2008 Halo light change.

Originally Posted by spencerryan

I have a 2008 X3 with factory xenons. Which led's will fit on this model for the halos ???

Same for me and these worked fine.

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/BMW-5-6-7-S...l-eyes-s12.htm

Just a quick disclaimer of what happened to my X3 yesterday.

The 4x4, ABS, and DSC light all came on at once which I thought was signaling a problem with the transfer case. I took it to my local indy shop who is very reputable, and they found a number of error codes and did not find an issue with the transfer case. Other than it needing a little fluid there was no problem found. They believed the codes were due to my connection to the DME wire for the DAEOS harness. Even though this is supposedly the install procedure for other models, it may not work well for the X3.

He suggested that I find a different power source due to the sensitivity of the DME. Just throwing this out there.

Hi,
Just catching up with my halo bulb research..is it straight forward replacement? Any instruction on the packaging?

Thanks.
Dennis

Originally Posted by Bmer 736

Hi,
Just catching up with my halo bulb research..is it straight forward replacement? Any instruction on the packaging?

Thanks.
Dennis

The bulb replacement for the LCI models with the OE angel eyes is not that difficult. It took about 20 minutes and I really took my time.

You are removing the round bulb housing near the center of the lamp. It is about 2 inches in diameter and there are posts on the right and left sides that you use to twist the bulb to an unlock position.

You can reach the driver's side without removing the air duct, but it is a squeeze to get your hand in there. I had a difficult time getting my hand back out after installing the LED bulb. I got a couple cuts getting my hand back out.

On the passenger side you will have to move the window washer fluid tank about 3 inches toward the center of the car. You will need a 10mm wrench or socket to remove the top bolt. Then you lift the front of the tank and slide it toward the engine an inch or two.

There is a cantilever style lock on the BMW wiring harness connector socket. Press it down near the back end, opposite side from the bulb.

I used the MTEC V3 bulbs. They came with a wiring adaptor. If your bulbs come with a wiring adaptor, make sure to test the wires with the car's wiring male connector before you put the wires into the female connector supplied with the wiring adaptor.

Some photos of the installation

Thanks for the detailed explanation and pics.
Appreciate it. New in the forum but so far so good.

Originally Posted by al_macaroni

The bulb replacement for the LCI models with the OE angel eyes is not that difficult. It took about 20 minutes and I really took my time.

You are removing the round bulb housing near the center of the lamp. It is about 2 inches in diameter and there are posts on the right and left sides that you use to twist the bulb to an unlock position.

You can reach the driver's side without removing the air duct, but it is a squeeze to get your hand in there. I had a difficult time getting my hand back out after installing the LED bulb. I got a couple cuts getting my hand back out.

On the passenger side you will have to move the window washer fluid tank about 3 inches toward the center of the car. You will need a 10mm wrench or socket to remove the top bolt. Then you lift the front of the tank and slide it toward the engine an inch or two.

There is a cantilever style lock on the BMW wiring harness connector socket. Press it down near the back end, opposite side from the bulb.

I used the MTEC V3 bulbs. They came with a wiring adaptor. If your bulbs come with a wiring adaptor, make sure to test the wires with the car's wiring male connector before you put the wires into the female connector supplied with the wiring adaptor.

Have you noticed a large enough difference between stock and MTEC bulb? I'm thinking of doing the change myself, but I'm looking for the best angel bulb that will give me closest resemblance to new bmw angel eyes. Seen a few 20w kits available as well

I am very happy with both the color and brightness.

We also have a 2013 5-series with the OEM BMW LED angel eyes and I would say these MTEC V3s are a little less bright, and almost as white as the BMW LED angel eyes.

I'm very picky with my cars and I'm happy with the look of these LEDs. To me they look like very similar to the angles eyes on our 2013.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good picture of before and after, or a picture half way through the process. The sun was in a bad position and I encountered a lot of lens flare.

One very minor thing, almost not worth mentioning, when the OE halogen angels eyes activate, they seem to come on very dim, then they increase in brightness. Like the lights in a theater.
LEDs don't have this capability. They are on or off. So, sometimes when they initially come on, there is a slight flicker for a split second until full power is received by the bulbs. I don't think it happens all the time and probably most people would not notice it.

Originally Posted by al_macaroni

I am very happy with both the color and brightness.

We also have a 2013 5-series with the OEM BMW LED angel eyes and I would say these MTEC V3s are a little less bright, and almost as white as the BMW LED angel eyes.

I'm very picky with my cars and I'm happy with the look of these LEDs. To me they look like very similar to the angles eyes on our 2013.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good picture of before and after, or a picture half way through the process. The sun was in a bad position and I encountered a lot of lens flare.

One very minor thing, almost not worth mentioning, when the OE halogen angels eyes activate, they seem to come on very dim, then they increase in brightness. Like the lights in a theater.
LEDs don't have this capability. They are on or off. So, sometimes when they initially come on, there is a slight flicker for a split second until full power is received by the bulbs. I don't think it happens all the time and probably most people would not notice it.

Appreciate the feedback.

From the majority of reviews I have read, color is never a problem as all brands tend to hit this, but the brightness is a huge discrepancy between brands, and what is truly most important to myself as like I said I want it to be very similar to that of the 13+ models.

What wattage did you go with? the 3w package?

I'm thinking 10w or higher would be prefered, but I also want reliablity and the higher watt package I'm not seeing many reviews and as you I'm sure have found out, not many X3 packages out there especially for an '09 like myself

I have the MTEC V3, 12W kit. They are 6 watts per bulb x 2 bulbs = 12 watts. It is the brightest kit available for the e83 from MTEC.

To me, these bulbs are a close match to the look of the BMW LED angel eyes on our 2013. They compliment the xenon lights well. The DRL function of the 2013's angel eyes is brighter than the V3s. But, when you compare both cars with their xenon headlights on with the LED angel eyes - they compare well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120966358893...84.m1438.l2649

http://www.mteclightingusa.com/category_s/1849.htm

Other vendors might have higher wattage bulbs.

Good luck

I appreciate the feedback. I've heard nothing but good things about MTEC and you seem very particular (anal) like myself about your cars so I like your judgement regarding choices in parts. I have found a Euro vendor who offers 20w kit that Ive read good reviews, so I may try both. Thanks

Definitely give those 20 watt bulbs a try and please report back on how they work out.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by jbrooksga

Just a quick disclaimer of what happened to my X3 yesterday.

The 4x4, ABS, and DSC light all came on at once which I thought was signaling a problem with the transfer case. I took it to my local indy shop who is very reputable, and they found a number of error codes and did not find an issue with the transfer case. Other than it needing a little fluid there was no problem found. They believed the codes were due to my connection to the DME wire for the DAEOS harness. Even though this is supposedly the install procedure for other models, it may not work well for the X3.

He suggested that I find a different power source due to the sensitivity of the DME. Just throwing this out there.

My indy said don't power this with the red/white wire, so I connected it using one of those *add-a-fuse* devices to an existing 10A fuse in the box found under the hood.

I'm using the 10w bulbs from ijdmtoy, and generally pleased with them. They could be a tad brighter like the current OEM lights BMW provides in the 2013 models.

Just to update everyone on the strange error codes I saw.

• We cannot use the AUTO light switch. Doing so eventually triggers the trifecta of error indicators mentioned above. No idea why, but I think others have said this who use the DAEOS.
  
• When the main headlights are off, the DAEOS harness draws power for the halos from battery through the connection you make during the install. After driving a while with the headlights off, we will get a TPMS error.
  
• The TMPS error cannot be cleared. However if we switch the main headlights on, the DAEOS allows the headlights to power the halos and guess what...TMPS error goes away immediately.

I cannot determine why the TPMS system goes haywire only when the halos are pulling power from battery/fusebox/etc. Personally I think this error wasn't a problem when I was powering the lights on the red/white wire, but not really sure anymore.

I am using brightest and most powerful 25w (2x12.5w) LEDs on the market:

Original vs. LED:



LED:




However, I am not happy as these LED's are still not bright enought to be used as daytime driving lights.

This is the set I bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=281072557919

Originally Posted by Silwer

I am using brightest and most powerful 25w (2x12.5w) LEDs on the market:



However, I am not happy as these LED's are still not bright enought to be used as daytime driving lights.

This is the set I bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=281072557919

Besides them not being bright enough, are you experiencing any other issues with them? any negative effect on the stock wiring ?

No. I do not have any other issues with them. Installation was easy plug and play. No fault codes.

I went ahead and ordered a 25w kit from overseas a while back. Finally got around to installing them this past weekend before a roadtrip. Review...they are definitely much brighter and visible over the stock halogens, as most would suspect especially at night. Daytime yes they are brighter but as others have mentioned they are still no where near that of the newer model X3's, doesn't even come close or compare. Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase, price, turnout after installation, especially as I upgraded my foglights to HID, its a much better match, and to be honest it looks 100x better in the evening/night then before. I would definitely do it again and recommend others to do the same.

Only regret is I wish they made an even stronger LED, but at same time I'm not sure how wise that would be and if the stock wiring could handle the power increase needed to rival the new look X3's