Halogen Blue Bulbs

[MiteshN]

Hi all

Has anyone changed their Halogen bulbs on a BMW F30 (or any other BMWs) ?

I found the following from BMW
https://www.bmw.co.za/en/topics/off...nd-sight/bmw-h7-blue-halogen-light-bulbs.html

but seems steep at R963 a pair. I see other Blue halogens such as OSRAM and Philips ranging between R300 - R450 a pair.

Would like to know what is the difference, and which (from experience) is the best and most feasible option. My main reason for wanting to change is to get rid of the yellow light, and have a look closer to the Xenon look, and also for a slightly brighter light for evening driving too. I intend to replace all the globes in the headlamps (Park, bright and normal, as well as the spots.)

 

[rudolphc83]

Hi Mitesh

Osram and Philips are both good. From my experience as long as they are halogen H7 lamps (on my e46 though), you should be fine. I have a set of Hella H7 white ones in my car with no issues. Bought them for R300. I know that LED globes are an issue sometimes due to their low resistance.

Hope this helps

Sent from my LG-M250 using Tapatalk

 

[Diesellover]

Phillips have a good range to choose from.

 

[Mpower11]

Check out Autostyle, they have a few options. I had a relative cheap set which was made by NX and it worked pretty good.

 

[graan13]

Price does seem steep!! They mention fitting time of 15min.... perhaps R600.00 of that is for labor ...haha....

 

[KPM3_30]

I fitted Phillips Diamond Vision bulbs as an interim solution until I upgraded to xenons... Still have them on the car and no issues with the colour output - looks proper.

 

[MiteshN]

Thanks all

So it seems the BMW ones, are just a branding markup. From all your reviews here it sounds like normal Philips ones or Osram will do the job just fine and at a fraction of the cost.

KPM_330 I asked about the Xenon headlight upgrade, and was told it needed multiple parts, and was not a straight swop, so all-in-all with headlights, modules, parts, programming, labout etc. would be in the region of +/-R50K

I think that is way too steep. I rather just change my globes to give a brighter light and clearer vision.

 

[Isamu22]

Been looking at doing the exact same thing. I got a figure from Violet Electronics yesterday for a conversion from halogen headlights to bixenon system with projectors and ballasts. That was R2900 for the kit and R1950 for labour. Also can add angel eyes for an extra R2500.

PS: those are the figures they gave me for a F30 conversion. I do not represent them.

Tempted by this deal, even if not with the angel eyes, it should be a big improvement on the useless halogens we have.

 

[kilotango]

Thanks all

So it seems the BMW ones, are just a branding markup. From all your reviews here it sounds like normal Philips ones or Osram will do the job just fine and at a fraction of the cost.

KPM_330 I asked about the Xenon headlight upgrade, and was told it needed multiple parts, and was not a straight swop, so all-in-all with headlights, modules, parts, programming, labout etc. would be in the region of +/-R50K

I think that is way too steep. I rather just change my globes to give a brighter light and clearer vision.

correct, HID will require ballasts, bulbs and relays. some beemers have more things involved because you have to add in-line resistors, or else you get a "bulb out" warning that can disable the whole thing.

you can retrofit the whole thing by yourself, but does require cutting and gluing new projectors into the headlight unit. its not a DIY for someone who isnt confident in DIY things. when i did mine on a Jetta Mk4 TDI, alot of "dremelling" and measuring was needed. you can buy the full kits from the US (retrofitsource) for between USD$200-500 (depending on options) if you are keen.

 

[Alley-C]

I agree with "Kilotango" its not an easy DIY, I did a DIY of projectors with an angel ring and the demon eye on my previous mk1 and it was literally a whole lot of measurements, use of the dremel and swearing, oh and not to forget breaking of the glass lens by accident as it slipped of the table.:skit:
and i would say the mk1 has a fairly simple round headlight. i bought the projectors from Violet electronics at the time, it was a few years back.

currently on my e90 I'm literally sick of the horrible Halogens its actually more of a danger not being able to see anything in the night than anything else :hammerhead: this morning I actually just ordered a set of Projector headlights from Rennzport :tiptoe:

 

[kilotango]

I agree with "Kilotango" its not an easy DIY, I did a DIY of projectors with an angel ring and the demon eye on my previous mk1 and it was literally a whole lot of measurements, use of the dremel and swearing, oh and not to forget breaking of the glass lens by accident as it slipped of the table.:skit:
and i would say the mk1 has a fairly simple round headlight. i bought the projectors from Violet electronics at the time, it was a few years back.

currently on my e90 I'm literally sick of the horrible Halogens its actually more of a danger not being able to see anything in the night than anything else :hammerhead: this morning I actually just ordered a set of Projector headlights from Rennzport :tiptoe:

awesome news! good luck mate, please do post some pics when you do the upgrade :thumbs:

 

[LukeHawk]

If you're interested, I bought a bunch of bulbs for my F20 when I had it, but then bought a F30 with xenon's, so I never really used these. I put the some of them in to see if they worked though. The H7s are unopened. I think this is pretty much a complete kit, with headlights, brights, parking lights and side lamps. Not sure what the differences are between F30 and F20 halogens are, but they should be more or less the same (H7s definitely are anyway)

Send me a PM if you're keen. I'd like to sell them all together.

 

[MiteshN]

Thanks all

So it seems the BMW ones, are just a branding markup. From all your reviews here it sounds like normal Philips ones or Osram will do the job just fine and at a fraction of the cost.

KPM_330 I asked about the Xenon headlight upgrade, and was told it needed multiple parts, and was not a straight swop, so all-in-all with headlights, modules, parts, programming, labout etc. would be in the region of +/-R50K

I think that is way too steep. I rather just change my globes to give a brighter light and clearer vision.

correct, HID will require ballasts, bulbs and relays. some beemers have more things involved because you have to add in-line resistors, or else you get a "bulb out" warning that can disable the whole thing.

you can retrofit the whole thing by yourself, but does require cutting and gluing new projectors into the headlight unit. its not a DIY for someone who isnt confident in DIY things. when i did mine on a Jetta Mk4 TDI, alot of "dremelling" and measuring was needed. you can buy the full kits from the US (retrofitsource) for between USD$200-500 (depending on options) if you are keen.

Thanks mate. But I am definitely not one for detailed DIY as you state here. I think I am going to go with the option of changing the globes for now, and then possibly try Violet Electronics or someone similar who can do the whole upgrade for just under R5000 as mentioned by Isamu22.

Just curious on the different makes of globes and which would be the best to purchase.

 

[vjx]

How's Philips Ultinon H7 LED buib? Around R2.5k, but with long life span and friendly with reflector.

 

[MiteshN]

How's Philips Ultinon H7 LED buib? Around R2.5k, but with long life span and friendly with reflector.

That sounds like a good globe, but my concern would be if these globes would throw an error message as I'm sure they use different current, etc. With BMW coding etc. not sure if one can just change Halogens to LEDs.

Would be nice to know.

 

[kilotango]

How's Philips Ultinon H7 LED buib? Around R2.5k, but with long life span and friendly with reflector.

That sounds like a good globe, but my concern would be if these globes would throw an error message as I'm sure they use different current, etc. With BMW coding etc. not sure if one can just change Halogens to LEDs.

Would be nice to know.

the LED should have built in resistors to match the resistance of a halogen bulb. they are made to be backward compatible, so it should be fine :thumbs:

the only issue is that the factory headlight units are designed to reflect light of a halogen bulb, so it might dazzle oncoming traffic with a LED bulb..and possibly fail vehicle inspection if the focus is out when they test the headlights

 

[vjx]

Philips claims those bulbs that not flare to others and well adapted with factory reflector.
Hence it's more expensive compared to no name H7 LED bulbs.

I will have a try once my existing OSRAM H7 bulbs gone.

 

[kilotango]

Philips claims those bulbs that not flare to others and well adapted with factory reflector.
Hence it's more expensive compared to no name H7 LED bulbs.

I will have a try once my existing OSRAM H7 bulbs gone.

i wouldnt believe that until its tested in your car.. i've seen many HID bulbs claim the same, and its dazzle city once you put them in.