05-25-2015, 01:12 AM | #1 |
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4 headlights, but only 2 have bulbs?
I just picked up an F36 in Munich on the European Delivery program, and notice that the inside headlights are cosmetic only. There is just the headlight projector lens but no bulb behind it. This seems to be normal, as I have seen several F series here with only the outside headlight pair lit, never the inside pair. On my E46 M3 and 328i these are the high beam but on the F series the outside pair is both low and high beam.
Has anyone installed a supplementary LED high beam behind the fake lens? It looks like there is room to do so. |
05-25-2015, 08:52 AM | #2 | |
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There's a member of our BMW True North group in the Toronto area that has retrofitted in leds that can change colour... saw the car at our meet yesterday and it looked quite nice. Will try and find some pics of it.
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05-28-2015, 11:18 AM | #3 |
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It looks like there is enough depth behind the unused lens to mount an HID bulb and bracket. This could be driven off the high beam signal to give 4 high beams rather than the stock 2. Even better would be to mount a second BMW dual-beam HID and have 4 low beam and 4 high beam projectors.
I've searched through this forum as well as others and it looks like no one has done this. Does anyone know if the BMW unit is available, or do you need to buy the whole assembly? |
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05-28-2015, 02:21 PM | #4 | |
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When i went to inquire about that part number at a dealership they said it comes back with no results, it may be a manufacturer part number. you have to buy the full assembly. |
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05-29-2015, 02:58 PM | #6 |
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I could certainly insert an LED driving lamp and have 4 high beams, or add a servo controlled gate like BMW uses on the HID to give high and low beams. There might be a slight color temperature difference as I doubt that I could find a perfect match for the stock bulbs.
I'll keep looking, and have sent a note off to Bimmian to see if they make anything that would work. |
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05-29-2015, 04:11 PM | #7 | |
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06-02-2015, 07:53 AM | #8 |
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I just don't like the idea of having a purely cosmetic headlight on my car that serves no purpose. I feel that a proper design of a 4-headlamp car would have 4 headlamps, not 2 plus a filler lens that looks like it's supposed to do something but doesn't.
It's a bit like having a tacked-on grill that doesn't go anywhere. I can understand that BMW would have wanted to preserve a common look to the 4 series, whether they have HID lights or LED lights, which do have 4 operating lamps. I'm sure they also wanted it to carry the family DNA of their other models that now all have 4 round headlights. This has become part of their signature, just like the double-kidney grill. It sets them apart from all the other cars that have moved away from round lights. I just dropped the car off in Amsterdam on Friday, and so won't see it until it arrives at my local dealer in 6-7 weeks. I'll then be able to take some measurements and hopefully replace the black plastic blanking panel behind the lens with a bi-xenon lamp. |
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06-02-2015, 10:07 AM | #9 |
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You guys do know that putting an additional HID beam in for high (or low ftm) beam would make it illegal anywhere in the world there are standards? There is a max lumens standard that it would seriously exceed. (I'm guessing you don't care, but thought I'd put it out there.)
As far as lighting goes, the early E46 HID setup was actually the best: it was a non-bi-xenon setup, with a halogen high beam in the inner. The xenon low beam was always on, with the halogen coming on for high beam. This setup actually hit the max lumen standard, and gave superior performance to the bi-xenon that we currently have. Wasn't adaptive, however. There have been some recent articles on lighting - all current setups that meet the standards are almost useless at speeds over 45 or so, even xenon setups. |
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06-02-2015, 09:05 PM | #10 | |
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06-04-2015, 07:19 AM | #11 |
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I've found a bi-xenon setup that looks like it will fit into the space behind the blanked out lens. It should match the color temperature of the outer bi-xenon, so will look stock. I'll wire it so it switches off when the fog lights are on so I don't exceed the maximum limit of 4 white lamps at the front.
If anyone is interested, I can post an update when the car gets here and I install it. |
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