Rob530i

Hey guys,

I purchased a set of BMS LED AE's and I'm find them to be not powerful at all especially during the day whether it be sunlight or dusk you can hardly see them on it's kind of embarrassing being looked down at by other BMW drivers.

In my opinion they're so weak it's hard to tell whether they are actually on when I switch the xenon's on they completely get erradicated you can't even tell whether I have LED angel eyes.

When compared to the new models the light intensity is not even close and I'm extremely unhappy.

Can someone recommend me something brighter that they have tested? It may not be 100% as good as the new models but I would at least be happy with 50% better.

I'm not too keen on opening up the lights/lenses and changing the actual angel eye rings to me that's a little too extensive.

Thanks in advance

BlaSTiWi

Is your car pre-LCI?

If yes, for starter as you mentioned it maybe not 100% as good but you'll be happy with 50% better and since we are not talking about cost ... try to upgrade to LCI headlight (that's what I did) since the AE designed much better than the pre-LCI.

At the end of the day even on LCI headlight using LED for AE the light output still not as good as using standard H8 bulb granted the color is better.

But to compare if you want your AE visible during the day LCI headlight will be more visible compare to pre-LCI due to the improved redesigned.

GL!

Rob530i

Yes, it's a pre-LCI E60. I don't think I would be too keen on going that extra step in changing to LCI headlights I think that's a little too extensive in my opinion. Thanks anyway for the suggestion though.

Here is a pic of my current setup: NOT HAPPY WITH THEM AT ALL DURING THE DAY FROM A DISTANCE!

sanjsanj

how close is the actual led, IN the holder, to the fibre optic cable that supplies the light to the halos?

BlaSTiWi

Yeah the culprit is due to the pre-LCI AE was not design to be the DRL (a regular parking light instead) so no matter what still will not be visible (w/ LED the light output will be even less but better color) while on the other hand LCI AE designed to be the DRL so even w/ standard setup it'll be visible from a distance

It was my worry at 1st but during the course of the LCI lights upgrade (I did all myself) but nothin' that extensive everything pretty straight forward and the outcome is nothing to compare.

GL!

Rob530i

Any other recommendations? Thanks for the insightful information BlaSTiWi much appreciated. If you don't me asking, how much did the LCI headlights set you back? I would assume it's not a cheap exercise. Surely there are some bulbs out there that are more than 5 Watt and emit more light from a distance during the day.

Rob530i

Buddy, I'm not too sure what you're asking???

Please explain what you mean!

QuadCam

I think that he is suggesting to check the LED location to the "light pipe" of the angel eye. SInce LEDs are highly directional, an improperly located LED would limit the visible output in the AE. If this is the problem, there likely isn't much you could do other than buy a different bulb that properly locates the led in an orientation to maximize output into the light pipe of the AE.

BlaSTiWi

I got my LCI headlights here in the forum for $500 complete w/ all the bulbs.

You might wanna check the spec again ... when they said 5w LED usually mean 2.5w each side ... there are a lot of them even for LCI and they listed as 20w which basically 10w each and on each side they put 4x2.5w LEDs facing 4 directions. I don't think there are any higher wattage for pre-LCI.

Don't wanna rain on your parade ... as you already know not much you can do since the purpose of the AE design is not gear toward DRL no matter what bulb the AE ring will simply not become visible.

Plus historically as LED give less light output than standard incandescent bulb so in term of visibility it'll be less but it has better whiter color ... I bet the standard bulb will be slightly more visible just not the right color. I'm using standard H8 bulb in my LCI AE not LED to get max light output just using the whiter color standard bulb.

Here's my conversion thread = https://5series.net/forums/e60-parts...dlights-77535/

With LCI AE there's an option to use Xenon HID H8 bulb but it's to bright for me I just hack the power to give extra power for more brightness.

sanjsanj

yup that's right^.

The normal halogen bulbs sit quite far apart from the 'pipe' that carries the light, but it has a reflector which focuses the light on the end of that pipe. The led light output is very highly directional, and if it sits in the normal holder, it ends up being quite far from the light pipe. It needs to see SUPER close the the pipe aka fibre optic cable, for you to get maximum light output from the rings.

So the best solution without replacing the headlights is to get the brightest led's you can, and then sticking them AS CLOSE as you can to the light pipe. You'll need to move the orange holder on the led away from the led, essentially...