Okay. I've really been bothered by what I consider a rather dated look of the "Angel Eyes" on my 2009 7 series. :thumbdwn:
I attempted to contact some sponsors to determine whether there was anything compatible with my 09, but no one responded to me. So off I went to find information on the 09. As it turns out, there is little difference in the design of the structure compared to the 08's, and no difference in the bulb, that I could determine.
I found some bulbs on-line from http://www.hid-lights.com for $17.95 + modest shipping. I received them in three days!!! Direct Link: http://www.hid-lights.com/cat/halogen-bulb-gp8500.htm. Please know I have NO AFFILIATION with this firm at all--ZERO--just found them. 8500 Kelvin refers to the color the bulb supposedly throws off, measured in temperature (spectrocity). Really, this is a bunch of crap as the bulbs are just tinted to give this kelvin color. They do a decent job of recreating a HID bulb's output, in my opinion. I noticed the filament is as thick as the OEM's.
This may cause a fire, it may trip codes, it may blow-up, it may electricute me, it may burn me, it may cause damage to my car forcing me to spend a lot of money. I did this because I am foolish and don't suggest you do it, but wish to share the rather cool results. This can be dangerous. :yikes:
Living with the pee yellow lights is just not an option for me. To be honest, they don't look half bad given the color of my car. I believe the results would be even more stunning with a silver car. To think this cost $17.95 is just incredible. :thumbup:
I just looked over the new 650 sedan. Did you see the headlights on that thing? Plus it has the fold down rear seats which I would love, 450 hp, 480 lbs torque. Wonder how it compares in size to the 7. I like the look. I wonder what the hit will be to our older body style car when the new lights come out? Not any different than in the past, I'm sure.
BMWvegas, nice pick up! Looks like we both bought the 7 from Desert BMW!
Txstyle, havn't seen you in CL for a long time!
Anyway, this tread has been a lot of help, I just ordered PIAA H8 from Amazon since I don't care about brightness, just wanna get rid of the doo doo yellow and have white angel eyes with no error code is good enough for me!
BMWvegas, nice pick up! Looks like we both bought the 7 from Desert BMW!
Txstyle, havn't seen you in CL for a long time!
Anyway, this tread has been a lot of help, I just ordered PIAA H8 from Amazon since I don't care about brightness, just wanna get rid of the doo doo yellow and have white angel eyes with no error code is good enough for me!
Thats what I'm thinking. And a reputable brand to boot! Now how easy or hard to install guys? Is there a DIY thread? I need these yellow suckers out asafp!!!
Been using lights from Strahl and have been thrilled. Not running too hot. Occasional fault code every few weeks. Couldn't care less. Love the white halos
Plain and simple - HID's run hot - not true to color LCI and eventually burn and melt your angel eyes so when you put OEM bulbs back in, they will be even more yellow than they were stock. Nuf said.
OMG. You guys are crazy. I look at the post count and it's over 105,000. I put in some cheapos after spending hundreds on so-called high-end bulbs. Mine were some no namers from E-bay that look great; still burning. I know there's some maniacs out there who went all HID for the AE's. Scary. You got bigger dice than I. When I measured the heat it was over 200 degrees F in there, compared to a nominal 87 F.
Keep plugging away. No one is better at solving these things than us.
OMG. You guys are crazy. I look at the post count and it's over 105,000. I put in some cheapos after spending hundreds on so-called high-end bulbs. Mine were some no namers from E-bay that look great; still burning. I know there's some maniacs out there who went all HID for the AE's. Scary. You got bigger dice than I. When I measured the heat it was over 200 degrees F in there, compared to a nominal 87 F.
Keep plugging away. No one is better at solving these things than us.
Ok. I looked under the hood and pulled out the bulbs, there's nothing on them. However, they are a colored blue bulb. I bought them from J87 on ebay (zero affiliation), but I cannot tell you which ones they were, unfortunately. http://stores.ebay.com/Formula-J87. I have had them for over a year now and while they are an improvement over the stock, IMO, they are not anything like HID or the new model.
I am considering another car; an M5 or another 7, or even a MB. Or, maybe do nothing and keep mine. No hurry, no worry.
Guys I wouldn't flame an authorized vendor here on the Fest.
Now, you may not be pleased or confident with his products, but from what I've read and seen, he is an honest and helpful vendor.
#justsayin
BigMarcus ~ EVO 4G LTE
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