[Who?]

thanks for the sit fuide guys, took me an hour and a half to figure it out before i saw this thread

[ACR3597]

So you bent them one by one? And did they stay put when bent?

[rustyminded]

Can you please tell me what did you code for low beam H7 ?

[ATL0501]

Originally Posted by rustyminded

Can you please tell me what did you code for low beam H7 ?

There's no coding needed if you replace low beams with halogen bulb. If you use led or hid (not recommended), you will need to code.

I used Philips crystal vision but they were too yellow when replaced the parking lights to LED. Then went to diamond vision and they are perfect with led parking lights. The parking lights have built in resistor and do not need coding as there are no errors nor flickering

[rfcoolz]

Originally Posted by ATL0501

There's no coding needed if you replace low beams with halogen bulb. If you use led or hid (not recommended), you will need to code.

I used Philips crystal vision but they were too yellow when replaced the parking lights to LED. Then went to diamond vision and they are perfect with led parking lights. The parking lights have built in resistor and do not need coding as there are no errors nor flickering

Actually mine has HID and no single error has came up without coding

[ATL0501]

Originally Posted by rfcoolz

Actually mine has HID and no single error has came up without coding

Some have error free with the resistors but they get very hot. Make sure get high quality ones. Friend of mine burned through his with ones from eBay or Amazon.

[casualDIYer]

In 2 years I've burned through 2 bulbs. Maybe should have stuck with bmw original and had bmw replace them for free under warranty.

Original: Too dim
BMW Performance (oem philips): one burned out in a year
PIAA 4000k white: Top quality Japanese made....one burned out in a year

Fine, fine ... H7 bulbs do suck. Putting in Osram Nightbreakers. Advantage? Price and their output and colour are the same as the BMW and PIAA. I've learned my lesson

[rfcoolz]

Originally Posted by ATL0501

Some have error free with the resistors but they get very hot. Make sure get high quality ones. Friend of mine burned through his with ones from eBay or Amazon.

Well, I just hope nothing is burnt on mine. I got one from amazon and its been good until now. No melting or anything like that. Fingers crossed

[lverasky]

can someone make a video?? i have a really hard time remove the H7 bulb out ..... so sad

[dangson]

Originally Posted by lverasky

can someone make a video?? i have a really hard time remove the H7 bulb out ..... so sad

Which step are you having trouble with? I just replaced mine a few months ago so might be able to give some pointers.

[lverasky]

Originally Posted by dangson

Which step are you having trouble with? I just replaced mine a few months ago so might be able to give some pointers.

So i got to the step that is trying remove the bulb out...but I havn't hard time to bent the outward thing....so hard to take it out. scratch my hand few times now...and still no success. >_<

[rustyminded]

guys just bend it upwards and it will come right out. i never had problems it's under 1 min.

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by lverasky

can someone make a video?? i have a really hard time remove the H7 bulb out ..... so sad

Here's a quickie video from my phone removing the bulb from the bracket

Here are some still shots of the bulb bracket from different angles that might make it easier to see what needs to be done.

Pic #1 - In the first pic, you can see the retaining clip on the top of the bracket holding in the low-beam bulb by its top tab

Pic #2 - Just a slightly different angle to give you a relative feel for how much you will need to bend that retaining clip in order to release the low-beam bulb from the retaining clip

Pic #3 - So you can either push up the smaller retaining clip shown by the smaller yellow arrow, or... like most people will do, they will just push the entire top portion of the bracket upwards (shown by the two larger yellow arrows to the side) to release the bulb

Hope that helps

[lverasky]

squidlyboy

thank you thank you..i almost cry..i am going home tonight and try again....wish me luck...

[squidlyboy]

lol - funny guy

Going back to ARBMWGuy's original post pic, if you use a AWL or some type of pick tool or skinny screwdriver, push up the middle of that skinny middle tab (black arrow below) and the bulb should pop right out.

Keep in mind if you deform it too much, that same tab that keeps the bulb in place will no longer keep the bulb in place. So push up only enough to pull the bulb out, but no more....

[dangson]

Originally Posted by lverasky

So i got to the step that is trying remove the bulb out...but I havn't hard time to bent the outward thing....so hard to take it out. scratch my hand few times now...and still no success. >_<

In addition to the great detailed posts others have posted, here's my previous post on this process:
http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=67

Another thing that might help is to use the camera on your phone to see what's going on as you're working on the bulb.

[cpm3rd]

I realize this is an older thread, however it is very informative. As a new owner I would like to replace the dull OEM Halogens with a better bulb. However when looking at the Philips bulbs used in this thread (Philips H7 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb) on Amazon, it says they fit "High Beam". I am confused, can this bulb also be used as a low beam? Is it both Hi and Low Beam? Forgive my newb question...just need some clarification.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Crysta...Headlight+Bulb

[Diddler]

Originally Posted by cpm3rd

I realize this is an older thread, however it is very informative. As a new owner I would like to replace the dull OEM Halogens with a better bulb. However when looking at the Philips bulbs used in this thread (Philips H7 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb) on Amazon, it says they fit "High Beam". I am confused, can this bulb also be used as a low beam? Is it both Hi and Low Beam? Forgive my newb question...just need some clarification.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Crysta...Headlight+Bulb

Yes - The size for both low beams and high beams are 55W H7 bulbs. You can look at the owner's manual (easily found on bmw site or on this forum) and it tells you the wattage, size, and how to replace the bulbs.

Just note the low beams are a bit harder to replace as there's a slot near the front wheels, and you will almost certainly need to jack the car and remove the front wheels.

The high beams and DRL (daytime running lights) are really easy to replace. Just pop open the hood and replace the correct bulb.

[quadwiz]

Originally Posted by ARBMWGuy

This was not described properly in the BMW computer manual so I'm going to give you guys a heads up on what was a more frustrating bulb swap than I expected.

1. Turn wheel to one side to expose panel on inner fender.
2. Remove panel by pulling tabs down to expose circular headlamp bulb panel
3. Turn counter-clockwise to remove circular panel
4. Move bulb housing up and down to loosen and remove

So far these steps are as described in the manual, however bulb removal is quite annoying. After cutting my hand up pretty good and searching for at least 15 minutes online, I finally found a solution. There are three metal brackets that lock in the actual low beam bulb.



5. These brackets must be bent slightly outward in order to remove the bulb
6. After bending the backets slightly, the bulb loosens and easily slides out
7. Before installing the new bulb, bend the brackets back to original position and the new bulb will fit tightly and lock in when installed
8. Repeat previous steps in reverse order to put everything back together

I hope this helps for those wanting to do a DIY bulb only upgrade. Once I figured out the solution with the brackets, the second bulb took me less than 5 minutes to change.

Thanks - I installed some philip xtremes yesterday and this was really helpful.

[quadwiz]

Originally Posted by Diddler

Just note the low beams are a bit harder to replace as there's a slot near the front wheels, and you will almost certainly need to jack the car and remove the front wheels.

Not absolutely necessary - turn the steering completely to the left and you should be able to replace the right low beams light. It's a bit fiddly but doable without removing the wheel. Replace the right low beam, test it (be careful since the bulb gets hot) and put everything thing back together. Then turn the steering completely to the right and repeat for the left low beam.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by cpm3rd

I would like to replace the dull OEM Halogens with a better bulb. However when looking at the Philips bulbs used in this thread (Philips H7 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb) on Amazon, it says they fit "High Beam". I am confused, can this bulb also be used as a low beam? Is it both Hi and Low Beam?]

The same bulb is used for high and low. BTW, while the color temp of 'upgrade' bulbs may be higher than OEM, the lumens output, which is what counts, isn't. They're all about 1400 lumens. If you want a bulb that's actually brighter this is the only one, at 2100 lumens:
http://store.candlepower.com/osraulhiouh7.html

It's a 65w bulb, but that won't be a problem for your wiring, which is sized for 100w.
You can also upgrade your 35w H8 fogs with 55w H11 bulbs. The H11 base requires a bit of trimming with a Dremel tool to fit the H8 socket.

[paco29toy]

Originally Posted by cpm3rd

I realize this is an older thread, however it is very informative. As a new owner I would like to replace the dull OEM Halogens with a better bulb. However when looking at the Philips bulbs used in this thread (Philips H7 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb) on Amazon, it says they fit "High Beam". I am confused, can this bulb also be used as a low beam? Is it both Hi and Low Beam? Forgive my newb question...just need some clarification.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Crysta...Headlight+Bulb

Have you installed them yet? Any before/after pics?