inboard headlights

[josiahg52]

I stand by what I said. It takes seconds. Longer than I flash the lights for anyway. Gives you maybe one good and extremely short flash. I've tried it and there's no appreciable light. I'm concerned about the ignitor and ballast components.

[josiahg52]

Originally Posted by bawareca

Actually to "ignite" the bulb a highest possible voltage is applied and in the first half second after start the bulb is very bright, dims after that and starts to get brighter slowly. But nevertheless not very useful and harsh on the equipment.

i don't often get to try FTP when the low-beam hadn't been on and the bulb is truly cold or isn't on to begin with so I tried this morning. It's actually not as bad as I thought/remember. It may be effective. I'm just very fond of the headlights in M5 and the way they work. There is no doubt of the M5s flash to pass being noticeable.

Originally Posted by josiahg52

I stand by what I said. It takes seconds. Longer than I flash the lights for anyway. Gives you maybe one good and extremely short flash. I've tried it and there's no appreciable light. I'm concerned about the ignitor and ballast components.

[Tomaz]

Upon further research turns out Xenon headlights are actually metal-halide that use metals including mercury. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal-halide_lamp

Automotive HID may be called "xenon headlamps", though they are actually metal-halide lamps that contain xenon gas. The xenon gas allows the lamps to produce minimally adequate light immediately upon start, and shortens the run-up time. The usage of argon, as is commonly done in street lights and other stationary metal-halide lamp applications, causes lamps to take several minutes to reach their full output.

Either way, I am satisfied with the light produced and operation.

[X5Cat]

That's deep, man! Hey, anyone know for sure where the xenon ballast is located on these monsters? I'm thinking on the bottom of the headlight unit, which I understand is really bad because it's going to be a bear to remove from the vehicle. My driver's side is not working. Verified bulb is okay because it works when swapped with the driver's side. I've ordered a $35 ballast from eBay because I want it on hand when I get the darned thing out in a few days. Taking a gamble that it's the problem.

[Tomaz]

Originally Posted by X5Cat

That's deep, man! Hey, anyone know for sure where the xenon ballast is located on these monsters? I'm thinking on the bottom of the headlight unit, which I understand is really bad because it's going to be a bear to remove from the vehicle. My driver's side is not working. Verified bulb is okay because it works when swapped with the driver's side. I've ordered a $35 ballast from eBay because I want it on hand when I get the darned thing out in a few days. Taking a gamble that it's the problem.

Is the ballast the same as the #5 control unit in the diagram above? When you take the headlight out you be able to check for voltage coming into the ballast.

[X5Cat]

Originally Posted by Tomaz

Is the ballast the same as the #5 control unit in the diagram above? When you take the headlight out you be able to check for voltage coming into the ballast.

I don't think it is the same, but I won't know until I get the unit out, unless someone can tell me first. The diagram I think is for non-xenon. Wish I could check for voltage before I take it out, but I can't tell which wire to probe until I can see it. Thought that if someone could tell me exactly where it is I might be better able to find the wire, I don't know....

I don't want to go to trouble of pulling it out and not have a replacement ballast on hand, then have to do it all over again after I get a ballast delivered. So, I went ahead and ordered one for $35 on eBay. It's about ten times that much at the chain auto parts stores, who also don't have it in stock and have to order. Maybe it's a cheapie, but for that kind of difference, I'm going to find out!

[the_ulf]

i think your D1S might have the igniter integrated in the burner, whereas the cheap kits have the igniter in the ballast if i'm not entirely mistaken. and them burners are like a hundred bucks each.

[kaput]

Ok, so almost a year later, and a bump... I know. Better than starting a new thread and others telling me to search.

I am wondering if anyone has clarification on this? I'll go with what I know, and see where we sit.

I know the outers on an LCI are high/low beam and the flapper moves to control the high/low beam. Essentially, the flipper on the bottom unblocks light coming out of the bottom of the lens, which gives you a full beam.

I know that on LCI vehicles, this lens is for DRLs, not an LED that illuminated the coronas. I know this because I can turn off the DRL function and the coronas are still on. From my understanding it is only an H8 bulb for DRLs.

I want to replace the DRLs to the LED strips in the lower grills (eBay piece, or other similar part from another source) and replace the H8 bulb with a 2500k HID kit for extreme weather and backroad driving, instead of just slapping a 20" LED light bar in the front mouth of the grill. I would adapt the H8 plug going to the OEM bulb, to a male plug with wires to run the DRLs, leaving the H8 projector empty, and ready to accept the HID. Then, wire the HIDs to a relay, and place a switch somewhere in the cabin (another issue is trying to find a nice looking switch, although I might try and get a euro switch with rear fog and run it from there).

Does anyone know if this is possible? I saw a video of a guy replacing the H8 inner projector bulb with HIDs, but the comments were so flooded with hate about burning out his coronas, I closed the video. This was all before I bought my X5. Now, I know a little different. Anyone done this yet?

[Tomaz]

Originally Posted by Tomaz

My inboard headlights never come on. The high and low beams are on the outboard headlights. When I looked behind the headlight fixture it appears there is a module there. Are the inboard headlights purely cosmetic or am I missing something?

To answer my own question. The inner lenses are purely cosmetic on my 2013 E70. The reason is the outer lenses are adaptive and swivel mechanically with the direction the car is steered (only in automatic mode). Therefore the high and low beams are only illuminated through the outer adaptive lenses.

[josiahg52]

Originally Posted by kaput

Ok, so almost a year later, and a bump... I know. Better than starting a new thread and others telling me to search.

I am wondering if anyone has clarification on this? I'll go with what I know, and see where we sit.

I know the outers on an LCI are high/low beam and the flapper moves to control the high/low beam. Essentially, the flipper on the bottom unblocks light coming out of the bottom of the lens, which gives you a full beam.

I know that on LCI vehicles, this lens is for DRLs, not an LED that illuminated the coronas. I know this because I can turn off the DRL function and the coronas are still on. From my understanding it is only an H8 bulb for DRLs.

I want to replace the DRLs to the LED strips in the lower grills (eBay piece, or other similar part from another source) and replace the H8 bulb with a 2500k HID kit for extreme weather and backroad driving, instead of just slapping a 20" LED light bar in the front mouth of the grill. I would adapt the H8 plug going to the OEM bulb, to a male plug with wires to run the DRLs, leaving the H8 projector empty, and ready to accept the HID. Then, wire the HIDs to a relay, and place a switch somewhere in the cabin (another issue is trying to find a nice looking switch, although I might try and get a euro switch with rear fog and run it from there).

Does anyone know if this is possible? I saw a video of a guy replacing the H8 inner projector bulb with HIDs, but the comments were so flooded with hate about burning out his coronas, I closed the video. This was all before I bought my X5. Now, I know a little different. Anyone done this yet?

On LCI vehicles, the coronas are lit by LEDs mounted on the bottom of the headlight assembly. On LCI vehicles, there is no H8 bulb in the assembly at all. On LCI vehicles, the inboard projector is a dummy blocked physically by plastic and visually by an opaque shield, both of which are internal to the headlight assembly, and there is no socket, wiring or plug for any bulb in that position.