[x5mad]

Been reading about the differences and there are a lot of subjective opinions about how the adaptive LEDs are brighter.

Well I managed to find a picture of a non adaptive led and compared them to the specs on mine which are adaptive. As you can see in the pictures the LEDs for the main and high beam are more powerful in the adaptive set. 36/20 vs 22/14 watts

So if you are on the fence about getting the adaptive function it's more than just swiveling lights and the auto high beam function, it's actually brighter too.

[Beek]

THANKS for sharing! My only complaint with my 340 so far is the non adaptive LED's, I would definately have upgraded to adaptive had I known this. I wonder if the wattage numbers are the same USA vs Australia?

[Blubaron79]

Adaptive all the way

[BMW11]

I wish I knew also- (wattage/power) difference. I wonder if BMW can upgrade them I would pay to upgrade the regular to the higher output LED's. It should be nice if the FEDS made BMW upgrade the bad lights (halogens & low put LED) to a SAFE PROPER LIGHT THAT YOU CAN SEE THE ROADS WITH. Who knows what Insurance companies will do when they catch wind that the Lights have bad ratings they will jack up insurance rates even higher. I can't believe they put such bad LEDs for the non-adaptive lights and don't even tell us that the adaptive ones are higher output the dealer told me its the same but except for the adaptive they LIED to me having bad lights is worse then the RFT

[x5mad]

I worked out that the first number is the low beam and second number is high beam.

I.e.
Adaptive low - 36w
Non adaptive low - 22w

Efficiency of leds nowadays are approx 100 lumens / watt or more. So assuming this we get 3600 lumens vs 2200 lumens. For reference hid approx 3200 lumens

So now perhaps why we see people so divided on this led vs hid debate. Some saying so much brighter than hid and others saying it's rubbish vs hid.

Now remember the numbers above refer to the source light and not the "road" lumens i.e. what you actually get on the road

[Pr3dict]

Can we get some difinitive proof of this? Also, is there exageration on how "BAD" these non adaptive LEDs are? I cannot imagine that they are worse then halogens.

[alabesky]

I miss my adaptive HID in my previous gti. I have the regular LED, and i really feel they are way weaker than most HID systems! I've actually been considering retrofitting HID's.

[Revelator]

All of these damn headlight posts make me wish I would have put out the extra 1k for the lighting package on the new 340 I'm picking up next week. Really hoping they're not as bad as everyone says. Has anyone upgraded from the stock bulbs? If so with what? How much did it cost you? Have nice xenons on my STI now that have served me well

[metallicpea]

I can say the non adaptive aren't great. Aimed too low and when you bring them up they blind oncoming drivers.

[eluded]

I too would've bought the adaptive headlights had I known they were that much brighter. There's another post that documents the illumination differences

[bimmer456]

I would say the non-adaptive lights are pretty dim, worse than the halogens on my other car. I was told coding could make them brighter like euro spec, surprised the adaptives are brighter. Maybe there is a way to retro fit OEM adaptives much like adding comfort access to rear doors or upgrading to idrive 5.0 through a third party solution or aftermarket installer (like upgrading to M sport steering wheel or adding paddles and SAT after the fact). BMW should offer the ability to do more of these after sale upgrades. Anyone know if the halogens on the 330i are any better than the base LED lights on the 340i lol?

[Gitte]

I can also confirm this - numbers aside. My previous vehicle was a 2014 435 with adaptive LED and current is 2017 340 with non-adaptive LED. In the first instance my options were Xenon or Adaptive LED and I opted to upgrade as I I knew I wanted LED lights. In my current vehicle, standard LED came as part of the M Performance Edition and that was bundled 'as-is' so no option to upgrade to adaptive LED. Didn't think much of it but definitely NOT as bright and positioned too low. I'd be keen on options to code the lights to at least match the LEDs on output.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Gitte

I can also confirm this - numbers aside. My previous vehicle was a 2014 435 with adaptive LED and current is 2017 340 with non-adaptive LED. In the first instance my options were Xenon or Adaptive LED and I opted to upgrade as I I knew I wanted LED lights. In my current vehicle, standard LED came as part of the M Performance Edition and that was bundled 'as-is' so no option to upgrade to adaptive LED. Didn't think much of it but definitely NOT as bright and positioned too low. I'd be keen on options to code the lights to at least match the LEDs on output.

I was at a BMW meetup and the guys were talking about coding the lights to be brighter. I'd say yes also to them being aimed to low should be able to code to raise them or to code auto high beams. Anyone know someone who can do this?

[x5mad]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

I was at a BMW meetup and the guys were talking about coding the lights to be brighter. I'd say yes also to them being aimed to low should be able to code to raise them or to code auto high beams. Anyone know someone who can do this?

You can adjust the headlights mechanically and aim them higher. I've had to do this on all my bmws as from factory they were aimed far too low.

Theoretically you can apply more volts to an LED and thus increase its brightness. However
- they are likely already at max coding
- even if you could code a higher voltage you will raise the temperatures above what the heat sinks can handle and will therefore shorten the lifespan of the leds not to mention effects on wiring and such
- the max voltage from the alternator is 13.8V and the leds run on 12V. How much brighter would it get from 12 to 13.8v? My guess is not a whole lot for the additional risks

[Climb Mode]

MY2017 340 with the standard LED's, and have to say the headlights wouldn't even make it into the list if I had to come up with some complaints.

[Gitte]

Originally Posted by x5mad

You can adjust the headlights mechanically and aim them higher. I've had to do this on all my bmws as from factory they were aimed far too low.

Theoretically you can apply more volts to an LED and thus increase its brightness. However
- they are likely already at max coding
- even if you could code a higher voltage you will raise the temperatures above what the heat sinks can handle and will therefore shorten the lifespan of the leds not to mention effects on wiring and such
- the max voltage from the alternator is 13.8V and the leds run on 12V. How much brighter would it get from 12 to 13.8v? My guess is not a whole lot for the additional risks

Thanks for the info! Did you get the dealer to adjust the mechanical position of the lights? As well, given the adaptives run brighter, do you know if the alternator on the adaptives have a greater voltage capacity?

[M2Cmtl]

interesting. I'm going from Xenon to base LED Wednesday so I will look out for this. I also assumed the LED where as bright or brighter then the Xenons.

[oonowindoo]

^ that depends on what you mean by bright or brighter.

If you are asking if the LEDs are brighter to your eyes than HID as if you are looking at the headlight from outside. YES, they are definitely brighter and prettier

If you are asking if the LEDs are brighter on the ground where the light hits, yes they are brighter and you can see better within those areas.

Now if you are asking if you can see better at night in general (width, distance and distribution) with 3 series LED, vs. HID (decent ones), then NO. The initial reaction would be wow so bright at night, then you will quickly realize it is actually not as good as the HID you had before.

Actually this issue is not exclusive to BMW. Most of the LED equipped cars i have driven suffer the same issue. I can only imagine how much worse it is for the Non-Adaptive LED guys

[dereksM3]

I just drove 1,800 miles from Southern to CA to WA on standard 340i LED's and they aren't that bad...people just complain and exaggerate minor issues. For reference my E92 M3 has Adaptive Xenon's, my Saab 9-5 has Bi-Xenons, my CLK mercedes has Bi-Xenons, and my MK7 Golf R had Bi-Xenons. Out of these cars the 340i's aren't much worse or better than any them. Really just the low beams are pointed a bit low and could be raised some...the output is just as good as Xenon's and are FAR better than anything halogen. I think too many of you either are blind or just like to complain about lowered headlights...although they are reflector based raising them 10-20% isn't going to dangerously blind oncoming drivers.

[oonowindoo]

Originally Posted by dereksM3

I just drove 1,800 miles from Southern to CA to WA on standard 340i LED's and they aren't that bad...people just complain and exaggerate minor issues. For reference my E92 M3 has Adaptive Xenon's, my Saab 9-5 has Bi-Xenons, my CLK mercedes has Bi-Xenons, and my MK7 Golf R had Bi-Xenons. Out of these cars the 340i's aren't much worse or better than any them. Really just the low beams are pointed a bit low and could be raised some...the output is just as good as Xenon's and are FAR better than anything halogen. I think too many of you either are blind or just like to complain about lowered headlights...although they are reflector based raising them 10-20% isn't going to dangerously blind oncoming drivers.

If there are too many of us who are "blind" then i guess BMW should address the issue for the "blind" people right?

I am very curious how the dual projector LED on the new 5 are.

[dereksM3]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

If there are too many of us who are "blind" then i guess BMW should address the issue for the "blind" people right?

I am very curious how the dual projector LED on the new 5 are.

I don't mean to offend anybody I mostly mean for the people that act like the LED's are horrendous. Some even say halogens are better which is a complete exaggeration. I listed a number of cars I own or currently have owned which all have Bi-Xenons and Adaptive Xenons and we are talking very minor differences - 90% is because of adjustment. Even my E92 M3 Xenon's were fairly underwhelming from the factory.

The worse thing BMW did is use a reflector housing that produces more glare than a similarly equipped projector model. They intentionally lowered the LED's down further compared to a similarly equipped Xenon vehicle. It's not the LED's aren't as bright or produce as much light it's the housing design. If you raise these lights 10-20% to be higher but still not blind oncoming cars you have light output equal or greater than pre-LCI headlights.

I think if 90% of people that complain about these lights should either:

A. Take it to BMW and have them raise them some
B. Actually use a tool (besides a keyboard) and go do it themselves in 10 min.

...they would probably be pretty satisfied with the outcome.

[Revelator]

^^Good feedback--thanks. Don't have my 340 yet so I'm anxious to see what all the hoopla is about on the nom adaptive set up. If they're comparable to the xenons on my STI I'll be totally satisfied.