Upgrading OEM HID Headlights, what are the options available??

[BlueBimmers]

Big fan of PowerBulbs. Good pricing and surprisingly quick delivery from UK. Usually better price too with drop in the pound vs. dollar. Twin pack for 80 pounds, good deal, no surprise they sold out of the NightBreakers. If they're out I think RetroFitSource has them.

[Gools]

At one point powerbulbs.com was the recommended source for night breakers but they are currently out of stock. Is there still authenticity concerns with Amazon? Seems there several vendors supplying Amazon for these bulbs right now.

[c watson]

The Night Breaker Lasers are warmer, and I think they are brighter but I doubt you would be able to tell. They are definitely going to be better in inclement weather.

The night breaker was the brightest bulbs available with the most Lux. Color wise they’re the equivalent of oem 4300k.

CBN being the next runner up

and CBB ( cool blue boost) being up to 7k but more like 5500/6000k in person.

Any one of these bulbs will benefit your lighting but the night breakers are the best performing.

keep in mind nothing will perform to its max with old projectors and foggy headlight covers.

[K-Dawg]

for those of you that had lightwerkz do your retrofits, how much did it run you, if you dont mind sharing?

an mled2.0 or g5brt conversion with halos for my single xenons sounds pretty tempting, since even after a bulb swap the output isnt great.

I haven't looked into this stuff in a while, but last I knew the LEDs still aren't on par with good HID when it comes to lux, and IMO the spectrum/color rendering sucks even on a lot of the modern OEM LED headlights.

[K-Dawg]

So the Osram CBB is the consensus choice? I used to be Osram guy but I saw a shoot out video from RetroFItSource that the Phillips Extreme Gen2 won, been happy with those in the M5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-BM4C5Xm4

The Night Breaker Lasers are warmer, and I think they are brighter but I doubt you would be able to tell. They are definitely going to be better in inclement weather.

[animerickover]

for those of you that had lightwerkz do your retrofits, how much did it run you, if you dont mind sharing?

an mled2.0 or g5brt conversion with halos for my single xenons sounds pretty tempting, since even after a bulb swap the output isnt great.

[BlueBimmers]

Good thread, reminding me to get new bulbs. I've done a lot re headlight work to the M5 but haven't touched the M3.

So the Osram CBB is the consensus choice? I used to be Osram guy but I saw a shoot out video from RetroFItSource that the Phillips Extreme Gen2 won, been happy with those in the M5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-BM4C5Xm4

[dukeofchen]

Is it worth it to go for the Morimoto or an actual Hella projector over the G5BRT or G5R?

No idea about actual Hella projectors or if they're even able to be bought / retrofitted, but the main differences between G5 and the latest Morimoto are beam pattern, with G5 concentrating the light for a brighter hotspot at the center, at the expense of some brightness at the edges. See video linked below.

Quality-wise I don't think Morimoto is appreciably better, just a more recognized name but still aftermarket at the end of the day. Either would be a huge upgrade over stock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8-fEW4djUo

[bmw m3 s50]

I'm also running a lightworks setup. There's no upgrade like good projectors, for light output.

I later did 55w and better bulbs, which was nice, but nothing like the improvement from the projector upgrade.

Which projectors are you running? I remember seeing your night time pics and they were pretty good.

Any issues running the 55w ballasts? I keep hearing mixed reviews running 55w ballasts.

[Obioban]

I'm also running a lightworks setup. There's no upgrade like good projectors, for light output.

I later did 55w and better bulbs, which was nice, but nothing like the improvement from the projector upgrade.

[bmw m3 s50]

They’re a Chinese rep of a Hella projector, similar to Morimoto but from what I’ve seen better output at a lower price point.

I believe the BRT has a blue tinted lens and output might be a smidge better than the R.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is it worth it to go for the Morimoto or an actual Hella projector over the G5BRT or G5R?

[bmw m3 s50]

Lightwerkz g5brt conversion with oem shrouds is oem+ and a substantial upgrade. This is my sedan but I just had the same setup built for my M3. All low beams pictured for output








Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow this is pretty impressive. What temp bulbs are you running?

[0-60motorsports]

They’re a Chinese rep of a Hella projector, similar to Morimoto but from what I’ve seen better output at a lower price point.

I believe the BRT has a blue tinted lens and output might be a smidge better than the R.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you

[dukeofchen]

So what are the G5's actually? what is the difference between the G5BRT and G5R?

They’re a Chinese rep of a Hella projector, similar to Morimoto but from what I’ve seen better output at a lower price point.

I believe the BRT has a blue tinted lens and output might be a smidge better than the R.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lee_Enfield]

What are thoughts on bi-led projector conversions? Example being the Morimoto mled 2.0?