Daniel Stern Consultation

[DaButt]

Ok, it's clear from his website and his emails that this guy is a lighting guru, and that he markets his services and products based on scientific data, not looks or speculation. I'm a fan.

My problem- and what I'm curious to see if anyone else has encountered- is that he's ludicrously slow- almost to the point where I feel like I'm getting ripped off. I can't seem to get a hold of the guy. I sent my order through about a week ago, he acknowledged it then I've been absolutely in the dark (no pun intended...).

He won't email, call, answer his phone- my card hasn't been charged, frankly i'm starting to get a little worried. I guess I 'm seeking some reassurance that he WILL get my order in and sent... and that I'm not getting shanghaied.

I feel like a clingy girlfriend... I'm pretty, right?


*EDIT* Ok, Daniel got back to me after about a week. Said that my order was coming from the "special lamps collection" and hence the delay. He was just as helpful as always, was really upfront about it. Even told me that he was checking a lamp and it was broken, thus altering the order and giving me the options to still get good products quickly. Good dude. I'm hoping to get my lamps within the next two weeks, will update when they come.
***CRAP- should have put this in transaction feedback. Sorry.

[xphiledan]

I've dealt with him in the past. He's a good guy, but like you said, a bit old school. Try calling him again and wait a little bit.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Came expecting something more like this.

[DaButt]

^^^ Love it.

[drinaldis]

I bought ~$800 worth of lighting stuff from him in 2011 and he was very very professional.

[DaButt]

I bought ~$800 worth of lighting stuff

What did you get?

I'm not gonna lie, upgrading from sealed beams to Yellow Cibie CSR Highs and Hella Bi-Focal Lows and my expectations are pretty high.

Will I be pleased with the new shit?

[drinaldis]

What did you get?

I'm not gonna lie, upgrading from sealed beams to Yellow Cibie CSR Highs and Hella Bi-Focal Lows and my expectations are pretty high.

Will I be pleased with the new shit?

The BiFocal H1 low beams ($97/ea) were co-developed by Hella
and BMW. Use them in conjunction with Cibie parabolic H1
high beams ($74.95/ea). Use Narva Rangepower+50 H1 bulbs all
around ($15). These will give vastly better performance than
the ellipsoidals.

Actually the cost from him was only ~$450 the rest went into sourcing sealed beam buckets, trim rings, and screws.

Overall i'm pretty happy with the conversion.

[DaButt]

The BiFocal H1 low beams ($97/ea) were co-developed by Hella
and BMW. Use them in conjunction with Cibie parabolic H1
high beams ($74.95/ea). Use Narva Rangepower+50 H1 bulbs all
around ($15). These will give vastly better performance than
the ellipsoidals.

Actually the cost from him was only ~$450 the rest went into sourcing sealed beam buckets, trim rings, and screws.

Overall i'm pretty happy with the conversion.

Ha, yeah, he sent me the same ad campaign for Cibie/BiFocal combo. It worked!

So i'm about a week into my new light setup- Highs were plugged in the day they arrived- no modification necessary.

I took the CSRs out for a spin. Keep in mind at this time I didn't have the hardware to mod the BiFocal Lows on, so when I hit the hi switch, the combo was CSRs highs and sealed lows. Even when coupled with the piddly performance of the sealed junk- the difference on a truly dark, twisty road is jaw-dropping. If you read all this stuff D stern says about the Cibie CSR- you think "there's no way." It's all true. MILES of illumination, "fireballs of light" hell, if you look at the isocandela diagram and see that its candelas are 130,000 at its brightest point, you can't really imagine how bright that's going to be. And then you see it on a truly dark road and its like two yellow laser beams slicing the night. I flashed my buddy right after sunrise the next morning- still kinda dark, but not really- and he was downright shocked by their intensity. Oh, and like Daniel STern told me- if you hit them at the right angle- which is brief- the CSR hi beams DO wash out road signs- just incredible. Oh, and I haven't even put the Narva +50 RangePower bulb in yet. :)

So- verdict on the yellow CSRs hi beams- astoundingly brilliant, EASY to install, worth every penny, which is a fairly dear $130 each light. If you can afford them and get them- DO IT.

On to the H1 Hella Bifocal Lows. This took a little patience. Between what DStern says and what you can find on r3v, there should be no reason why anyone can't crimp a few connectors and pull off this upgrade. It's simple, I checked Bentley, saw that of the three wires coming out of the sealed beam low, one of them (purple?) would not be used in the bifocal- this was easy to see. So, brown to ground, yellow wire, few squeezes and some electrical tape, voila. There they are, all plugged in and ready to go. The issue- for some reason, the ground terminal on the body of the BiFocal doesn't accommodate a standard spade, butt or ring terminal- I went with a butt and sort of crimped into a passable shape. It's a little loose, but fits. Am open to suggestions on how to improve this, if anyone'e got them.

So the spade terminal was giving me problems- I got up around 4 this morning and went for a spin, wanted to see how the BiFocals perform- and the spade terminals were losing connection- easy fix, simply crimped the terminal itself so the connection to the bulb is a little more snug, seems to have worked. So, once I got that worked out- the bifocals- especially with the Narva H1 and the H3 in my fogs- really do change the way you drive at night. They instill sheer confidence- sealed beams light just enough for things on the periphery and a little far away to be shapes- well, the BFs cast enough clear, pure light on them to take the guesswork out of it. Highly recommend the Bifocals- again- $118 each for yellow, but worth it.

So for the highs and lows can't stay on at the same time problem- it was confusing at first. D Stern will tell you to undo a bunch of shit and get at the wires UNDER the fuse box- I couldn't figure it out- so I did a bunch of searching on multiple e30 sites. First- DS told me to jump the 87a. If you're working on top of the fuse box, where the relays plug in- it needs to be the 30 to the 30 from K3 to K4. I tried the 87a twice- no go. With this mod all SIX lights stay on. The wiring was simple- take a bit of leftover wire from the low beam wire i didn't use, strip the ends off, pull the relays out, run the wire through the center holes of the actual prong on the relays, plug the relays back in. Done and done.

Am excited for dark to come so I can light up the night. It's going to be legen-waitforit-dary.

An update: referencing my troubles with keeping a connection- there was a part that should have been included in the order, a black plastic cap on the back of the BiFocal. Mr Stern assured me it came with the lights, I guaranteed it did not. He gave me the benefit of the doubt and is sending the parts ASAP, free of charge. Hats off to a truly professional, genuinely helpful guy.

[Cha Ching]

I'd love to see some actual pictures of what you are talking about...lights and bulbs, pics of the beam patterns, etc.

What makes his stuff different from upgrading to, say, euro ellipsoids and HID's???

[reelizmpro]

Those cibie csr's are supposed to be really good low beams designed with performance in mind with.a halogen bulb. Unfortunately, they don't look as good as ellipsoids IMO and they are crazy expensive. For me, I will take the factory euro ellipsoids even if the cibies are better. In the city, id bet the difference is negligible. You would also need sealed beam buckets to use those. Like the h4/h1 conversion. Then what happens when one breaks?U won't find these second hand. The jury is still out as to whether these are better than euro ellipsoids with or without HID's.

[Cha Ching]

thanks Barry!

[BlackbirdM3]

Just out of curiosity, can you mate a set of Cibie high beams to a set of elipsoid low beams? My Bosch elipsoid lows are pretty good, but the high beams could be better. I do a fare amount of back roads driving at night and I'd really like to find something that illuminates further down the road. I've been told by various sources that the Cibies have the best lens and reflector design out there.

Will

[DaButt]

Just out of curiosity, can you mate a set of Cibie high beams to a set of elipsoid low beams? My Bosch elipsoid lows are pretty good, but the high beams could be better. I do a fare amount of back roads driving at night and I'd really like to find something that illuminates further down the road. I've been told by various sources that the Cibies have the best lens and reflector design out there.

Will

This has been a few months, but I took my car to the shop for a new oil pan (just didn't have the time to do it myself)- and the guy undid my relay to keep the High/Low on at the same time. So I find myself digging through historical data to reference how I did it the first time.

Will, to answer your question, if you haven't already figured it out is absolutely yes. The CSRs were plug and play, no upgraded fuse BS, stock bulbs (come in the light) will work great. Did you end up doing this upgrade? How you liking it? Here's what mines looks like today.

[einstein57]

I have to say my 2nd generation Hella euro projectors with polar g 3000k halogen bulbs are stupid bright. They are much better then the original projectors from the 80s.

I'm going to have to call BS on his fun facts though

He says the H1 and H3 bulbs were not legalized in US till 97. How could the e30, e34, and e39 obtain DOT lighting certification on their cars if they used illegal equipment?

[delatlanta1281]

I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong with a set of smileys and some nice hids?