Hi Everyone. I recently made a thread here asking if there were any AE kits that would not cause bulb out warnings. (http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=72421&hl=) JLevi said his ICE kit would not. So I decided to take the $200 plunge and get them. This is how my install went.

I used this tutorial to help me get the bulbs out. http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=59157&hl=

Since the Predator's are essentially just two LEDs attached to a housing unit, they need resistors I believe into tricking the computer in the car to thinking that there is no bulb out. (Halogen bulbs have more resistance then LED's thus causing a bulb out error if you just hook up an LED...or so I thought)

My first question is regarding the placement of said resistor. It is approximately 2 inches in length and about a half an inch in diameter. (little silver tube) From my previous LED installs on e46's I know that these can get EXTREMELY hot and placement of them is critical, because they can and will heat up, melt plastic, and in severe instances light on fire. I was wondering where exactly I was supposed to place the resistor. I have it currently resting in the housing. It can be seen in the pictures below.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5831/img1714n.jpg

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2628/img1715g.jpg

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8554/img1716z.jpg

If someone could chime in and let me know where I should place the resistors it would be greatly appreciated. I know its kinda hard to see in the pics, I apologize.



Next, I have a picture comparing stock vs ICE

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6898/img1717t.jpg



Now just some pics of the ICE

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7207/img1725f.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5518/img1720u.jpg

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/7567/img1721x.jpg


So as you can see in the pictures, the color is ok, but they are no where close to what I was expecting. They certainly do not look like the picture on JLevi's site.

http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/BMW-E60-5-...oduct_info.html


So now comes the moment of truth. I was told that these would NOT cause light out errors...well lets see!

















http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8237/img1719.jpg




GRRR....they actually both show light out. They go away on the HUD after about 30 seconds and I understand that is how the resistors work, but when I go into my idrive settings and go to check vehicle, they come back on...is this normal?

Conclusion:
These cost $200 and my Predator Chromium I bought from them over 5 years ago for my e46 were 50X brighter and matched my 6k lowbeams better. All doing so without throwing a single code.

I made this thread not to bash JLevi as I know they are stand up guys and probably are very limited in mass marketing an AE kit for us e60's, but to just show everyone a better representation of what the actual product looks like and how it acts.

There is always a chance I installed something wrong, so if anybody has any suggestions I would be more than happy to try anything.


Once again if Jlevi has any suggestions please post them up and I'll be more than willing to give it a try!

 

eh I didn't embed the pictures, sorry I wanted to...

 

Hi there,

The resistors on these units are fully insulated so they do not get hot and can be mounted inside the headlight. It's good that you are concerned about them heating up as this can cause issues but this kit is designed to sit inside your headlights without causing melting issues.

As far as brightness, these are a high output LED which is about the best you can get with the limitations of the OEM fiberoptic system. The chromiums for your E46 use CCFLs rather than fiberoptics so they will certainly be brighter. We don't market these as a brighter alternative, for that you need HID. These are designed as a color upgrade over the factory yellowish halogens.

I am not sure why your car is exhibiting bulb out warnings. We have carried the ICE system for over 4 years now and it has been a solid error free upgrade. We can try swapping out the units for you to see if that gets rid of the warnings but it may be a conflict with your car's software/LCM coding that we cannot get around. Again, this is the first I have heard of bulb out errors with these lights so I am surprised to hear about it but we can certainly take care of it with a replacement.

In the future, feel free to give us a call or drop us an email with any issues with products you have ordered. This is an easier and quicker way to get in touch with us so we can fix it for you