[KTE]

Did something similar above with xenons facing a wall in my car park, beam definitely moves to the right.

Can’t recall whether I didn’t move to the right or like above there is something stopping it from doing so.

Definitely moves when stationary.

[agentorange]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

I'm not sure about Canada. But aren't LED outputs clipped in the USA?. A friend of mine bought a Tesla and mentioned something about US models having lower output. which could be overridden via coding.

More than likely. The US has some very arcane and strict rules on light output. As a result and because the US car makers are cheapskates, they have been glacial in their adoption of better light technology. For example, when I arrived in 1997, my brand new rental was fitted with transverse filament bulbs that may not have even been halogen. I don't think a new vehicle in the UK had been so equipped since about 1980.

[gfa3]

Originally Posted by dopper99

Unless you talk to a 340i owner ....... then it is faster than a 335d.

I think you guys need to finish reading that thread

[SkyJawa]

[garytc78]

Well seeing as we're reviving this I just picked up my lci 335d with adaptive headlights and I can say without a doubt they're leagues better than the xenons on my f31.

[M33DLO]

My little write up, I went from pre LCI with adaptive xenon to LCI with adaptive LED.

The adaptive part is much better now as each beam graduates its intensity between off/on, rather than the pre LCI xenons just instantly cutting off or on. LCI adaptive LED are less obvious when they are doing their thang and a nicer experience.. I found the adaptive xenons distracting (but not to outweight the advantages) the way they kept turning off/on.

I cant say the LCI adaptive LED are brighter than the pre LCI adaptive xenon. If they are, it's not that noticeable.
The xenons where a real flood of light with no interuptions whereas I do notice more 'artifacts' in the LED beam though, still a great flood of light but it's not as 'smooth' in the middle area of the beam.

I do think that astheticly the adaptive LED look better than non-adaptive LED.. The non-adaptive have the dipped beam lamp at the bottom on the unit and this overwhelms the corona rings. Adaptive has the dipped beam lamp at the top of the headlight unit, a distance away from the corona rings. You can spot the difference easily when you start to look at other BMW's.

I remember speaking to colleague who had non-adaptive LCI LED, and he was not that impressed, even coming from a E9x with halogens. I thought that was strange but now reading up, it does seem like the regular LED's are crappy.

I'm very glad I have the Adaptive LED, poor headlights are something that I notice and upgrading is not that easy these days.

[Busted]

Originally Posted by medlow

My little write up, I went from pre LCI with adaptive xenon to LCI with adaptive LED.

The adaptive part is much better now as each beam graduates its intensity between off/on, rather than the pre LCI xenons just instantly cutting off or on. LCI adaptive LED are less obvious when they are doing their thang and a nicer experience.. I found the adaptive xenons distracting (but not to outweight the advantages) the way they kept turning off/on.

I cant say the LCI adaptive LED are brighter than the pre LCI adaptive xenon. If they are, it's not that noticeable.
The xenons where a real flood of light with no interuptions whereas I do notice more 'artifacts' in the LED beam though, still a great flood of light but it's not as 'smooth' in the middle area of the beam.

I do think that astheticly the adaptive LED look better than non-adaptive LED.. The non-adaptive have the dipped beam lamp at the bottom on the unit and this overwhelms the corona rings. Adaptive has the dipped beam lamp at the top of the headlight unit, a distance away from the corona rings. You can spot the difference easily when you start to look at other BMW's.

I remember speaking to colleague who had non-adaptive LCI LED, and he was not that impressed, even coming from a E9x with halogens. I thought that was strange but now reading up, it does seem like the regular LED's are crappy.

I'm very glad I have the Adaptive LED, poor headlights are something that I notice and upgrading is not that easy these days.

Im not impressed with the standard LED's, although its mainly a height issue that is exasperated by the output being a bit lower

Adjusting them up made a big difference

[garytc78]

Originally Posted by medlow

My little write up, I went from pre LCI with adaptive xenon to LCI with adaptive LED.

The adaptive part is much better now as each beam graduates its intensity between off/on, rather than the pre LCI xenons just instantly cutting off or on. LCI adaptive LED are less obvious when they are doing their thang and a nicer experience.. I found the adaptive xenons distracting (but not to outweight the advantages) the way they kept turning off/on.

I cant say the LCI adaptive LED are brighter than the pre LCI adaptive xenon. If they are, it's not that noticeable.
The xenons where a real flood of light with no interuptions whereas I do notice more 'artifacts' in the LED beam though, still a great flood of light but it's not as 'smooth' in the middle area of the beam.

I do think that astheticly the adaptive LED look better than non-adaptive LED.. The non-adaptive have the dipped beam lamp at the bottom on the unit and this overwhelms the corona rings. Adaptive has the dipped beam lamp at the top of the headlight unit, a distance away from the corona rings. You can spot the difference easily when you start to look at other BMW's.

I remember speaking to colleague who had non-adaptive LCI LED, and he was not that impressed, even coming from a E9x with halogens. I thought that was strange but now reading up, it does seem like the regular LED's are crappy.

I'm very glad I have the Adaptive LED, poor headlights are something that I notice and upgrading is not that easy these days.

You're better placed to make a like for like comparison whereas I went from not adaptive xenons so very rarely did I use the dipped beam so to me the adaptive led is great because it gives me more light than I would normally need... As for them looking different to the non adaptive I quite like that they're on the top as it looks a bit better... Hard to explain but maybe it is because you can see the coronas better... Either way they're worth the extra money.

[ADE335D]

Such a dumb question coming up...

How do you know if you have adaptive or standard?

[Ronstein]

Originally Posted by ADE335D

Such a dumb question coming up...

How do you know if you have adaptive or standard?

On mine, the words BMW Adaptive LED are written in the outer edge of each headlight and there's an Adaptive button on the left hand stalk.

[agentorange]

You guys are so lucky to have adaptive lights. They are outlawed here in the US because of an arcane law requiring headlights to behave the same way on both sides of the car.

[onstat]

Originally Posted by ADE335D

Such a dumb question coming up...

How do you know if you have adaptive or standard?

it has "BMW Adaptive LED" written on the headlight

[M33DLO]

Originally Posted by ADE335D

Such a dumb question coming up...

How do you know if you have adaptive or standard?

You know, coz they are awesome.

But yes, the sensible answers as above (they have it written on, left hand stalk button and the actual bulb beam is at the top of the light unit, rather than the bottom)

[MSlv]

Does anybody with the standard LEDs feel that the side of the road is very poorly illuminated?

My previous car was a halogen-equipped 1 series E87 and I remember that the side of the road was quite ok in brightness, but with my F30 it feels like there is no lateral spread of light, everything is going only forward, and I find the passenger side quite dark.

I actually felt the need to activate the projector cornering lights which of course were of no help.

Is this a side effect of LED+reflector, less light spread to the sides? Is there a left-right adjustment in the headlight I could use to try and improve the lighting on the side of the road?

Just to be clear, I am not talking about cornering, I am well aware of the limitation of fixed lights in corners. I am talking about driving in straight line, like on the highway.