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Old Mar 8, 2018 | 08:19 PM
  #30  
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nick46
VR46 The G.O.A.T
 
Joined: Aug 2014
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From: bridgwater somerset
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Well the LEDs are still great. The only issue I've had is condensation forming on the inside of the nearside headlight, but this was due to the fact that when we did the install this was the first one we did and it ended up being a bit of a bodge! Drilled the hole in the dust cover in slightly the wrong place and then couldn't get the cables through. Had to drill another hole below where we had the gromit for the second cable. Tried using silicone to seal it but it didn't work!
I got another dust cover and finally had a go at sorting it out yesterday (been too cold up until now!). So hopefully it'l be sealed now and no more condensation. While I was at it I also adjusted the angle of the LEDs to impove the beam pattern. When I installed them I followed the instructions and set the LEDs to what they said - with the LEDs slightly at an angle instead of having them at 90 degrees to the vertical. When I then took the car to my mates garage to check the beam pattern, the pattern was fine apart from the 'kick up' was a little low. I think this was probably due to how I set the LEDs. So yesterday I took them out and adjusted the angle - set the LEDs so that they're at 90 degrees to the vertical like I wanted to to start with! Hopefully this will improve the 'kick up' on the beam pattern. Going to get the beams checked again tomorrow on my way home from work.
Overall I'm really impressed with these LED's, it' just the installing of them is a bit of a ball ache mainly due to the huge heat sinks on the LEDs and the fact you have to modify the dust covers on the back of the lights. I'm guessing though that as this technology improves further, the heatsinks will become smaller and eventually it'll just be a straight swap. However, remember I'm basing this all on my experience of fitting them to my E91 BMW 3 series. Other cars may have much more room to play with and require less or no modifications.
Here's a couple of pictures of my dust covers that have been modified to accept the cables. The reason the hole had to be so big is so that the plugs could go through the hole as well.
Offside.
Nearside - the one that was bodged first time round!
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