LED Angel Eyes Upgrade (UK)

[ManiacGT]

Ok so my CREE LED H8's arrived today. Not being able to contain myself until it was daylight, in they went...

The photo results are not as different as OEM to LED as I have already been running (and were fitted in these photos) the MTEC Cosmos White Halogen H8's...

Here's the kit, it cost me £59.99 from HorizonLEDs on eBay.



Here's the old MTEC H8's coming out...



Here on the right is the MTEC H8 bulb, this is significantly whiter than OEM already but looks yellow in comparison to the LED... on the left is the new CREE 20w LED...



The final look.. (and this is WITHOUT the Xenons on!!)



Overall they're definitely brighter, and very white even compared with the MTECs, its hard to tell in the photos. They still fade in and out when the car is unlocked/locked and they don't dim when the Xenons come on, so while on OEM and MTEC the angel eyes nearly disappear when the Xenons are on, you can see the CREE LEDs plainly with the Xenons on or off.

Overall for £59.99 I'm happy. I don't think they're as bright as the latest BMW OEM LEDs but I figure that the plastic halos have also been improved to provide better diffraction than the ones on the e89. Looks good to me tho.. Time will tell on longevity but they come with a 2 yr warranty (provided the seller is around that long!)

[nicknaz]

nice! Do you have LEDs installed for the turn signals and side marker lights as well?

[z4z4z4]

Good look, great price, and nice share. thanks

[ManiacGT]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

nice! Do you have LEDs installed for the turn signals and side marker lights as well?

Side markers are very quick to illuminate so I'll leave those, but the front turn signals I'm considering upgrading to be a more instant flash.

[stickshifter69]

Could you post some daytime pictures? They always look really nice at night.

[ManiacGT]

Daylight photo..



...and a slightly blurry one as I arrived at the office, showing the Xenons on with the LEDs at the same time, they look good.

[morfinx]

Very nice! I actually just recently installed the exact same kit (looks the same at least) that I bought from another ebay seller (premium_smd_lights). Works pretty well for the price And this is coming from having owned a LUX V3 in my e92.

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by stickshifter69

Could you post some daytime pictures? They always look really nice at night.

A day time picture here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=777082

Couple more:

[stickshifter69]

Very nice! Looks similar to LUX brightness for a lot less.

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by stickshifter69

Very nice! Looks similar to LUX brightness for a lot less.

Having owned both, I think LUX might be a little bit brighter, but you'd be hard pressed to tell unless you put them side by side. It's a good deal for 1/3 the price.

However, I should note one feature that LUX has and no one else (that I know of) has is that you can put the control unit inside the headlight enclosure for LUX, where as for all other brands, the control unit has to sit outside. This means the headlight enclosure is no longer technically waterproof (due to the wires leading in and out of it), and the control units are also more susceptible to moisture (even though that's highly unlikely to get wet due to its location in the engine bay). To protect against this potential issue, no matter how unlikely, I weatherproofed all connections outside of the headlight enclosure with cold shrink wrap.

(I was saving these pics for a DIY post, but I guess I'll use them here )

[stickshifter69]

Why does it have to sit outside the headlight? Does it need to connect to the battery terminal for additional power?

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by stickshifter69

Why does it have to sit outside the headlight? Does it need to connect to the battery terminal for additional power?

LUX' power supply/control unit is very efficient and produces very little heat so it can stay inside the enclosure. The others' produce too much heat so it has to sit outside. Otherwise it would overheat.

[ManiacGT]

The instructions that came with mine mentioned that the light itself is the part that gets hot and they suggest the control unit sits outside as its made from plastic. I don't intend to do this, it is my intention to use velcro/hook and loop to stick the control unit to the inside wall of the light enclosure. I'll keep an eye on it for overheating but I don't anticipate an issue given the instructions say its the light itself (which is shaped with fins to dissipate heat) that gets hot.

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by ManiacGT

The instructions that came with mine mentioned that the light itself is the part that gets hot and they suggest the control unit sits outside as its made from plastic. I don't intend to do this, it is my intention to use velcro/hook and loop to stick the control unit to the inside wall of the light enclosure. I'll keep an eye on it for overheating but I don't anticipate an issue given the instructions say its the light itself (which is shaped with fins to dissipate heat) that gets hot.

Well, good luck, let us know if you have any issues. The control unit does get pretty hot though when I touched it after it's been on for about 15 minutes.

[ManiacGT]

Thanks... I'm sure I'll find out quickly if it goes wrong

Edit: just arrived home after 25 minute commute from the office and out of concern opened up the lights and grabbed the controller, ice cold.

Ill check them on a longer run this weekend but they seem fine.

[stickshifter69]

If something does go wrong ManiacGT, you can always try to retrofit the LCI LED headlights coming soon.

[SpeedDemon7]

I used to have the cree 10 watts, uneven light on the outer ring though. Thinking about doing HID halo , Anyone went with the HID route?

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by SpeedDemon7

I used to have the cree 10 watts, uneven light on the outer ring though. Thinking about doing HID halo , Anyone went with the HID route?

That's just the design of the halo rings, regardless of what bulb you use. They are designed for on-center viewing, and looking at them from extreme angles will make the outer ring seem dim. The E92 LCI's new LED halos fixed this, but that's neither here nor there.

[LuxAngelEyes]

the pics in the first post are NOT LUX Angel Eyes, they are knock-off chinese replicas. They might look the same but they operate very differently and use cheep electronics. They are not fused and dim to about 1/3 brightness when the headlights turn on.

[kneedeep]

OP - how are these holding up? Any problems with heat?

[ManiacGT]

My lights do not dim with Xenons on, I've checked. They remain full brightness at all times. They do still fade in and out on unlock/lock which is good. They still look and work great. I've tested the resistor/electronics and so far they've gotten warm only, not hot. All in all very good so far!

[SWO Daddy]

Are you using the 10W or 20W CREE bulbs?