those are the exact leds that I use, same length & everything. they aren't the prettiest thing if your going to have them exposed though, I think the'd look cheap unless the strip itself is hidden. had guys ask about doing visable strips but too ugly for me to even do... you'd have to make a housing to cover the strip & just poke the led out itself, a lot of work & still might look questionable. from all of my tests they seem to last well, specially if retrofit source is recommending them, BUT I have also came across a few defects, there either defective early on or they last a long time.
anyone who wants to play with these leds I'd highly recommend powering them up & letting them burn in a few hours, then while there still on & warm & soft, flex them around a bit & make sure you have no blinking leds or any that go out, if it passes this test then they should last a long time in the headlight. if you don't torture test them like this then you could have a falure early on in there use which sucks, better off finding out before all the work. also, if there hidden then worse case if they do give issues 6 months or even a year or more later, at least you could disconnect them & not have an ugly end result...
far as the projectors, always though to play with them, just not sure if the $$$ for 4 of them would be worth it on top of all the other stuff, we already do have good projector lenses with a nice cutoff, we do still get a nice flicker really, think the blue at the flicker point may be the only difference... maybe worth it on a normal pair of headlights with just 2 projectors
Haha, John I was thinking why does the $$$ matter, it's only $50 for a pair with no visible defects or even less for a pair with some visible defects with no noticable impact to output. But then again, like you said, who else has 4 projector lenses!!!!
I would do this mod in a heartbeat if I was going to open up my headlights. But the labor to remove the front bumper, and open the headlights isn't worth it for me at the moment. Especially since I use 6000K bulbs.
I was going to think about doing the LED mod, so thanks for the feedback on them. I think I'll hold off.
---------- Post added at 02:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:10 PM ----------
I thought we already had clear lenses ? .. it look clear when I had the HL apart
the led strips are the same ones turbocad uses inside his AE mod ..
hey chedman , have you tried to lens swap yet? any brighter?
Not as clear as The Retrofit Source (TRS) lenses. I just looked into my headlights again, they are definitely not "crystal clear".
As John mentioned, the cutoff currently is good, but not as good as it can be. I wouldn't do it unless I was going to take the bumper off again, but I'm lazy. I might buy them and just keep them in my garage so if I do remove it again, I'll do the mod.
This isn't a necessary mod, but a nice to have. But I guess most if not all mods are=)
I think going down a street, this would make your FX stand out just a little bit more and something a light fanatic would definitely catch. You can see that tint of blue at the cutoff in the picture from the OEM bulb. I think this would bring the OEM bulb/headlight more up to par with the OEM BMW headlights.
I always wanted the tint of blue look that the BMW's have but still use 4,300K OEM bulbs for maximum output, but cheated and use 6000K bulbs. I can notice the output difference, but I have the HID Fogs to try and compensate.
Dopie has the lenses on sale, so maybe he can do a closer examination of the lenses.
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=148
---------- Post added at 02:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 PM ----------
Looks cool.. kinda like my dad's Mercedes output. One bad thing is a lot of people will flash you because it's too bright but oh well.
I would say not necessarily. The cutoff is even more sharp, so it's up to you to control how you aim your headlights. What you can't control is uneven road surfaces tilting your headlights up/down, blinding oncoming traffic if they happen to be below the cutoff.
I adjusted my lights to 0 is right below the trunk line of most cars and is parallel with the ground so even at a far distance, the cutoff doesn't angle upwards. I drive with my lights adjusted down to 3 90% of the time where there is abundant street lights, cars, etc... Just to be on the safe side.
When I am on an open road or dark road, I move it to the 0 position.
My fogs are also adjust parallel to the ground and not shooting downward as per the manual. Being in halogen housings, they disperse light EVERYWHERE! This can cause a glare if in headlights, but since fogs are so low to the ground, I've tested it and it does not blind oncoming traffic. They merely see a super bright white/blue light.
I've never had anyone flash me for this reason and believe doing the mod will not change that.
---------- Post added at 02:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:24 PM ----------
Thos looks very enticing! X2 for anyone trying it?
I will eventually do it, definitely not now when it's freezing outside!!! My garage isn't heated either and I get lazy when it's cold out.
