Side by side AE light comparison

Ok... so I have a few BMW's... so I decided to do a side by side comparison for the AE lights... my Z4 has the LUX AE lights... my 335i has the OEM AE LED lights and the 7 series has the stock on the right headlight (left if you are sitting in the car) and another companies LED AE light. As you can see, nothing even comes close to the stock OEM LED lights... Looking at them in bright sunlight it is my opinion the the LUX AE lights are not at bright at the stock Amber AE lights. I am going to try a HID option in the 7 this week....

Nothing will be as bright as the the oem led AE. Nice fleet of bmws!

Well I am going to try the HID AE lights.. I hear they are very bright as well...

Thanks for the comments not the fleet :-)... my wife, who also loves BMW's... says it is cheaper than marriage counseling....

What do you mean by HID AE? Which company makes them? Do you know if they have it for my year?? It's a great thing when your significant other also has a passion for cars. Currently in the market for a 6series or z4 for my wife.

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

Well I am going to try the HID AE lights.. I hear they are very bright as well...

Thanks for the comments not the fleet :-)... my wife, who also loves BMW's... says it is cheaper than marriage counseling....

For the HID lights for the 7 series.. you can purchase them here... http://www.alpinemss.com/category_s/5.htm

Another member tried them out and had great success..

The 7 and the Z4 are mine.. I just ordered the ESS tuning... which will bring the Z4 up to 400 hp.... which will be faster than my R8....

She has the X5 and the 335i Convertible...

Jeez! Share some pics of the R8. I love how the R8 looks just not impressed with the performance.

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

For the HID lights for the 7 series.. you can purchase them here... http://www.alpinemss.com/category_s/5.htm

Another member tried them out and had great success..

The 7 and the Z4 are mine.. I just ordered the ESS tuning... which will bring the Z4 up to 400 hp.... which will be faster than my R8....

She has the X5 and the 335i Convertible...

Yea... I was not that impressed with the R8 either... especially for the price. Mine was at the 143k mark... I get better performance .... and a top that moves.. with the Z4 for a little more than 1/2 the price.... And now with the ESS tuning... a friend of mine is getting 0-60 in the mid 3's




Comparing it to my Z4...

All of your cars are beautiful! What made you pick the R8 over a corvette ZR1 or Porsche turbo?

Btw, I checked out the link you sent me for the HID angel eyes. They don't have an application for the 7series. Im going to email them tommorow to see if they have anything for my year

Regarding the Corvette.... ummm... not a red-neck... (not to stereotype or anything... it is like buying a lambo).. plus they are built like junk. Not a fan of Porsche... I don't like the seating position and I am not a fan of the VW Beatle on steroids idea :-).

yes the do make a kit for the F02 7...... you simply have to email them... you can email them at alex@alpinemss.com....

Lol! I'm to tan to be a redneck but just love the power and exterior look of a Z06 or Zr1. I sent them an email already. Hopefully I'll get an answer tommorow. I'll keep you posted. Let me know when you get the tune in your car.

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

Regarding the Corvette.... ummm... not a red-neck... (not to stereotype or anything... it is like buying a lambo).. plus they are built like junk. Not a fan of Porsche... I don't like the seating position and I am not a fan of the VW Beatle on steroids idea :-).

yes the do make a kit for the F02 7...... you simply have to email them... you can email them at alex@alpinemss.com....

I talked with Alex.. and my lights are on their way... I will make a report as soon as I have them installed....

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

Ok... so I have a few BMW's... so I decided to do a side by side comparison for the AE lights... my Z4 has the LUX AE lights... my 335i has the OEM AE LED lights and the 7 series has the stock on the right headlight (left if you are sitting in the car) and another companies LED AE light. As you can see, nothing even comes close to the stock OEM LED lights... Looking at them in bright sunlight it is my opinion the the LUX AE lights are not at bright at the stock Amber AE lights. I am going to try a HID option in the 7 this week....

NWish we had the same license plate laws as you,car's looks much better without the plates

Man, I am envious. Beautiful fleet of BMW's. Anxious to hear how the next set of AE's work in your 7. I'd like to upgrade the ones on my F02 as well.

FalconFlyer,
Lovely rides you got there.
Pardon my ignorance but whats the difference between HID and LED?

LastCombo... I agree with the plates. Actually the Z4 was just shipped down from a NE dealership... and I was having heart palpitations when the truck showed up and I was trying to see if it had a front license plate holder already installed...lol.... Another good thing about Florida, you have 125 different plates to choose from :-)

dfwbiker... I will let you know... I should have them installed by Wednesday of this week...

Hey Samlambo...

Ok the difference is the following, the LED, is a light emitting diode (hence the LED)... basically a computer chip that glows. It has a very long life and a very distinct white light... kinda blue white (when it comes to white... hence why the OEM LED AE's look so nice). They are instant on and instant off, which is why most manufactures are going to LED's for brake lamps and such. There was a study recently which showed that cars with LED brake lights actually get rear ended less often because the brake lamps register with people's minds much faster than normal incandescent. The problem with the LED aftermarket AE lights is that they can only put so many LED's on the bulb stock and therefore we have not seen the brightness of the OEM LED AE lights.

HID lights or High Intensity Discharge lights (hence the HID) are basically bulbs filled with gas then when excited glows (not to be confused with a filament glowing on incandescent light... in the HID bulb, the entire bulb glows). They sometime are filled with xenon gas which is why some people refer to them at xenon HID lights. They are extremely bright and also have a very long life (it is usually the filament which fails on normal incandescent lights). Most higher end cars have HID headlights.... not to be confused with incandescent projector beam headlights. You can tell the difference by the color, incandescent projector beam headlights are yellow and the HID are very white. HID lights require a ballast and more power to run (hence the aftermarket HID AE lights require more wiring and such... where the LED is plug and play) than LED, however both the LED and HID require less power than incandescent to run. In the aviation world, we are all switching over to HID landing lights because they are so bright.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for taking the time to explain that, Falcon.

Now can someone give a definitive list of products that work on the F01/F02 of either the HID or LED variety, and where to buy them?

Well there are a couple of LED options out there, but none that I have been happy with so far (I have tried 3 of them). I am trying this HID kit this week http://www.alpinemss.com/product_p/hidan.htm (they do work on the 7 even though it does not say it does... as another member can attest to). There are some incandescent bulbs out there such as the http://www.ebay.com/itm/PIAA-H8-1823...sories&vxp=mtr which work as well... I was never really happy with those...

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

Hey Samlambo...

Ok the difference is the following, the LED, is a light emitting diode (hence the LED)... basically a computer chip that glows. It has a very long life and a very distinct white light... kinda blue white (when it comes to white... hence why the OEM LED AE's look so nice). They are instant on and instant off, which is why most manufactures are going to LED's for brake lamps and such. There was a study recently which showed that cars with LED brake lights actually get rear ended less often because the brake lamps register with people's minds much faster than normal incandescent. The problem with the LED aftermarket AE lights is that they can only put so many LED's on the bulb stock and therefore we have not seen the brightness of the OEM LED AE lights.

HID lights or High Intensity Discharge lights (hence the HID) are basically bulbs filled with gas then when excited glows (not to be confused with a filament glowing on incandescent light... in the HID bulb, the entire bulb glows). They sometime are filled with xenon gas which is why some people refer to them at xenon HID lights. They are extremely bright and also have a very long life (it is usually the filament which fails on normal incandescent lights). Most higher end cars have HID headlights.... not to be confused with incandescent projector beam headlights. You can tell the difference by the color, incandescent projector beam headlights are yellow and the HID are very white. HID lights require a ballast and more power to run (hence the aftermarket HID AE lights require more wiring and such... where the LED is plug and play) than LED, however both the LED and HID require less power than incandescent to run. In the aviation world, we are all switching over to HID landing lights because they are so bright.

Hope that helps.

Your detailed explanation has been very helpful, really do appreciate it. Finally I know the real difference.
As much as the HID looks way better than stock, I find the inner rings to bright to even see it as a ring. I am confused of what to do. Currently I am using the Philips 5000k bulbs and am waiting for someone to come up with something close to what is offered on the new 5.
As beautiful as this car looks, the HID lights on the inner ring are way to bright, just my opinion.

Well.. I should have some nice side by side comparison shots for everyone by mid-week.... so maybe that will help

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

...and the 7 series has the stock on the right headlight (left if you are sitting in the car) and another companies LED AE light...

Hi FalconFlyer

What brand LED AE Lights are you using on your 7 series? I currently have an aftermarket LED lights for my E70 X5 but get the same effect as your Z4 (with the outer rings faint during the day), but I'm happy with the results you got from your 7 series.

Cheers

The 7 LED lights are from Tuner Domes... I am working with them trying to come up with a 7 Series light that does not code... they do.....

What on earth do you do for a living?

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

The 7 LED lights are from Tuner Domes... I am working with them trying to come up with a 7 Series light that does not code... they do.....

Thanks. I've just checked their website but it seems they don't make the H8 which is what the X5 uses for the Halos.

Cruzmeister... you are correct... actually I am working on testing a set for them. He makes nice LED stuff for the inside of our cars and now is venturing out in the Halo market (which some help from me). I have a set of his bulbs here and will be trying in our X5 tomorrow.... I will keep you posted!

Autoque, interesting question. As my wife says it is cheaper than marriage counseling.... (buying BMW's that is... she loves them as much as I do...)...