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  #1  
Old 03-10-2009, 10:55 PM
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***PIX OF MY X5 LIGHTING MODS***

Lately, many folks have been asking me about the lighting mods that I did on my E70. They also requested that I post pictures. Before I go into detail, I wanted to let you know that my car is filthy and I haven't been able to wash it. So please forgive the dirty car.

Here's what you are looking at:

1. White LED License Plate Bulbs (Cost: $6.99 for each bulb from autoillumination and $1.99 for the pair of resistors from Radio Shack (50 Ohm, 10W Resistors). This is a much cheaper and better alternative to the LED's that sell for $25-$50/set. For one, these are MUCH brighter. The resistor prevents an error from being thrown up in iDrive. I've had this set-up on my M5 forever. It works GREAT!

2. GP Thunder 8500K White Angel Eyes. Cost: $15.98. I considered doing LED's for the Angel Eyes or even HID's for the Angel Eyes, but didn't feel it was worth the $200 cost. The GP Thunders work great, especially during the day when they act as my daytime running lights. Much better than the stock, amber color bulbs. In the pictures below, it appears that my headlights are on. They are NOT. Unfortunately, the reflection from the xenon headlight housing is so reflective, that it appears my headlights are on. They are not, so you'll have to use your imagination. Feel free to edit the picture if you want to block out that part of the light, so you can get a better idea of what the "halo's" look like white, instead of amber.

3. 6000K HID Xenon Fogs. They make such a difference in lighting up the road, compared to that of the stock Fog bulbs. Plus, these are much more white than the stock, amber fog halogens. I also like having them, as I get very concerned about the potholes, here in NY. Having these fogs help make it much easier to see what lies ahead on the road in front of me. With the 20" 214's and low profile tires, I get very concerned about damaging these wheels. Again though, I did the best I could with these pictures. Some may appear a bit over or underexposed.

4. Since it was pointless to show, due to overexposure, I've also upgraded the xenon stock headlights to 6000K. These now match the Fogs. The stock xenons on the E70 and E53 are 4300K, in case you didn't know.

Feel freel to let me know if you have any questions.

Enjoy!

/C



LEFT = LED WHITE / RIGHT = Stock Halogen Amber















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Last edited by C's Bimmer; 03-10-2009 at 11:09 PM.
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  #2  
Old 03-10-2009, 10:59 PM
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I love the look of the fogs. What would I need to buy to get that done?
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  #3  
Old 03-10-2009, 11:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KingCon
I love the look of the fogs. What would I need to buy to get that done?
You need to get a set with the following:

1. 6000K (Anything above that starts to look to blue/purple, which is much too ricey for these kind of cars).
2. I suggest going with a 35W kit, instead of a 55W kit. The 35W kit should come as a "Slim Ballast". This will make it MUCH easier to mount the ballasts inside the front bumper.
3. Make sure the kit has cancelling cables, so it does not throw off an error code in iDrive.

I believe there is a member on this site that sells Fog Kits for the X5. Although I didn't buy from this member, I've heard nothing but good things. I used the vendor that I buy all my mods from for all my BMW's. I just have a good relationship with them, so there's no need for me to go elsewhere.

Hope this helps.

**Edit - I just realized you have an E53. Contact member LI-X5 and ask where he got his Fog kit from. His is perfect. His name is Neil. He's a good friend.
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Retired:
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  #4  
Old 03-10-2009, 11:24 PM
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Looks stunning!!!
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  #5  
Old 03-11-2009, 06:10 AM
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HID Fog... what is the brand that you use? did it give any error on dashboard?

Where did u purchase the GP thunder?

I am worry about switch Fog to HID.. since Fog light is also use as the corning light.. that comes on and off when Xenon head light is on. So, if you turn your head light on.. and turn your wheel over 15 degree, you will see the side that you are turning the fog light turns on for about 5-10 sec.... and turn off after that... wonder what is the life of the blast or the hid bulb constantly been ignite?
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Old 03-11-2009, 08:12 AM
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wow. Looks Awesome C. Cant wait to copy you when I get mine.
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Old 03-11-2009, 10:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shinchan
HID Fog... what is the brand that you use? did it give any error on dashboard?

Where did u purchase the GP thunder?

I am worry about switch Fog to HID.. since Fog light is also use as the corning light.. that comes on and off when Xenon head light is on. So, if you turn your head light on.. and turn your wheel over 15 degree, you will see the side that you are turning the fog light turns on for about 5-10 sec.... and turn off after that... wonder what is the life of the blast or the hid bulb constantly been ignite?
Yes, the E70 uses the Fogs as its cornering lights. So far, so good. The only issue is when I go in reverse. Briefly, an error comes up, but it resets once I drive away and works like a charm. To me, it's well worth it. Why the fogs go on in reverse is beyond me. I understand the feature for turning and signaling, but reverse makes no sense. I wish I could figure out how to bypass that trigger. In any event, it's not like I'm in reverse all that often, so the reset takes place rather quickly and the upside to HID fogs far outweighs this little issue.

I don't recall the brand of the HID Fogs, but they are made specifically for the newer BMW models, as they have the cancelling cables built in to bypass the famous error codes that can show up via your iDrive menu. This is a MUST for those with an E70. Make sure your kit has these and/or make sure you buy the cancelling cables as well .

This set was the 55W Kit which was not a slim ballast. Knowing what I know now, I would have asked for the slim ballast, as figuring out a place to put the ballast was a nightmare. You also need to keep the wires away from the PDC sensors, behind the bumper, as the magnetic current screws up the sensors when the Fogs are on.

This is where I bought the GP Thunders:

H8 by HID Lights USA

Here are the sizes of the bulbs needed for each:

Angel Eyes: H8
Xenons: D1S
Fogs: H11
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Current Garage:
2015 Singapore Grey M6 Gran Coupe (ED - May 2014) -new car
2008 Imola Red E60 M5 - love of my life
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Retired:
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2007 Jet Black E60 530xi M Sport
2003 Jet Black E39 530i Sport
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  #8  
Old 03-11-2009, 10:54 AM
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One last thing I will add, is that if you don't want to do HID Fogs, but do want to get rid of the ugly amber colored fogs for the xenon-looking ones, you can also do the GP Thunders as your Fogs too. Just make sure you order the H11 bulbs for the fogs. The Angel Eyes are an H8 bulb. It's also a cheaper solution too.

If you do the GP Thunders, you'll want 8500K, since these are halogen bulbs too, not HID's. HID's should be 6000K. Standard Halogens for the pure white look should be 8500K.

Here are the exact bulbs, if you want to do the GP Thunders for your fogs instead of HID's:

H11 by HID Lights USA


Hope this helps and makes sense.
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Current Garage:
2015 Singapore Grey M6 Gran Coupe (ED - May 2014) -new car
2008 Imola Red E60 M5 - love of my life
2012 Alpine White LCI E70 X5 50i w/ LCI Aero Kit and Rocker Panels - wife and kids car

Retired:
2009 Jet Black E70 X5 4.8i Sport w/ Aero Kit
2007 Jet Black E60 530xi M Sport
2003 Jet Black E39 530i Sport

Last edited by C's Bimmer; 03-11-2009 at 11:08 AM.
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Old 03-11-2009, 11:37 AM
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Did you try the LED License plate lights w/o the resistor? I installed the same on the E53 and there was no error on the dash.
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  #10  
Old 03-11-2009, 03:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TQ2K
Did you try the LED License plate lights w/o the resistor? I installed the same on the E53 and there was no error on the dash.
Yes. It throws up an error, just as it does on the E60.
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Current Garage:
2015 Singapore Grey M6 Gran Coupe (ED - May 2014) -new car
2008 Imola Red E60 M5 - love of my life
2012 Alpine White LCI E70 X5 50i w/ LCI Aero Kit and Rocker Panels - wife and kids car

Retired:
2009 Jet Black E70 X5 4.8i Sport w/ Aero Kit
2007 Jet Black E60 530xi M Sport
2003 Jet Black E39 530i Sport
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