Interior Light Upgrade Bulbs

[G-Bear]

fill ya boots ,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-Series- ... 2ec290524f

Bought now too. Why not one has gone on my touring currently and these will go well with the Hids

[jon-m42]

guys are these anygood whats your take?

[magpie]

guys are these anygood whats your take?

bight the bullet and try them ,it won't put you in the red

[G-Bear]

guys are these anygood whats your take?

bight the bullet and try them ,it won't put you in the red

Do it.. I've ordered the side lights that magpie put up a few posts back... we can compare notes

[verde]

Great thread! Il get my debit card....

[Speedtouch]

I fitted mine to my car today, and am pleased with the improvement it's made:





£3 well spent, IMHO.

[jon-m42]

Great stuff looking good

i mist say a great improvement from the regular dim yellow classic look.

after installing one side i had both lights on and thought to myself i like both however i edged way to the white bulbs as it gave a more light.

[pukar]

looking good, are you going to replace the one in the boot as well?

[jon-m42]

already done ordered 3 of them and all three are now changed a great improvement.

Its still not as light in the car as suppose to the e46 but still nice

[grantfk10]

fill ya boots ,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-Series- ... 2ec290524f

Nice one, bought them

[G-Bear]

These came today..


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-White-Inte ... 564e99c925

Here's the diffence.. I think I'm half temped to stick with the original. The new one on the right might be a bit too clinical, its certainly a harder light.



I only ordered three not realising there is two bulbs in the boot of a touring, that'll learn me for being as lazy arse and not going out to check before ordering.

Also these sidelights which were posted up on this thread are the wrong fitment, at least they on my 91 325i Touring, I wouldn't have thought they differed between E30's?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-Series- ... 2ec290524f

The bayonet one on the left is what I ordered the one on the right is what came out of the Touring.. Just I thought I would include it to save anyone else making that mistake

[Speedtouch]

For me, although the white light is admittedly a bit 'clinical', it does dramatically improve the visibility level inside the interior at night, but then my car just has a single centrally-mounted lamp for the whole interior, so it needs to be as bright as possible.

[G-Bear]

Yeah to be honest I haven't used it since putting both new lights in. It's doesn't help as the old warm light makes the new one look even more blue. Plus I haven't changed the boot lights over yet due to being minus a bulb. I'm sure once they're all in it'll look good..

[Demlotcrew]

Dont go for "White" inside the car, go for "Warm White" its a much better colour.

Andrew

[jon-m42]

Demlotcrew hi there bud which lights do you recommend then ?

[Demlotcrew]

Something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-39mm-6-LED ... 2c65c2d1ac

Im actually not sick enough to do this to my E30, so I dont know the sizes you need, but basically search for Warm White Canbus LED.

Any LED Festoon that has a heatsink attached to it is good quality.

Andrew

[jon-m42]

Thanks Andrew

Do you much rather prefer the standard yellow dim lights in the car, i must admit the retro yellow dim look dose look good as its a retro ride however the ice white for me i must says is like the icing on the cake.

Jon

[FinalD]

Change my number plate lights:




Much prefer the LED one on the left to that horrible dim yellow/orange glow.

[no1_jazz]

Jon great little thread you have here. The interior lights in most E30's i presume are dull, dim and dated. looks as if i will have to invest in a pair of these LED light bulbs myself.

FinalD that looks good a huge improvement... order made.

[FinalD]

Yeah, it's a huge improvement, the plate is actually visible with the LED ones!

I'm not sure how 'chavvy' it'll look though, I can't really check it until I can get the car out on the roads, seems much better and cleaner now though.

http://finaldecap.co.uk/images/E30Resto ... 0021-2.jpg


That shows it a bit better really...and is pretty much how it came from the camera, the first image I posted was adjusted to be brighter in general.

[Speedtouch]

I'm not actually sure I'd want my number plates quite that well lit, but to each their own!

[FinalD]

I'm not actually sure I'd want my number plates quite that well lit, but to each their own!

Good point. *runs outside and changes back to the dim bulbs*

I don't mind, I'm not silly enough with my cars to warrant the need for my plate to be read at night really. Thinking about it, I think the naughtiest moments I've had have all been during bright sunshine.

[no1_jazz]

Looks well i must say far form chavy. A nice modern day contemporary look which gives better light and looks far better. Top marks mate

[jon-m42]

Thanks Jazz.

I have installed the interior lights and now on my way to do the rear number plate lights. FinalD I think its a great little upgrade from the original dim yellow glow of light.

This may be an upgrade for some and some may find this pointless - my advice to everyone is to do as they please just as i have done.

thanks again for all the help.

[FinalD]

Something I noticed today when working on the car. The LED number plate ones I bought, despite saying 'NO ERROR' on the listing, actually do error on the check control. I'll have to find some other ones that don't fail the resistance checks.

[Brianmoooore]

Something I noticed today when working on the car. The LED number plate ones I bought, despite saying 'NO ERROR' on the listing, actually do error on the check control. I'll have to find some other ones that don't fail the resistance checks.

Add some extra resistance across the supply wire after the check module in the boot, or an electrolytic capacitor might cause enough of a surge to close the reed switch.
Ballast resistors built into a LED array aren't a good idea IMHO, since the life of a LED is inversely proportional to its operating temperature. They don't like heat.

[jon-m42]

G-Bear which bulbs did you end up getting for the sidelight bulbs? (w5w bulb type)

I have had a look at some browsing through the bay and cant figure out which ones to go ahead and buy.

I am looking for Ice white to compliment my 4300k HID kit, trying to stay away from the chavy dark/bright blues and purple tint colors.

which ones do you all tried and tested and most importantly recommend ?

again thanks for all the help and advice.

Jon

[jon-m42]

I come across these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-T10-LED-W ... 51a4d130bf

very cheap for a pack of 10, i dont expect much quality from them but for 99 pennies .

has anybody used these ones before?

[verde]

I'm not actually sure I'd want my number plates quite that well lit, but to each their own!

Me either but for a different reason, mine are cracked, faded and look shite

[harry_p]

Change my number plate lights:




Much prefer the LED one on the left to that horrible dim yellow/orange glow.

being an awkward sod, i don't like either.

the yellow ones look dull and 'old' the led ones look too bright and blingy. doe anyone do an led with light thats somewhere in the middle of the two?

[Speedtouch]

Just cleaning the lenses inside and out and fitting new bulbs would probably achieve the effect you're after.

[G-Bear]

G-Bear which bulbs did you end up getting for the sidelight bulbs? (w5w bulb type)

I have had a look at some browsing through the bay and cant figure out which ones to go ahead and buy.

I am looking for Ice white to compliment my 4300k HID kit, trying to stay away from the chavy dark/bright blues and purple tint colors.

which ones do you all tried and tested and most importantly recommend ?

again thanks for all the help and advice.

Jon

I ordered these.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-Series- ... 2ec290524f

which is a link from this thread. But they were of a bayonet fitment, mine were different to this on my car. See below: the LED's ordered on the left and what I was in the my on the right.




So I couldn't say what they were like fitted as they didn't fit..

Check fitment otherwise just suck and see I guess..

[dje30]

Excellent thread! Ordered bulbs earlier!
I'm looking at hid kits at the moment, what kw are people running?
Thanks

[harry_p]

i use 4300k. theyre the brightest, and are a bright crisp white. 6000k have a slight blue tinge and look a bit odd on older cars. 8000k and above you're likely to get pulled over for having blue lights, and their output is noticably lower.

don't be fooled like a lot of people (and some sellers ) into thinking the higher number means brighter light.

imho the only choice is 4300 or 6000. forget anything else. my personal preference is for 4300k though.

[grantfk10]

I've fitted 4300 to every E30 I've owned (except my first touring) Great output and never really seen the need to use high beam as the light is so good in properly adjusted headlights.