HIR w BNIB US ellipses dissapoint

[///M42 sport]

was excited to try out my phillips HIR's tonight and pretty dissapointed. From the reviews they are supposed to be the between halogens and HId's in terms of lumen output. Claimed 55w output at 1800lumens. Pics taken with iphone and are pretty representative of what I see in real life. Can barely see 50-75feet ahead. I like the clean cutoff though. I might have to go back to HID's.

[ELVA164]

Awww... :( I've been waiting to see these. High beams crappy too? Is the pattern the same as the stock bulbs aside from the cutoff? Can the adjustment be raised at all?

[///M42 sport]

I dont have the high beam bulbs yet. Based on how these are, I'm gonna swap the HIR's over to the highs and run HID's on the lows. LED's are tempting but I keep hearing they are dont work well on ellipse setup.

[ELVA164]

There are two different types of HIR, just like the stock bulbs. Stock is 9005 and 9006, HIR is 9011 and 9012. Just as a heads-up. So adjustment wouldn't help the lows you think?

Here's a link to a 9012 description: http://store.candlepower.com/ph3rdge90h.html

[Mo Brighta]

Who was your source for the lamps? Are they genuine Philips, or a chinese look-alike?
The reason I ask, I have seen offers for a box of 100 of these HIR from Amazon I think, at a ridiculously low price...

[cunninglinguist]

My experience w HIR lighting has been positive. HIR highs and HID lows, with the relay mod to keep the low beams on all the time (I have a 1991 car).

I live in an area where there are few or no overhead lights.

[///M42 sport]

I got mine from candlepower. Philips 3rd gen 9012 (HIR2) 55w. Paid $25 per bulb. I may have to look into my wiring...hmmm

[agent]

LED's are tempting but I keep hearing they are dont work well on ellipse setup.

I just installed an HID low / LED high setup last weekend into Lola's ellipsoids. I have yet to actually drive the car at night to properly test them out, but from what I can tell so far they seem to be pretty amazing.

[Mo Brighta]

Sub-par HIR performance?

I got mine from candlepower. Philips 3rd gen 9012 (HIR2) 55w. Paid $25 per bulb. I may have to look into my wiring...hmmm

Candlepower's a good supplier, I trust them. $25 each, a good price! These HIRs started out at around twice that a few years ago.

Did you modify the flanges to fit your lights, or did someone else do it for you?

I believe your car (1991 318iS, right?) came with sealed beams, correct? I just designed a low beam relay mod that avoids cutting wires, bending relay pins, soldering, etc. and allows low beams, fog lights, or both, to operate independently of high beam switch position. It is for an E28, but I suspect can be done using similar technique for any BMW of similar vintage with similar wiring. Let me know if you need anything like this. VERY inexpensive to do. I'm about to ship my first one in the new design, I'll let the forum know how it turns out and post customer comments.

The relay mod is needed to convert from H4 or sealed beam lows to single purpose (Hella BiFocal, Elipsoidal, Euro E28 large diameter H4 low) lights. Desired operation of these single purpose lights requires they stay on at all times, even when high beams are used (but you knew that).

I would look into the headlight and bulb geometry, and the wiring -- I'm suspicious we don't know what's going on, entirely. The HIRs I've sold, the users are universally impressed.

Another (rare) flaw I have seen is a leak in the envelope, causing the filament to 'smoke' the inside of the glass - the effect is striking, and sad, and should be covered under warranty. The reduction in output when this happens is unbelievable - like 1/10th the output - and thankfully very rare. I have seen it in headlight and brake lamps; usually 2nd tier manufacturer, not Philips, Hella, Narva, or any of the top brands.

Hope you get this solved soon!

[///M42 sport]

interested in your relay. I've converted from sealed beams to euro ellipses and just spliced wires to plug into the OE harness. Pretty simple and worked well for me.

Gonna swap out my wires just noticed the ebay wires I got are 20 awg.

[Mo Brighta]

simple solution, thin wires, a real solution

interested in your relay. I've converted from sealed beams to euro ellipses and just spliced wires to plug into the OE harness. Pretty simple and worked well for me.

Hmmm, not sure what 'worked well for me' means, it seems something may be running at reduced voltage, maybe some other oddity in your setup going on. Euro ellipsoid lows do NOT understand US wiring, I'm afraid. Maybe the 'simple' answer isn't the best answer?

Here's how sealed beams work, for the benefit of all cursed by cars that came with them --

A Sealed Beam light with two pins is a high beam; if it has three pins it is actually two lights in one, which is why the three terminals - ground, low, and high, feeding two filaments internally. Sealed beam low beam goes OFF when the high beam goes ON. It's confused many a driver because the outer lights (called 'low beams') seem to stay on all the time; they are actually High + Low beams, and switch lows ON when the stalk switch is on 'low', then switch lows OFF and highs ON, plus turn inner lights ON (highs only) at the same time when the stalk switch is on 'high'.

Ellipsoid lows should NOT go off when highs go on. It's a relay trick in US cars to accomodate the two filaments inside a sealed low beam, or any H4 lamped low/high beam light for that matter. Operating both filaments in the same bulb at the same time will shorten the lifespan of both, hugely.

Gonna swap out my wires just noticed the ebay wires I got are 20 awg.

20 gauge??? That's just plain absurd, you should have 14 or 12 AWG for each light, and 12 or 10 for ground wires, which carry current from many lamps, not just one. A small voltage drop from thin wires causes a huge light reduction, it is exponential, not a mathematical ratio... and is very bad. Sometimes, ebay sellers are more interested in their profit than your happiness.

Send me an email, we'll discuss your situation and see if we can get those lights working properly - they should be lighting up the whole block, and if not, something is wrong. Maybe the relay mod will get them up to par??? You have the right to be happy with new headlights, after all! Let's see if we can get you there at minimal cost and trouble.

[AndrewBird]

Stock wiring on the headlights is only ~18 gauge (1mm), so 20 is only slightly undersized.

[///M42 sport]

Yea I ran HID's in my euro ellipses and plugged the wires into sealed beam harness. Lighting was adequate enough for me.

Just realized recently it was a lot more involved to do the conversion. How does your relay work? Plug/play?

[Mo Brighta]

relay mod for ellipsoid lows

Yea I ran HID's in my euro ellipses and plugged the wires into sealed beam harness. Lighting was adequate enough for me.

Just realized recently it was a lot more involved to do the conversion. How does your relay work? Plug/play?

If your lights work the same as E28 fives, there's a little work internal to the power distribution box, swapping terminals around so the low beam relay (yours, not provided in kit) operates independently of the high beams. Takes a screwdriver or two, no wire cutters, bending or soldering.

Also can be configured to allow Fog Lights to operate independently, if you like. They also go off when you switch to high beams, am I right?

I did this mod in my 86 535i when I installed my CSR headlights, then made the conversion simpler and easier to install, avoiding cutting and soldering. It's my auto-hippo-cratic oath again - "harm no wires."

I don't mind cutting and soldering wires in my car, I use it as a test mule for many different lighting modifications. When I sell a kit, though, I think it should be done without harming anything, and to keep it reversible in case you or a future owner has a change of heart.

I will confirm the design with an E30 late car in the neighborhood, to be sure the kit installs cleanly, and so your lights will do what they should!

I'll be in touch... bsanh

[///M42 sport]

Not sure if the fogs turn off with the high beams on.

Cool, I'm pretty sure there are many others interested in your relay