[BXL4]

I know that these topics have been covered in the past here but I also know that the state of the art of LEDs for automotive use improves as an astonishingly fast pace.

I've got a 2015 328i. I'm planning on replacing my fog lights, back up lights and brake lights to LED for better brightness for all cases. I have a friend who will help with necessary coding so now I'm on the hunt for the best and brightest bulbs (and any suggested fiddly-bits (Canbus?) to make the project a success.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.

[ooshnoo]

I've replaced my turn signal, reverse and brake lights all with bulbs from iJDMToy. Bought them all on Amazon.

[BXL4]

Originally Posted by ooshnoo

I've replaced my turn signal, reverse and brake lights all with bulbs from iJDMToy. Bought them all on Amazon.

Thanks for the reply. Were they all Plug'n'Play or did you have to add a Canbus dongle or did you code out the checks?

[Billfitz]

There's no such thing as plug and play LED, at least not with BMW. The warm and cold checks must be coded out, the LED option coded as active, whether the LED has a drive ballast or not. Where the small bulbs are concerned external ballast isn't required. I used these:

Brake: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Front turn signal: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rear turn signal: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Back up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

[BXL4]

Thanks very much!

[tjlees]

I got all mine from bimmian including the fogs and installed 3 years ago. They look good and have a lifetime warranty so when one failed last year, bimmian sent two free replacements

Canbus error free but you still need to code out cold and warm checks.

http://https://bimmian.com/Accessories-for-BMW/Lighting/

[Billfitz]

Weisslicht pricing is off the wall, and they appear to be re-badged Asian bulbs anyway. Caveat Emptor.

[vooonoo]

Originally Posted by tjlees

I got all mine from bimmian including the fogs and installed 3 years ago. They look good and have a lifetime warranty so when one failed last year, bimmian sent two free replacements

Canbus error free but you still need to code out cold and warm checks.

http://https://bimmian.com/Accessories-for-BMW/Lighting/

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Weisslicht pricing is off the wall, and they appear to be re-badged Asian bulbs anyway. Caveat Emptor.

holy crap for 90 bucks they better send free replacements

[Billfitz]

90 bucks should be an installed price. When I was LED shopping I searched high and low and could not find anything to indicate that there's anything German about WeissLicht other than the name.

[tjlees]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Weisslicht pricing is off the wall, and they appear to be re-badged Asian bulbs anyway. Caveat Emptor.

Possibly, but they don’t overheat nor stop working after a couple of months of running over the uk pothole infested roads.

I’ve bought the ‘asian’ ones off fleabay in past, they run very hot and usually last about 3 months on sports suspension over bad roads. One set gave an immediate canbus error despite claiming otherwise.

Originally Posted by vooonoo

holy crap for 90 bucks they better send free replacements

Pays your money ... I’m happy they have lasted 3 years so far (mostly) and have a lifetime warranty which is honoured.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by tjlees

Possibly, but they don’t overheat nor stop working after a couple of months of running over the uk pothole infested roads.

Neither have mine. Those in my headlights and fog lamps appear to be exactly the same as WeissLicht Illustro Max to the last detail, at less than half the price. Google any of the usual well known names in lighting, like Philips, Sylvania, GE, Osram, etc. and you'll find a wealth of information. Doing that with WeissLicht finds almost nothing. I could be wrong, but the evidence points to them being an importer/re-labeler of Chinese bulbs that can be found sold under at least a dozen other names.

[wdeerfield]

Originally Posted by tjlees

Possibly, but they donÂ’t overheat nor stop working after a couple of months of running over the uk pothole infested roads.

I’ve bought the ‘asian’ ones off fleabay in past, they run very hot and usually last about 3 months on sports suspension over bad roads. One set gave an immediate canbus error despite claiming otherwise.

Pays your money ... IÂ’m happy they have lasted 3 years so far (mostly) and have a lifetime warranty which is honoured.

Or just make sure to get cree led for 1/3 the price. Got mine over 2 years ago and still working just fine for $30 from Amazon. Coding them for led should help too so it doesn't send more voltage to the bulb than is needed

[Billfitz]

Cree makes LED chips, not bulbs, so you can find dozens of bulb brands that use Cree chips. Philips makes both chips and bulbs, so you can buy Philips chips in Philips bulbs, or in many other brands of bulbs.
As for LED coding, as best I can tell that has nothing to do with the voltage. Halogens are sent a pulse modulated voltage, similar to AC in that it's not a constant voltage but one that swings from zero to 12v (13.8v actually) fast enough that the bulb filament doesn't cool enough between pulses for the light level to flicker. They do this because it lowers the power draw on the electrical system, allowing for a smaller alternator, which increases fuel mileage. I guess every little bit helps. You can't use pulse wave modulated voltage with LED because they don't use filaments that heat and they will flicker. The same applies with the hot and cold checks. They send a set of fast voltage pulses to the lamps that are too short to heat up filaments to the point that the bulbs light up. LEDs respond to applied voltage some five times faster than incandescent, so the hot and cold checks do cause LEDs to blink every four seconds.