01-21-2020, 08:43 PM | #1 |
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Euro BMW LED headlights in US 328D xDrive
Like many of you, I was unhappy with the standard US Halogen headlamps. I tried to convert them over to LED by removing the Halogen bulbs and replacing them with LED bulbs. It somewhat improved the light output, but not drastically enough for it to be useful. So I took a plunge and ordered some refurbished original LED headlight from a recycler in China. Low and behold, the headlamps that arrived were RoW/Euro versions (and phenomenally well refurbished - they look like new). The light output appears to be better than on my 2018 M3 with the non-adaptive US LEDs. The problem is that I have no idea if they are coded right. The turn indicators are always on, and the duty cycle is inverted against the other turn indicators. In low beam mode, all four lamps are illuminated. In high beam mode, the outer lamps appear to act as low beams, and the inner lamps are the high beams. Can anyone verify what their EU LCI BMW LED equipped cars are coded with? Please?
If these work out, and the coding is correct or can be properly corrected, then this might be an alternative for many others in the US with the Halogen lamps, and I'd be happy to post the results... |
01-22-2020, 02:52 AM | #2 |
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Have you coded them yet? It's normal for all 4 lights to be on for low beam operation, on the pre-LCI it's the upper half of all 4 that turn on for lows and the lower portions turn on for high beams.
Is your car LCI? If not you'll probably need to change the build date in your FA to an LCI date and then VO code the headlight modules along with FEM_BODY and maybe more. |
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01-22-2020, 11:59 AM | #3 |
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EU headlights
I had coded my halogens to LED for the LED bulbs I put in. That did not really solve the total light output issues, so I replaced them with the EU headlights. Yes, my car is LCI, but again, I have no idea what option to code it to for it to recognize the EU headlights.
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01-22-2020, 12:10 PM | #4 | |
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I don't believe it matters whether you have EU or US headlights although you might as well perform the glare-free highbeam (GFHB) coding if you have HBA as it's a pretty neat feature. E-sys will have all the coding parameters in the built-in cheatsheet. |
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01-22-2020, 01:53 PM | #6 |
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The option code for non-adaptive LED headlights is 5A2, if you add that to your FA and VO code the relevant modules then it will apply all the requisite FDL coding parameters.
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02-03-2020, 06:30 PM | #7 |
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works as intended
First of all, many thanks to PSYKI. Coding the correct option made the whole process relatively straightforward.
I am still not quite certain about the GFHB as I do not think that the headlights support it, nor does my car have the second switch at the end of the light stalk. Maybe I am missing something, or I misunderstand how they work. Who knows... In either case, I can report that the non-adaptive headlights cast a lot more light than the Halogens, even when/if the Halogen lamps are equipped with LED bulbs. The pattern is also different from US patterns (even from that on my 2018 M3), and I have to say that the Euro pattern is better in my opinion. However, the Euro pattern needs both horizontal and lateral adjustments, and that somehow was not as easy as I thought it would be. If you explore doing the same I did, make sure you have ample space to adjust the headlights before you button everything up as the side-to-side adjusters are really not accessible easily after installation. |
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02-03-2020, 06:35 PM | #8 | |
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02-04-2020, 03:01 PM | #10 |
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eBay seller
The eBay seller I got mine from is the one behind this auction:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-F30-LEF...53.m2749.l2649 Very quick delivery, well packaged. Very well refurbished, they look like new. However, be reminded that installing them requires some work. Removal of the front bumper is the minimum, in retrospect I should have removed the inner wheel wells as well. There is a lot of cursing involved as the headlight screws are threaded in from the back, and space is tight there. |
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02-04-2020, 08:38 PM | #11 |
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I recently upgraded stock halogen lights on my 2013 BMW 328xi to OEM xenon lighting package headlights. They are plug-n-play to the car and feature LED angel eyes and an HID projector low beam (bi-xenon). No errors, better looks, and much better light output. Before after pictures attached.
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02-10-2020, 09:14 PM | #13 |
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Where did you get them??
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05-25-2021, 01:19 AM | #14 | |
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Also, I was unable to vo code 524 for adaptive, not sure if its even necessary. Any help will be gladly appreciated. |
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halogen, headlights, led, upgrade |
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