Review Alpine HID AE and Feedback Alpine Motorsports

[litebulb]

Hey guys,

Initially, I was quite happy with the product but after time I am very disappointment with their after sales service. This is my last resort as there is no longer any open communication. I hope as well to help educate others about any future purchases from this company.

I purchased the AE during the GB with the pre-drilled caps so there wouldn't be any issues. The GB was held on 2011 and was quite excited about this mod. I was relatively happy with the results but my only issue was that the centre AE are fairly bright. To the point where I am constantly being flashed by oncoming traffic due to they think I have my high beams on. Other than that I can live with them.

About half way into the year the system developed a flicker on the passenger side which was intermediate, this eventually lead to a full no power at times. However a couple quick lock and unlock the system would relight. I reached out to Alex/Alpine via email about the problem and we concluded it was the bulbs and that he would send me some replacements. After a couple of weeks I follow up three times via email and never received a response.

After some time I was browsing the forum and saw that Alpine had just created a thread and was able to get in touch via PM. However this also ended in the same fashion with no replacement bulbs received and multiple follow-ups with no answer.

I should also mention that during this whole process I have tried calling them ever couple of days but never received an answer to my calls or a response from the voicemail messages I have left.

Just last month after one of those calls I was able to connect via SMS and once again went through multiple back and forth and was finally told that the bulbs were in the mail.

I sent many SMS for a tracking number and they’re only response was “Hold”. It has been a month and still no bulbs, seriously a month for a package from California to Washington!

Now my driver sides AE are exhibiting the same dying problems and Alpine ignores my calls (well they always did) and SMS (which was the only way to get a constant communication).

What I am most annoyed about is that I have been in very respectable and given them more than enough leeway. The reason I asked for a tracking number is I am located in Canada and have a US address to pick up packages, the commute is not easy (I explained this to them as well). Also in Canada you must have DRL (day time running lights) I have received warnings from the police. If they told me at the beginning that nothing could have done instead of this run around I would have gone back to stock and not have wasted months of my time.

What is laughable is that I have tried phone, SMS, email and PM, I guess I could go and visit them but that’s just plain stupid. Plus I’m joking. =)


Thanks for your time and feel free to comment.

Cheers.

[donsaxena]

I had one side burnout within a week. Had my shop switch to a Retro solutions ballyst. I wouldn't do business with them. I never contacted Alex. Business appeared to be unprofessional.

[litebulb]

They reached out to me 15 minutes after my OP. Let's see if they can correct this embarrassment.

[J-Sin]

It's sad that Alex is letting his business fail like this. My ordering experience through them was terrible. Took over a month to get the HIDs and several ignored calls and emails. Alex eventually got back to me and we cleared things up. After reading the constant threads about how bad the service is, looks like I'll be doing something different for my 3 series.

Side note: I've been reading a lot about the HIDs yellowing the rings of the AEs. I haven't taken a good look at mine yet but I'll definitely consider other options before going this route if you haven't done so already.

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by litebulb

Plus I’m joking. =)

After typing that much out, I'd guess you're only joking about the visiting them part. Still, kinda confusing.

[Gray_Panther]

So glad I know how to retrofit my own HID's. sorry to read about your dilemma.

Makes me wonder why the business was so unprofessional.

[Got_///M]

Sucks man. Lesson learned. Keep us updated bud!

[litebulb]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

After typing that much out, I'd guess you're only joking about the visiting them part. Still, kinda confusing.

Yeah was joking about visiting them.

So an update after a week.

As stated Alpine reach out to me after the OP. Their response, was that if I was to give them my info they would give me a tracking right away which I did. Since then I have sent a couple of follow up messages that were ignored.

I have completely lost confidence in them.

[Riley1524]

My friend had the same problem. One of his bulbs turned a different color, so he talked to Alex and was supposed to receive new bulbs, but never heard back or was sent new bulbs. Since then he has come to his senses and realized how goofy they look anyways and runs LUX with much more better results. The HID AE's are way too bright at night.

[1speedbike]

Wow sucks to hear so many people are having problems with their kits. Mine is holding up fine.. Had problems with the V2 ballasts, nothing with the V3 kit.

If you guys need bulbs, go to:

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Cat...hting/HID-Kits

And buy your choice. Just cut the cords for the old and new bulbs and solder the old connectors to the correct wires on the new bulb. Not ideal, but it worked for me (just wanted a different color, my bulbs are all still fine... For now).

[litebulb]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

Wow sucks to hear so many people are having problems with their kits. Mine is holding up fine.. Had problems with the V2 ballasts, nothing with the V3 kit.

If you guys need bulbs, go to:

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Cat...hting/HID-Kits

And buy your choice. Just cut the cords for the old and new bulbs and solder the old connectors to the correct wires on the new bulb. Not ideal, but it worked for me (just wanted a different color, my bulbs are all still fine... For now).

Thanks for the link!

[litebulb]

Hey guys, final update. The driver side stopped working completely and the passenger is a hit and miss most of the time. Decided to take them off yesterday and throw them in the garbage. Just want to vent a little cause the passenger side on the cabs is a bitch to re install the cap. That in itself took 2 hours, I heard coupes aren't fun as well but in the cabs have an extra bracing bar that gets in the way. My advise is to unbolt the oil canister and push aside some of the tubing then slowly wiggle the cap into place. Also make sure the metal clip is still connected, mine fell off and I had to start all over again. What is weird is I miss the stock look, must be cause of the SGM cause the contrast is nice with the HID on. Nehoo Cheers!