Headlight questions

[bigwinn]

I'm just going to copy and paste my post from another headlight upgrade thread (very informative: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=117875 ). I've been through it all, I was kind of a guinea pig tester of upgrading these lights if you have the standard halogen H7s:

Man.. I've been through it all with E85/86 Halogen headlights in terms of modifying them to get the best output without buying Xenon version of the headlights (and some vanity of me wanting them looking better), so I have much experience in this.

In terms of halogen upgrade bulbs (Philips Xtreme-Vision, Osram Nightbreakers, etc):

These upgrade halogen bulbs are fantastic! The beam is 100% LEGAL so you will NOT dazzle oncoming drivers with your lights. It will NOT look like Xenon/HID/LED by a longshot. But the range in definitely improved in the Z4's projector lens. The filament is smaller and hotter; therefore brighter, which gives you a more uniform and focused beam than with standard H7 halogens. The difference is NOT dramatic but it is noticeable. To scale it for everyone here: out of 10, the stock H7 halogen gets a 3 in terms of vision. An H7 halogen upgrade bulb (non-blue tinted bulbs) mayyyybe bumps it up to a 5. Not substantial but anything is welcomed. THE DOWNSIDE: The life of the bulbs are much lower than the standard halogen H7s, so be prepared to have a spare in your glovebox if you're doing lots of night time driving.

In terms of LED:

TBH, this is the worst upgrade of the three. The light IS dramatically whiter and actually looks much more modern than a halogen headlight--but the beam pattern is no where near as sharp, uniform or considerate to other drivers compared to halogen. Brightness might be subjective to some people because of the whiter light, it SEEMS brighter but in fact it could be dimmer than an upgraded H7 halogen bulb. Most of these LEDs run at a 5500-6500K color temperature--which is nice and modern looking but if it rains; forget about it. You will barely see the road at night if there's inclement weather. ALSO: If you drive in the winter with snow everywhere, LED bulbs don't get warm enough to melt any ice or snow on the headlight--so it can be dangerous.

In terms of HID/Xenon:

These are the best and it is what I personally use on my Z4. The beam is not legal and there is a little bit of glare but it is mostly controlled by the projector lens itself and the decent positioning of the HID bulb itself. I tried them all: 4,300K, 5,000K, 6,000K and even 8000K. I've gone back and fourth and I stuck with the OEM looking 4,300K. It is by far the brightest color temp, easiest on the eyes, looks the best (IMO) on these cars because it looks like an OEM Xenon headlight and driving with them at night is an absolute joy. You need a CANBUS ballast for these cars because the Z4 checks the bulbs upon startup. If you get a slim CANBUS ballast kit, you can actually fit the entire thing inside the headlight housing and close it with a nice seal--no drilling needed. It won't overheat in my experience since I've ran them for many years.

One thing about the HID/Xenon kit if any of you get it: The bulb return wire (the wire that runs along side the bulb) has to be facing DOWN in our H7 projectors. Most HID kits come with an H7 HID bulb that makes the return wire face upwards inside the projector, which causes a long dark shadow in your beam pattern from the return wire. Most people don't care and it isn't a big deal but if you want the best night time vision with these cars, you'll need to just modify the base by just mimmicking the same tab but on the opposite side. If you do this, you'll get an even, sharp, bright beam pattern on the road ahead.

TL; DR: For the H7 halogen projectors in our cars, HID/Xenon is the best but it is not legal. Upgraded halogen bulbs are the 2nd best but are not as bright as HID/Xenon and do not last as long and are quite expensive for what they are. LED bulbs are mostly junk. They look nice but in terms of actual headlight power they're last place.

Good advice- I will probably head for a H7 replacement as going from 3/10 to 5/10 is better than nowt!

[Motionblurrr]

Good advice- I will probably head for a H7 replacement as going from 3/10 to 5/10 is better than nowt!

And you will love them! Nowadays, these upgrade bulbs go up to a 5.5-6! I recommend the Philips XtremeVision 130%+ H7. Fantastic bulb, very bright, reaches far and wider, slightly whiter, also lasts longer (from my experience) than the comparable Osram Nightbreaker Laser H7. Overall it makes the quality of the beam much higher quality than a standard H7.

It's good to mention though that the Nightbreakers are still very good bulbs and offer a little bit more of a whiter light than the Philips if you want to go that route. But IMHO, the Philips is the top tier bulb to get right now with decent life.

[GJ1]

Jfgoldfish - you mention coding out any errors using winfkp. I'm not familiar with this, how would this work exactly?

Using Winfkp to code out the lights is a fairly simple task. You will need a K/DCAN cable and a working copy of the BMW software suite (Free to download from many sources).

The process goes something like:
- Make sure you have the correct DATEN files for your car
- Download the current programming data for the LCM module.
- Save a backup
- Modify the lines that activate and deactivate bulb checks for low, high and sidelights (NCSdummy is great for modifying the files)
- Write the modified file back to the LCM following instructions to the letter (lots of tutorials on using winfkp on the web)

You can code many other features on your car such as opening and closing the roof from the key, lane change indicators and much more.
Obviously CANbus compatible bulbs are the easiest option but if you buy a set that still throws errors, hope is not lost!

Probably a bit beyond me tbh but thanks for the explanation and as you say hope is not lost if errors pop up.

[GJ1]

becaus

Thanks Motionblurr. Would you have a recommendation for HIDs and the slim CANBUS ballast? It sounds like this might be a good option with no cutting and presumably fairly easy for a novice to fit?

[Penelope]

LED fitted to Dip Beam. Bit of a faff fabricating the original bracket to fit the body of the LED but they're in. Will take it out later in the dark to see if there is improvement. These are supposedly game changer LEDs that don't just splurge light in all directions. I am assured that they give the correct beam pattern but the proof is in the pudding....

[bigwinn]

Fitted Phillips Xtreme vision today

Deffo moved from 3/10 to 5.5/10!

CBA with HIDs so its an improvement

[Penelope]

LED fitted to Dip Beam. Bit of a faff fabricating the original bracket to fit the body of the LED but they're in. Will take it out later in the dark to see if there is improvement. These are supposedly game changer LEDs that don't just splurge light in all directions. I am assured that they give the correct beam pattern but the proof is in the pudding....

So Light Tec Actually do brackets for these units so I could've save myself the bother. Ordering a set for the Main Beam too as they are way brighter than the H7 Halogens that I had fitted (Not sure of the brand but they were brighter than the OEM yellowy Halogens) Beam pattern looks nicely cut off with the LEDs. I might raise the height a little just to get a bit more throw which is what I have read many people do to further improve vision...

[Hutchy]

Fitted Phillips Xtreme vision today

Deffo moved from 3/10 to 5.5/10!

CBA with HIDs so its an improvement

How many bulbs do you need to do a proper replacement. Just 2 or 4 (Low beam & High beam)?

[bigwinn]

Fitted Phillips Xtreme vision today

Deffo moved from 3/10 to 5.5/10!

CBA with HIDs so its an improvement

How many bulbs do you need to do a proper replacement. Just 2 or 4 (Low beam & High beam)?

My high beams were fine it was the low/dipped that I found to be poor- so only 2 needed

[GJ1]

Well seems to be lots of choice and different opinions (Halogen vs LED vs HID).
Thanks for all your input.
Erring towards the straightforward Halogen Philips Extremes in the short term but still undecided as some members seem really happy with either LEDs or HIDs.

[BigDaddy]

Looks like there’s a new Phillips bulb. The gt200 which is claimed to be brighter than the xtreme. I’m going to give it a go and see as standard headlights are not great.