Chrome bulbs-

A

andysat

Lifer
Hi all i have just found out i have silver bulbs at the rear but not on the front and sides,is it an easy swop or do zeds 'know' different bulbs are being used and throw up a fault?-it was an easy swop on my e46 :) -thanks
 
i can't see the point on the side indicators as they cannot be seen due to the bmw badge, the rears are clear from factory and the fronts are a right ball ache as its actually an orange lens inside the headlamp not an orange bulb
 
Thanks for the reply,but on my facelift the front lenses are clear with orange bulbs but i hear what you are saying about the sides.
 
i very much doubt it unless they've been altered from factory , as they have two orange reflectors in each headlight (that bears resembalance to a bulb) covering a colourless bulb
 
jamie_z4 said:
i very much doubt it unless they've been altered from factory , as they have two orange reflectors in each headlight (that bears resembalance to a bulb) covering a colourless bulb
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Agree

Andy - if you were to split your lights you'd find glass domes like this covering your clear indicator bulbs

amberglasscover.jpg
 
I never was able to find a silver bulb that flashed orange to fit these (offset pin halogen lamps) :headbang: , or I would have removed these ginger lampshades
 
gookah said:
I never was able to find a silver bulb that flashed orange to fit these (offset pin halogen lamps) :headbang: , or I would have removed these ginger lampshades
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you would have had to split the lamps to get them out.

I actually did it int he end by covering them in mirror foil while my lamps were out then painting the bulbs with orange glass paint. 2 years later no probs and no fried egg look in my lights :)
 
I actually had the lights apart at the time, to do the angels, and wanted to remove these lampshades, but alas no chrome bulbs available to suit
 
gookah said:
I actually had the lights apart at the time, to do the angels, and wanted to remove these lampshades, but alas no chrome bulbs available to suit
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That would have been the time, but I too could not find these darned offset pin, 21w watt bulbs :thumbsdown:
 
Right, in the interests of posting in a thread that someone may find at a later date... I recently ordered two chrome 501 bulbs from Ace Parts on eBay for my side repeaters, just tried them on the car and I am less than impressed with the brightness. They almost negate the point of having the repeaters, in daylight at least. Anyone else had this problem, or is it a hazard of chrome bulbs as the silvering has an unavoidable dimming effect ?

Be interested if anyone has fitted any that are as bright as standard orange ones ?
 
It stands to reason that a bulb with a coating will not emit as much light as a clear bulb, unless the wattage was increased accordingly. But then there could be heat issues. Come to think of it, perhaps the chrome bulbs are slightly lower wattage because of heat issues?

To answer the original question, the lamp out detection system cannot differentiate between different bulbs. As long as they're some sort of incandescent bulb, the system will 'pass' them. The problem arises when you substitute LED bulbs. As they are semiconductors, they 'look' nothing like incandescent bulbs to the system. You have to put a resistor in parallel to the LED lamp to mimic the current through an incandescent filament that the system expects to 'see'.
 
bcworkz, actually, when I removed them after having the hazards flashing to compare, the silvered ones were very hot, so you could be right. Anyway, not happy with them, so offski :thumbsup:
 
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