Which Xenon HID Kit for E53 facelift?

[chubbs]

[quote="TheHerd"]
Starting with the LED Markers (Angel Eyes), after reading a lot I decided to go with Horizon and X5Sport's suggestion of not spending loads of £££ on Angel Eyes.

I went with the £9.99 JAMBO Direct fit 5W High Power 6000K Diamond White Q5 LED Angel Eyes from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U6UWX5E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

Extremely easy to install and although not terribly bright (as expected) I am happy with them so far.
[/quote]

Thanks for the link. Bought some last night and if they're no good they'll go back. But to be honest, they may be no worse than the ones you pay 40+ quid for. We'll see.

[scz4]

Ordered a set too!

Hopefully arrive by tomorrow or Sat AM and fit over the weekend.

[robsey29]

Double post

[robsey29]

[quote="Horizon"]
They defiantly make a big difference from the yellow looking halogens.
I have a set of LED angel eyes and 55w slimline 55w HIDS removed from my E53 when I PX'd it.
I saved them incase they would fit my next BMW, but when I got the 3 series it had Xenons and the angel eyes were H8's on it too.
All boxed up, so any one who lives locally to me can have them for nowt, as we say oops Norf.

[chubbs]

[quote="scz4"]
Ordered a set too!

Hopefully arrive by tomorrow or Sat AM and fit over the weekend.
[/quote]

If anyone buys them from the Amazon link above (seller's name is 'Jambo'), they may not get them for a while - they're shipped from the Far East and can take ages to arrive. Did yours arrive yet?

[TheHerd]

I must have been lucky then, mine arrived in only a couple of days.

[scz4]

So mine arrived last Friday and fitted them on Monday AM, definitely came from China.  5 minutes to do.

Looks 10 times better now. Not very noticeable on a bright day,  but look great in all other conditions.

Lets see if they last.

[TheHerd]

Excellent, glad it worked out for you.
Mine have been running for 3 months now.... crossed fingers!

[grumpywurzel]

Just changed my Angel eyes lamps with a set of LED units, as many have said they aren't massively bright but a cleaner look. But what a right royal pain in the ......... to get the old lamps out and the new ones in! Didn't help that I own "sausage" fingers in the first place and the new units I bought didn't have anything to really hold on to, to screw them back in!

Anyway done and dusted now 

[TheHerd]

Hi chaps,

Sincere apologies for taking so long in getting this update loaded.

I have since replaced my low beams (H7), high beams (H1) and the fogs (H11) with HID Xenon Kits from HIDS Direct. Ordered a set of 55w Canbus Pro Smart Slim HID Xenon Conversion Kit for each (3 sets in total).

Big shout out to GrantB (X5-D-Sport Salisbury) for all his assistance. Not only for his electrical expertise but mainly for enduring a rather windy and wet installation, 80% of the time under two strategically positioned umbrellas. Great fun was had! Still laughing at very many jokes shared....

Ok, installation tips. Both the low and high beams have their own custom wiring looms/relays with a 4700uF 35V capacitor and 50w load resistor per bulb. This ensures a burst of clean constant power and eliminates any bulb failure error messages from the on-board computer. I've also disabled the cold bulb check via the OBD (BMWScanner1.4) because the startup checks really serve no purpose now with the resistors installed and I really don't like the flickering of the bulbs at startup (can't be too good for them either I guess).

They've all been working perfectly well since the Easter Weekend, very happy. Night time driving is that much more rewarding now as I believe my visibility has doubled if not more. Fogs provide a beautiful broad white light on the ground below and to the sides of the car and the high beams light up any dark B road like a football pitch. There is a momentary delay on warm up so if you primarily use your high beams to flash other motorists then I wouldn't recommend the HID upgrade for you. I frequently travel long distances in the dark so worth while for me. (this is the only reason I'll look forward to the return of winter).

Here are a couple of photos I have taken but you really need to see them behind the wheel at night to really  appreciate the upgrade.

[chubbs]

Well done mate! They look really good as a set. I've put some low beam H7's in my car too, with similarly pleasing results. My low beam now makes my high beam look a bit yellow!

Looks like you went for the 5000k? I did - it's a lovely ice white, isn't it?

My only issue is that sometimes I get the dreaded 'Self levelling suspension inactive' warning when I turn the low beam on. I know it's not a real problem, but it's annoying, so I may ask you for a detailed explanation of how you switched your cold bulb check off (I've just bought a scanner, but haven't used it yet).

Anyway - well done on an excellent upgrade.

[TheHerd]

[quote="chubbs"]
Well done mate! They look really good as a set. I've put some low beam H7's in my car too, with similarly pleasing results. My low beam now makes my high beam look a bit yellow!

Looks like you went for the 5000k? I did - it's a lovely ice white, isn't it?

My only issue is that sometimes I get the dreaded 'Self levelling suspension inactive' warning when I turn the low beam on. I know it's not a real problem, but it's annoying, so I may ask you for a detailed explanation of how you switched your cold bulb check off (I've just bought a scanner, but haven't used it yet).

Anyway - well done on an excellent upgrade.
[/quote]

Sure chubbs, will be happy to help you with the Scanner any time.

I've actually disabled the 'Self Leveling Suspension Inactive' warning message too. This is normally triggered due to a dip in voltage when you switch on your HIDs or when you actually just start your car, there's always a drain on voltage then and the suspension sensors will throw up a bogus error message. You'll know when you have a suspension problem, you X5 will either sag t one side or it'll flat on the ground  I have actually got into the habit of turning the key to position 2, wait 5-10 seconds allowing the computer to do all it's checks and fire up all the electronics, and then I crank the motor.

My bulbs are actually 6000K, have a slight blue hue. Photos don't do justice but I suspect the fogs look whiter as the blue light blends into the yellowish sand blasted lens cover....  )

[X5Sport]

Very good job.

What is the Resistor value?  You said 50W for its power rating, but how many Ohms?

[Hagar66]

After reading this thread, i bought some from amazon (JAMBO) as well and am very happy with them especially at the price and they arrived within a couple of days as well, easy to fit and look great

[TheHerd]

[quote="Hagar66"]
After reading this thread, i bought some from amazon (JAMBO) as well and am very happy with them especially at the price and they arrived within a couple of days as well, easy to fit and look great
[/quote]

Excellent, glad I could help.