I decided to do a simple review on a widely available set of angel eyes from eBay as myself ran into this issue upon purchase of my vehicle and couldn’t get much feedback in regards of these bulbs. I’ll continue to purchase products from all over and do simple reviews just to help everyone out there when doing their research some feedback.
NOTE: A Very Image Heavy Thread
Background:
Just recently less than a month ago acquired my E90 LCI in Titanium Silver as a replacement to my previous vehicle a 2004 C Class which repair bill was never ending. When I first purchased the car there was just a few minor things that I wanted to change at that moment of time in terms of lighting and that was the xenon colour (knew a drop in illumination however I was use to my 6000K colour temperature) and the H8 Angel Eye Bulbs (from the stock yellowish colour). First I had purchased a set of GP Thunder 8500K v2 H8 bulbs and was 50% satisfied, the colour was cooler than what I was hoping for also when dimming came into effect the colour became too warm and dim for my liking, at the moment of purchasing the GP Thunders I also purchased the 20W Cree H8 Bulbs from eBay, it was a race to see what arrived first.
Involved in Application Process:
- BMW E90 LCI
- H8 20w Cree Angel Eyes (eBay) - Seller Factorykiss
Buying Experience:
Fairly decent normal eBay buying experience, no hassle no issues, the unit was shipped out promptly after receiving payment with tracking information. Shipping took a little long but maybe due to residing in Canada.
Seller:
eBay - Factorykiss
Shipping Time:
20 Days from time of order.
Replacing:
GP Thunder 8500K V2 Halogen Bulbs
Contents & First Impressions
* 2x 20w CREE H8 LED Bulbs
* 2x 2 Piece Resistor Modules
* Packaging Material - Bubble Wrap [fun]
First impressions in regards to look and feel are very positive, the construction is fairly well done, great heft to the main unit (bulb), resistor packs were a tad bit light though (my first set of LED angel eyes so nothing else to compare to for now). Soldering seems to be of adequate quality no visual signs of flaws. Only downside for those who are new to LED angel eyes and its contents, is that there was no provided manual.
Below are a few images of the unboxing and inspection process of the contents.
Install & Review
Install of these LED H8 Bulbs were fairly easy, completed in less than 10 minutes, fitment was perfect, no issues getting it in and turning the bulb to lock it into place. With the bulb installed there is more than adequate amount of room for air flow and to shove the resistor modules/packs. After reading around and some tips from other websites like E92 Lighting, I tried to shove the resistor modules/packs far away from any sort of heat source (ie. heatsink of the bulb), still housed within the housing.
As you know my previous set of bulbs were a set of GP Thunder 8500K V2 H8 bulbs which were great, not as bright as the stock bulbs (due to temperature), and when they dimmed they were a slight warm white.
With the first one in, right away I noticed improvement over the GPThunder, they had a more cool white look to them compared to the blueish look of the GP Thunders and filled the outer rings a bit more. From 20ft away the fill was great in mid-day lighting, the colour was much more preferred by myself as it was closer to a 5500K-6000K while the GP Thunders were definitely pushing past 7000K in colour in full power/brightness.
I haven’t had any coding done to my vehicle, so where the halogen H8 Angel Eye Bulbs would dim, these LED bulbs dim as well, they don’t have anything to combat the drop in voltage, however when they dim, they easily maintain their colour temperature.
Below are a few images of the bulbs installed on the car.
Close up night shot of the bulbs in action
With xenons on and angel eyes dimming
Time to Wrap Up
Pros
- Brighter than the GP Thunders
- Surprisingly decent build quality (metals, rubber gasket, soldering)
- Great colour temperature (personal opinion based)
- Same colour temperature when the voltage drops (uncoded)
- It didn’t come just loosed in a ziplock bag as I was initially expecting as I was going into the order with nothing but wondering for price what was I going to get.
Cons
- Not sure if its a bad thing, very light resistor modules/packs
- Not as bright like those LED LCI BMWs (due to design of angel eye tubing as well)
- Little longer than preferred shipping time (free shipping, can’t complain)
- No compensation for voltage drop
- Super subtle flickering (due to pwm?) barely noticeable however I am a bit picky and notice small details so I was able to pick up on it. (This was noticed when parking 1 feet away from a grey brick wall and observing closely the output).
Honestly for bulbs costing $47 CAD shipped to Canada, I am impressed. I definitely would want to go brighter down the road for improved daylight performance, in terms of make them more noticeable. However as they sit I’m content until I try one out with more power.
Finalize:
We will see how long these bulbs last, I will update this post in the future with my findings in regards to longevity and when I do get something that’ll improve in terms of brightness and technology I’ll update with a comparison even if it’s just a quick note just for those doing their research. At the moment, I’m more happier than I was with the GP Thunders and thats enough for now.
Next on the List:
- Set of DTEC V9.5 100W H8 Angel Eye Bulbs
- Set of eBay 40W CREE H8 Angel Eye Bulbs (8 SMDS) (Should technically be 2x brighter, as it's 2x the amount of same spec cree smds, we'll see)
I do hope that this was some sort of help for anyone out there researching on some angel eyes, I’d definitely purchase these as back ups to higher end angel eyes in case they fail. It’s hard for me to ever go back to the stock halogen bulb colour temperature so this may be a never-ending quest.
Overtime I’ll continue to improve photo quality and have more use of my DSLR, all photos taken in this review was done with my Nexus 5.