[pruettfan]

I have a loaner 328 right now that has the halogen headlights. This past weekend I went on some errands after dark and I thought the headlights weren't even on. They were about as effective as two candles strapped to the hood. My 06 330i's headlights are way brighter and they aren't spectacular by any means.

[Racer20]

Seems like 90% of the people here didn't read the article. The issue has nothing to do with Halogen vs. LED or Xenon. It's how the lights are AIMED that's the problem. Halogen lights worked for a long time, and they still do if aimed properly. But BMW aims their lights too low, so you can't see far enough ahead.

[pruettfan]

Originally Posted by Racer20

Seems like 90% of the people here didn't read the article. The issue has nothing to do with Halogen vs. LED or Xenon. It's how the lights are AIMED that's the problem. Halogen lights worked for a long time, and they still do if aimed properly. But BMW aims their lights too low, so you can't see far enough ahead.

I read not only the article but also the report itself. Aiming is an issue but it is important to note this is the first time this test was done and the standards are the first objective real world standards ever applied so the fact that halogen has been around for a long time isn't the issue. The point they are making is regardless of technology right now no manufacture is making a system that is adequate for the speeds and conditions that cars are being driven at and in. The LED and Xenon cars consistently perform at a higher level than the halogen cars, you can aim the halogens all you want and they won't meet these new standards. In addition NHTSA is so cautious that when great technology comes out like the new stuff BMW is making they require them to disable or degrade the brightness, perhaps this test and IIHS will push them to allow the european standard. I would like to see if a Euro spec I8 with laser would meet the standard, I suspect it would.

[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by CanadianGatorBacon

I didn't have time to post the more detailed results for each BMW test, but you can click through from the IIHS site to see why they came to the conclusions they did for each test. From a TV news story I heard this morning, a lot of the cars didn't project light nearly far enough at higher speeds.

Seems like the IIHS considers optimal low beam distance to be about 200 ft left and 320 ft right, and optimal high beam distance to be about 500 ft left and right. For both 2s and 3s xenon and LED did better than halogen, and adaptive headlights did better than non-adaptive. All adaptive headlights did good on right turns, but not on left turns (which I think BMW does on purpose to avoid blinding oncoming traffic). All headlights were short on the straightaway.

Adjusting the aim of the low beams may help alleviate the issue, although I don't know what aiming low beams does to high beam aim on bi-xenon and LED headlights. And would that make the beam pattern too high on right turns?

I would be interested to see what the results would be with a car having the not DOT approved VDL coded in.

I manually adjusted my adaptive Xenons to have them sit about 10 degrees higher on my 335i.

From the dealer, it's set way too low and I'm not surprised with these results at all. The fix is cheap and easy...

[jmsent]

Originally Posted by KGB_123_99

I find that the xenons on my car are inferior to the xenons on my wife's Audi. There could be some truth to this...

I replaced my 335i with a 2016 GTI. Both with bi-xenons. The VW is way better.

[Beartato]

Originally Posted by jmsent

I replaced my 335i with a 2016 GTI. Both with bi-xenons. The VW is way better.

The car before my M235i was a 15 Golf TDI with those same bi-xenons and they were phenomenal. It's the one thing I miss about that car.

[doccyber]

Originally Posted by Z K

As much as the cars cost, they may as well make Xenon standard equipment. It doesn't cost that much more for a projector/Xenon set up. BMW is just being cheap and cost cutting everywhere.

Xenon is standard on the Prius C and that's a sub $20k car! Not to mention LED headlights standard on the COROLLA!

Exactly my thoughts.

[Teutonic]

Originally Posted by TBN54

I drive around with my high beams all day and night.

I will force you to drive all night against incoming traffic that will have high beams on, so you understand what that means. It is very dangerous what are you doing. Lucky you are in US with wide roads, but in Europe, first you might end up being smashed by a guy that you just blinded since the cars that are coming from the other way are very close, and secondly, if that doesnt happen, you will get followed and they will teach you a lesson you will never forget. Learn the etiquette of driving, or get the bus.

[pbjjj]

F30 3 series halogen headlights are the worst I have ever seen on any car I have driven. Period. I don't know about the headlights on the 2 series, but I would not be surprised if they are the same crappy ones as what's on the 3 series.

[AIRPOWER]

Originally Posted by E39hijinks

Yeah. That's not how that works.

With your statement in bold, you actually just told us that your headlights suck. Your lights AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BLIND PEOPLE. THAT'S BAD. BAD LIGHTS, GO TO YOUR ROOM. That's part of what makes poor headlights. It's not supposed to piss people off. Imagine driving 80 mph towards a sea side cliff and your wife shines a flashlight right into your eyeballs right before the corner. That's what you define as good?

People mistake tons of foreground coverage with "good lighting." I'm glad the IIHS is doing these because I think manufacturers are a bit clueless on what makes effective lights. There's nobody to regulate them really except the government. And that's what led to horrible crash results before the IIHS got involved.

This is good for everyone.

Nah, it's probably because I cranked up the Angel Eyes intensity with my BMS canflap module.

[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by doccyber

Exactly my thoughts.

I really hope BMW wakes up and makes Xenons standard on all cars moving forward!

[TBN54]

Originally Posted by Tracus

I will force you to drive all night against incoming traffic that will have high beams on, so you understand what that means. It is very dangerous what are you doing. Lucky you are in US with wide roads, but in Europe, first you might end up being smashed by a guy that you just blinded since the cars that are coming from the other way are very close, and secondly, if that doesnt happen, you will get followed and they will teach you a lesson you will never forget. Learn the etiquette of driving, or get the bus.

Last night I drove with my high beams on and when the cop pulled me over, I pretended to have a seizure. He let me leave.

So this morning I drove with my high beams on again.

[jmsent]

Originally Posted by Beartato

The car before my M235i was a 15 Golf TDI with those same bi-xenons and they were phenomenal. It's the one thing I miss about that car.

Yup. It really surprised me. When I first got my E92, the lights were aimed so low from the factory, that they were nearly useless. After they were adjusted properly I thought the lights were decent, certainly better than halogens. But the GTI is at a whole different level.

[JunkStory]

The test was conducted on the halogen lights, and BMW deserves every ounce of this poor rating because indeed those halogen lights suck. Xenons and LEDs should be standard in the year 2015 and beyond.

[CanadianGatorBacon]

Originally Posted by JunkStory

The test was conducted on the halogen lights, and BMW deserves every ounce of this poor rating because indeed those halogen lights suck. Xenons and LEDs should be standard in the year 2015 and beyond.

The test was also conducted for the LED lights on the 3er and those only scored either "poor" (without adaptive headlights and high beam assist) or "marginal" (with adaptive headlights and high beam assist), and "marginal" is still lower than "acceptable". Yes, the halogens were the worst, but the LEDs were still bad to very bad. Although, if you look at the results, there seems to be something off when you compare the two LED equipped cars, because the measurements of the low beams on a straightaway are too different.

[CalCarNut]

Originally Posted by CanadianGatorBacon

Admin Update: directly below is BMWUSA's official response to the IIHS report:




Original post:

"Many of the poorest-scoring vehicles were luxury cars. Case in point: The headlights on the BMW 3-Series [with halogen lights] received the lowest marks of any car tested. Researchers said a driver with a BMW equipped with those headlines would have to be going 35 miles per hour or slower to stop in time to avoid an obstacle in the travel lane."

"A better-performing headlight system available on the 3-Series [i.e., LED lights], for example, earned a "marginal" score."

"Cars earning a "marginal" rating include: the Acura TLX, Ford Fusion, Audi A4, Lincoln MKZ, BMW 2-series, BMW 3-Series, Subaru Legacy, Toyota Camry and Chrysler 200."

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/30/h...afety-car-led/

"Headlights are evaluated on the track after dark at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center. A special device measures the light from both low beams and high beams as the vehicle is driven on five different approaches: traveling straight, a sharp left curve, a sharp right curve, a gradual left curve and a gradual right curve.

Glare for oncoming vehicles also is measured from low beams in each scenario to make sure it isn't excessive.

Headlights are tested as received from the dealer. Although the vertical aim of headlights can be adjusted on most vehicles, IIHS doesn't change headlight aim because few vehicle owners ever do and some manufacturers advise consumers not to.

After a vehicle is tested on the track, IIHS engineers compare its visibility and glare measurements to those of a hypothetical ideal headlight system and use a scheme of demerits to determine the rating. Results for low beams are weighted more heavily than high beams because they are used more often. The readings on the straightaway are weighted more heavily than those on the curves because more crashes occur on straight sections of road.

Vehicles equipped with high-beam assist, which automatically switches between high beams and low beams depending on the presence of other vehicles, may earn back some points taken off for less-than-ideal low beam visibility. This credit is given only for approaches on which the glare threshold isn't exceeded and on which the high beams provide additional visibility compared with the low beams.

A vehicle with excessive glare on any of the approaches can't earn a rating above marginal."

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/deskto...ed-improvement

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/rat...ght-evaluation


Prius V LED vs BMW 3er halogen:

Attachment 1392541

Attachment 1392542

So basically if you want to see better, pay more. Nice, BMW...Nice. Safety should be FIRST. Equip all cars with the best lighting system, period. Use your price points line on stereos, wheel upgrades, etc...not on a safety item. I have no issue with my lights..but they the xenons...

[raysspl]

Yeah, bmw's cheap ass should've made these LED/HID on the F series

[oonowindoo]

I agree with a lot of you.

Not all Halogen are the same just as not HID or LEDs are the same.

There still POS HIDs or LED equipped cars with shitty output/visibility.
With that being said, F3X's halogen sucks to another level even compare to other Halogen cars.

I think BMW at least in the US in General need to re-calibrate their headlight's aiming point. It is WAYYYY too low from the factory.

MY F36 LED is brighter and whiter than all my past HID cars. There is no argument there. But It is pointless if all i can see is freaking 10 feet in front of me..but within these 10 feet it is i freaking bright..
my F30 with HID was not as bright but at least i could adjust it myself to make it acceptable (how far and wide i can see)

Now, the best one i have owned is the s2000. For a car sits so low, you can see very very far without blinding anyone.
Till this day, i still do not understand why i could not get 2 projectors with LED with the $1,900 that BMW charged me.

[zx10guy]

It's interesting this has come up. When I bought my 2013 E82 new, I thought something was wrong as the illumination from the upgraded Xenons were not that great. I noticed this immediately as I'm used to looking pretty far down the road after all the track sessions I've had. Mentioned this to my dealer and it took 3 attempts to get the lights aligned properly.

First time, the tech set the the lights way too high. While I could see decently at distance, I was blinding the crap out of everyone. I got high beam flashes and one guy gave me the finger when I was behind him. Back it went to get adjusted again. The tech thought the only issue was the lights being misaligned and reset the lights to factory spec. Now I'm back to square one again. But this confirmed the factory specs for the headlights is way off. I go back for a third time and my SA goes back to the shop and aligns them himself. He nailed the alignment where I could now see properly down the road and I'm not blinding people at the same time.

Now the wife's 2013 RDX is a different story. She gets people flicking their high beams at her thinking she's running with her high beams on. She isn't. She reports this to the dealer and they check the headlights. They report back nothing needs to be done as everything is at factory spec.

[PennSt8]

Now would be a good time for BMWNA to work with the dealer network to ensure that most cars are spec'd with LEDs. If that means shuffling options around to remove it from pricey option packages so be it.

Back when I was helping my buddy look for his A4, I noticed how Audi dealers in the LA area almost exclusively stocked even bare bones models with the lighting package.

[Fundguy1]

Standard headlights, not the bi xenon in my 335i. These are the best headlights of any car I've driven.

[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Standard headlights, not the bi xenon in my 335i. These are the best headlights of any car I've driven.

Standard lights in 335i are bi xenon.