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Review of AngeliBrights V3.0 after 1 week
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01-17-2011, 04:04 PM | #1 |
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Review of AngeliBrights V3.0 after 1 week
Hey guys,
This is a copy of a post I put up on the M3 forum. Just thought I'd share since I now have had experince with both the LUX H8 and AiB products. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Just some background. I used to have LUX H8s which were installed for about a month until the units were recalled. I decided to return them as I didn't care for the fix of just moving the driver pack out of the headlight housing since the big draw to the LUX for me was that everything was hidden in the housing. So I went back to OEM angel eyes for about 6 months and I finally decided to give the AiBs a chance. I installed them last week and so far I'm satisfied. Everything is completely installed within the headlight housing which is a big plus for me. In my opinion, having wires coming out of the top of the housing seems a little "backyard installer" for products of this price range. Brightness wise, I'd say the LUX is probably a bit brighter. Uniformity is equal between the AiB and the LUX. I don't think you can ever have a fully uniform distribution viewed from all angles with a simple lamp replacement due to the design of the angel eye assembly. Anyone who tells you they can is full of it. The only way it can be done is with a complete angel eye replacement similar to the OSS design. I did notice that when I fully locked the AiBs into the socket, the concaved portion of the lamp assembly is not directed into the angel eye fiber optics. I assumed when looking at the design that the concave portion of the assembly is used to control the spread of the light coming from the LED. This could be affecting the overall brightness and uniformity but I was unsure if I should turn the assmebly back a bit to try and line it up or just leave it fully locked into place. I'm not even sure if I could make it line up depending on how much play there is to rotate it before acutally coming out of the reflector housing. I haven't seen any error codes or noted any odd behavior of the AiBs yet. Blinking is normal if your DRLs are set to off so that is not an issue. I have read some reviews saying that the driver packs fail after a short time so I will continue to wait and see how this goes but it seems that EAS has been pretty good about replacing failed driver packs. Their tech support has been great as I did have some questions about the installation and received responses in less than 24 hours. So, in short, I think the AiBs are a pretty good product. Are they worth $300? I won't lie and say they they are worth every penny. They could stand to be a bit cheaper. But I can see the effort that went into the design of the lamp assembly and the heatsink and know that CNC work like that does cost money in both fabircation and design. Maybe if it was closer to the $200 range I would call it a good bargain. The one up it does have on the LUX is that its fully enlcosed in the headlight housing and to me, that was the trump card.
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01-17-2011, 06:27 PM | #2 |
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Nice review ... So when are we gonna see you out with all your new goodies?
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LTMW FTL . Karbonwerks LCI Trunk . Vorsteiner Poly Front Lip . NA Motorsports LUX H8 . RECARO Pole Position Seats . BMW Performance Pedals . BMW Performance Performance Grills . BMW Painted Fender Grills . BBS 19x9.5 19x11 LMs . Michelin PS2 265/295 . H&R Sport Springs . Wheel Mate 45/55MM Stud Kit . BBS Red Lug Nuts . ESS VT1 Supercharger . Akrapovic GT4 Exhaust
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01-17-2011, 07:08 PM | #3 |
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I actually was hoping to run into some of you guys at the Toys for Tots thing in November but I hardly recognized anyone there. I'll probably be MIA for a few more months. Wedding coming up in April so lots of stuff to get done before then. Plus I'll be in Vegas superbowl weekend for some bachelor party fun.
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01-17-2011, 07:34 PM | #4 | |
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Quote:
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LTMW FTL . Karbonwerks LCI Trunk . Vorsteiner Poly Front Lip . NA Motorsports LUX H8 . RECARO Pole Position Seats . BMW Performance Pedals . BMW Performance Performance Grills . BMW Painted Fender Grills . BBS 19x9.5 19x11 LMs . Michelin PS2 265/295 . H&R Sport Springs . Wheel Mate 45/55MM Stud Kit . BBS Red Lug Nuts . ESS VT1 Supercharger . Akrapovic GT4 Exhaust
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01-18-2011, 04:36 PM | #5 |
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I hate to deliver the bad news but you WILL experience ballast failure if you installed the AiB driver packs inside the headlamp housings. This practice is also not recommended in the eAs install documentation. I bought a new AiB kit last summer and experienced driver failure twice before returning the kit. In 100-degree Texas heat, the ballasts didn't even survive a weekend.
Only the Weisslicht kit currently allows the drivers to be safely mounted inside the headlamp housing-- they're much smaller, support much lower current draw and are encased in a metal enclosure. I'm hoping the LUX H8 kit will be improved soon with an updated driver pack design that allows them to be mounted inside the headlamp housing once again. |
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01-18-2011, 05:17 PM | #6 | |
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If you have any further questions on the kits, please feel free to contact me by phone or email directly.
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email: tom@europeanautosource.com · web: https://europeanautosource.com· tel 866.669.0705 · ca: 714.369.8524 x22 GET DAILY UPDATES ON OUR BLOG · FACEBOOK · YOUTUBE · FLICKR · INSTAGRAM |
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01-18-2011, 05:31 PM | #7 |
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If EAS is saying put it in the housing and they are going to stand by their product, who am I to say its not going to work? Only time will tell but at this point, I have no reason to have any doubts.
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01-18-2011, 06:09 PM | #8 |
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Thanks. I'd like details on the ballast you're currently shipping with your kits. My last new-replacement kit from eAs shipped in September -- it included the same black-plastic (cubed) drivers that failed in my car twice before. I swore them off and went back to the stock halogen bulbs.
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02-01-2011, 04:53 PM | #9 |
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Update on the AiBs. I had a little hiccup the day after I posted the original post. Both lights went off and I got the warning. It wasn't both at the same time. One side first and then the other side about 10 minutes later but after a couple minutes they both turned back on. I visually inspected everything and I couldn't see anything wrong with the wiring or the driver. It seems to be an isolated incident as its been about two weeks and everything has been fine since. I'm still keeping a close watch on it though.
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