[hotrod182]

I know this might be "slightly off topic" but I know many of you working on your cars, especially under hood can use a good small pocket light at times. Being the gearhead/techno wizard that I am, I have literally spent hundreds of dollars on the latest, and greatest flashlights. I even have a $800 xenon HID spotlight. But I will tell you, this light they just started carrying at Costco is a great deal. It has a special high intensity LED made by CREE. Look them up on their website, totally high tech. Very intense, and very efficient. Uses 3AAA batteries. It not only has an nice adjustable spot, but the side spot area is very effective. Just looking at it from a side angle is like looking at an arc welder. Trust me, you will be very pleased..and for only $29! Its like the Juice Box of flashlights. (And no..I don't work for Juicebox, or the flashlight company, LOL). I'm just so happy with this extremely useful product, I wanted to share the wisdom with you. I'm sure many of you would love to have one in the glovebox of your 335i too.

[getInline]

Thanks for the info hotrod, I'm a bit of an OCD flashlight weirdo myself.

[hotrod182]

Yup, everyone was whipping out their LED flashlights at work. Mine won...LOL. No seriously, this thing is amazing, and the stainless steel finish on it is very nice. I ran it on rechargeable NIMH last night, had it on for over an hour straight. This thing is rated at 145 Lumens! Used to be a fan of the Luxeon LEDs, but the CREE LED device is phenomenal:

http://www.cree.com/press/press_deta...=1150834953712

Think about it, you are out racing one of these nights, you hear a strange hissing sound, and you are trying to check your intercooler hoses, or maybe you hit something on the road, and you need to check under your car.....you will be so grateful to have such a small powerful light at your disposal.

[fibercus]

Costco is the best

[Jonmartin]

Not to be a dick but wrong section!!!

Nice flashlight.

[hotrod182]

Well, since more 335i owners in this section will probably tinker with their engines, and go under hood more than other E90/E92 owners, this really is useful information. Especially since much of our testing goes on at night time. Consider this an essential/useful tool for working on the N54 engine. Anything that makes tinkering easier for us, is relevant information. Listen, if someone goes out and buys one of these things this weekend, post your opinion, and validate my claims. Soon other 335i owners will appreciate the huge benefit one of these cutting edge devices can provide. Another example of how this could be useful: You are racing a 350Z for money. You want to make sure he doesn't have any hidden NO2 lines, etc. What could be more handy than having a powerful small pocket light?? Well, just go out and buy one of these and you won't think my claims are so strange after all.

[BMW_TT]

BMW gave me their small LED flashlight when I bought the car. I thought it was standard?

[RMRC]

How does it compare to Surefire LEDs? I have found Surefire to be in a league of its own. But they are expensive.

[hotrod182]

Originally Posted by reb03

How does it compare to Surefire LEDs? I have found Surefire to be in a league of its own. But they are expensive.

The BMW stock flashlight is the little glovebox one. That is so weak, it is only good for an emergency. Its bulb is tungsten, not LED. As far as I know the Surefire is only about 100 lumens, vs 143 for this Costco one. The Surefile Ultra 2 is about $279, (about 10x the cost!) so for only $29, this is a steal. And that includes 6AAA Duracell batteries. Strange thing about this is the light says Leatherman on it, but if you go to the Leatherman website, there is no mention of it.

[335i4u2nv]

huh? r u serious... this is a waste of a thread!

[sflgator]

Originally Posted by hotrod182

The BMW stock flashlight is the little glovebox one. That is so weak, it is only good for an emergency. Its bulb is tungsten, not LED. As far as I know the Surefire is only about 100 lumens, vs 143 for this Costco one. And for only $29, its a steal. And that includes 6AAA Duracell batteries. Strange thing about this is the light says Leatherman on it, but if you go to the Leatherman website, there is no mention of it.

I noticed it's not on the Leatherman Web site. Anyway, thanks for the tip as I'm having my mother-in-law pick one up for me soon (we belong to BJ's and she belongs to Costco ).

[hotrod182]

Originally Posted by sflgator

I noticed it's not on the Leatherman Web site. Anyway, thanks for the tip as I'm having my mother-in-law pick one up for me soon (we belong to BJ's and she belongs to Costco ).

Great, and PLEASE tell everyone on this forum how pleased you are with this product when you get it. I am absolutely not kidding, soon as a few 335i owners get a hold of this light, they will realize what a great find it is, and how it does complement the work we do on our vehicles.

[RMRC]

Originally Posted by hotrod182

The BMW stock flashlight is the little glovebox one. That is so weak, it is only good for an emergency. Its bulb is tungsten, not LED. As far as I know the Surefire is only about 100 lumens, vs 143 for this Costco one. The Surefile Ultra 2 is about $279, (about 10x the cost!) so for only $29, this is a steal. And that includes 6AAA Duracell batteries. Strange thing about this is the light says Leatherman on it, but if you go to the Leatherman website, there is no mention of it.

Yeah that glove box flashlight is a joke. I meant how does the Cree compare to Surefire tactical lights? Surefire makes lights from 10 to 500 lumens but they are expensive. I have the L1 Lumamax with 10 and 65 lumen settings and runs on two lithium 123A batteries. It's so small it fits across your palm. I find the 10 lumen setting best for poking around the engine bay as the 65 lumen setting is far too bright. At $29 this Cree sounds great. May have to pick one up.

Ok back to cars .

[zenmaster]

This is definitely off-topic for the 328i owners.

[Ninjaneer]

Originally Posted by zenmaster

This is definitely off-topic for the 328i owners.

[musc]

lol, I actually just bought 3 of these about one week ago. Pretty nice flashlight for the money.

[getInline]

Well I just hope they have it in the Canadian Costo otherwise it'll have to wait for one of my US shopping binges (including finally bringing my 335 over the border from it's US storage locker....curse you protectionist BMW Canada!).

[Kerosene Hat]

I thought this would be about an aftermarket dash light or external light that would say or signal "high performance" to other motorists, thus asserting total dominance by 335i over all non-BMW cars on the road. :shrug:

Cool flashlight, though.

[atomicwedgy]

Move it! wrong section!

[1BAD535]

looks like a nice light

[Terry335]

Very nice light! I have a similar one that runs off 3-AAA, and it's the official JB night time install light.

[scpage]

Cree is just down the road and they have LED lighting all over their parking lot, inside the buildings, etc.
http://www.ledworkplace.org/