Do you guys think I should try these. I wanted something in the middle of the wattage range. Not too low and also not 40W.

2X 20W CREE LED Angel Eye Halo Ring Light White for BMW E39 E53 x5 E60 E61 E63 | eBay

 

those will work but any cheap lighting options from ebay is always questionable....how long will they last?

 

Heat from the lights will be your enemy. If the new lights are adding more heat I would avoid them. I have no idea how this could be measured but from what I was recently told, the setting for the stock AE's in the car is 5 or 6 and you can increase the light intensity by setting it to 1. This however also increases the heat. In my case I am convinced it damaged my AE's creating several burn or hot spots that has now disrupted the light path. There was no problem until six months after I changed this setting. Shortly after the burn spots were noticed the inner turn light separated and fell down in the front light assy. I ended up having to cut open the light housing and repair the assy with epoxy. I thinking just the bulb change shouldn't be an issue, but you might want to see if there is a way to determine how much hotter these bulbs are.