Great question, following

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They are full LEDs - the design is slightly different, look at the configurator. The standard lights are very nice too.

 

They are asking about the standard lights. They are also LED, but I believe it was reported they use a regular light bulb for turn signal. They are not adaptive, i.e., do not swivel with steering wheel inputs.

 

Very interesting. I checked my build confirmation from the dealer and as a pleasant surprise it includes

552 Icon Adaptive Full LED Headlights N/C

and I did not order the Premium Package. Could it be that they include the new ICON Adaptive Full LED lights for US orders at no charge?

 

See the ordering guide, images attached. They are not the same lights. I see the standard ones do say adaptive.

 

I assume you're asking about the 540i because on the 530i you don't get the upgraded lights in the premium package, there's a separate package for that. Both of them swivel with the steering wheel. The upgraded lights do look a bit cooler. At 100 ft range, the normal lights give you a bit more coverage than the upgraded ones actually (went to a dealer, tried it for myself on a white wall at night with 2 cars side by side). There are 2 big differences though:

1) When we moved the cars back to about 300ft range, the upgraded lights were definitely brighter on high beams while the others had more coverage but looked duller. Therefore, I assume if we were in an open field, the upgraded lights might give you 100-200 ft extra visibility on high beams.
2) The upgraded lights also have auto high beam feature button on the turn stalk. So if you have that on, they will go into high beam when no other cars are in front or oncoming and they will automatically turn off when they sense lights from other vehicles. This isn't available on the normal LEDs.

 

Pages 4 and 5 from the PDF Rhino linked above seem to show the differences pretty well. It sort of looks like the standard lights don't have the gigantic "eyebrow" turn indicator, if I'm reading that right?

 

Adaptive ICON and "Standard" LED Headlights



Thanks AELWYN - the pictures make more clear the differences between the "stock" LEDs available on the 530 and the "ICON" LEDs included in the "Premium" pkg or ZPL Lighting Package option for the 540 or 530 respective. From everything I've read, BOTH are "adaptive".

I really don't know why BMW made this lighting "choice" so complicated - IMHO the ICON LED's could have been designated standard across the line (at least for the USA market). :dunno:

 

I have no doubt that both lighting systems will work well, but they are very different animals when you go compare the two systems piece by piece.

Assuming that the US eventually allows the "intelligent" lighting system used in Europe (or we figure out how to code same), I wonder if the "standard" LED lights would have that feature.

Here's a five year old link to a vid that shows the BMW intelligent LED system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dvPZ3H1Vm4

 

I did not order the premium package but the below are included for my 540xi order. Looks like the auto high beam feature is included. Could someone confirm my understanding?

552 Icon Adaptive Full LED Headlights N/C N/C
5AC Automatic high beams N/C N/C
5AP Decoding for no-dazzle high-beam assistance N/C N/C

 

Confirmed. The same happened to me - I did not order the premium package but the Icon Full LED lights were included at no charge. :thumbup:

552 Icon Adaptive Full LED Headlights N/C

I even called the Genius line to confirm the lights are in my build. They confirmed 552 is included in my build. Also the WiFi Hotspot was included at no charge. :thumbup:

It is interesting that when I did the build on the web site about two weeks ago, the configurator was including 552 Icon Adaptive Full LED Headlights. However, if I build the car today - the adaptive lights do not show up.

 

No premium pkg?

Confirmed. The same happened to me - I did not order the premium package but the Icon Full LED lights were included at no charge. :thumbup:

552 Icon Adaptive Full LED Headlights N/C

I even called the Genius line to confirm the lights are in my build. They confirmed 552 is included in my build. Also the WiFi Hotspot was included at no charge. :thumbup:

It is interesting that when I did the build on the web site about two weeks ago, the configurator was including 552 Icon Adaptive Full LED Headlights. However, if I build the car today - the adaptive lights do not show up.

No Premium Pkg?? Did you not want Comfort Access, Sirius, leather, etc?

 

Recorded a quick video of the Icon adaptive LED headlights in operation, if anyone's bored. The swiveling thing is kind of neat.

https://youtu.be/xJgI219FdSI

 

Amazing lights. The LED turn signals look sharp as well. Wish I had those.

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Both are LED and Both are adaptive. I have the standard lights. They light the road unlike any lights i have ever had. Everything is illuminated. I was blown away. The standard do not have LED turn signals.

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And the ICON look cooler.

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Since you can get Comfort Access as a stand-alone option for $650, if you get the Premium Package for $1950, you're essentially paying $1300 more for automatic high beams, Sirius radio and Wi-Fi. Since I don't subscribe to Sirius in my cars that already have that, I'd be paying $1300 for auto high beams and Wi-Fi. Doesn't seem like a good deal.

 

curious... are the tail/brake lights LED too?