Headlight bulbs: LED discussion

[goltho]

So. This has all been extremely helpful. Jamiewelch's tip for using BMW Scanner 1.4 was a game-changer. It arrived from Amazon the next day and I got it working with Windows 10 (lots of people say it only works with XP, not true). I disabled the headlights & indicators hot and cold checks which took care of all the flickering LED issues & errors, plus (happily) no red-hot resistors were needed as a result.

I tried a variety of bulbs and have ended up going for the 6000k Philips Ultinon Access on both dips and mains. The dip beams are clearly defined and well within parameters and the mains are breathtaking. I also fitted 6000k LED W5W sidelights which look more like headlights. I really love the setup.

Thanks to Bullnose75 for his 2018 contribution which I came across on the switchback DRLs he fitted. My indicator lenses were horrible and half-full of water so I ordered the switchbacks and a pair of new lenses and wired them in today. Also copied his sensible design of having a relay turn the DRLs off when the sidelights are turned on. Really chuffed with them.

Oh and I had the bonus of a cheap spare pair of H9 LEDs which I replaced the foglight bulbs with seeing as the bumper was off. They're not a lot different to the halogens except they're white and match the rest.

So that's it. The car looks so much better at the front but doesn't look like an old tart. Thanks for all the input.

[suzublu]

Originally Posted by goltho

So. This has all been extremely helpful. Jamiewelch's tip for using BMW Scanner 1.4 was a game-changer. It arrived from Amazon the next day and I got it working with Windows 10 (lots of people say it only works with XP, not true). I disabled the headlights & indicators hot and cold checks which took care of all the flickering LED issues & errors, plus (happily) no red-hot resistors were needed as a result.

I tried a variety of bulbs and have ended up going for the 6000k Philips Ultinon Access on both dips and mains. The dip beams are clearly defined and well within parameters and the mains are breathtaking. I also fitted 6000k LED W5W sidelights which look more like headlights. I really love the setup.

Thanks to Bullnose75 for his 2018 contribution which I came across on the switchback DRLs he fitted. My indicator lenses were horrible and half-full of water so I ordered the switchbacks and a pair of new lenses and wired them in today. Also copied his sensible design of having a relay turn the DRLs off when the sidelights are turned on. Really chuffed with them.

Oh and I had the bonus of a cheap spare pair of H9 LEDs which I replaced the foglight bulbs with seeing as the bumper was off. They're not a lot different to the halogens except they're white and match the rest.

So that's it. The car looks so much better at the front but doesn't look like an old tart. Thanks for all the input.

Good stuff 😎 I went yellow for the fogs

Sent from my SM-A145R using Tapatalk

[goltho]

Originally Posted by suzublu

Good stuff 😎 I went yellow for the fogs

Yellow - no kidding! Thought for a moment you'd moved the switchbacks down there! Thanks for your help too with this mini-project. I'm definitely loving the upgrades.

Dougie.

[polinsteve]

Isn't the legal maximum wattage 65W?

[goltho]

Originally Posted by polinsteve

Isn't the legal maximum wattage 65W?

What wattage are my LEDs?