Not joined yet? Register for free and enjoy features such as alerts, private messaging and viewing latest posts and topics.

Halo bulbs

General car related chat
Post Reply
sapphireblack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 1629
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:30 am
Location: Kent, garden of England

Halo bulbs

Post by sapphireblack » Sun Nov 04, 2018 4:48 pm

I do appreciate this is an almost done to death subject. It seems i could actully just swap the upgrades in my E63 over to the X6. I dont recall what they are offhand other than white, therefore looking much better than the OE yellow glow.

I wonder though what the latest thinking/recommendations are? Anyone bought an upgrade they're really happy with ?

I am aware the super white LED look can't be achieved

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18520
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Halo bulbs

Post by X5Sport » Sun Nov 04, 2018 5:19 pm

I don’t think anything has really changed.  There are LED replacements for H8 but they either need extra CANBUS cancellers which have to be lost inside the lamp itself, or are too deep to fit in the lamps due to the heat sinks and/or fans.

I have only seen one X6 (E71) with something that made me think ‘those actually work’ but even they weren’t as bright as OEM.  I wonder what they were though, and what other mods neede doing to get them that good in daylight.

MTEC bulbs still seem the nearest (albeit not perfect) for both brightness and colour temp.  I was looking earlier today.  Many promises of being really bright and great in daylight or great for colour but when read into further or into customer reviews still seem a little shy of the mark.

If you do find something, don’t forget to share  :)
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

sapphireblack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 1629
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:30 am
Location: Kent, garden of England

Re: Halo bulbs

Post by sapphireblack » Mon Nov 05, 2018 9:54 pm

Just perused  MTEC and £140 for one offering is laughable unless they offer current LED levels of brightness, which they won't.

Think I'll swap from the E63, at least they're white lights if not particularly bright.

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18520
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Halo bulbs

Post by X5Sport » Tue Nov 06, 2018 6:12 pm

MTEC kits are under £20 for H8 35W HID effect bulbs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MTEC-Cosmos-Bl ... words=MTEC
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

sapphireblack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 1629
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:30 am
Location: Kent, garden of England

Re: Halo bulbs

Post by sapphireblack » Wed Nov 07, 2018 9:09 am

I suppose they could be worth a try, as long as the output is white they'll look better than a yellow glow for sure

sapphireblack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 1629
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:30 am
Location: Kent, garden of England

Re: Halo bulbs

Post by sapphireblack » Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:56 pm

I fitted some MTec H8s today, not sure it was worth the bloodied knuckles 😐


If these load correctly??

#1 drl mode, #2 sidelights




🤣 i rotated these images in my library but they're still displaying upside down 😠
Attachments
20181121_184053.jpg
20181121_184053.jpg (90.24 KiB) Viewed 1004 times
20181121_184026.jpg
20181121_184026.jpg (72.95 KiB) Viewed 1004 times

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18520
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Halo bulbs

Post by X5Sport » Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:34 pm

Apart from being inverted, they look alright. What aren’t you happy about? The colour temp looks better, but you’ll never match LED unless you can find 5000°K or higher - which I haven’t found either. And yes I know the feeling about skinned knuckles too :x

I would like to change my HIDs to Osram Xenarc Laser lamps (better brightness and slightly higher °K) but getting to those is even worse! I think I have to go in via the wing!
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

sapphireblack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 1629
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:30 am
Location: Kent, garden of England

Re: Halo bulbs

Post by sapphireblack » Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:56 pm

Colour is definitely better in the dark. In daylight the inner halos are notably better illuminated than the outers, kind of unbalancing the four ring look altogether.

I'll doubtless keep them in situ, my hands are too sore to delve into those spaces again any time soon.

By unhappy coincidence i had the car flag me a bulb failure warning tonite, n/s brake light, my first ever actual BMW bulb failure since 1998 i think. More groping in awkward spaces in the morning.

Post Reply