HID halos installed

[moog55]

looks great, greg! i think i may have to get the kit too.

[badfish]

Greg, do you think spraying a rubberized coating on the circuit board would be better than the electrical tape that is covering it? The sell those spray cans at Harbor Freight and they work pretty good. You can get a thick coat on them.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by badfish

Greg, do you think spraying a rubberized coating on the circuit board would be better than the electrical tape that is covering it? The sell those spray cans at Harbor Freight and they work pretty good. You can get a thick coat on them.

Hmmm...not sure - my thought was to epoxy encase it, but the plastic might work fine. The board is tucked away in the light housing, so it shouldn't see any water. I'll see how it lasts.

[camaross305]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Hmmm...not sure - my thought was to epoxy encase it, but the plastic might work fine. The board is tucked away in the light housing, so it shouldn't see any water. I'll see how it lasts.

Yea i was going to encase the circuit for strictly cosmetic reasons..... with the 3 beta cars we have all been running the circuit in the headlight area and have had zero problems.....thing is though it gets tucked away and you never see it. I can def. get a water proof circuit box for it but it will be too big to put in the headlight area you will have to hid it somewhere in the engine bay

[doba_s]

camaross305 - would the 44300k be as bright as 6000k ? It looks like the inner rings are way too bright and i am wondering if the 4300k would be a better choice ?

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by doba_s

camaross305 - would the 44300k be as bright as 6000k ? It looks like the inner rings are way too bright and i am wondering if the 4300k would be a better choice ?

Light output should be the same -- just slightly "warmer". One option mught be to tint the ends of the inner circle light pipe to reduce it's brightness.

Edit: The inner circle is directly lit, so another means, like a metal baffle, would need to be used.

[camaross305]

Originally Posted by doba_s

camaross305 - would the 44300k be as bright as 6000k ? It looks like the inner rings are way too bright and i am wondering if the 4300k would be a better choice ?

As i said a little earlier the 2nd and 3rd pic in his first post are more accurate of what it looks like in real life.....its hard to take pics of the lights accurately

[GregW / Oregon]

I've looked more closely at BMW's design of the lighting system. The reason the inner rings are lit much more brightly than the outers is they receive light directly from the H8 bulb via a reflector. The cornering lights set in front of these bulbs, but there is a lot of room for light to pass through. In additon, the cornering light assembly has holes which allow this light into that center lens.

In contrast, the outer rings receive light optic "light pipes" with only two small aperatures to access the H8 bulb through its reflector. It doesn't stand a chance of being as bright as the inner rings by design.

The solution to somewhat equalize them in this HID case would be to interrupt some of the direct light with a metal baffle of some sort right behind the cornering light reflector. The danger might be trapping too much heat. Also, I think, due to limited access, this might be almost impossible to do without removing and disassembling the light unit. I do think the inners are a little too bright with the HIDs. Hmmm, what to do...

[camaross305]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

I've looked more closely at BMW's design of the lighting system. The reason the inner rings are lit much more brightly than the outers is they receive light directly from the H8 bulb via a reflector. The cornering lights set in front of these bulbs, but there is a lot of room for light to pass through. In additon, the cornering light assembly has holes which allow this light into that center lens.

In contrast, the outer rings receive light optic "light pipes" with only two small aperatures to access the H8 bulb through its reflector. It doesn't stand a chance of being as bright as the inner rings by design.

The solution to somewhat equalize them in this HID case would be to interrupt some of the direct light with a metal baffle of some sort right behind the cornering light reflector. The danger might be trapping too much heat. Also, I think, due to limited access, this might be almost impossible to do without removing and disassembling the light unit. I do think the inners are a little too bright with the HIDs. Hmmm, what to do...

Yea thats why alot of people say the e92 recieved crappy halo's.... its kinda true but....... It doesnt bother me that the inner rings are brighter. Because the outer rings have the headlights inside of them so i wouldnt want those too much brighter.

Let us know if you come up with an idea to help out BMW's crappy lighting technique.

[hankit]

GregW, do you actually need to cut a way small pieces of the plastic on top of the box in order for the wires to come out so that you can lay it to your right headlamps?

I remember reading the instructions somewhere that you might need to cut a tiny piece from the top cover of the in order to get the wires out for the right...

I'm still trying to figure out if this solution is the best for the rings...when you're driving with the rings on...does the ring tends to become brighter than the lamps...or they are about the same?

Like some opinions here, I'm those like the looks but don't want to blind other driver..

thanks!

[SlammedR8]

Hey Greg, Sent you a PM.

Could you hit me back with a reply

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by hankit

GregW, do you actually need to cut a way small pieces of the plastic on top of the box in order for the wires to come out so that you can lay it to your right headlamps?

I remember reading the instructions somewhere that you might need to cut a tiny piece from the top cover of the in order to get the wires out for the right...

Yes--I notched both the cover and the corresponding lip on the housing slightly with a Dremel and conical abrasive bit. You pull the gasket out of the cover before notching. It should maintaina a good seal.

I'm still trying to figure out if this solution is the best for the rings...when you're driving with the rings on...does the ring tends to become brighter than the lamps...or they are about the same?

Like some opinions here, I'm those like the looks but don't want to blind other driver..

The rings are certainly no brighter than headlights. IMO, I don't think it's a big problem. With the headlights on, however, it may look like you have all four lights on since some of the light from the inner rings illuminates the cornering light reflector. I haven't had anyone flash me yet.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by slammedm3

Hey Greg, Sent you a PM.

Could you hit me back with a reply

Mailbox was full--try again, please.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by camaross305

Yea i was going to encase the circuit for strictly cosmetic reasons..... with the 3 beta cars we have all been running the circuit in the headlight area and have had zero problems.....thing is though it gets tucked away and you never see it. I can def. get a water proof circuit box for it but it will be too big to put in the headlight area you will have to hid it somewhere in the engine bay

Is that circuit producing any heat? If not, or negligible heat, you could simply use shrink tubing to encapsulate the whole thing.

[camaross305]

Originally Posted by Technic

Is that circuit producing any heat? If not, or negligible heat, you could simply use shrink tubing to encapsulate the whole thing.

Yea im trying this today actually because it doesn't produce hardly any heat. Im also trying an epoxy resin to encase the whole thing to also protect it. This way it should also add some strength and rigidity.

[aajami]

Originally Posted by camaross305

As i said a little earlier the 2nd and 3rd pic in his first post are more accurate of what it looks like in real life.....its hard to take pics of the lights accurately

Do you have the ability to tune down the brightness/luminosity of these units as you're putting them together, or is that out of your control?

[camaross305]

Originally Posted by aajami

Do you have the ability to tune down the brightness/luminosity of these units as you're putting them together, or is that out of your control?

like i said before... if you look at the first post in the thread the 2nd and third pics are more accurate representations of the kit. Its not that bright. You def. couldnt use it as a headlight or anything.

But no you cant turn down the voltage on an hid kit because they need so many volts to stay light. They cant dim up and down like a halogen

[GregW / Oregon]

Okay, I'm pretty sheepish about this. After I installed my halo kit I noticed my TPMS system was not working. I could see no rational connection between the two events, so I just took it into the dealer assuming it was a warranty item. Last Friday they replaced the TPMS controller, as instructed by the diagnostic analysis, and after recoding all day, the warning light would still not go off.

Took it back today. Eventually, what they found was that I had drilled through a wiring harness that runs across under the front cowl. Of you'll look at my last picture in the OP, you'll see I zip tied the cross cable by drilling some 1/8" holes along the edge of the cowl. Duh, didn't look underneath first!

$868 later my TPMS works again! F**K! Stupid! So, don't follow my pictures verbatim.

[camaross305]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Okay, I'm pretty sheepish about this. After I installed my halo kit I noticed my TPMS system was not working. I could see no rational connection between the two events, so I just took it into the dealer assuming it was a warranty item. Last Friday they replaced the TPMS controller, as instructed by the diagnostic analysis, and after recoding all day, the warning light would still not go off.

Took it back today. Eventually, what they found was that I had drilled through a wiring harness that runs across under the front cowl. Of you'll look at my last picture in the OP, you'll see I zip tied the cross cable by drilling some 1/8" holes along the edge of the cowl. Duh, didn't look underneath first!

$868 later my TPMS works again! F**K! Stupid! So, don't follow my pictures verbatim.

WOW that sucks sorry to hear that...

I tuck my wires under the fan shroud and ziptie it before entering and after entering the fan shroud to keep it from falling.

[Kev]

Originally Posted by camaross305

WOW that sucks sorry to hear that...

I tuck my wires under the fan shroud and ziptie it before entering and after entering the fan shroud to keep it from falling.

When we installed it today, we took off that plastic sleeve and wrapped everything in OEM electrical tape. Since the harness is much thinner that way. We can tuck it pretty discretely just above where Chris's tuck his harness.

[Adonislike]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Okay, I'm pretty sheepish about this. After I installed my halo kit I noticed my TPMS system was not working. I could see no rational connection between the two events, so I just took it into the dealer assuming it was a warranty item. Last Friday they replaced the TPMS controller, as instructed by the diagnostic analysis, and after recoding all day, the warning light would still not go off.

Took it back today. Eventually, what they found was that I had drilled through a wiring harness that runs across under the front cowl. Of you'll look at my last picture in the OP, you'll see I zip tied the cross cable by drilling some 1/8" holes along the edge of the cowl. Duh, didn't look underneath first!

$868 later my TPMS works again! F**K! Stupid! So, don't follow my pictures verbatim.

OUCH!!!!!

[Big Windy]

Sorry to hear about that $868 greg...meant to ask, does the color/bulb temp change to a more yellow color when you turn the lights on like it does with the normal halos? I'm assuming the answer is no because of the separate ballasts.