Running Toward the Light

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

Thanks, PnG.
Hopefully, we will not have a hardstand at Narita and don't have too long of a layover. Doing a takeoff in a 777 on a shifting runway isn't high on my list of fun adventures.

I have a friend who is flight attendant with Continental and they were on final approach to land in San Fran when the 1989 earthquake hit. All the lights on the runway went out and communications went down with the tower and they had no clue what was going on. They had to pull up with no real guidance until the emergency power kicked on at the tower. And traffic control was down, so they had to circle and visually look for airplanes until they got diverted to another airport. She said it was just a little unsettling.

But that won't happen to you!!

Originally Posted by LarkHouston

I have a friend who is flight attendant with Continental and they were on final approach to land in San Fran when the 1989 earthquake hit. All the lights on the runway went out and communications went down with the tower and they had no clue what was going on. They had to pull up with no real guidance until the emergency power kicked on at the tower. And traffic control was down, so they had to circle and visually look for airplanes until they got diverted to another airport. She said it was just a little unsettling.

But that won't happen to you!!

OK, no need to upset the passenger; I'm sure there's enough trepidation. Looking forward to the DIY!

Originally Posted by LarkHouston

I have a friend who is flight attendant with Continental and they were on final approach to land in San Fran when the 1989 earthquake hit. All the lights on the runway went out and communications went down with the tower and they had no clue what was going on. They had to pull up with no real guidance until the emergency power kicked on at the tower. And traffic control was down, so they had to circle and visually look for airplanes until they got diverted to another airport. She said it was just a little unsettling.

But that won't happen to you!!

Originally Posted by pointandgo

OK, no need to upset the passenger; I'm sure there's enough trepidation. Looking forward to the DIY!

LOL. I've been on a flight into LAX where we had to abort the landing and circle for a 2nd attempt because the pilot in front of us was a rookie and took too much runway. I've got 776K elite qualification miles and platinum status with Continental so this won't be my first rodeo. Baptism by fire was being in the air inbound to NY from Milan on 9/11/2001. You've heard of those plane people that landed in Gander, Newfoundland? I was one of them.

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

LOL. I've been on a flight into LAX where we had to abort the landing and circle for a 2nd attempt because the pilot in front of us was a rookie and took too much runway. I've got 776K elite qualification miles and platinum status with Continental so this won't be my first rodeo. Baptism by fire was being in the air inbound to NY from Milan on 9/11/2001. You've heard of those plane people that landed in Gander, Newfoundland? I was one of them.

Not to derail your thread (I will delete this very soon), I've flown into the remarkable Kansai International Airport (Osaka area) numerous times...a man-made island. The Professor, as a civil engineer should be fascinated by this undertaking. It has sunk 26' since its construction (slower more recently), and the landing fees are $7,500 for a 747...discouraging many airlines. I flew into Narita in the '80s...at that time it was protected by guard towers and riot police in armored vehicles as the airport expansion (eminent domain land capture) had caused riots. Land is so precious in Japan. At least buy a Japanese fan at the souvenir shop.

Originally Posted by pointandgo

Not to derail your thread (I will delete this very soon), I've flown into the remarkable Kansai International Airport (Osaka area) numerous times...a man-made island. The Professor, as a civil engineer should be fascinated by this undertaking. It has sunk 26' since its construction (slower more recently), and the landing fees are $7,500 for a 747...discouraging many airlines. I flew into Narita in the '80s...at that time it was protected by guard towers and riot police in armored vehicles as the airport expansion (eminent domain land capture) had caused riots. Land is so precious in Japan. At least buy a Japanese fan at the souvenir shop.

Derailleur accepted, so don't delete. We flew out of Osaka in 2007 and in and out of Hong Kong a couple of times, the most recent being December 2010. Those reclaimed runways alway boggle my mind. This trip's final destination is Taipei.

Of course, we could move this over to OT and add a layer to the asian intrique.

moved

Originally Posted by pointandgo

Asian intrigue indeed. I could recommend a hotel in Taipei, but they don't specialize in female guests. Definitely an OT topic. (it's not a Gay thing).

Had several suits made in Taipei...real cheap. Got back to Boston and stood at a bus stop too long...the entire left side (sun side) completely bleached out from the sun...vs. the right side. I didn't notice anything until after I was rejected for the job interview. I wondered why they were staring at me. Imagine: left side PINK, right side brown. So humiliating. Mr. Quan never returned my calls.

I had a suit made in Hong Kong this winter. I am a pretty good judge of fabric so I hope mine doesn't meet the same demise.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Kat, if you want to wait a bit, I ordered the ones for my car from that Ebay seller. They shipped today. I'll let you know how they work out if you like. The ones they sell for your car are only $99 and they come with a one year warranty.

Originally Posted by guerilla twang

ttu, i'll be interested in hearing about your experience with them since we have the same model.

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

I will definitely wait and see what you have to report. The more information I can get before pulling the trigger means the less chance for having to do multiple iterations before I get it right.
Thanks!

Kat (and twang), I got the lights about a week ago and I just finished installing them on one side. They look great. I'll try to get a pic up here pretty soon.

I'm really please with the quality of the product.

Now my coronas have the same color as my xenons. It does give the car an up to date look.

I am really looking forward to the pic, Red Raider.

Do they fill the whole corona?

ps: I like what you are doing with the screen names

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

I am really looking forward to the pic, Red Raider.

Do they fill the whole corona?

ps: I like what you are doing with the screen names

Kat, I just tried to take pics with my phone and all it gets is a big blob of white on one side and a big blob of yellow on the other. I'll try again later.

The pics at the end of the .pdf below show what they look like.

They fill the entire corona and are exactly the same color temperature as the xenons.

Now I have LED coronas (at least I will on both sides tomorrow) and LED brake and amber LED rear turn signals. I have Silverstar ambers on the front, so I don't have the egg yoke look.


I figure supporting members deserve to be recognized at all times.


twang, you need to get either these - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/05-08...Q5fAccessories , or these - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...Q5fAccessories

Kat, are you still running toward the light? I have my LEDs on both sides now and they look GREAT!! From pictures you can't always tell just how much better the LEDs will make the coronas look. The change is really striking. I'm uber pleased I did this. The first one was a pain, of course, since I was learning, but the second one was cake.

Have you made a decision?

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Kat, are you still running toward the light? I have my LEDs on both sides now and they look GREAT!! From pictures you can't always tell just how much better the LEDs will make the coronas look. The change is really striking. I'm uber pleased I did this. The first one was a pain, of course, since I was learning, but the second one was cake.

Have you made a decision?

Absolutely. You need to post up some pics.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

twang, you need to get either these - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/05-08...Q5fAccessories , or these - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...Q5fAccessories

It's on the to-do list!

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

Absolutely. You need to post up some pics.

+1, looking forward to seeing the difference.

pics

Red Raider, your angel eyes look great. Refresh me on what exactly you bought?

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

Red Raider, your angel eyes look great. Refresh me on what exactly you bought?

Thanks, Kat. I'm so impressed with how much more up to date it makes the car look.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Kat, have you looked at these? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/08-09...Q5fAccessories .

I think I'm going to buy a set of these from the same seller - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

These. The first link is to a set that would fit your car.

I put LEDS angel eyes in my car 2 weeks ago. While I love the look, they seem to wash out in the daytime defeating the whole point of DRLs

[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

Originally Posted by ukboi

I put LEDS angel eyes in my car 2 weeks ago. While I love the look, they seem to wash out in the daytime defeating the whole point of DRLs

[ATTACH]Attachment 275106[/ATTACH]

What brand did you go with?

I have the GP thunders, will have them and the BMW-P Grilles installed next month during services.

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

What brand did you go with?

I went with Weiss Licht. I like them, but they dont have the same brightness of the OEM LEDs in the LCi E92/3 in the daylight.

Originally Posted by ukboi

I went with Weiss Licht. I like them, but they dont have the same brightness of the OEM LEDs in the LCi E92/3 in the daylight.

Attachment 275131

Good to know. Thanks - I appreciate the realtime data point.

Originally Posted by ukboi

I put LEDS angel eyes in my car 2 weeks ago. While I love the look, they seem to wash out in the daytime defeating the whole point of DRLs

[ATTACH]Attachment 275106[/ATTACH]

Mine are the same. I didn't especially go in with the expectation of using my coronas as DRLs, but it would have been nice. But, the newer coronas are specifically designed for this purpose, where as ours were just designed to be just for looks. At least they do look better now.

So do these aftermarket ones change brightness when going from DRL to full light on? I wonder if that is bulb specific. I know on my OEMs they are MUCH brighter when used just as DRL and dim when I turn the xenons on.

I still like the yellowish hue with the black paint. The OEM LED ones are striking though, to steal tturaiders earlier comment. If a OEM version could cheaply be installed on mine I would consider it, but my guess is I will stick with these until they burn out and then decide at that point whether to go OEM or aftermarket.

Originally Posted by cwinter

So do these aftermarket ones change brightness when going from DRL to full light on? I wonder if that is bulb specific. I know on my OEMs they are MUCH brighter when used just as DRL and dim when I turn the xenons on.

I still like the yellowish hue with the black paint. The OEM LED ones are striking though, to steal tturaiders earlier comment. If a OEM version could cheaply be installed on mine I would consider it, but my guess is I will stick with these until they burn out and then decide at that point whether to go OEM or aftermarket.

On my old E90 3er my coronas are always the same level of brightness. I'm going to replace my inner lights/DRLs, but I'm going to have to take the front wheels off to do it and, dang it!!!, our cars don't come with lug wrenches!

Originally Posted by tturedraider

On my old E90 3er my coronas are always the same level of brightness. I'm going to replace my inner lights/DRLs, but I'm going to have to take the front wheels off to do it and, dang it!!!, our cars don't come with lug wrenches!

I can let you borrow the wrench that came with my spare tire kit, if you'd like.

On second thought, that'll likely be the day I get my first flat.

Otherwise it should just be a regular size mm size, I would presume.