HID to LED bulb upgrade

[-c-]

Ok since I work as a designer on headlights for an OEM manufacturer I'll post a little knowledge I picked up from my experience.


Do HID lights emit more lumens than led ? Yes they do. But are more complex and costly, If you don't like the color, change the bulb of the HID to a color temp that fits your needs, theirs plenty. We are moving to LED headlights because of their durability, simplicity and cost less than HID systems, since we can use reflectors with led headlights vs projectors the performance is better by 25% in some cases as you loose performance when light is passed through a projector lens.

The Warmer in color temp the bulb, the better your night vision is (picks up more spectrum) same with your phone or tv going into night time color mode, less strain on your eyes. But hey we don't like warm colors as it's not modern right! .

The led headlights are designed with optics to make use of the directional light of how LED's operate if you just shove an led light into a housing designed for an hid which create an arc of light (non-directional) you will have worse performance end of story, and possible dark spots.

You can do your own research and find why it's a bad idea overall and you'll also freak your system out as an hid system is not a simple bulb swap, it has an igniter and very high voltage system vs a halogen. It's not recommended you go down this path. Going from halogen to LED is safer on your system but again your taking something that was designed for halogen light vs LED light will also suffer performance even if it's brighter.

Either buy the OEM X5 led lights off eBay for 400 each if you want LED and do a retrofit with coding, or just replace your HID headlights with a cooler temp bulb and keep your overall performance and get that led look your after. You'll save frustration in the long run.

Also note that many of the aftermarket LED lights out their use cheaper electronics and you'll have a crazy bad Hrz rate (refresh rate) on the forward facing lED's and give everyone in front of you epileptic seizures !

[parkstr8]

-c- : great comments. While I love the LEDs on my other cars - since 95% of all my night driving is in the city, the actual performance of the light is less of a concern. I would not go thru the hassle of swapping to LEDs, making sure it was done the proper way.

Since the bulb swap seems easy and I can color match all the various light beams...that works for me.

Appreciate all the help.

[Gtz1wickedest]

Just change the bulbs. I upgraded mines to the OSRAM CBB from HIDconcept to a more whiter light and it's also brighter than the OEM. The f15s are super easy to change. Been a year already with no issues.

The link to what I bought is here

https://www.hidconcept.com/products/...ulbs-pack-of-2

I would say it's 25% Brighter than Factory with a whiter light output