Fogs - 2011 128i LED replacement

[Martin VonMunich]

This must have been discussed somewhere, but can't find a thread.

I want to replace the yellow fogs on my 2011 128i, with LED, but I have the older bumper trim, see below.



I don't want to replace the actual Fog light, but just the bulb, to match the white colour of my Xenon bulbs and the 6,000k LED Cree replacement Angel eyes.

Anyone have success doing this? Is the bulb the same for all 1's/E82 fogs?

** Also I've purchased a WIFI OBD2 and going to buy the BMWhat iOS app, and want to set the Fog to turn on automatically when ignition is on, rather than have to press the button. Is this a possible/built in code?

Thanks

[reisf]

For the fogs you could get a HID kit or you could even use the same leds that you have for the angel eyes - They are the same bulb (H8). If you didnt want to spend that much maybe give those blue tinted halogen bulbs ago. I tried them on my angel eyes a while ago but i didn't like them.

Ive got a photo below for you showing the color temperature you get.

I don't know about the BMWhat app, but you can program the fog lights to be welcome lights as well as daytime running lights, but i don't think you can program the fog lights to always on.

[Martin VonMunich]

Thanks Reisf,

Is that an Australian bumper trim? New South Wales? Haven't seen it before.

I ordered the 6,000k LED replacement bulbs for the angel eyes believing they are bright white, not blueish. Am I wrong on this? I really don't prefer bluish lights.

Did you replace your fog light bulbs as well to match?

The bulbs I bought for angel eyes don't point straight forward, they cast in a 90° angles, so I'd prefer something forward casting for the fogs.

Any thoughts on:
- what bulbs are good options
- DIY installation - seems like I'll have to remove the front bumper to do this.

OBD2 - anyone have luck changing the fogs to act as always on daytime running lights?

Thanks

[reisf]

Originally Posted by Martin VonMunich

Thanks Reisf,

Is that an Australian bumper trim? New South Wales? Haven't seen it before.

I ordered the 6,000k LED replacement bulbs for the angel eyes believing they are bright white, not blueish. Am I wrong on this? I really don't prefer bluish lights.

Did you replace your fog light bulbs as well to match?

The bulbs I bought for angel eyes don't point straight forward, they cast in a 90° angles, so I'd prefer something forward casting for the fogs.

Any thoughts on:
- what bulbs are good options
- DIY installation - seems like I'll have to remove the front bumper to do this.

OBD2 - anyone have luck changing the fogs to act as always on daytime running lights?

Thanks

I don't know what bumper trim i have but i think it may be an LCI non-msport version, But i don't like it and it's going haha.

I know how to code the fogs to act as DRLs, but that is with NCSExpert. You don't need to remove the whole bumper to access the fog lights, but it may depend on how crowded your engine bay is. If you reach down past the rear of the headlights you should be able to feel some cables running towards the fog lights. Once you can feel the back of the fog lights all you have to do is rotate the bulb 45degrees and it comes out clean.

Good point i forgot that the LED angel eyes don't point forward, but that might not matter because the flog lights are reflective? And if you look at the halogen bulb (when you get around to removing them) the tips of them are kind of blacked out so they dont point forward anyway.

6000K in an LED is a "cool white" if that makes sense. It is definately more white than blue, i've got them on for my angel eyes.

Got another pic for you. The LEDs are really, really bright so its kind of hard to get a good photo of them (on an iphone anyway) but i hope you can make out the color.

[reisf]

Originally Posted by reisf

I don't know what bumper trim i have but i think it may be an LCI non-msport version, But i don't like it and it's going haha.

Good point i forgot that the LED angel eyes don't point forward, but that might not matter because the flog lights are reflective? And if you look at the halogen bulb (when you get around to removing them) the tips of them are kind of blacked out so they dont point forward anyway.

6000K in an LED is a "cool white" if that makes sense. It is definately more white than blue.

Got another pic for you. The LEDs are really, really bright so its kind of hard to get a good photo of them (on an iphone anyway) but i hope you can make out the color.

Thats a pretty crap photo, ill try again for you tomorrow (its 1am now)

[Martin VonMunich]

Thanks again. Was thinking about getting these for the fogs. Note the front facing LED along with the sides.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=131522520538

Should these have 90° plugs unlike the Angel Eyes LEDs?

[reisf]

Those look good, but you need to make sure they are canbus compatible, otherwise when you install them, they'll flicker on/off

[Martin VonMunich]

I don't see anything listed on their eBay ad specifying Canbus.

Is this common? Would they need to be canbus for the audis they're showing?

Thanks

[reisf]

Not sure about how Audis work, but BMWs periodically check the headlights are still alive with something called "Pulse width modulation." Basically the car sends a signal to the light globe (i'm not sure what the frequency is but it happens multiple times a second), and this signal is a spike in voltage. If the bulbs aren't BMW Specific, they tend to flicker as a result of the PWM, as well as throw errors that say the bulb has died.

This happened with the first set of led angel eyes that i bought, but it came with a sort of resistor/ballast type thing that cancelled the errors and flickering

If you have a look at this listing on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H11-H8-cre...item3a8cde3c38

the seller mentions that he can provide an error free harness with the sale.

[Gray_Panther]

I bought LEDs for my fogs awhile back. They would flicker whenever I started my car and the 1er would give me a bulb error indicator on my dash. It was annoying and the light was spread all over much like a honda civic with an HID ebay kit. It got annoying so I took them off.

[Martin VonMunich]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

I bought LEDs for my fogs awhile back. They would flicker whenever I started my car and the 1er would give me a bulb error indicator on my dash. It was annoying and the light was spread all over much like a honda civic with an HID ebay kit. It got annoying so I took them off.

Thanks Reisf - I've asked the seller to comment on this.

Gray- have you seen any FOG LEDs others have recommended?
- no flicker Canbus/PWM
- no error codes
- match light spectrum of xenon/6000k LED Angels.
- good tight/forward direction of light

Thanks

[andrey_gta]

the 6 series has LED fogs that I believe can be modded to fit the bumpers
about $150/side

Infact the LTbmw tuner in California made it work on an e90 witha custom cut up 6 series bumper
Front fog lamp, LED, left 63177234927
Front fog lamp, LED, right 63177234928

[Martin VonMunich]

Originally Posted by andrey_gta

the 6 series has LED fogs that I believe can be modded to fit the bumpers
about $150/side

Infact the LTbmw tuner in California made it work on an e90 witha custom cut up 6 series bumper
Front fog lamp, LED, left 63177234927
Front fog lamp, LED, right 63177234928

Thanks Andrey,

I think that would look cool, but I'm one of those lame LED Fad guys..

So you're saying I could replace the entire fog light and case with the 6-series Fog and casing with little modification?

$300 vs $25 seems a big upgrade price for fogs that already work just fine though.

I wonder if I can find a picture of this.

[Martin VonMunich]

Thanks all, ended up buying this pair off eBay. Looks like they will work without errors or flickering

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130727604263?redirect=mobile

[reisf]

OK cool let us know how it turns out, actually thinking of getting the same bulbs now.

[Martin VonMunich]

I'll take some before/after photos of the old vs new Angels and fogs.

I'm worried about the Angels now, I wasn't as careful re: canbus/flickering/errors.

I at least have an OBD2 on the way as well so I can cancel errors.

[reisf]

What angel eyes did you buy? do you have a link?

The OBD cable won't help with this because it will happen every time the lights turn on. If you bought angel eyes specially labelled as "BMW LED angel eyes" they should be fine And come with some kind resistor/error cancellor wiring

[Martin VonMunich]

Reis,

Actually looks like I'll be okay.
This was the set I bought (haven't arrived yet though).

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=261887367465

[Martin VonMunich]

Here's the extra gear that must regulate the flickering.

[reisf]

Yep those are very similar to the ones i have. They should be fine.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by Martin VonMunich

Thanks Reisf - I've asked the seller to comment on this.

Gray- have you seen any FOG LEDs others have recommended?
- no flicker Canbus/PWM
- no error codes
- match light spectrum of xenon/6000k LED Angels.
- good tight/forward direction of light

Thanks

Sorry, no. I have not done any research on other fogs.

[Martin VonMunich]

Fogs just arrived today. Maybe I'll even get them in tonight.