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      05-27-2011, 11:20 AM   #1
Andrew_K_AZ
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What's the final word on the E92/E92 M3 Inner Headlights?

In my car the outer headlights functions as both high and low beams and they lights up the road just great in both modes. But, when I look at the lights, the inner ones never come on.

So I have researched and seen conflicting posts on several posts regarding the functionality of the inner bi-xenon headlights on the E9X M3s. Here are the three most common theories out there and my personal experience next to them.

- They are part of the DRLs > In DLR mode, only the rings light up in my car not the inner lights

- They are part of the adaptive light system > My inner lights never come on during cornering/turning

- They are for Flash to Pass > My outer lights also function as Flash to Pass lights, inner lights do not turn on

I tried many things and I was about to conclude that, other than for the corona rings, these inner lights must be a "dummy" lights at least on the E9X cars equipped with Bi-Xenons and Adaptive Lights. Then I got the damn things to come on... guess how? When you put the car in reverse gear, they light up... not very bright and more in a Halogen color temperature than a Xenon. Why in the world you would want an additional dim headlight to come on when you are reversing, I have no clue.

Adding to my confusion are some pictures of cars in this Forum that shows the inner headlight brightly lit up in Xenon Color temperature. No idea how they got them to do that - perhaps a mod?

I'd love to hear your experiences. Mine is a 2008 E92 M3 with Angel iBright V3.0 corona ring bulbs and rear LCI retrofit. No other mods to the lighting system.

Last edited by Andrew_K_AZ; 05-27-2011 at 11:26 AM..
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      05-27-2011, 11:23 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew_K_AZ View Post
In my car the outer headlight functions as both high and low beam and it lights up the road just great in both modes. But, when I look at the lights, the inner ones never come on.

So I have seen conflicting posts on several posts regarding the functionality of the inner bi-xenon headlights on the E9X M3s. Here are the three most common theories out there and my personal experience next to them.

- They are part of the DRLs > In DLR mode, only the rings light up in my car not the inner lights

- They are part of the adaptive light system > Mine inner lights never come on during cornering/turning

- They are for Flash to Pass > My outer lights also function as Flash to Pass lights, inner lights do not turn on

I tried many things and I was about to conclude that, other than for the corona rings, these inner lights must be a "dummy" lights at least on the E9X cars equipped wit Bi-Xenons and Adaptive Lights. Then I got the damn things to come on... guess how? When you put the car in reverse gear, they light up... not very bright and more in a Halogen color temperature than a Xenon. Why in the world you would want an additional dim headlight to come on when you are reversing, I have no clue.

Adding to my confusion are some pictures of cars in this Forum that shows the inner headlight brightly lit up in Xenon Color temperature. No idea how they got them to do that - perhaps a mod?

I'd ove to hear your experiences. Mine is a 2008 E92 M3 with Angel iBright V3.0 corona ring bulbs. No other mods to the lighting system.

All wrong. They are cornering lights, they turn on when you turn the wheel enough in a direction. They also go on when you put the car in reverse...
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      05-27-2011, 11:26 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stega View Post
All wrong. They are cornering lights, they turn on when you turn the wheel enough in a direction. They also go on when you put the car in reverse...
+1. And they are halogen, not "bi-xenon." the pics must have been aftermarket bulbs or white balance adjustment during photo post-processing.
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      05-27-2011, 11:29 AM   #4
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Additionally, they only turn on when the light switch is on 'auto', or to the left of the 'off' position . And same for the 'adaptive' function. If you turn the lights on by turning the switch to the right, no adaptive feature and no cornering lights.
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      06-03-2011, 11:16 PM   #5
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Yes indeed, mine do come on only when the switch is in AUTO position when turning/cornering (on turn direction side) and also when you are in reverse (both sides). And they are Halogen not Xenon (kind of a bummer).

Thanks for the feedback.
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      06-04-2011, 12:36 AM   #6
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I can also atest that they are cornering. I like them, it does give you more light while turning, in conjunction with the corn in xenon lights. I guess they didnt make them xenon because of the wear on them. Because when they are turned off and on constantly it ears them down quicker than normal. That's just my guess.
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      06-04-2011, 03:22 AM   #7
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Yes, unilateral cornering light (in response to steering angulation) and bilaterally in reverse. I've also just learned that mine come on unilaterally in response to activating my turn signal (not the triple blink), regardless of steering angle. Not sure if this is new, or I just never noticed for three years on my 2008 E60 before my 2011.5 E90.
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      06-04-2011, 01:50 PM   #8
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Just checked on my 2008 E92, they do come on when the turn signals are activated on that particular side regardless of the steering angle. However, for this to all work, the switch has to be in AUTO position and it has to dark enough outside for the automatic lights to activate.
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      06-06-2011, 02:00 PM   #9
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I've always thought it was odd that the flash-to-pass is not configured for the E9X using the inner non-Xenon lights. I had always understood that the on/off cycle was bad for the Xenons (not great for halogens but cheaper to replace). Plus I always liked that even with the regular xenon low beams on the E46, if you used the flash to pass you got an extra set of lights to come on.

I wonder if its possible to re-code to have the inner/halogens function as flash to pass or to turn on when you activate the high-beams?
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      06-06-2011, 02:35 PM   #10
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Yeah - would be nice to have in Europe... to have extra set of lights come on.

Not, such a big deal in the US where flash to pass rarely used.

Last edited by Andrew_K_AZ; 06-06-2011 at 02:47 PM..
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      11-25-2011, 11:21 PM   #11
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All this time I thought the middle set of head lights (aka Cornering lights) were the high beams; until today when I installed the LUX Angel eye and couldn't get these set of lights to turn on. My first thought was that I nudged the connection while I was installing the LUX. I couldn't find any reference to these lights (other than the bulb type) in the Owners Guide.

Thanks for the post. I was able to turn them on (one at a time) only by turning the steering wheel to one side the opposite side on drive or reverse when the light switch is on the "Auto" setting, however, it does not turn on just with the blinker activated without turning the wheel.

Other than adding more light into the turn. I am just curious as to why BMW designed this feature. It seems silly to have one side light up and not the other and when the car is moving in reverse. Just my 2 cents.
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      11-25-2011, 11:43 PM   #12
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The logic is simple in my mind.

When you are reversing, and the lights are triggered (dark out), you will want to see behind you and your front corners (think reversing out of a tight space, with a dark colored car next to you - nice to see the corner now, isn't it?).

Turn signals (haven't personally verified but it makes sense) : Light up the side of the road/curbing/direction of travel when turning.

Low speed/high steering angle : see above.

You also wouldn't want it to be too bright, which is why it's sorta dim. It's exclusively for close-range illumination and surely not meant to distract you, just add a touch more visibility when and where it's needed.

I just got my M3 and noticed this behaviour as well - I'm a fan If for nothing else than it entertains me.
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      03-11-2012, 01:35 PM   #13
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Another tidbit of information, thanks.
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      03-11-2012, 01:38 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stega View Post
All wrong. They are cornering lights, they turn on when you turn the wheel enough in a direction. They also go on when you put the car in reverse...
+1

Easy to swap them out if you want them to have a white color... You can run some GP Thunders in there for real cheap...
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      03-11-2012, 01:41 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SchnellM3 View Post
+1

Easy to swap them out if you want them to have a white color... You can run some GP Thunders in there for real cheap...
Is this lamp separate from what is replaced when you replace with Lux v3 or GP Thunders? same?
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      03-11-2012, 01:49 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by BLACK OPS View Post
Is this lamp separate from what is replaced when you replace with Lux v3 or GP Thunders? same?
They're different bulbs Angel Eyes are H8s and the cornering bulbs are H3s (? on they type)....


This video will show you the difference...

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      07-24-2014, 08:06 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E90M3CDFR View Post
I've always thought it was odd that the flash-to-pass is not configured for the E9X using the inner non-Xenon lights. I had always understood that the on/off cycle was bad for the Xenons (not great for halogens but cheaper to replace). Plus I always liked that even with the regular xenon low beams on the E46, if you used the flash to pass you got an extra set of lights to come on.

I wonder if its possible to re-code to have the inner/halogens function as flash to pass or to turn on when you activate the high-beams?
I think it's weird also. I'm sure it's not good for the ballast if you're turning on and off the HIDs when you're flashing to pass. I don't know why BMW did this since they have always used the inner halogens for this function in the past.

I wanted to look into coding the inner halogen lights to turn on when using flash-to-pass (pulling on lever). Does anybody have any experience with this?
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      07-24-2014, 08:22 PM   #18
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Is it possible to code those halogens to NOT come on while I use the turn signal in auto mode? I think it looks really stupid and serves no purpose.
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      07-24-2014, 08:24 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by surewin View Post
I think it's weird also. I'm sure it's not good for the ballast if you're turning on and off the HIDs when you're flashing to pass. I don't know why BMW did this since they have always used the inner halogens for this function in the past.

I wanted to look into coding the inner halogen lights to turn on when using flash-to-pass (pulling on lever). Does anybody have any experience with this?
Your headlights are Bi Xenon which means your hi and low beams run from the same bulb and ballast. When you flick on your hi beams all it is, is a shield inside the projector opening to let more light out of the same Xenon bulb. It does not get any brighter nor uses more power and doesn't affect your ballast whatsoever!

The cornering light is there for you to see better while making a turn and those only activates when you're making a turn, reverse and only in adaptive mode. Doubt any coding will be able to code those to use as high beam, you would have to rewire the headlights.
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      07-26-2014, 03:05 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wei718 View Post
Your headlights are Bi Xenon which means your hi and low beams run from the same bulb and ballast. When you flick on your hi beams all it is, is a shield inside the projector opening to let more light out of the same Xenon bulb. It does not get any brighter nor uses more power and doesn't affect your ballast whatsoever!
I understand how bi-xenons work. I'm referring to the situation where your headlights are OFF and you use the flash to pass (pull on stalk). Your xenons will turn on and off each time you pull. This is bad news for your ballast.
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      07-26-2014, 11:31 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by surewin View Post
I understand how bi-xenons work. I'm referring to the situation where your headlights are OFF and you use the flash to pass (pull on stalk). Your xenons will turn on and off each time you pull. This is bad news for your ballast.
Ahh, okay! I see what you mean.
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