[rangerb3]

PLEASE, PLEASE READ BELOW BEFORE DOING THIS INSTALLATION ON THE RTLC....

Don't start this unless you can find a way to stick the base to one of your fingers....When I put the base up in the hole somehow it got away from me and dropped down into the light housing never to been seen again!!!!

I was so mad that I started pulling all the plastics off the bike and finally got to a stopping point where I couldn't figure out the final steps in removing the headlight housing from the bike. I took the lower fairings, upper fairings around the headlight, speakers, Windshield and all of the plastics off below the windshield and still couldn't get to a point of headlight removal....It's at that point, I decided to call Cyclops and see if they could just send me another H7 base. They were able to find a base in their bone yard and will send it to me for the cost of shipping!

They said not to feel too bad since every few months someone calls with the same situation. Go figure!

Since I'm this far into the process and won't get the replacement base for a few days, I'm going to keep moving forward with trying to remove the headlight housing...I'll post something later and let you all know how it went....

 

[grumpyrt]

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[rangerb3]

Ok...Let me first start by saying, "removing the headlight housing is not difficult...just time consuming because of how many parts that need to be removed. This post is NOT an all-inclusive "how to" of removing the headlight and I may have missed some minor steps so, do this at your own risk...With that said...

....I did get the headlight housing removed and the H7 flange out of the headlight housing. Below, I will try and list, in order, what had to be removed in order to get the headlight housing off the bike.

Remember, if you can do this without dropping the Cyclops LED H7 flange like I did, you won't have to remove the headlight housing! Be thoughtful and very careful and it can be done.

It is assumed that each step has a Left & Right piece to be removed unless specifically noted.

1) remove the speaker covers & speakers
2) remove the side fairing covers
3) remove the audio control panel on the left side & panel on the right with the BMW power plug
4) remove the left accessory compartment
5) remove the windshield
6) remove the decorative piece on the windshield adjuster arms
7) remove the upper panel that holds the Nav 5 but don't remove the cable or Nav 5 mount from the panel. Just roll this panel over onto the handle bars.
8) remove both of the bolts & cir-clips holding the upper part of the adjuster arms - the short ones closer to the Nav 5 panel
9) remove only one of the windshield adjustment arms in order to remove the panel in step 9
10) remove the large panel from around the windshield adjustment arms
11) remove the two long mirror bolts(torx 30) on ea mirror and the whole mirror can be removed
12) remove the inner fairings on each side of the headlight which attach to the front of the light housing and back to the radiators. Only remove the front screws and roll the fairings down towards the front wheel to get them loose from the headlight housing
13) remove the electrical pigtail on the left side of the headlight housing and cut the ty-wrap holding it to the housing
14) remove the 5 to 7 small circlips that hold the headlight studs to their rubber mounts
15) Slide the headlight housing forward until the mounting studs are loose from their rubber mounts

That's all there is to removing the headlight housing. Since I had the housing removed, I went ahead with installing the Cyclops LED bulb. Look at my pictures and make sure you shove the electrical heat sink down into the lower part of the headlight housing. This will make it much easier to get all of the extra wiring down into the headlight housing. At first, I tried putting the heat sink into the top of the housing but it made the bulb access cover too tight when re-installing it so, I found a better way to do it.

I'm actually glad that I took the headlight housing out because I was able to adjust one of the hold down clips that was bent and was making it very, very difficult to get the hold down wires properly clipped after a bulb replacement!

I also adjusted the light down using the little white adjustment arm found on the lower backside of the headlight housing. The one that you adjust when riding "two-up" on the bike.

Here is a picture of the light after the installation:

It is very bright and gives off a very white light similar to the Angel eye rings or the Denali LED driving lights I've installed on the engine guards. It looks a lot nicer than the yellow looking OEM bulb. I will do some night riding over the next few nights to see if I get any headlight flashing from oncoming drivers.

It took about 5 hours to do the installation because of the disassembly/reassembly. More pictures can be found at:

headlight install Photo Gallery by Mike Redmon at pbase.com

 

[MichaelBlanton]

Well that was painful... Like rangerb3, the little ring wound up slipping into the light housing. I also determined one of the holder clips was bent, making it hard to put the clips in place. So, a dismantle was in order. The instructions above are good, it's just missing removal of the side fairing on either side of the headlight unit, above the turn signals, with the little wind deflectors on them. I did that before I removed the mirrors. Also, be careful when removing the bolts holding the windshield adjustment arms - I would up breaking one of the arm supports (the lower one). We'll see how well my patch job holds or if I wind up having to replace it...

The light itself is awesome! Installation is hard, but not impossible, to do blind. I'd recommend sticking something rigid into the light ring to prevent it from falling when you're trying to clip it in. Once the light ring is in place, the bulb itself slides in and twists, and you can cram the box into the hold as well, making the entire thing water tight. Make sure you drop the light down using the white adjuster or it's really high.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[rangerb3]

Well that was painful... Like rangerb3, the little ring wound up slipping into the light housing. I also determined one of the holder clips was bent, making it hard to put the clips in place. So, a dismantle was in order. The instructions above are good, it's just missing removal of the side fairing on either side of the headlight unit, above the turn signals, with the little wind deflectors on them. I did that before I removed the mirrors. Also, be careful when removing the bolts holding the windshield adjustment arms - I would up breaking one of the arm supports (the lower one). We'll see how well my patch job holds or if I wind up having to replace it...

The light itself is awesome! Installation is hard, but not impossible, to do blind. I'd recommend sticking something rigid into the light ring to prevent it from falling when you're trying to clip it in. Once the light ring is in place, the bulb itself slides in and twists, and you can cram the box into the hold as well, making the entire thing water tight. Make sure you drop the light down using the white adjuster or it's really high.

Sorry you had to go through that...It is painful but, the results are dramatic! I was hoping nobody would have to go through what I did but, I'm glad my instructions got you to at least 90% of where you needed to be...Most of the time, I have to put these instructions together from memory...and being old, in the mind, I'm lucky I was able to get most of the instructions put to paper!

 

[neonguyrt]

I just went through this also with my HID install (unbelievable) and now the service light is on. Did this happen on yours also? Any idea how to turn it off? Trying to avoid going to the dealer...

 

[rangerb3]

I just went through this also with my HID install (unbelievable) and now the service light is on. Did this happen on yours also? Any idea how to turn it off? Trying to avoid going to the dealer...

My service light comes one when I switch to high beam...Not sure why it does that....my upgrade was on the low beam where I switched from the OEM bulb to the Cyclops H7 LED.

 

[PadG]

I just went through this also with my HID install (unbelievable) and now the service light is on. Did this happen on yours also? Any idea how to turn it off? Trying to avoid going to the dealer...

Did you disconnect the battery while doing that? If so, then you need to reset the time on your clock and the service light will go away.

 

[neonguyrt]

Battery did not disconnect but I will check that. Thanks

 

[neonguyrt]

service light went out on its own so I think I am good. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[hammick]

I installed the new ADVmonster H1 Plus led bulbs in my 2018 R1200RT high beams. The Watercooled RT has a single low beam and dual high beams. I didn't put the H7 plus in the low beam because I already had a Cyclops H7 led bulb in my parts bin.

The first thing I noticed about these bulbs was the quality. Milled aluminum and they have a heft to them that other Led bulbs don't have. The braided heat sinks are substantial and the H1 adapter is milled aluminum as well. i was pleased to see that the led emmiters are at the same length as the filaments on the stock H1 bulbs. This means they will work well in the stock reflector and won't scatter light everywhere.

Got them installed without issue. They fit behind the stock caps and plug and play with the stock wiring. The base of the bulb gets hot to the touch but not overly hot. The braided heat sinks get warm. The heat sinks go inside the housing along with the led driver. No drilling of the caps so everything stays waterproof. According to John at ADVmonster they won't get over 120 degrees. No chance of melting anything.

Now on to the performance. They are very bright and match the Halo rings of the RT perfectly. I never understood why the RT comes with such junk headlights. Actually the stock high beams are decent but they are very yellow. They look silly next to the nice white led halos.

I rode a very dark two lane road in a wooded area. I kept the brights on the entire time. About 12 different cars came in the opposite lane during my ride. Nobody flashed their brights at me. I have the headlight adjuster in the highest position. These bulbs throw light very well and very controlled with the stock reflector. The Cyclops H7 bulb in my low beam causes some sporadic lamp errors. Putting the ADVmonster lights in the high beams did not cause any additional errors. Once I install the resistor Cyclops sent me I don't think I will have any more lamp errors. In fact I might buy the H7 Plus bulb from ADVmonster. I'm guessing it is brighter than the Cyclops H7 bulb and their bulbs don't cause lamp errors.

Below are some pics I took at a dark parking lot. It's hard to evaluate lights from pictures. These H1 bulbs are very bright and work very well in the stock projectors.

I am going to supplement this setup with some ADVmonster model 55 lights. Don't really need them but they will help with daytime visibility and allow me to throw more light further and off to the side for critter detection.


First pic is just the low beam. Second pic is low and high beams. Third pic is low beams off and high beams on.

 

[Alexol]

ADVmonster error issues

I've been following a number of threads on a variety of forums in an effort to decide which LED replacements to go with for my 2018 RT. I eventually selected ADVmonster, based in part on some of the helpful & highly informative posts by Hammick, and many others.

I haven't been quite so lucky with my ADVmonster LEDs and I'm now looking forward to the unwelcome "entertainment" of uninstalling - either trying to find another LED or just giving up and getting the best/brightest conventional bulbs I can find. My previous bike was a GSA with factory LEDs, and it still astonishes and disappoints me that the factory lighting on 2018 RT is so piss-poor. Anyway...

I sent the following information to the vendor yesterday morning, but have had no response which isn't what I was hoping for, although to be fair I bought the high & low LEDs in October but only installed them a couple of weeks ago. Not having small hands, and not being very familiar with the headlight assembly anyway, the installation itself took a ridiculous amount of time involving a lot of disassembly and reassembly of fairing panels et cetera. Typical BMW - first you remove the rear wheel and exhaust system...

"A couple of weekends ago I finally got around to installing the three bulbs in my RT, and took advantage of good weather yesterday to go out for a long ride.

After installation, everything checked out fine, GREAT light output, no Canbus errors.

When out riding, all was well for the first two or three hours, then I started seeing intermittent Canbus errors followed by a permanent warning that both low beam lamps had failed (although in fact they had not, and were still lit).

After an hour's stop for lunch, the same again - no issue at first upon restarting, intermittent warnings after a couple of hours, then permanent warnings.

After any shutdown, even very briefly, the Canbus warnings are gone, but now it only takes about 1/2 hour or so before they return.

Ambient temperature was in the 60s.

Much as I'd hate to return these lamps [to be fair it is way past any reasonable return window so I do not expect ADVMonster to take them back]- and I REALLY don't want to waste effectively a full day stripping the bike down again - obviously Canbus errors are not acceptable.

My guess is that this is a heat-related issue but beyond that I'm a little lost. Any suggestions please?"

Does anyone have any ideas please?

If ADVMonster come back with something to say that the problem has been identified and here's the fix - whatever it is, buy new LEDs, whatever - I will go with it, but I am very reluctant to go through all that nonsense again unless it was a definite solution. I haven't read anything that says the other well known vendors have better products, but that info may be old. I have other ADVmonster LEDs that are spectacular.

Alex

 

[realshelby]

I am a little confused about your statement about "both" low beams showing faults and you checked and they were on? Do you have a Wethead or earlier RT?

On my Wethead RT I didn't install LED bulbs in the high beams. Don't use them enough. But the low beam can be installed with removal of the cover on the back of the light housing. Easy. No bike disassembly required!

Myself and a couple others bought bulbs from Amazon that I linked to. Complete success. Thousands of miles with no Canbus errors or lights dimming or failing. Spent under $40 iirc. Yet it seems a lot of owners want to spend well over $100 for stuff that doesn't work?

 

[Alexol]

I am a little confused about your statement about "both" low beams showing faults and you checked and they were on? Do you have a Wethead or earlier RT?

On my Wethead RT I didn't install LED bulbs in the high beams. Don't use them enough. But the low beam can be installed with removal of the cover on the back of the light housing. Easy. No bike disassembly required!

Myself and a couple others bought bulbs from Amazon that I linked to. Complete success. Thousands of miles with no Canbus errors or lights dimming or failing. Spent under $40 iirc. Yet it seems a lot of owners want to spend well over $100 for stuff that doesn't work?

You are 100% correct of course, and I expressed myself badly. Dual high beams not low, on an 18 RT.

The warning triangle appeared, top left of the Nav VI, which when pressed, gave duplicate messages (one above the other) about low beam failure - I forget the exact wording.

At the same time, the little bulb failure icon was lit on the main dash, left side.

Alex

 

[Zeke]

I am a little confused about your statement about "both" low beams showing faults and you checked and they were on? Do you have a Wethead or earlier RT?

On my Wethead RT I didn't install LED bulbs in the high beams. Don't use them enough. But the low beam can be installed with removal of the cover on the back of the light housing. Easy. No bike disassembly required!

Myself and a couple others bought bulbs from Amazon that I linked to. Complete success. Thousands of miles with no Canbus errors or lights dimming or failing. Spent under $40 iirc. Yet it seems a lot of owners want to spend well over $100 for stuff that doesn't work?

Morning;

I just replaced the high beams with LED fanless, work great, hate the little clip things, but besides that not so bad.
Now my HID headlight H7 just went out. Thinking of going LED also. But I heard the reflector is not correct for LED output. Bright but no "throw". I live out by the everglades, so its pretty dark.
With the new LED technology out, maybe that is not a problem anymore.
If anyone has new info let me know.

Zeke

 

[PadG]

Morning;

I just replaced the high beams with LED fanless, work great, hate the little clip things, but besides that not so bad.
Now my HID headlight H7 just went out. Thinking of going LED also. But I heard the reflector is not correct for LED output. Bright but no "throw". I live out by the everglades, so its pretty dark.
With the new LED technology out, maybe that is not a problem anymore.
If anyone has new info let me know.

Zeke

Reflectors aren't designed for the type of light, but the location of where the light is being emitted! Pick the right LED replacement bulb, and you will find that the location of the LED emitters are in about the same location as the filament of the halogen bulb. Generally speaking, if you pick one of the LED that had seen a lot of discussion (in this and other forums), and you will be fine. In particular, the LED bulb with the braided copper heat-sink, and just 2 LEDs, with one mounted on each side of the carrier board.

 

[Zeke]

Reflectors aren't designed for the type of light, but the location of where the light is being emitted! Pick the right LED replacement bulb, and you will find that the location of the LED emitters are in about the same location as the filament of the halogen bulb. Generally speaking, if you pick one of the LED that had seen a lot of discussion (in this and other forums), and you will be fine. In particular, the LED bulb with the braided copper heat-sink, and just 2 LEDs, with one mounted on each side of the carrier board.

thanks for the reply.. installed the ledf rom arastar, works great. curious, on the low beam what did you end up doing with braided, they are too tight for the low beam housing, i saw on another site that they drilled a hole in the cover and just spread outside the unit. sound like a good idea to you

zeke

 

[PadG]

thanks for the reply.. installed the ledf rom arastar, works great. curious, on the low beam what did you end up doing with braided, they are too tight for the low beam housing, i saw on another site that they drilled a hole in the cover and just spread outside the unit. sound like a good idea to you

zeke

Nothing wrong with cutting a hole in the cover and spreading out the braided heat sink, but others who had done the work had found that there is plenty of room inside the headlamp to spread out the braid as well as to stash that electronic module.


I was going to do the conversion on my RT over the winter months, but I decided to spring for a new 1250RT around this time next year, and so I left my lights alone!

 

[Zeke]

Nothing wrong with cutting a hole in the cover and spreading out the braided heat sink, but others who had done the work had found that there is plenty of room inside the headlamp to spread out the braid as well as to stash that electronic module.


I was going to do the conversion on my RT over the winter months, but I decided to spring for a new 1250RT around this time next year, and so I left my lights alone!

i had space for the module, but seem real tight for the low beam. high beams had plenty of room. i figured since the low beam is always on, use all the cooling i can get.
Also a note to anyone doing a low beam headlight conversion of any kind,. Take the time and pull the headlight assy out. easy to do just lots of screws. makes the job a hell of lot EASIER.
keep the rubber side down.

Zeke

 

[bandytales]

thanks for the reply.. installed the ledf rom arastar, works great. curious, on the low beam what did you end up doing with braided, they are too tight for the low beam housing, i saw on another site that they drilled a hole in the cover and just spread outside the unit. sound like a good idea to you

zeke

I can't speak for your particular LED units, but on my Wethead, I managed to fit the ballast into the headlight housing, and to fan out the braid very neatly in a radial manner. It all fitted easily. The original dust cover needed no modification at all.