[CalCarNut]

You guys should just buy a 4 series/GC to get the Xenons

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by PennSt8

CLAs and C300s do not come standard with xenons or LEDs (in the US at least).

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicl...C/model-C300WB

False.

The CLA and GLA don't, but the rest of the line-up absolutely does.

[PennSt8]

Originally Posted by Rated ///M Power

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicl...C/model-C300WB

False.

The CLA and GLA don't, but the rest of the line-up absolutely does.

The C300 has LED daytime running lights that line the base of the headlight housing. The headlamp units themselves are in fact halogen.

[Weiman]

Originally Posted by Mauricio Palacios. MD

Hello friends. This is just my opinion, but - personal taste - xenon units look much better than LED. I think the projectors (lenses) give them a professional touch. Maybe the LED systems provide brighter light but, due to the reflectors, they are much "halogen like" to me. Good day…

Agreed. The DRLs look great, the reflectors - not so much.

Weirdly the LEDs in the F20 LCI look like projectors?
http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6phios8y.jpg
http://f20.1addicts.com/forums/attac...1&d=1429477330

[Mauricio Palacios. MD]

Originally Posted by Weiman

Agreed. The DRLs look great, the reflectors - not so much.

Weirdly the LEDs in the F20 LCI look like projectors?
http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6phios8y.jpg
http://f20.1addicts.com/forums/attac...1&d=1429477330

I think that those are HID Xenons, Weiman. Usually, when present, fog lights in vehicles equipped with LED main units, are LED too, aren't them? Good evening…

[Weiman]

Originally Posted by Mauricio Palacios. MD

I think that those are HID Xenons, Weiman.

Umm, no. The F20 LCI has either halogen or LED, just like the F30.

[CHCCubs]

Originally Posted by PennSt8

The C300 has LED daytime running lights that line the base of the headlight housing. The headlamp units themselves are in fact halogen.

Which much like the previous generation C Class, the combo of halogen headlights and led accents look horribly cheap IMO.

[mkoesel]

I see. So the non-adaptive light LED for the F30 LCI doesn't even have the ability to swivel like most BMW Xenon lights have had for some time now. You have to upgrade to the optional adaptive light get that feature. In other words there is give and take here - although the full LED headlight is now standard on the 340i, it has given up some features that were previously provided with the standard Xenon on the 335i.

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

The "full" Adaptive LED lights are really "Adaptive with anti dazzle"
The "anti dazzle" bit is what some refer to as "tunneling" and the bit not available in the US.

Now for example the 6 Series came out with only "adaptive LED" even in Europe and you need the 6 Series LCI to get "Adaptive with anti dazzle"

"Adaptive LED" work just like "Adaptive Xenons" in that they can swivel as you turn the steering wheel.

The US DOT regulations dont allow the "anti dazzle" part yet, but the rest of the adaptive parts are ok.
Some in the US, especially F10 owners, have activated the "anti dazzle" via coding and found it works.

My guess now is BMW USA will offer adaptive LED as a option, since it does add the features found on adaptive Xenons and at one stage the DOT may approve the system and then its just a software update to enable it.

[hc91]

Mercedes Benz has Halogen headlights as standard on the CLA,GLA,GLK,GL,M,C,and E class.....they are just as bad if not worse than BMW if you consider your paying 50K plus for some of those models and you still have to option in the "lighting Package".

Audi is the only one that has Xenons standard on all their models..at least in America.

[buckybadger]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

I see. So the non-adaptive light LED for the F30 LCI doesn't even have the ability to swivel like most BMW Xenon lights have had for some time now. You have to upgrade to the optional adaptive lighthouse get that feature. In other words there is give and take here - although the full LED headlight is now standard on the 340i, it has given up some features that were previously provided with the standard Xenon on the 335i.

Its all give and take these days. The F30 LCI is giving something new but will take away something out too or will hike up the price.

For me, personally I'd take the adaptive Xenon headlights over non-adaptive LED and I don't want to pay extra for that kind of stuff in this price range.

Change is not always good. I hope these LCI upgrades will bring something good like ya'll are expecting. So lets be optimistic.

[tallshortguy]

Originally Posted by Rated ///M Power

Lol, it is truer than true. I'm not just blind by the kool-aid.

Oh really?

Originally Posted by PennSt8

The C300 has LED daytime running lights that line the base of the headlight housing. The headlamp units themselves are in fact halogen.

First you say the whole lineup then you admit the CLA and GLA don't. Which one is it?

Also I have personally seen a new C300 with halogen low beam headlights on. I'm not sure what you think this has to do with kool aid since this is not a subjective discussion.

Just take the L instead of continuing this nonsense.

[carzaddict]

Originally Posted by PennSt8

Actually Corollas come standard with LED low beam headlights (the high beams are still halogen). It does not strike me as an overly complex system, which explains why Toyota went with it in the Corolla.

none of the systems are complex. LED's, xenons, key-less start, etc......its all cheap to manufacture...thats why you'll find it on sub $20k cars!!! but the luxury car companies want us to pay for it

[dpmenzer]

A little background on adaptive LEDs:

Adaptive headlights shine the light precisely
The first fully integrated high-brightness LED matrix manager IC for adaptive automotive headlight systems from Texas Instruments is a coup for the entire automotive industry but it wasn’t without its challenges. Adaptive high beams have been available in Europe for several years but the initial implementations were complicated, consisting of bulky discrete circuits, including multiple transistors, motors and actuators, gate drivers and glue logic to create a very coarse electrically steerable high beam. While revolutionary at the time, it was also obvious that this capability was in its infancy and future generations of headlamps would further improve and refine this functionality. The challenge for TI was to recognize and invest in this application early on, and then to take these bulky discrete circuits and create an integrated approach with sufficient modularity and flexibility to meet OEM requirements for differentiation across their models and trim levels.

The need for adaptive headlights was obvious but it couldn’t be done as well with bulb technology and had to wait for the LED lamp to come of age. The LED enables electrical steering of light and intensity. This enabled safety and convenience and at the same time OEMs could benefit from signature styling/branding as a result. The adaptive headlight gave the driver of a car greater road distance visibility because the high beams could be always on and showing selective areas while dimming lighting to oncoming traffic. It provides improved visibility around corners by responding to steering wheel inputs and lighting the roadway where the automobile is going. The technology can also hyper-illuminate road debris, pedestrians or other hazards providing the driver more time to react. While these new designs are appearing today in cars throughout Europe, the U.S. headlamp regulations have been slow to adopt these automatic headlamps.

The product development for the adaptive headlight LED matrix manager had a core team of 12 engineers worked together over a three year period to develop and launch it. Driven from TI’s design facility in Colorado, the team included design, layout, test, production, application, system, and firmware engineers working closely with TI’s global sales force in conjunction with inputs from OEMs and suppliers to bring the TPS92661-Q1 to market.

[openwheelracing]

standard LED light should be almost as cheap as halogen to produce. That should be a standard option with adaptive version as upgrade. The whole halogen BS is just a way to get people to pay more for something "sexier".

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

I see. So the non-adaptive light LED for the F30 LCI doesn't even have the ability to swivel like most BMW Xenon lights have had for some time now. You have to upgrade to the optional adaptive light get that feature. In other words there is give and take here - although the full LED headlight is now standard on the 340i, it has given up some features that were previously provided with the standard Xenon on the 335i.

Standard Xenons could not swivel either, only adaptive Xenons that cost a lot more.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by openwheelracing

standard LED light should be almost as cheap as halogen to produce. That should be a standard option with adaptive version as upgrade. The whole halogen BS is just a way to get people to pay more for something "sexier".

You done a lot of factory cost accounting ? LED's are expensive to produce. Halogens are made by the millions each day and the tech is old and payed off.

Most people around the world dont pay the extra, so most BMW's get halogens around the world.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by carzaddict

none of the systems are complex. LED's, xenons, key-less start, etc......its all cheap to manufacture...thats why you'll find it on sub $20k cars!!! but the luxury car companies want us to pay for it

Go pull a Corolla headlight and its control systems and go pull a BMW LED headlight and its control systems. You will find a huge difference in quality and technology between the 2. Even in halogen headlights. (Not just talking the bulbs here)

Now divide the low cost of manufacture between tens of millions of Toyotas fitted with the system while with the BMW one you can only divide it by a million or so.

You will quickly see there is a great cost difference between the 2.And even the "cheap" one is not so cheap to produce as many seem to think


(Yes, I have done a lot of cost system work in the automotive industry.)

[openwheelracing]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

You done a lot of factory cost accounting ? LED's are expensive to produce. Halogens are made by the millions each day and the tech is old and payed off.

Most people around the world dont pay the extra, so most BMW's get halogens around the world.

No need for attitude.

I can ask you the same thing. Have you done cost analysis of LED VS Halogen headlights?

Everuone here agrees that adaptive headlights are expensive to produce, but simply changing lightbulb from halogen to LED shouldnt cost $1000.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by openwheelracing

No need for attitude.

I can ask you the same thing. Have you done cost analysis of LED VS Halogen headlights?

Everuone here agrees that adaptive headlights are expensive to produce, but simply changing lightbulb from halogen to LED shouldnt cost $1000.

How much difference in price is there in that 40 watt incandescent light bulb and the LED equivalent at your local Home Depot? 40w incandescent, $1.75; LED, $9.50.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by openwheelracing

No need for attitude.

I can ask you the same thing. Have you done cost analysis of LED VS Halogen headlights?

Everuone here agrees that adaptive headlights are expensive to produce, but simply changing lightbulb from halogen to LED shouldnt cost $1000.

No attitude, sorry if it came across that way. Was a full on question.

Yes, but with headlights its was on the full import cost of Halogens vs Xenons as those are one of the parts we dont produce in country for the motor manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes, Toyota ect ect

The BMW LED 's are far from just changing the lightbulb from halogen to LED. Not sure about how Toyota does it, but BMW oness are a completely different headlight and controller.

[fredsf30]

Originally Posted by M3JHWK

BMW are so cheap it's a joke. They know every fucker is going to cough up to buy the LEDs because:
1) the standard halogens look like utter shit.
2) the standard halogens are completely useless for illuminating the road.

It's 2015, xenons should be standard fare with LEDs optional... At least. It's the same sort of bullshit that they pull with their LED tail lights only being available post-LCI... Trying to save a few Euros here and there to keep the accountants/board happy. Get a grip.

In my 2012 328i I had the base halogens. They truly were the worst lights I have had on the 25+ cars that I have owned.

They were so bad, that they were a key reason I traded to a 2012 335i to get the adaptive headlights.

[fredsf30]

Originally Posted by justinnum1

your wrong on number 2. the standard halogens do a fine job of illuminating the road.

Actually, they do not do a fine job. I even upgraded to the premium bulbs that BMW offers. They are actually totally unacceptable from a safety standpoint.