[RarScaryFrosty]

Hey everyone, there's been a lot of discussion between Halogens, HID's, and LED headlights and which are the best. I figured I'd make this thread to share my experience and journey.

I have a 2013 328i with standard halogens, and wanting something better, I purchased a set of the chrome Eagle Eye headlights that are all over eBay.

Here's my beautiful car with them installed:


The stock halogens were decent, much much better than the stock headlight housings, but that's thanks to the new projector lenses in the Eagle Eyes. Still wanting more, I installed a pair of Philips Luxeon lumiled LED headlights from China. They use copper cooling belts and not fans.




I was happy with the Philips, especially at night. They were like the light of 10,000 suns aimed in front of me. I had no issues with people flashing their brights at me, or complaining when I drove behind them (had family/friends test this one out with me)

I had to get the canbus errors coded out, unfortunately they're all advertised as canbus friendly and error free, they're not. Ensure you code out cold/warm checks for the low beams AND the high beams.

I also tested CREE's version of these headlights, and installed them. The only difference on paper that I could find was that Cree used 5000k LED's, and philips used 6000k LED's. Here's a side by side comparison of the beam patterns.



You can clearly see that the beam pattern is much straighter and concentrated on the Cree led's. The philips led's seem to "curve" along the edges of the beams. Sorry they were taken at different times in the evening. The test is not to convey light output, but beam pattern concentration and accuracy.

I'm much happier with the cree led's as I feel I can see more in the night, and the nice pure white lighting provides excellent contrast and visibility. I'm sorry I don't have any videos or photos of in use driving pics, but my cell phone camera seems to be pretty crap at night when attempting to take photos.

If anyone's interested, here's the cree led's I bought. http://amzn.com/B00S75A5L4

DO NOT USE THEM IN THE STOCK HALOGEN REFLECTOR HOUSINGS.

[BossF80]

Very nice write up. I am interested in picking these up. Do you see any long term effects using led as headlights? Will the led potentially last longer than hid? or even halogen bulb?

Also, do you eagle eye headlights auto level when u start the car?

[RarScaryFrosty]

Originally Posted by bossf30

Very nice write up. I am interested in picking these up. Do you see any long term effects using led as headlights? Will the led potentially last longer than hid? or even halogen bulb?

Also, do you eagle eye headlights auto level when u start the car?

For $89 I think leds are worth the test compared to hids. They're nearly as bright, and on paper they should last a hell of a lot longer. It's nice they also instantly get to max brightness when started up unlike hids that require a warm up time.

They do auto level if i am correct. Unlike most autolevel lights, they do no flip up and down at first, but I do see them slightly move when I am parked on the driveway or a flat road. No issues with this so far on the road.

[macrossVFX222]

Originally Posted by RarScaryFrosty

For $89 I think leds are worth the test compared to hids. They're nearly as bright, and on paper they should last a hell of a lot longer. It's nice they also instantly get to max brightness when started up unlike hids that require a warm up time.

They do auto level if i am correct. Unlike most autolevel lights, they do no flip up and down at first, but I do see them slightly move when I am parked on the driveway or a flat road. No issues with this so far on the road.

RarScaryFrosty (and a number of other members) was helpful when I was choosing my headlights so I can share my experience with HID inside EE.

I never tried the Halogen in EE and I basically had a pair of LED and a pair of Morimoto XB35 HID available to try out with the installation of the EE.

I like the LED as it gives a bright white light (and no warm-up time like HID). However I am noticing the LED is slightly dimmer than the HID (note: I am extremely sensitive and annoying once it gets to lights so you may not see the dimming)... at the end I decided on HID, but I think wtihout a side-by-side comparison you wont be able to see much difference.

THere is a downside to HID... the EE is a tight fit so you have to find a place to fit the ballast. I believe RarScaryFrosty told me in the past that with LED fits inside the EE casing without problems.

I will play around with my XB35 for a year and may consider a set of LED later on...

But regardless, get a pair of HID or LED and don't go with the stock Halogen :P

[macrossVFX222]

Originally Posted by macrossVFX222

RarScaryFrosty (and a number of other members) was helpful when I was choosing my headlights so I can share my experience with HID inside EE.

I never tried the Halogen in EE and I basically had a pair of LED and a pair of Morimoto XB35 HID available to try out with the installation of the EE.

I like the LED as it gives a bright white light (and no warm-up time like HID). However I am noticing the LED is slightly dimmer than the HID (note: I am extremely sensitive and annoying once it gets to lights so you may not see the dimming)... at the end I decided on HID, but I think wtihout a side-by-side comparison you wont be able to see much difference.

THere is a downside to HID... the EE is a tight fit so you have to find a place to fit the ballast. I believe RarScaryFrosty told me in the past that with LED fits inside the EE casing without problems.

I will play around with my XB35 for a year and may consider a set of LED later on...

But regardless, get a pair of HID or LED and don't go with the stock Halogen :P

I should add... if you are going to get HID, please get the XB35. I have tried a bunch of different HID lights, the only HID Arc that looks stock with the beam similar to the CREED (almost identical) is the XB35. They are a bit brighter, but the downside being cost $$ and needing to find space to mount the ballast.

Hope this helps

[ji99lypuff]

Led bulbs look great and so does the cut off! Super straight and crisp.

[BossF80]

I bought some gp thunder halogen bulbs that another thread recommended as the best halogen bulbs to match the oe color. I went halogen was because I did not want to have to worry about coding the light checks. But I am finding that even with the ee headlights the rings flicker at startup. I am getting the headlights installed this week so I will find out how they look with these gp thunder bulbs. But after seeing your lights, I am really thinking of going the led route, especially since the trend now in the new bmws are led headlights. Also, I am sure the new f30s will come with this coded out since they will have led drls stock.

[RarScaryFrosty]

Originally Posted by bossf30

I bought some gp thunder halogen bulbs that another thread recommended as the best halogen bulbs to match the oe color. I went halogen was because I did not want to have to worry about coding the light checks. But I am finding that even with the ee headlights the rings flicker at startup. I am getting the headlights installed this week so I will find out how they look with these gp thunder bulbs. But after seeing your lights, I am really thinking of going the led route, especially since the trend now in the new bmws are led headlights. Also, I am sure the new f30s will come with this coded out since they will have led drls stock.

The rings don't flash, the inner projector does since it has a LED light inside as well. I had my guy code the DRL out as well, and they stopped blinking.

[BossF80]

Originally Posted by RarScaryFrosty

The rings don't flash, the inner projector does since it has a LED light inside as well. I had my guy code the DRL out as well, and they stopped blinking.

Oh ok, can't we turn off the drls in the our car settings and just have the rings on?

[sakitnyatudisini]

CREE is very better headlight

[macrossVFX222]

Originally Posted by RarScaryFrosty

The rings don't flash, the inner projector does since it has a LED light inside as well. I had my guy code the DRL out as well, and they stopped blinking.

I thought I saw my ring flash and not the DRL LED. I will check it again tonight.

[scostu]

For those of you that have installed the Eagle Eyes projector headlights......are they truly plug and play?

I see on Bimmian's website they offer a similar product, but state that a wire needs to be connected to a 12v source to power the LED halos.
Not so for the Eagle Eyes?

If no other issues than coding out cold/warm checks, I'm ordering a set of these.

[RarScaryFrosty]

Originally Posted by scostu

For those of you that have installed the Eagle Eyes projector headlights......are they truly plug and play?

I see on Bimmian's website they offer a similar product, but state that a wire needs to be connected to a 12v source to power the LED halos.
Not so for the Eagle Eyes?

If no other issues than coding out cold/warm checks, I'm ordering a set of these.

The headlight unit itself is truly plug and play and will not give any errors. The plug is 12v in your car, so there's no other modification needed. Bimmian sells the eagle eye headlights, but they want $600 when you can find them for $400 else where.

Only LED bulbs need coding.

[scostu]

Thank you!

[macrossVFX222]

Originally Posted by macrossVFX222

I thought I saw my ring flash and not the DRL LED. I will check it again tonight.

Hola Checked my car last night. For my car its the 'halo' (in our case U) that is flashing. My inside projector LED is not flashing.

For coding: Without canbus, HID will throw an error out as well

[macrossVFX222]

Originally Posted by scostu

For those of you that have installed the Eagle Eyes projector headlights......are they truly plug and play?

I see on Bimmian's website they offer a similar product, but state that a wire needs to be connected to a 12v source to power the LED halos.
Not so for the Eagle Eyes?

If no other issues than coding out cold/warm checks, I'm ordering a set of these.

What RarScaryFrosty said HID also need to code out the checks unless you use canbus)....

I got mine on ebay and is much cheaper (and the same), but the last time I check they ran out of chrome version (I was checking for another member).

[A'PEXi]

Great thread, I've purchased the LED with copper cooling belts as I didn't want to find a place to mount the ballast.... will test out once the lights arrive and post an update.

[BossF80]

These are the eagle eye headlights installed. I am currently testing them first with GP Thunder bulbs and they are a lot better than the standard halogens distance wise and look wise. However, I think with some of these led headlights it will look amazing. I plan on driving around with these for a while until I get coded for the new light source.

[macrossVFX222]

Originally Posted by bossf30

These are the eagle eye headlights installed. I am currently testing them first with GP Thunder bulbs and they are a lot better than the standard halogens distance wise and look wise. However, I think with some of these led headlights it will look amazing. I plan on driving around with these for a while until I get coded for the new light source.

Looks nice... did you get the black version or the chrome version? its a bit hard to tell from your photos

[macrossVFX222]

Originally Posted by macrossVFX222

Looks nice... did you get the black version or the chrome version? its a bit hard to tell from your photos

Saw your other posting... I guess black... looks great!

[BossF80]

Originally Posted by macrossVFX222

Saw your other posting... I guess black... looks great!

LOL yea it's the black version. The biggest decision was which color to go with...chrome looks more oem and the black looks very custom, but because of my black accents and eventually gun metal rims I went with black housing. Thanks yours look great also!

I do hope in the future other manfacturers like Depo come on board and make lights for this car...maybe a led f80 replica headlight wishful thinking...

[RarScaryFrosty]

Originally Posted by bossf30

LOL yea it's the black version. The biggest decision was which color to go with...chrome looks more oem and the black looks very custom, but because of my black accents and eventually gun metal rims I went with black housing. Thanks yours look great also!

I do hope in the future other manfacturers like Depo come on board and make lights for this car...maybe a led f80 replica headlight wishful thinking...

If any other company makes OEM, LCI, or F80 style lights, I'm buying them right away to replace these. I like the eagle eyes a lot, but the OEM's just have a distinct look I love.