[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Poochie

Necroing this old thread to gauge how many pre-LCI owners ever actually retrofitted these LCI LED Adaptive headlights to their vehicle... ��

I briefly thought about blowing some of my virus stimulus money on this mod but I eventually came to my senses and back down on this lofty $3,500 to $5,000 endeavor, considering its going on a car that I plan to get rid of within the next 2 - 3 years or so - God willing..

Plus, I didn't want to deal with any possible mis-matched or ambiguous coding options that's currently available for this retrofit, to get all the features functioning, as it was originally intended.

I guess my question is; are there any takers that upgraded to the LCI LED Adaptive headlights, to replace the pre-LCI Xenon and if so, roughly how much did it run you and what did it entail?

Looks like it would run around $3500 when all is said and done. More details here:

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...54&postcount=7

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Looks like it would run around $3500 when all is said and done. More details here:

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...38;postcount=7

Thank you

That's still about $1,500 over what I am willing to spend on this mod but I guess the price is the price and I'm assuming which is why too many people didn't bite..

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Poochie

Thank you

That's still about $1,500 over what I am willing to spend on this mod but I guess the price is the price and I'm assuming which is why too many people didn't bite..

I would have loved to do this mod as well but it's too expensive. I just ended up painting my headlight housings black for a few hundred bucks which helped them look a little better. I think the only way I'd do this retrofit is if I found the parts used and heavily discounted since buying them new is hard to justify. Like you said, idk if I'll still have this car in a few years and throwing 3.5k away for what amounts to a cosmetic mod just doesn't seem smart.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

I would have loved to do this mod as well but it's too expensive. I just ended up painting my headlight housings black for a few hundred bucks which helped them look a little better. I think the only way I'd do this retrofit is if I found the parts used and heavily discounted since buying them new is hard to justify. Like you said, idk if I'll still have this car in a few years and throwing 3.5k away for what amounts to a cosmetic mod just doesn't seem smart.

I want to mention a little FYI for Pre-LCI vehicles that decide to upgrade to the LCI headlights; whenever a franchise dealer has to replace any of the vehicle modules that require them to program the entire vehicle software, to match the latest iteration available, having mis-match hardware, such as LED LCI headlights on a Pre-LCI headlight mapping, would consequently prevent them from completing any such unrelated repair(s).

For example, recently, when they had to replace my passenger side Xenon headlight, due to a defective vertical stepper motor, immediately afterwards, they had to program the entire vehicle to the latest i-Level and "teach" the headlight module the new beam output symmetry.

Had I have the LCI headlight installed, the LCI AHL (Adaptive module) would not match my pre-LCI headlight mapping and the programming would have been possible. I would then be at the mercy of third-party coders to resolve any headlighting issues..

#TheMoreYouKnow 🤓

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[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Poochie

I want to mention a little FYI for Pre-LCI vehicles that decide to upgrade to the LCI headlights; whenever a franchise dealer has to replace any of the vehicle modules that require them to program the entire vehicle software, to the latest iteration, having mis-match hardware, such as LED LCI headlights on a Pre-LCI mapping, would consequently prevent them from completing any such unrelated repair(s).

Yup, another reason I didn't feel like doing it lol. I already have this potential issue with my LCI gauges, don't need it with my headlights too. In all honesty all you really have to do is black out the housing, code out the eyebrow, and turn up DRL brightness to 100% and it looks 10x better and can pass for a non-adaptive LED LCI

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Yup, another reason I didn't feel like doing it lol. I already have this potential issue with my LCI gauges, don't need it with my headlights too. In all honesty all you really have to do is black out the housing, code out the eyebrow, and turn up DRL brightness to 100% and it looks 10x better and can pass for a non-adaptive LED LCI

Looks mean

What model of bulbs are you rocking?

May I suggest some OSRAM (BMW OEM supplier) CBI - [COLOR="LightBlue"]Cool Blue Intense[/COLOR] D1S bulb.

They are 6000k color offset matches that of LED corona rings to a T and doesn't look aftermarket-ish.

Try them out, I think you might like them and Amazon has a generous return policy, should you not

https://www.amazon.com/Osram-66140CB.../dp/B003VNFEKO

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Poochie

Looks mean

What model of bulbs are you rocking?

May I suggest some OSRAM (BMW OEM supplier) CBI - Cool Blue Intense D1S bulb.

They are 6000k color offset matches that of LED corona rings to a T and doesn't look aftermarket-ish.

Try them out, I think you might like them and Amazon has a generous return policy, should you not

https://www.amazon.com/Osram-66140CB.../dp/B003VNFEKO

Thanks!

I have these: Philips WhiteVision 5000k

They're super high quality in terms of light output, and once they're warmed up they match the white corona ring color perfectly. I figured 6000k might be a tad too blue looking so I went more conservative. They're definitely a big improvement over the stock 4300k.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Thanks!

I have these: Philips WhiteVision 5000k

They're super high quality in terms of light output, and once they're warmed up they match the white corona ring color perfectly. I figured 6000k might be a tad too blue looking so I went more conservative. They're definitely a big improvement over the stock 4300k.

It's actually more white than blue, if you check out the review section, you'll see that's the number one complaint about them..

I discovered them by accident, just mucking around on Amazon and realize what a gem them are - they almost looks LED-ish..

Nevertheless, if you're contented with what you currently have, then there is no reason to alternate, just throwing this out there, in case you maybe wanted a change...


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[StarMan]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

In all honesty all you really have to do is black out the housing

Where did you get your headlights blacked out at?
Did you also black out the Turn Signal Area? [if you did, did you notice reduction in light output due to you blacking it out?]

Originally Posted by Poochie

May I suggest some OSRAM (BMW OEM supplier) CBI - Cool Blue Intense D1S bulb.

They are 6000k color offset matches that of LED corona rings to a T and doesn't look aftermarket-ish.

Try them out, I think you might like them and Amazon has a generous return policy, should you not

https://www.amazon.com/Osram-66140CB.../dp/B003VNFEKO

I can vouch as well. On another car I had the CBIs and remain one of my favorite bulbs. When I bought the M2 last year, Osram had recently released the CBBs. It is the same color as the CBIs but are even brighter. I suppose the only downside is that Osram claims shorter lifespan on the CBBs vs the CBIs due to the brightness.

That said the CBI\CBB are a match with the Angle Eyes color and can pass for LED color as it matches perfectly to my friends Mazda 3 that has LED OEM headlights.

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by starvmarv

Where did you get your headlights blacked out at?
Did you also black out the Turn Signal Area? if you did, did you notice reduction in light output due to you blacking it out?

Got them done here: http://www.oneightynyc.com

The whole housing is blacked out. I swapped my stock indicator bulbs for high powered LEDs so no noticeable reduction in light output even after painting the silver reflector area.