Anyone here buy those solaris bulbs from bimmian?
04-06-2005, 01:58 PM
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I'm just curious to know if you lose any brightness by using these bulbs. I want to buy the clear bulbs that light up yellow. I did this on my wifes X5 and my old E39 and lost alot of brightness. They weren't solaris back then so I'm curious if these are any better. Thanks.
04-06-2005, 06:21 PM
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My Ride: 530iA Silver Grey , black interior. Premium Package, Navigation System, Head-up Display, Radio Satellite, Adaptive Xenon Headlights. AC Schnitzer Front Lip, H&R springs, Rear red reflector, All season Floor mat,
Are you refering to the interior bulbs? Yes they are not as bright as the OEM bulbs.. 
04-07-2005, 10:40 AM
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My Ride: '05 545i, silver gray, black leather with anthracite maple wood, sport package, premium sound, navigation, cold weather package, electric rear sunshade, folding rear seat, satellite radio prep, PIAA 4150K fogs, red rear reflectors, hardwired Valentine One
I installed them a while back:
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=7226
I've used the Philips Silver Vision bulbs on my Carreras, but the front turn signal bulbs on US E60s are 3457AK wedge type, and the Philips Silver Vision bulbs only come in PY21W (which is the rear bulb size), so I went with the Solaris from Bimmian. When I installed them, one of the rear bulbs was defective, so I installed a Philips Silver Vision bulb I had and it was noticeably brighter than the working Solaris, so I now have Philips in the rears, and Solaris in the fronts and sides.
When you look at the Philips bulb outside the housing (it's the second one from the right in the pic in my thread above), it has a slight yellow hue compared to the Solaris, and I suspect the Solaris has a thicker silver coating which causes it to blink less brightly. The Bimmian site implies that the "competitors" bulbs show a yellow shadow in bright sunlight, but I've never noticed it with the Philips bulbs.
If Philips made the front wedge type bulbs I'd install them, but I don't think they do. Anybody found a better alternative for the front wedge type bulbs?
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=7226
I've used the Philips Silver Vision bulbs on my Carreras, but the front turn signal bulbs on US E60s are 3457AK wedge type, and the Philips Silver Vision bulbs only come in PY21W (which is the rear bulb size), so I went with the Solaris from Bimmian. When I installed them, one of the rear bulbs was defective, so I installed a Philips Silver Vision bulb I had and it was noticeably brighter than the working Solaris, so I now have Philips in the rears, and Solaris in the fronts and sides.
When you look at the Philips bulb outside the housing (it's the second one from the right in the pic in my thread above), it has a slight yellow hue compared to the Solaris, and I suspect the Solaris has a thicker silver coating which causes it to blink less brightly. The Bimmian site implies that the "competitors" bulbs show a yellow shadow in bright sunlight, but I've never noticed it with the Philips bulbs.
If Philips made the front wedge type bulbs I'd install them, but I don't think they do. Anybody found a better alternative for the front wedge type bulbs?
04-07-2005, 06:26 PM
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My Ride: Now Driving a Freakin' Prius!
Was...
2004 545i | SMG | White/Black | Sport | NAV | Logic 7 | PDC | Fold-down Seats | Adaptive Headlights | Cold Weather Pkg | Clear-again Bra | Mud Flaps | Bluetooth | Coat Hangar | Aux Input | All Weather Mats | 18"X8.5" BBS RK w/ Michelin Pilot Alpin's (winter) | New steering rack @ 1.2K & 17K miles| Software V.19.1 | B&B Exhaust (vrrrroooooommm!) <---Click.
I threw in the Solaris bulbs all around this week. They all appear to work fine. They may be a little dimmer in sunlight but they are just fine at night. I still see some yellow reflection even after they are in. If I had to do it again I'd probably save the $ and take the wife out to dinner. 
04-09-2005, 08:37 PM
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My Ride: Now Driving a Freakin' Prius!
Was...
2004 545i | SMG | White/Black | Sport | NAV | Logic 7 | PDC | Fold-down Seats | Adaptive Headlights | Cold Weather Pkg | Clear-again Bra | Mud Flaps | Bluetooth | Coat Hangar | Aux Input | All Weather Mats | 18"X8.5" BBS RK w/ Michelin Pilot Alpin's (winter) | New steering rack @ 1.2K & 17K miles| Software V.19.1 | B&B Exhaust (vrrrroooooommm!) <---Click.
Update to my previous post...
Now I definitely wouldn't do it.
I had to replace both front turn signals today.
Both were broken near the base.
Both seemed to go at the same time.
Nothing unusual (no, I didn't hit any more rocks).
I'm guessing it was just heat and/or poor design.
Has this happened to anyone else or am I just (un)lucky?
Now I definitely wouldn't do it.
I had to replace both front turn signals today.
Both were broken near the base.
Both seemed to go at the same time.
Nothing unusual (no, I didn't hit any more rocks).
I'm guessing it was just heat and/or poor design.
Has this happened to anyone else or am I just (un)lucky?
04-10-2005, 08:46 PM
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My Ride: Now Driving a Freakin' Prius!
Was...
2004 545i | SMG | White/Black | Sport | NAV | Logic 7 | PDC | Fold-down Seats | Adaptive Headlights | Cold Weather Pkg | Clear-again Bra | Mud Flaps | Bluetooth | Coat Hangar | Aux Input | All Weather Mats | 18"X8.5" BBS RK w/ Michelin Pilot Alpin's (winter) | New steering rack @ 1.2K & 17K miles| Software V.19.1 | B&B Exhaust (vrrrroooooommm!) <---Click.
Bump!
Anyone else have this happen?
Anyone else have this happen?
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