Howitzer

Sounds stupid right? LED lights or other bulbs can't cause interference with FM signals in your BMW, right? Uh, WRONG...

Simple story:

1) Ordered some 7000K L.E.D. Angel Eye kit seen here:



2) Installed them through my local Motor Werks dealership because I just didn't want to fiddle with any electrical work.

3) Turn the parking lights on, no problems, they look great.



4) Turn your FM radio on and the channels that used to come in clear now come in fuzzed out and horrible reception.

5) Turn the lights off? NO PROBLEMS with the radio. Trun them on, problem happens again.

Its very very disheartening because I spent a good chunk on these lights for shipping and also 30 minutes labor at the dealer on a product I pretty much have to remove and throw away. What a total waste. By the way, this issue did NOT happen with the regular old bulbs that I had in place prior. I "do" have Xenon headlights. I was under the assumption that these replacement lights would cause no problems, I assumed wrong.

Does anyone know if this is a KNOWN ISSUE or can be fixed somehow? Is this why people buy AngeliBright? Because they are ACTUALLY COMPATIBLE WITH ZERO ISSUES? .... HELP!!!

Apparently I'm not the only one that has this issue: http://www.club3g.com/forum/problem-report...dio-static.html

Not that its the end of the world. FM radio sucks nowadays anyways, but its still really annoying.

schulrog

I don't know what they did when they installed the lights, but there should be NO issues period. there's no way that lights cause an interference like that! just to make sure, i went out to my car and tried it and there's nothing wrong and contacted some other guys who have the same exact bulbs in their 5 and 6ers but nothing. nobody has experienced this.

AngeliBrights have the same guts. LED bulb = LED bulb.. there's only so much you can do with them.

so basically when you're in the car and turn on the lights (just the AE's) it starts messing with the signal? then when you turn them off the signal comes in clear again?

Howitzer

http://www.club3g.com/forum/problem-report...dio-static.html

and

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f129/hid-k...rference-30691/

Bulb in, bulb out. Thats all that was done. Plug N Play.

What some are saying is that the HID ballast is putting electrical noise on the 12V line of the car because of the bulb for whatever reason and causing the static. Its just the strangest damn thing.

schulrog

LED bulbs don't have EMI he's having issues bc his aftermarket HID-Kit which is quite different from the LED bulbs. can anyone else think what could be the cause? when the shop installed the lights did they mess with the battery at all? I know shops like to disconnect the battery when they mess with the lights bc they're worried about getting 20000V check the batter terminals (especially ground) and make sure they are on right and clean

Howitzer

No, I was next to the tech when he did it so I could watch what he was doing. He twisted off the cover to expose the inside of the light casing, took curved plyers and removed the light, put in the other, and closed the cap. Done.

He didn't, however, use the harness that was in the box that came with them. He said it was not necessary as it was only for older BMW's and mine worked just fine. I assume that is so because the lights worked without an issue. This harness has nothing to it, either. Its just 2 wires with leads on each side. Nothing in-line like a resistor, capacitor, whatever, that would prevent this problem from happening.

schulrog

you should always use all parts that are included with an item. I don't think there is anything in that wiring but the bulbs shouldn't cause any issues to begin with. Uhh how exactly did he plug it in without the adapter cable that came with it? do you have any pics of this install? or the wires? i'd sure like to see how he managed to plug that in

flyingpuck

Fuzzy Radio??? Who knew! Good Luck with the fix!!

NobleForums

This was a big problem with some of the earlier LED based angel eyes for pre-LCI cars. V1 bulbs from one company (not this specific one posted by the OP) had definite issues that V2 fixed. There were long threads about it on the m5board.

I didn't try, but have you considered using a small snap-on ferrite core?

schulrog

How exactly do LED bulbs cause radio interference? I'd like to know the logic behind that claim especially considering that nobody else seems to have had or have this issue.

can you post some links?

with some cheap HID-Kits it might be possible as there is some extensive electric involved. needless to say that the engine bay is shielded for exact that purpose to shield the radio from the electronics in the engine compartment.

Gene

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry576626

even aib's have/had this issue


http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=34003