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      12-07-2007, 05:47 AM   #1
MrHarris
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LED Tail Lights?

How come the new e92 M3 doesn't have the LED tail lights the e46 M3's had? Is it a marketing strategy or what?
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      12-07-2007, 06:30 AM   #2
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$$$.

Also, could be slated for a mid model cycle upgrade.

I'm a little dissapointed that they aren't putting the rear LED's on the new M's.
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      12-07-2007, 06:46 AM   #3
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I believe they have LED bars on them, correct?
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      12-07-2007, 07:16 AM   #4
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      12-07-2007, 08:58 AM   #5
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LED taillights

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrHarris View Post
How come the new e92 M3 doesn't have the LED tail lights the e46 M3's had? Is it a marketing strategy or what?
They are LEDs, just more subtle. The E46's were a "new thing" so they were exposed and a little bling, IMO. Now that a lot of cars have them, BMW chose to be more subtle.

I really like the Audi LED front running lights, better than BMWs Angel Eyes.
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      12-07-2007, 09:12 AM   #6
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Only the rear running lights are LED's, these are the bars.

The brake, indicator and reverse lights are regular bulbs.

I suspect that the whole cluster will go LED as part of a mid life refresh as previously suggested.
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      12-07-2007, 11:34 AM   #7
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I don't even know what my car looks like when I brake. Minor detail if you ask me.
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      12-07-2007, 11:54 AM   #8
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Brake lights are not a minor detail.
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      12-07-2007, 11:54 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted View Post
Only the rear running lights are LED's, these are the bars.

The brake, indicator and reverse lights are regular bulbs.

I suspect that the whole cluster will go LED as part of a mid life refresh as previously suggested.
I really like the looks of the LED's in the rear of the E46M3. I'm not so sure I like how the E92's are much more subtle. It's certainly possible that BMW would upgrade several months after the car is out. When I went to pick up my E46M3 back in mid 2003, it was one of the first cars to come out with the LED refresh on the rear which had previously only come on the 7 series at that time.
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      12-07-2007, 12:05 PM   #10
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LEDs look rice to me
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      12-07-2007, 12:17 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Epacy View Post
Brake lights are not a minor detail.
+1

Also, it's not just brake lights, it the rear tail lighting when the lights are on as well. If you compare a E46M3 rear cluster bulb type to a E46M3 LED type, there's a BIG difference IMHO.
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      12-07-2007, 12:18 PM   #12
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i wish the whole brake light would be LED too.
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      12-07-2007, 12:19 PM   #13
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LEDs also light about 30% faster than bulbs. All in the name of safety.
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      12-07-2007, 12:22 PM   #14
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The 335i at night either when braking or not looks KILLER. The LED bars are fairly unique and IMHO simply look fantastic. The E92 M3 will look identical with regards to this feature. Although simply having LEDs is cool, the implementation on the E46 does not look good to me. All those small very bright points of light from each individual LED - it looks sort of ricey, again IMHO.
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      12-07-2007, 12:26 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Epacy View Post
LEDs also light about 30% faster than bulbs. All in the name of safety.
-1 is what BMW might think: The 5 series LCI got LED turn indicators and LED stripes, but the brake lights are still bulbs. Don't know why!?


Best regards, south
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      12-07-2007, 12:32 PM   #16
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yeah, the brake lights on the later e46 m3 models looked rice, all those little lights
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      12-07-2007, 02:28 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
The 335i at night either when braking or not looks KILLER. The LED bars are fairly unique and IMHO simply look fantastic. The E92 M3 will look identical with regards to this feature. Although simply having LEDs is cool, the implementation on the E46 does not look good to me. All those small very bright points of light from each individual LED - it looks sort of ricey, again IMHO.
Totally agree with you Swamp. I drive a 2004 330cic. When I first got the car, I thought the LED brake lights, turn indicators and side markers were VERY cool. About six months after getting the car, I started noticing similar applications of LED lighting on cars that cost half as much as mine (Accords, Camrys, etc.). Given the high volume of sales for those cars, the novelty of my then cool LEDs wore off. Everybody had 'em.

I like the new implementation BMW has chosen. They look really cool at night, and are not as overtly "LED... Look at Me" if you know what I mean.
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      12-07-2007, 02:53 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
The 335i at night either when braking or not looks KILLER. The LED bars are fairly unique and IMHO simply look fantastic.
I agree 999%. That is one thing I always think of when I see a rear shot.

I just wish I could see it more when I drive.
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      12-07-2007, 02:54 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by southlight View Post
-1 is what BMW might think: The 5 series LCI got LED turn indicators and LED stripes, but the brake lights are still bulbs. Don't know why!?


Best regards, south
BMW is not the only one to tout this. Infiniti does as well.
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      12-07-2007, 07:43 PM   #20
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I hope they refresh it like for the 2010 models so the brake lights and turn signals are LED, that way we won't ever have to worry about them burning out.
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      12-07-2007, 09:06 PM   #21
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They don't have LEDs because the LED tailight was more of a trend at one point. Same with the introduction of "clear" tailights. They both came out at the same time and some companies still profit from it.

BMW has gone more conservative this time around and actually revived the 94' 3-series design.

Although the E46 LEDs were awesome at the time, I think the new deisgn is right on with the advances in design that Bangle has made.

The bars in the E92 tailights are so f-ing sexy it makes me mad that I don't have it.

For that matter, I love the bars in the new 7-series, X5, and the curved lines in the new 5-series tailights.

All are f-ing hot. I love pulling up behind those cars at night.
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      12-07-2007, 09:09 PM   #22
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LED taillights

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChinoOrtega View Post
yeah, the brake lights on the later e46 m3 models looked rice, all those little lights
Like this (my retrofit on my '01)? I agree they are a little bling.:

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