Replaced crappy 3W Angel Eye bulbs with 10W CREEs $89.99 - MUCH HAPPIER! This is a DAYLIGHT PHOTO!! :thumbup:

For those that helped me - U ROCK, THANKS!! For those who say there are no bright enough bulbs for the E53s without doing a full conversion = here's the link to these bulbs:

BMW Angel Eyes | CREE 10W LED Angel Eyes For BMW 5 6 7 Series X5

I also had a software upgrade and a Mobile 1 Oil change this week! Tranny shifts much cleaner - she is FAST!! More 2 come...

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...psdc7014f2.jpg

make sure you code off cold monitoring for the AE's or those 90 dollar bulbs will burn out on you in a couple weeks/months...

...can you be a little more specific? What is "cold monitoring" and how do you "code off cold monitoring"?

it can be done at a dealer or through several enthusiasts using software.

Search the thread "Coding, what not to forget?" and you will find the lines for turning off the monitoring of the angel eyes at startup.

Cold monitoring sends tiny pulses to the LCM on startup to do bulb checks on basically all the exterior bulbs, these are not noticeable with halogen bulbs and doesn't harm them, however, the pulses sent to the LED's create a flickering at startup and do harm the long term lifespan of LED's. PM member SlickGT1 he has replaced his angel eye LED's a few times before he got cold monitoring turned off.


Hope that helps, I don't have links but it's all in a good search.

From what I understand, the inline resistor is supposed to prevent that fault code...not true?

^Do they flicker when you turn the key on?

it prevents the fault code but the LCM still sends cold monitoring pulses to the bulbs at start up regardless if there is a resistor or not. Halogen bulbs take the pulses no problem, LED's do not take to it well and I'm just letting you know there is a chance one or both of the sides will fail prematurely, it's well documented.

I am not giving you a hard time...just trying to educate myself. I appreciate it. I will check if the bulbs "flicker" on startup.

you may not be able to see it unless you are in a totally dim garage, just making you aware. This was just discussed a week ago, page 7 and 8 of this thread I have linked for you to read.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ss-what-8.html

Thanks for the info Ricky Bobby...and all.