HID bulb replacement question.

[edonthenet]

I recently replaced my OEM bulbs on my LT with an HID kit. I am very pleased with the lights and......:sleep: yada yada yada :sleep:...... but my question is about bulb replacement.
If/when these bulbs fail do I need to replace them as per the manufacturer or are they all the same? Ie: do I need to hunt down a H7 & H11 bulb for my bike if/when it fails or is it just "the bulb"? Can I run a 10000k bulb in my 5000k setup or is there an incompatibility?
I was so psyched to get them in I never really took a good look at what I was installing. :rolleyes:
Any info appreciated.
Ed

[®win]

I have my H7 4100K for some years now. I had it in my previous LT and now in my 04 (EU) model. Expectations are that the bulb will still last for years. Since I like the looks of the 6000K bulb I once asked hid-online.com if I could replace my bulb with the 6000K bulb. It wouldn't be any problem.

When you have a conversion kit, like I have, you only need to make sure that the bulbs have the same connectors.

[markbreen]

Hello Guys,

I have the factory manual, the previous owner of my bike acquired it and printed every page on A4 paper and inserted it into plastic pages and then into a ring binder. Very nice. Only problem, is it for an earlier model K1200LT than mine (mine is the 02 year). It does not describe the brakes on my bike. And of course, I do not know what else is different until I run into problems (as I did with the brakes recently).

Does anyone know where to acquire the up to date manual? Do you think that BMW will give a discount seeing as I only really require the updates ?

Thanks

Your not too optimisticly

Mark Breen

[dshealey]

I recently replaced my OEM bulbs on my LT with an HID kit. I am very pleased with the lights and......:sleep: yada yada yada :sleep:...... but my question is about bulb replacement.
If/when these bulbs fail do I need to replace them as per the manufacturer or are they all the same? Ie: do I need to hunt down a H7 & H11 bulb for my bike if/when it fails or is it just "the bulb"? Can I run a 10000k bulb in my 5000k setup or is there an incompatibility?
I was so psyched to get them in I never really took a good look at what I was installing. :rolleyes:
Any info appreciated.
Ed

The HID bulbs can be replaced by any brand that has the correct basing, except that some have different connectors.

There is NO good reason to get a higher Kelvin Temp bulb than the 5000K! The higher the temp, the bluer the light and the less useable light. The lumens output number goes DOWN fast as the Kelvin temp. goes up. The blue to purple bulbs are nothing but a silly fad, and far more likely to get you noticed by a LEO. Blue lights upset a lot of people, and law enforcement knows that.

[markbreen]

Hello David,

As I posted earlier, I have just ordered (and it has been dispatched) a set of bulbs from CQ lights and having made up my mind to go for the 5000K, at the last momemt I allowed emotion to get in the way of good sense and requested 6500K.

Am I correct that replacement bulbs are 50 USD each?

I saw here that elsewhere that CQ only list 5000K as their lowest rated bulb, but on their site they say that their 5000 is 4200 - 5000.

What do you think, should I order 5000 from CQ or 4200 from HID Online, or just stick with the 6500 from CQ for a while.

Thanks David,



Mark

[dshealey]

Hello David,

What do you think, should I order 5000 from CQ or 4200 from HID Online, or just stick with the 6500 from CQ for a while.

Thanks David,



Mark

If it was me, I would go with the 5000K CQ unit.

6500 is just too blue for me, and is less useable light than the 4200-5000K.

[lovetomotor]

If it was me, I would go with the 5000K CQ unit.

6500 is just too blue for me, and is less useable light than the 4200-5000K.

I the 5000K from CQ and like it a lot. I would NOT want any higher than the 5000K.

[Portguyofva]

Hello David,

As I posted earlier, I have just ordered (and it has been dispatched) a set of bulbs from CQ lights and having made up my mind to go for the 5000K, at the last momemt I allowed emotion to get in the way of good sense and requested 6500K.

Am I correct that replacement bulbs are 50 USD each?

I saw here that elsewhere that CQ only list 5000K as their lowest rated bulb, but on their site they say that their 5000 is 4200 - 5000.

What do you think, should I order 5000 from CQ or 4200 from HID Online, or just stick with the 6500 from CQ for a while.

Thanks David,
Mark

Mark,
Call CQ on their toll free. Talk to Kevin Ho. If you haven't opened up your 6500K yet, he will let you send it back and he will replace with 5000K. Just cost you shipping. How do I know you ask? I initially ordered a H3 and H7 5000K to do my Hi and Lo on the LT. After receiving, I decided to put Lo only on both my LT and GT. CQ exchanged my unopened H3 for a second H7.

[meese]

This post (http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=39250) gives details on the different BMW Service Manuals and their part numbers. Just ignore the stuff about the rear brakes. Note that all dates are for US models, which are sometimes off one year from the Euro models. There is also an update that just covers the '02-'04 changes.

As for the HID bulbs, I know you're in Ireland but I'd still try and contact CQLight and see if they'll swap the bulbs if you send them back.

[ally]

Do any of you know if any of the bulbs you're talking about would fit on my 1996 R1100RT?
I find that the dim lights are nearly worthless, although I haven't had the bike long, bought it used, and don't know what kind of bulbs are on the bike. My bike has been lowered as low as it can get (the only way I can ride it), so I don't know if that's part of the issue or not. My hasband has adjusted the lights, but if he adjusts them so the dims light the road any farther out, my brights will be shining in the trees.

[markbreen]

I checked this just the other night, the 94-97 haynes manual for the R1100RT specifys that the R's use a H4 for the headlight. Having not inspected a H4, I presume that it is a dual filliment bulb.


I am about to install HID lights on my K12LT, and I will post an update after I have done it, but from what everyone here says, it will be fantastic!

Mark

[zippy_gg]

The H4 is indeed a dual filament. The problem is that there are no HID kits for the H4 that will provide both Hi/Low beams (space problem), so you will probably get only a low HID beam to fit in your H4 headlight assembly. This means that you will need to add a high beam light assembly.

I checked to see if www.Ducatidesigns.com (http://www.ducatidesigns.com/) made a unit for your bike... Alas no...!

[hschisler]

Mark,
Call CQ on their toll free. Talk to Kevin Ho. If you haven't opened up your 6500K yet, he will let you send it back and he will replace with 5000K. Just cost you shipping. How do I know you ask? I initially ordered a H3 and H7 5000K to do my Hi and Lo on the LT. After receiving, I decided to put Lo only on both my LT and GT. CQ exchanged my unopened H3 for a second H7.but I just had to say this:

So, in summary, you're saying Ho from CQ helped you with the Hi and the Lo on your LT, you gave the LT Hi the heave-ho and stuck with the Lo from Ho for the LT and GT?

Sounds like something Snoop Dogg might make a rap song out of... :D

Or, who's on first?

[Dochatley]

That's pretty good Howard. I love a good HO joke......

[markbreen]

Mark,
Call CQ on their toll free. Talk to Kevin Ho. If you haven't opened up your 6500K yet, he will let you send it back and he will replace with 5000K. Just cost you shipping. How do I know you ask? I initially ordered a H3 and H7 5000K to do my Hi and Lo on the LT. After receiving, I decided to put Lo only on both my LT and GT. CQ exchanged my unopened H3 for a second H7.

Hello Ray,

Thanks for the reply, I will contact them and see what they say, I will of course have to investigate the shipping costs to send the bulbs back, if they are worth 50 dollars and it costs 38 to ship them back to the US, it may not be worth it, especially when I factor in risk of damage etc. but thanks anyway.

Mark