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Nice headlight bulb addition 50,000hrs

2K views 24 replies 5 participants last post by  shameshame1 
#1 ·
Picked up some nice h7 LED bulbs $30 bucks, I'll give these to RR.


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#2 ·
Great. So now you can be one of those people blinding everyone else on the road with your unfocused LED glare that doesn’t make the view from the driver’s seat much better. Around here, it only seems to be the hoopties that use LED bulbs in a headlight designed for a halogen bulb. Don’t be that guy/gal.

A Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulb will provide better outward illumination yet not blind others on the road, because the light element is designed to sit at the proper distance from the base of the light bowl, unlike LED replacements.


Buy socks on Amazon, not car parts.
 
#3 ·
Fortunately, the likelihood of glaring anyone will not happen due to the x3's headlight assembly having the capability of being adjustable, just made the adjustments after the install the other night...I try to think safety before counting out an updated product. More visibility at a wider view over the standards. This would be apparent to most night drivers. Plus more cars are being fitted today with this more powerful aftermarket bulb.[emoji106]
 
#4 ·
Fortunately, the likelihood of glaring anyone will not happen due to the x3's headlight assembly having the capability of being adjustable.
Adjusting the vertical/horizontal aim of the headlight unit cannot compensate for the fact that the beam pattern is altered when the light source is not positioned precisely at the correct point within the reflector/projector assembly.
... More visibility at a wider view over the standards.
...which is pretty much the textbook definition of glare in this context.
This would be apparent to most night drivers.
It's even more apparent to oncoming drivers who must avert their eyes to avoid being dazzled.

Plus more cars are being fitted today with this more powerful aftermarket bulb.
If we digressed to list all the things "more" people do that are nevertheless inconsiderate, thoughtless, or just plain wrong....

Altering main headlights with "upgraded" lamps they were not designed to accommodate is obnoxious at best, dangerous at worst, and overall on par with full-time fog light use in clear weather. Actually, it's far worse, because car manufacturers--either on their own or by realizing that most of their customers have no clue how to use the things correctly--have downgraded most modern OE fog lights to silly fashion accessories that provide little useful illumination on a clear night, let alone in fog.

There's another, immensely obnoxious flaw in cheap-ass LED retrofits such as these, of which I'd bet you're unaware. They flicker like hell. Not everyone perceives it, and it's not immediately obvious in one's central vision. But in peripheral vision--such as when trying to focus on the road ahead while this garbage is reflected in your rearview mirror--the effect ranges from maddening to nauseating.

As duke said, don't be that guy. Return this crap and, if you want improved light output that's both legal and considerate of others, buy a set of Silverstars.
 
#6 ·
You can't make this stuff up!

 
#13 · (Edited)
This question of LED bulb replacement came up recently in the E90 forum, and the concensus was also a resounding no. I won't take credit for bringing up the legality of aftermarket, non-DOT approved bulbs, so I'm quoting @Jim328 here:

I guess it depends on who you ask...
One link
Another link
And another
In the maritime industry, people die if the lights are wrong, and it's no different on the road. Many people hold the narcissistic attitude that lights exist only to help them see better (which LED headlight bulbs don't, as has been proven time and time again), forgetting that their main purpose is to signal to other motorists the vehicle's intentions, direction of motion (or if stationary), if in tow, disabled, and above all, to be seen, all without blinding other motorists. At my facility, headlight use by vehicles around the dock/parking lot is strictly forbidden, even at night, due to blinding approaching ships. Every morning on the way to work, I'll encounter a handful of cars blinding traffic with LEDs, and every one of the vehicles is a clapped-out POS.
 
#15 · (Edited)
A couple years or so back i perused an article (think it was consumer reports) indicating that "over 80%" of cars on the roadway have inefficient, non- effective headlight capabilities.

Just recently, during evening time I asked my neighbor to trail me in WhiteWings, while I drive RescueRed to the gas station (less than 5 mins) to gas [emoji618] up the two cars.
As daylight had fallen on our trip back i was a bit annoyed noticing the headlights were a bit bright in my own rearview mirror from WhiteWings.
Follow evening...I aimed the headlights downward more!

Finally, many many moons ago! I remember in driver's ED class....It had to be in like 10th grade.
One of several things I remember was the guidance of... "to never look [emoji102] into the glare of on coming traffic headlights!"
Do they still teach driver ED anymore?
Must not!

Oh! and one more thing sorry!
...in the last 5 years I've taken 2 defensive "in classroom" courses...for insurance cost reduction purposes...I'm cheap too.
I've also taken 1 online driving course via AARP...I'm not getting any younger you know.
And to my recollection, out of that time learning to be a courteous, defensive driver...
Not once! do I recall the subject/issue of headlight glare, beams related...Go figure!
 
#16 ·
Finally, many many moons ago! I remember in driver's ED class....It had to be in like 10th grade.
One of several things I remember was the guidance of... "to never look
into the glare of on coming traffic headlights!"
Do they still teach driver ED anymore?
Must not!
Forgive me, but I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what glare is and how it occurs if you think that installing bulbs which result in a wider illuminated area won't cause more unavoidable glare for oncoming drivers.

I wasn't going to interject because I didn't think I had enough knowledge on the topic, but this is so basic that I worry I might be misunderstanding you. Or maybe you're making a joke and I can't tell? It does happen a lot for me.

In any case I think we can both agree that avoiding glare is a team effort requiring that each driver keep their lighting systems safely operating, and that the onus cannot be placed solely on the oncoming driver to just not look directly at your headlights.
 
#23 ·
Yup, the rest of the automotive world, the DOT, and physics are wrong; ya just gotta aim the headlights down (which does NOTHING for side glare to oncoming traffic). [emoji23] Given the ignorance of the information provided, this HAS to be a troll thread. Well played, sir.
Ex.#16 post...
"Forgive me, but I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what glare is and how it occurs if you think that installing bulbs which result in a wider illuminated area won't cause more unavoidable glare for oncoming drivers."

Prime example... agreed [emoji106]
Cheers!
 
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