Which angel eye bulbs are best?

[acarty]

Hi All,

One of my angel eye bulbs has gone and i'm looking for a pair. Being the pre-LCI model the outer rings seem dimmer than the inside (I guess due to the design and bulb position), which bulbs are the nearest to the LCI brightness?

I have seen the LUX 180s from USA which seem very bright (3600 lumens) and seem to give good light dispersion, but they are nearly £150! Looking on ebay they vary in price and wattage/lumens; is it better to get a higher watt bulb or higher lumens?

Thanks,
Andy.

[X5Sport]

Look at HIDS Direct and their range of MTEC H8 Halogen replacements.  Various colour temps and will maintain the brightness levels of the current ones with a white look.  And they are under £20 a pair!  You need at least 4,600°K but don't go above 6,000°K as they go blue and then purple and both get dimmer to our eyes.

There are no LED versions that give the LCI look in brightness terms due to alignment challenges of getting the LED source to fully illuminate the light pipes BMW use.

Lumens is the brightness reference to use.  Watts just refers to the power draw.  As with home low energy lamps, a 40W equivalent may not be so in reality.

[acarty]

That's great, thanks X5Sport...

Is it worth the extra for some higher wattage bulbs like these?
http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/h8-premium ... 93-x1-5-6/

Are the MTEC H8 bulbs are direct fit? Like you say they are £15, some are 35W and some are 55W, is the higher the better or are the 55W too power consuming?

I have seen some 160W bulbs on ebay!

[X5Sport]

No idea on the first, but given you can only align one LED to the light pipe, the other three are wasted!

H8 lamps are also used as head/fog lights in other cars - hence the different power.

35W is what is fitted OEM.  55W might be a bit too hot for the mount but I can't say whether they are or aren't.  All you can do is try them 

These are 35W MTECs on my X6 in full sunlight.

[H-M3]

planning to change my halo bulbs too, wanted to know are the canbus sensitive by any chance?
thanks

[Horizon]

You have to get canbus friendly LEDs. See HIDS DIRECT site. If you don't get canbus friendly, or turn off the hot and cold checks with BMW Scanner or equivalent, you will get a bulb out warning on the dash

[H-M3]

[quote="Horizon"]
You have to get canbus friendly LEDs. See HIDS DIRECT site. If you don't get canbus friendly, or turn off the hot and cold checks with BMW Scanner or equivalent, you will get a bulb out warning on the dash

[NehalX5]

[quote="X5Sport"]
No idea on the first, but given you can only align one LED to the light pipe, the other three are wasted!

H8 lamps are also used as head/fog lights in other cars - hence the different power.

35W is what is fitted OEM.  55W might be a bit too hot for the mount but I can't say whether they are or aren't.  All you can do is try them 

These are 35W MTECs on my X6 in full sunlight.


[/quote]

Hi,

Which type of light colour do you use there? Is it the Diamond White or Cosmos Blue?

[X5Sport]

No idea sorry.  I don’t remember the box having either colour on it, but it was 6 years ago.

[Horizon]

[quote="X5Sport"]
No idea sorry.  I don’t remember the box having either colour on it, but it was 6 years ago.
[/quote]
They are normally graded by colour temperature, 4300 K is white light. 6000k is bluish light, 4300k looks OEM

[Riggie]

How difficult are these to change?

[Horizon]

If you have got small hands 5 mins, big hands and clumsy a lifetime

[Riggie]

[quote="Horizon"]
If you have got small hands 5 mins, big hands and clumsy a lifetime

[NehalX5]

[quote="Riggie"]
[quote="Horizon"]
If you have got small hands 5 mins, big hands and clumsy a lifetime

[NehalX5]

[quote="Horizon"]
[quote="X5Sport"]
No idea sorry.  I don’t remember the box having either colour on it, but it was 6 years ago.
[/quote]
They are normally graded by colour temperature, 4300 K is white light. 6000k is bluish light, 4300k looks OEM
[/quote]

The colour temperatures range between 4350k and 4750k, 4350k being 'super white' and 4750k being 'cosmos blue'. They have a comparison on their website. I have gone with cosmos blue H8 35W HID effect bulbs at 4750k, will report back to see how they fare.