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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum
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REVIEW: DTEC v9.5 100W H8 Angel Eye Bulbs
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06-21-2014, 11:46 AM | #1 |
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REVIEW: DTEC v9.5 100W H8 Angel Eye Bulbs
My goal here is to find a set of LED Angel Eyes that illuminate more than the stock halogen bulb which due to temperature had a more prominent output than basic 20W CREE LED setups, especially during the day. I set out to do a review on the DTEC 100W v9.5 H8 LED angel eyes, as no one has really done a review on these LEDs and are claimed to be the brightest for CREE LEDs
NOTE: A Very Image Heavy Thread Background: Just recently about 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. I purchased a set of 20W Cree angel eyes from eBay and was fairly impressed by their performance for the price point (~$45). I really liked the 20W CREE over the GP Thunders however they had some minor things that made me want to seek for better, (1) it would dim when the xenons came on, (2) was not very noticeable during the day. So here I saw myself aim to get a pair of DTEC v9.5 as their claim for the brightest LED CREE angel eyes in the market. Involved in Application Process: - BMW E90 LCI - DTEC v9.5 100W H8 Angel Eye Bulbs - Seller E92-Lighting Buying Experience: Great buying experience, I PM’d E92-Lighting directly and got super quick response and very detailed answers to any questions I may of had of these angel eye bulbs which cost a fairly hefty price compared to the 20W CREE from eBay. Shipping was quick and I got lots of details on how I should properly install the bulbs into the housing. Shipping was quick and I received it quicker than expected. Seller: E92-Lighting Shipping Time: 6 Days Replacing: 20W CREE eBay Angel Eyes Contents & First Impressions * 2x DTEC v9.5 H8 LED Bulbs * 2x 1 Piece Angel Eye Module/Drive * Packaging Material - Bubble Wrap & Box * Instruction slip First impressions in regards to the look and feel are beyond my expectations, the construction is very well done with lots of attention to detail. The bulbs have a decent heft to them along with the Angel Eye Drives. High grade thicker than expected gauge of wiring, soldering job is really well done, CREE SMDs are very large and placed with precision. Included in the box was a slip of paper with basic instructions on how to properly install the LED Bulbs. The overall packaging was good, lots of bubble wrap that ensured no damage was to be done to the LED Bulbs during shipping. Below are a few images of the unboxing and inspection process of the contents. Install & Review Installation of these LED H8 Bulbs were surprisingly easy, both sides were completed in less than 10 minutes, and fitment was great with really minor play with the bulbs installed into the socket. Removing the peg to properly shove the Angel Eye Drives to the bottom of the headlight housing to prevent damage to the drives, took very little effort. With the bulbs installed there was plenty of room still available, and turning the bulbs into place once inserted were easier than the 20W CREE as the fins that hold the bulb into the socket housing were less wide than both the stock halogen bulbs and the 20W CREE from eBay. Even with the air box in place on the drivers side, install was a breeze. As you know, my previous set of bulbs were a set of 20W CREE H8 Bulbs form eBay which were surprisingly really good for the price, and they easily outperformed the GP Thunder 8500K V2 Bulbs. However there were downsides to these bulbs, (1) They dimmed when a voltage drop was present, (2) and they were not too visible in broad daylight. With the first one in, right away I noticed an vast improvement over the 20W CREE eBay LED Bulbs, they were easily many times brighter than the 20W Cree eBay LED Bulbs and really visible in broad daylight, more so than the stock halogen bulb. The colour is warmer than the 20W CREE from eBay, it is a direct match to the stock welcome lights that are present when unlocking the vehicle (door handle LEDs & license plate LEDs). I’d say the colour of these are more so a 5000K, as it definitely looks warmer when put right up against my 6000K D1S xenon bulbs. I haven’t had any coding done to my vehicle, so where the halogen H8 Angel Eye Bulbs would dim, the 20W CREE LED bulbs dimmed as well. However, these DTECs do not dim at all, not even a tiny bit, they maintain full brightness when xenons are on, and even when the vehicle is off. It seems that the Angel Eye Driver is able to compensate from the voltage drop to continue power to these bulbs that will keep them maintaining brightness/colour. Below are a few images of the bulbs installed on the car. Passenger Side (DTEC) & Driver Side (20W CREE eBay) DTEC V9.5 H8 20W CREE eBay Both DTECs installed Later in the day Later in the day up close Even Later in the day Evening Xenons On Colour comparison between DTECs (angel eye) & GP Thunder 8500K V2 (fogs) Time to Wrap Up Pros
Cons
These bulbs do cost a decent bit, full pricing is at $229 from E92-Lighting, which is much higher than the anything available on eBay, however the build quality, and engineering cannot be met by anything on eBay. As it sits right now, I’m fairly content, I am on the fence in terms of colour output, I’ll keep seeking to find anything else out there with the same brightness output but a tad bit cooler in temperature. Finalize: We will see how long these quality bulbs last, hopefully it will be a while especially at the price point it’s more so an investment. I will keep this thread updated in the future in regards to how they hold up in terms of bulbs & driver. I’m curious to test a pair of 80W CREE eBay LED Bulbs, when I do I’ll post a review up on them and compare them to the DTEC v9.5 100W H8 Angel Eye Bulbs. At the moment of time I’m content with the brightness of these bulbs and the colour temperature doesn’t really bother me as they do match the stock vehicle LED colour temperature. Next on the List: - Set of eBay 80W CREE H8 Angel Eye Bulbs (8 x 10W SMDS) I do hope that this was some sort of help for anyone out there researching on some angel eyes, I will definitely be keeping these for some time and use them as my default angel eye bulbs as they are super bright and easily turn heads during the day. 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.
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BMW E90 LCI Last edited by xijonix; 06-23-2014 at 06:41 PM.. |
06-21-2014, 02:05 PM | #2 |
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The DTEC lights are obviously brighter than the ebay lights, but that just showcases the differences in brightness between the two rings. From what I see in the picture, the ebay angel eyes look more even in terms of brightness. Also, do these fade in/out when you unlock/lock the car? And if it does, does it so so evenly?
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06-21-2014, 03:28 PM | #3 | |
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The bulbs are really bright so it's hard for the camera to pick up how even the bulbs are. In person there is more fill than the eBay bulbs of course in day light, however the inner rings are much much brighter than the outer ring during the day due to the brightness of the bulbs. Daytime: eBay 20W bulbs, in certain angles you'll be able to see the inner right but nothing at all for the other. Dtec bulbs, in all angels you can see the inner ring, being over 10ft away from the car the other rings are visible, however during the day the inner rings definitely stand out more. --- It's almost like no matter how bright the bulbs are, the outer ring during the day will be only visible at a certain distance/angle and the inner rings will always be so much brighter during the day time, since the dtecs are really bright you can easily during the day tell the difference between the inner ring and outer ring brightness w/ angles/distance taken into account. At night the outer rings are much more visible with that it gives from a distance (10ft) a more even look between the two rings. So in the end the DTECs are more even at night, while during the day they are so bright they very well illuminate the inner ring however due to the design of the headlight angel eye tubing the outer rings are not as visibly bright as the inner ring. As any angle you can see the inner ring but certain angles/distance for the outer. It's nothing like the new bmw led angel eyes, and never will be unless you do some headlight modifications from what I can take away. Update: Sorry didn't read the last part, yes they do fade when locking and unlocking the car. (Fade in, fade out).
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BMW E90 LCI Last edited by xijonix; 06-21-2014 at 04:08 PM.. |
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06-22-2014, 12:17 PM | #5 | |
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I'd also disagree that the soldering looks amazing. It looks like it is spackled on. I'd personally not be happy with that. That is personal opinion. |
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06-22-2014, 11:11 PM | #6 |
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Is this supposed to be an objective review or a promotion for e-92 lighting?? Their DTEC product is subpar quality compared to slightly more expensive products on the market. This is based on my recent experience. Dare I provide an honest review they bombard me with private messages promising their newts and latest product FREE of charge. But surely it is a gimmick and they never follow through. I am very close to report them to the administrator of this site as a misleading vendor!! |
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06-22-2014, 11:48 PM | #7 | |
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06-22-2014, 11:52 PM | #8 | |
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I'm all about a quality product but also in for saving wherever I can, I'm not sure how long these bulbs will last I've only had them for a week that's why I stated in my op that I will update based on longevity of the bulbs. I even knocked the bulbs for their color as majority of bulbs are more so a 6000-7000K for me the 5000K was a bit too warm for me in terms of matching my xenons and coming closer to the fogs. Heck I did a review two weeks ago on a set of $45 angel eye bulbs from ebay and praised them for their price to performance, those were only 20w for $45. Imagine 80w for $75. I'm out to help members on the forum, main reason to even write a review for the 9.5 is based off the fact that there isn't many reviews or feedback on it though there was tons on the lux v4 and DTEC v7. Main goal is to help members by providing feedback for things not widely having feedback given for it, heck I have to purchase these bulbs the same way everyone else has to as well so what is my inclination to write a false positive review when I've got to purchase the bulbs? Cheers
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BMW E90 LCI Last edited by xijonix; 06-22-2014 at 11:58 PM.. |
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06-23-2014, 12:12 AM | #9 | |
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However at night and in the late evenings both rings look even, the outer ring matches the inner. It just seems during the day with the design of the rings that the outer ring is always going to have a max of daytime visual brightness no matter how bright the bulb is. Only thing that seems to be able to combat that is just the brightness and temperature of the stock halogen bulbs. Honestly my quest for angel eyes aren't over I want to compare them all. I want to find what is the max you can go before the inner ring overwhelms the outer during the day. Next on the list is 40w Cree and 80w Cree from eBay. So do look out for those reviews. Maybe even try a 32w maybe that's the perfect in the middle we'll find out just got to catch my hand on the money and go from there over time. I do apologize for not giving a closer look at the soldering, it is in person really good in my opinion it seems spackled in the images but they do properly cover all connecting components with no loose solder and appropriate gaps between one another preventing any sort of shorting. Lots of times the soldering like this is usually hidden under the pole that goes up to the led smds and you'd only see the soldering for the wires leading out. In the end I really personally like the brightness of the bulbs they look good even with just the inners showing super brightbduring the day that it turns heads. You'd never get a super bright outer ring during the day and be even with the inner ring unless you do headlight modifications. Oss. These will continue to be my daily driver also bfor the soul purpose of the engineering where they are able to combat the voltage drop. With the eBay ones if I find a perfect one (brightness output being not too bright or dim) I'd have to do coding on the vehicle.
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06-23-2014, 12:24 AM | #10 |
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These are some ugly soldering. I guess if they work well in the end it's all that matters, but you just cited "amazing soldering" as a +, well no, that's about the worse you can do with an iron.
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06-23-2014, 02:03 PM | #11 | |
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For me in terms of brightness its outstandingly bright, build quality seemed really good (personal opinion), however I'll keep an eye out to see if the soldering poses as a problem and update based off the reliability of these angel eye bulbs both the drives & led bulbs. Do note lot of what I write in the op is personal opinion based, I'll learn more overtime with experience on trying out many more angel eye bulbs in the future, this is just my second set so the op will be updated as months progress onwards based off my experience with different products, knowing whats good vs bad. I hope to at some point try many more bulbs and build up a comparison and guide. It'll just take a bit of time to acquire different sets and keep trying and review them.
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BMW E90 LCI Last edited by xijonix; 06-23-2014 at 06:51 PM.. |
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06-24-2014, 01:03 AM | #12 | |
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It might be the brightest in the world in terms of lumens but it is not over coming the design of the halo rings which has been talked about over and over again. It has more LEDs and more wattage. So it is brighter. My personal tastes says don't go too much as the difference in rings become more noticeable. The soldering I'll hold to my opinion. OP - My apologies if my reply came off like a knock against your review or what you are doing. I know many appreciate the review threads as many are not looking for 200 dollar LED bulbs. Sorry if it came off that way. |
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06-25-2014, 04:43 PM | #13 | ||
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your FREE upgrade offer to DTEC V9.5s was already sent out just for you! Quote:
very easily correctable, in fact, a very easy fix. |
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angel eyes, bulb, cree, dtec, led |
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