Halo Angel Eyes Question

[Danger-Zone]

So the previous owner of my M3 upgraded the halo color to white, using one of those knock off (I presume) H8 rectangular LED bulbs. The inner Halos are fine, but the outer are nearly invisible.

Stock look is just a standard H8 halogen bulb and those manage to light the outer rings with no issue.

My question is, has anyone tried one of the H8 Halogens that are bright white light? Wouldn't that do just fine, over the cree LED ones??

I tried searching the forum for this question but didn't see anything specific. Everyone suggests the LUX kit. But I was wanting to go a cheaper route (for now)

Thanks for your help/advice in advance!

- DZ

[shimmy23]

I've seen the white halogen PIAA used and it's not worth the $ even for as little as it costs. Either go LUX or swap rings entirely

[codinge90]

The outer rings will never be bright, lux does a good job making it look uniform as most of the cheaper bright bulbs will light the middle rings a bunch and make the outer rings look super dim in doing so. When you see photos of the rings on other cars and they look really bright and even it's because they're standing 15 feet away from the front of the car, test it out and it'll look super bright and even. Honestly only way to get them to be bright are upgrading the rings themselves

[Danger-Zone]

Originally Posted by codinge90

The outer rings will never be bright, lux does a good job making it look uniform as most of the cheaper bright bulbs will light the middle rings a bunch and make the outer rings look super dim in doing so. When you see photos of the rings on other cars and they look really bright and even it's because they're standing 15 feet away from the front of the car, test it out and it'll look super bright and even. Honestly only way to get them to be bright are upgrading the rings themselves

Upgrading the rings requires disassembly of the headlight housing, I imagine. I really didn't want to go that route for fear of messing something up.

Looking inside the housing, there is a definite "gap" from the light bulb to the ring tubing that catches the light... surprised there isn't some type of plastic adapter that can fit in there and "bridge" the gap, funneling more light through the tubes.

I guess it's either back to stock or LUX...

[WingZeroX5]

Outer rings will never be as bright, just physically impossible due to the way it is designed. In using ebay 80w led's since 2014 and still going strong.

The reason why the stock bulbs are more "visible" is because it is in the yellow spectrum

[Danger-Zone]

Originally Posted by WingZeroX5

Outer rings will never be as bright, just physically impossible due to the way it is designed. In using ebay 80w led's since 2014 and still going strong.

The reason why the stock bulbs are more "visible" is because it is in the yellow spectrum

Did you have to do any coding or add a resistor to avoid any errors for those eBay 80w LEDs?

[WingZeroX5]

Originally Posted by Danger-Zone

Did you have to do any coding or add a resistor to avoid any errors for those eBay 80w LEDs?

No, theyre plug n play

[Danger-Zone]

Originally Posted by WingZeroX5

No, theyre plug n play

Hmmm. Could you send a pic or two of how they look and I'll google the bulbs on cheapbay and ask if they are the ones??

Thanks for your help.

[LuxAngelEyes]

Originally Posted by Danger-Zone

Upgrading the rings requires disassembly of the headlight housing, I imagine. I really didn't want to go that route for fear of messing something up.

Looking inside the housing, there is a definite "gap" from the light bulb to the ring tubing that catches the light... surprised there isn't some type of plastic adapter that can fit in there and "bridge" the gap, funneling more light through the tubes.

I guess it's either back to stock or LUX...

Can you post a picture of what you are talking about with that gap, i want to make sure there are no issues with the headlight first.

[MrGatsby]

Is there a major difference between the Lux bulbs and the amazon/ebay bulbs? My car came with what looks like an ebay bulb, and i am considering the Lux upgrade.

[Danger-Zone]

Originally Posted by MrGatsby

Is there a major difference between the Lux bulbs and the amazon/ebay bulbs? My car came with what looks like an ebay bulb, and i am considering the Lux upgrade.

I'm in the same boat with you Mr Gatsby. I'll take a picture this weekend and highlight that "gap" I'm referring to. It's basically this space where the light bulb resides and then the "tube" for the halos starts. It appears it would be easy to just have the tube closer.

[Danger-Zone]

Originally Posted by LuxAngelEyes

Can you post a picture of what you are talking about with that gap, i want to make sure there are no issues with the headlight first.

Hey Lux,

Thanks for responding to my post and taking some interest. I imagine based on your name, you have extensive experience in this. Lol

I'll snag a few photos this weekend when I have a chance to expose the housing. I'll could also show the "lack" of light on the outer rings, but I'm certain you're quite familiar with what I have going on.

Thank you again!!

-DZ

[jiggz]

FWIW when I first bought my car I purchased some PIAA white halogen H8 bulbs, they were $50 or so off Amazon. Good brand, advertised to have white light output, but they barely looked any different than the stock bulbs. Almost un-noticeable.

I didn't want to do any of the LED bulb options for the exact reasons you mention - the light distribution between the inner and outer halos are un-even, especially with the cheaper bulbs. Some are better than others, especially if you are directly facing the car, but step off center and it looks terrible.

I ended up doing a full retrofit to LED rings, but that is spendy. Sounds like you want to keep costs down - in that case I'd stick with stock if it were me. Or maybe find some used LUX bulbs on the forum.

[R3dliner]

I don't think a adapter is possible unless its something that can take high heat. These bulbs run extremely hot. The OE design is just poor with the optical tubing.