[auburnf30x]

I don't see any projectors pictured in that link, but if yours has them, that would be very interesting to look into...

I agree in terms of real world usage, the non-adaptive LEDs are just as bright as HID (though technically they do it with fewer lumens). However, in reflector form, they leave a lot to be desired with regard to light distribution vs. HID projectors.

If yours are projectors, that would alleviate that issue...and would probably be a great plug and play upgrade for those of us stuck with non-adaptive reflectors.

[jnj2455]

Originally Posted by auburnf30x

I don't see any projectors pictured in that link, but if yours has them, that would be very interesting to look into...

I agree in terms of real world usage, the non-adaptive LEDs are just as bright as HID (though technically they do it with fewer lumens). However, in reflector form, they leave a lot to be desired with regard to light distribution vs. HID projectors.

If yours are projectors, that would alleviate that issue...and would probably be a great plug and play upgrade for those of us stuck with non-adaptive reflectors.

They effectively took the pre-LCI bi-xenons, swapped them for LED bulbs, and changed out the turn signal for LED as well. Why they're only on 4-series idk. Note that the inner projector is a dummy and doesn't actually do anything.

[auburnf30x]

Wild...learn something new every day.

Your light is definitely better controlled than the reflector LEDs the rest of us have.



Picture is actually more flattering than it really appears...has an indistinct and somewhat splotchy cutoff.

Hard to tell, but it looks like yours suffer the same issue in terms of width. Fortunately, the fogs fix that in both cases...



Images doctored a bit to make the pattern more visible.

I don’t think yours would be plug and play given the differences, but it is a better design.

[jnj2455]

Originally Posted by auburnf30x

Wild...learn something new every day.

Your light is definitely better controlled than the reflector LEDs the rest of us have.



Picture is actually more flattering than it really appears...has an indistinct and somewhat splotchy cutoff.

Hard to tell, but it looks like yours suffer the same issue in terms of width. Fortunately, the fogs fix that in both cases...



Images doctored a bit to make the pattern more visible.

I don’t think yours would be plug and play given the differences, but it is a better design.

That's the low beam cut off?? Have you tried adjusting the heights and the side to sides for more even distribution?

[auburnf30x]

Originally Posted by jnj2455

That's the low beam cut off?? Have you tried adjusting the heights and the side to sides for more even distribution?

Believe it or not, that IS even! I’m on a slight incline so it points up and to the right, but they are both lined up even with each other. Side to side they are where they should be, also. The light distribution is just that bad...

I question why BMW chose reflectors given that the technology is subpar to projectors in virtually every way. I think it comes down to appearance. Externally, they LOOK great. Glare is nonexistent to other drivers, so even at night it looks good and you can instantly identify the car. But the result is the same as 25 years ago when some manufacturers put HIDs in reflector housings... it just doesn’t work all that great.

My car has the cornering lamp feature, it’s really neat, but I never get to use it because the fogs are always on to compensate for the lows.

At least they aren’t halogen...

[bmwdiag123]

These are the small cracks that I was talking about. Maybe due to this my headlight brightness is little low. This is the reason i was searching to change my headlights to new type led lights. Even if it was not adaptive. I wished to retrofit the kind where that splitter bar was present in top rather than that present in middle of the headlight. I saw in the above reply that it was non adaptive led headlights.

[auburnf30x]

Originally Posted by bmwdiag123

These are the small cracks that I was talking about. Maybe due to this my headlight brightness is little low. This is the reason i was searching to change my headlights to new type led lights. Even if it was not adaptive. I wished to retrofit the kind where that splitter bar was present in top rather than that present in middle of the headlight. I saw in the above reply that it was non adaptive led headlights.

Gotcha. Not much can be done about those spider cracks, apparently. I do see some heavy oxidation present though, have you tried one of those headlight restoration kits? Most likely that's affecting your brightness more than the spider cracks do. A good restoration kit should bring it back to new performance and virtually new appearance if you can live with the spider cracks.

To answer your original question from the previous page...I do think it's possible, and I think that the wiring kit you posted, along with factory LEDs and coding would be all you would need to do it. I noticed the eBay seller offers coding help for an additional fee, I would probably take him up on that with it being a pretty major change.

With adaptive vs. non-adaptive, replacement non-adaptive ones are going to be somewhat less expensive than the other, although neither are cheap. I'll try to get some better output shots of my non-adaptive ones to help you decide. In all honesty, I really do like them just fine and they work well enough, I was just a bit surprised they weren't better than they are when I first used them.

[auburnf30x]

Here we go...

Low/high, first with fogs then without...





Now with just the headlights by themselves...





The only real criticism I have is lack of width without turning the fogs on. My dad once told me BMW headlights tended to be that way to be optimal on the autobahn, with distance being more important than spread.

[bmwdiag123]

Originally Posted by auburnf30x

Here we go...

Low/high, first with fogs then without...





Now with just the headlights by themselves...





The only real criticism I have is lack of width without turning the fogs on. My dad once told me BMW headlights tended to be that way to be optimal on the autobahn, with distance being more important than spread.

This looks much more brighter and clear when compared to mine. I am seeing for a best headlight restoration kit and will try to remove that oxidation that you mentioned earlier. After that will see if the brightness is improved or not and will decide if I still wish to retrofit the LED headlights. Thank you for the images though

[jnj2455]

Originally Posted by bmwdiag123

This looks much more brighter and clear when compared to mine. I am seeing for a best headlight restoration kit and will try to remove that oxidation that you mentioned earlier. After that will see if the brightness is improved or not and will decide if I still wish to retrofit the LED headlights. Thank you for the images though

Idk what your driving environment is, or you've just driven your car a lot, but you effectively need to buff/wet sand off the chipped/pitted/oxidised clearcoat and re-clear the headlights. I've done it before and it's time consuming but nothing the average person can't do. Then once everything cured, I'd advise adding a layer of clear film to the headlights to protect the new clearcoat.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by bmwdiag123

This looks much more brighter and clear when compared to mine. I am seeing for a best headlight restoration kit and will try to remove that oxidation that you mentioned earlier. After that will see if the brightness is improved or not and will decide if I still wish to retrofit the LED headlights. Thank you for the images though

If you search on ebay or elsewhere online, they make headlight covers. If you are ok with removing the headlight unit, you can bake the headlight, remove the plastic cover and replace it with a new one.

[thaddolson]

New here:
I just recently bought a 2018 430i convertible with front end missing(project car). Research shows it's LCI LED non adaptive headlights. I'm having a hard time finding some.
Can adaptive be used in non adaptive if I buy them loaded with all the ballasts and bulbs used?

Thanks, (hope I didn't hijack thread)