR Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lo-Cal iTrader: (1)	Believe me, I can get them to fit. Bayonet sockets from Pep Boys, and little Dremmel here, a little glue there ... __________________ Warning: May contain traces of nuts.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-23-2014, 08:58 AM	#30
DaveZ Private 9 Rep 56 Posts Drives: 2017 M2 Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: CT, USA iTrader: (0)	The Cree XBD x10 BA9S bulbs arrived from China yesterday, $32 off EBay. Had to file down the center contacts by about 1mm, maybe less, in order to insert them into the socket as you can see on the left bulb: They are definitely better and more solidly built than the previous set of LED bulbs I went with. They also do appear brighter, but I find the angel eye lenses create a narrow field of view effect. Move ever so slightly off center and the brightness of the halo goes down considerably. It makes it hard to take a picture that accurately reflects the perceived brightness. Anyway, the new bulb is on the left / passenger side, old bulb on right /driver side: To my eyes the new bulb is definitely brighter, even if it is not well captured by the photo. Full set of photos here http://www.zeleznik-klein.com/z4/fixit/drl/index.html __________________ DaveZ - http://www.zeleznik-klein.com/m2 2017 M2, Mineral Grey, DCT
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07-23-2014, 02:09 PM	#31
Arsonism Captain 158 Rep 747 Posts Drives: '08 M Coupe Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Austin, TX iTrader: (3)	I have a set of the bimmian white LED's in my rear brakes. I might take those off and attempt to slap them into the Halos to see what it'll do. I feel it'll have the same affect as Davez though. Looks awesome with the blue car, not sure how it'll look with the other paints out there.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-26-2014, 07:26 PM	#35
StickMon My other car is on Mars 636 Rep 3,124 Posts Drives: 2006 MR Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lo-Cal iTrader: (1)	As expected, they're a bit brighter a couple tenths from full insertion. I wasn't in the frame of mind to try and figure out how to back them up. I'll save that for another day. Now all my external lights are LEDs save for the front turn signals. I need somebody playing with loose headlights to see if they can get a Cree stuck in the turn signals. I'm afraid to try it blind. They're pretty long and I'm afraid of driving the end of it through the yellow lens. __________________ Warning: May contain traces of nuts.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-26-2014, 07:54 PM	#36
bignosejim Lieutenant 40 Rep 400 Posts Drives: 2007 IB M Coupe Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: DFW iTrader: (0)	Nice webpage Dave. Good job with the lights! __________________ /// Vibra-Technics motor mounts /// Autosolutions SSK /// RE Tranny mounts /// Aero Turbine Exhaust /// Beisan Vanos upgrades /// SDW rtabs /// Fortune Auto 500
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09-14-2014, 08:49 PM	#37
RossBMWZseries Major 224 Rep 1,130 Posts Drives: '11 E92 328i LCI & '06 Z4MR Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: San Juan TX iTrader: (1) Garage List 2006 BMW Z4M Roadster [7.00]	I've read several threads on other forums that inserting LED's in the halo rings can possibly burn the lens or burn something else, don't recall what exactly. Have any of you guys encountered any other issues besides the light bulb warning on the dash? Mine is already lit up and all my lights work just fine. I'm thinking it lights up because I replaced the halos with an O'Reily bulb that's weather than OEM
	Appreciate 0 Quote

09-15-2014, 11:43 PM	#38
StickMon My other car is on Mars 636 Rep 3,124 Posts Drives: 2006 MR Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lo-Cal iTrader: (1)	LEDs run cooler than incandescents, especially if they're non "error-free". I measured a stock bulb at 900mA @ 13V so that's 12W. The LEDs I replaced them with draw 150mA @ 13V so that's 2W. 6 times cooler. The only burning/melting issues I've heard of were from replacing the stock 10W bulb with a 20W incandescent. __________________ Warning: May contain traces of nuts.
	Appreciate 0 Quote