[lemetier]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

Drove my friends i3 last night. Its LED is not as bright in color (maybe because it is not aimed so low) but the light distribution and the covered areas are much better than my reflector LED...

We need those projectors..

They're finally coming...they've been ready for years but LG/Samsung/ a couple of the Asian Electronics Manufacturers decided they infringed on their LED Television Patents, filed suit, lost, then Koito (Toyota's Supplier) filed an infringement suit, and pissed the industry off so much, Phillips put their entire LED Division up for sale.

It's all settled now and they'll rapidly improve by leaps and bounds rather quickly.

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

I have an i3 and I can confirm that the color and brightness are not on par with my F80 LED lights with NGHB. I can say it is like night and day different. The throw on the i3 does seem to be further on the low beams at low speeds but once the NGHB kicks in after 25mph (I had it coded to a lower speed limit than the EU version) the road becomes so lit, its just amazing.

The i3's LED light output is a bit more yellow in color, whiter than 4300K Xeons, maybe 4700K? The F80's LED system seems to be right at 5000k. Pure white and just right IMO.

PWM (intensity) affects the color spectrum of the LED's). Your M3, once coded to ECE settings, nearly doubled the luminous output and brought the binned chipsets back up to 6000k.

The Fresnel Lens on the i3 will also distort the color a bit as well.

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

ok i will give it a try. it can't be worse than what i have right now as long as i dont go crazy with the turning.

There are two screws so use the correct one for your vehicle, and follow the alignment instructions exactly.

1 full turn is one degree, so start with quarter or half turns. A little goes a long way. The manual adjustments will sometimes make an audible click when moving the stepper motor, sometimes they won't make any noise but are moving the motor, and sometimes there's noise and no movement, or no movement and no noise. Have to pay attention and take it slow.

[Ganxxta]

I had my adaptive LEDs in my F32 re-adjusted right after delivery and with (slightly aggressive coded) EU adaptive high beams I have in my opinion now great light at night.

Especially once high beams are on its impressive

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by miamiten

PWM (intensity) affects the color spectrum of the LED's). Your M3, once coded to ECE settings, nearly doubled the luminous output and brought the binned chipsets back up to 6000k.

The Fresnel Lens on the i3 will also distort the color a bit as well.

Ok, tell us who you work for and how you know this stuff! LOL

Thanks for confirming b/c my M3 literally lights up everything in front of me and I absolutely freaking love it especially since my vision drops below 20/20 at night. I need all the help I can get!

[Bmw doubles]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Ok, tell us who you work for and how you know this stuff! LOL

Thanks for confirming b/c my M3 literally lights up everything in front of me and I absolutely freaking love it especially since my vision drops below 20/20 at night. I need all the help I can get!

Retro your m3 with Prius headlights if you want lighting performance

[oonowindoo]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

I have an i3 and I can confirm that the color and brightness are not on par with my F80 LED lights with NGHB. I can say it is like night and day different. The throw on the i3 does seem to be further on the low beams at low speeds but once the NGHB kicks in after 25mph (I had it coded to a lower speed limit than the EU version) the road becomes so lit, its just amazing.

The i3's LED light output is a bit more yellow in color, whiter than 4300K Xeons, maybe 4700K? The F80's LED system seems to be right at 5000k. Pure white and just right IMO.

Well I have not had any coding done on mine. So the i3's LED was "better" for me before and after 25mph

I would sacrifice some brightness within 10 ft of me to see further and wider any day.

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

Well I have not had any coding done on mine. So the i3's LED was "better" for me before and after 25mph

I would sacrifice some brightness within 10 ft of me to see further and wider any day.

Get them coded! lol NGHB is the most amazing lighting experience you can have with your BMW.

FU DOT and your outdated regs. The ECE standards are far superior.

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Ok, tell us who you work for and how you know this stuff! LOL

Thanks for confirming b/c my M3 literally lights up everything in front of me and I absolutely freaking love it especially since my vision drops below 20/20 at night. I need all the help I can get!

Haha...that's a secret.

Just a passionate enthusiast who specifically switched to an F10 M5 LCI because I really wanted GFHB LED's. Was one of the early coders 2 years ago who thought it was functioning correctly, but didn't have a chance to really experience them until last year. I realized the known methods were NOT enabling full functionality after all on the F10 and have spent the past several months trying to crack the illusive block. In this time, I've learned just about everything there is to know about Solid State Automotive lighting, from the regulations world wide, the workings of every component of every type, read the DOT, SAE, ECE publications front to back, upside down, in multiple languages, acquired data from vehicles around the world, and have even disassembled a number of headlamps to determine what if any hardware changes are present. Have even read the Physiological Studies of how the Human Nervous System reacts the these systems...that really is mind numbing. I'm fortunate to have many contacts and resources in the auto industry available, but it wouldn't be useful and not worth the sacrifice without the Bimmer Enthusiast Communities. The inquisitive minds, and the knowledge contributors are what makes this happen.

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

Well I have not had any coding done on mine. So the i3's LED was "better" for me before and after 25mph

I would sacrifice some brightness within 10 ft of me to see further and wider any day.

Take your pick...

[Bbb34]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Ok, tell us who you work for and how you know this stuff! LOL

Exactly what I was wondering too reading some of his other (also very informative and good) posts.

Originally Posted by miamiten

Haha...that's a secret....Just a passionate enthusiast...

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by miamiten

Haha...that's a secret.

Just a passionate enthusiast who specifically switched to an F10 M5 LCI because I really wanted GFHB LED's. Was one of the early coders 2 years ago who thought it was functioning correctly, but didn't have a chance to really experience them until last year. I realized the known methods were NOT enabling full functionality after all on the F10 and have spent the past several months trying to crack the illusive block. In this time, I've learned just about everything there is to know about Solid State Automotive lighting, from the regulations world wide, the workings of every component of every type, read the DOT, SAE, ECE publications front to back, upside down, in multiple languages, acquired data from vehicles around the world, and have even disassembled a number of headlamps to determine what if any hardware changes are present. Have even read the Physiological Studies of how the Human Nervous System reacts the these systems...that really is mind numbing. I'm fortunate to have many contacts and resources in the auto industry available, but it wouldn't be useful and not worth the sacrifice without the Bimmer Enthusiast Communities. The inquisitive minds, and the knowledge contributors are what makes this happen.

Man, ok, that's serious research you did there! You sound like an engineer at heart but I will laugh if you're a physician or dentist or something healthcare related lol

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Man, ok, that's serious research you did there! You sound like an engineer at heart but I will laugh if you're a physician or dentist or something healthcare related lol

I admit I went a bit overboard, but the medical research explained a lot and will be useful to remember now that FLE ECU's are in use and allow an insane amount of coding manipulation.

Zero Professional Background in Medicine. I'm a man who wears many hats and works 18+ hrs a day, 7 days a week in a wide variety of areas.

[rwjr44]

So if I take my 228i to the BMW dealer and complain, what will/can they do?

[oonowindoo]

They might adjust it or they will just tell you to go home because it is within factory spec.

The problem is the factor spec itself. So adjust on your own.

[oonowindoo]

Update:

I did the adjustment last night with the 2 white up facing screws. I thought it was clockwise and realized that it was actually counter clock (up).

There was no clicking or any sound. did about 2 full turns.

There is a slight increase in height (visibility) but it seems the light on the road also got dimmer (not as white) which i kinda understand why.

overall, happy with the result. Still not as good as i would have hoped but with reflectors, i guess this is as good as it gets. unless i go with the high beam coding.

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

Update:

I did the adjustment last night with the 2 white up facing screws. I thought it was clockwise and realized that it was actually counter clock (up).

There was no clicking or any sound. did about 2 full turns.

There is a slight increase in height (visibility) but it seems the light on the road also got dimmer (not as white) which i kinda understand why.

overall, happy with the result. Still not as good as i would have hoped but with reflectors, i guess this is as good as it gets. unless i go with the high beam coding.

Two full turns seems excessive even for very out of spec lights. Thats roughly 1/3 of the entire vertical motion range. There are two adjustment screws on each headlamp. The one closer to the centerline of the car is the vertical adjustment.

You did do this with the ignition only on, light switch in the on position (not auto), driver's door closed, and waited 80 seconds after closing the door to allow the stepper motor driver to go into diagnostic mode yes?

[oonowindoo]

Originally Posted by miamiten

Two full turns seems excessive even for very out of spec lights. Thats roughly 1/3 of the entire vertical motion range. There are two adjustment screws on each headlamp. The one closer to the centerline of the car is the vertical adjustment.

You did do this with the ignition only on, light switch in the on position (not auto), driver's door closed, and waited 80 seconds after closing the door to allow the stepper motor driver to go into diagnostic mode yes?

Someone said there is only 1 place for the adjustment.
I hope i did not do the horizontal adjustment.

I did it with ignition on (car off) in auto (when it is leveled), dont remember if the door was closed. Not sure about the diagnostic mode...

Tell me i adjusted the right one?

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

Someone said there is only 1 place for the adjustment.
I hope i did not do the horizontal adjustment.

I did it with ignition on (car off) in auto (when it is leveled), dont remember if the door was closed. Not sure about the diagnostic mode...

Tell me i adjusted the right one?

Well...

There are 4 total and those are the horizontal adjusters (which should, but might not have had some plastic plugs in the hex slot). The vertical aim adjustment is not as close to the sealing cap

Second problem is they cannot be manually adjusted in auto mode and run the risk of a bad alignment or worse, breaking the stepper motors if they fight against the change.

Left Side Lamp shown in image. The vertical is the one closer and clearly shown.

[oonowindoo]

they did not have any plugs in it. But i can tell you that they moved up when i turned them counter clock wise. Or it could be an illusion that the headlight was moving left/right.

Let me see if i can find the other one

[oonowindoo]

i just checked again. The closer white is not visible from outside. Unless there is a hole on the radiator support that i can to reach through otherwise it is not visible. I checked the holes and none of them was connected to it. (my F30 and other HID cars were done that way)

[lemetier]

It just dawned on me...You have standard not Adaptive LED correct? If so then yes there would only be one adjuster per lamp and can ignore my previous reply and image of the Hella Adaptive lamp.

I would suggest however to check the height they're at now with the car on a level surface, and square to a flat vertical reference point and readjust with the switch in the correct position.