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LED H7 Headlight Bulbs - Good solution for R12XXR (LC)

9441 Views 111 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  Ontrip
Edited Thread title and first post

@ Fireman has installed these LED bulbs and has documented the results of his installation and road testing of the light pattern with very encouraging results. Please see his posts in the thread.

These bulbs have an integrated fan and are the same size of the H7 and do not require any modification of the housing or cap and do not trigger any Canbus faults once installed.

The “Grumpy Goat” installed these on his 2016 RS with tempting results and inspired this thread.

Here is his YouTube :


Bulb set:
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The “Grumpy Goat” installed these on his 2016 RS with tempting results.

These bulbs have an integrated fan and are the same size of the H7 and do not require any modification of the cap.
But as we know the space is very tight on the R and may prove to challenge for cooling compared with the roomier RS headlamps.

Has anyone tried them on the R12XX R (LC)?

Attempted to order from Amazon but currently showing not available at this time.

Here is his video:

Bulb set:
looking at reviews, specifically for BMW cars, fan-less bulbs throw a code. I ordered model with fan, and will report back when I had a chance to install.
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Received Auxito Bulbs with fans. Did a bit of load testing using a 12 V DC lead acid battery I use to power a trolling motor. Some photos below.

Fan noise is quiet, and I doubt I would hear it inside the reflector housing. It runs hot, and it became uncomfortable to hold-onto around the retainer ring after about a minute. IMHO it runs hotter than OEM 55 W bulb. Considering how subjectively hot it runs, I don't believe it will last a rated ~4.7 years of working time (50,000 hours). Most probably the build-in fan will crap-out first, and shortly after the LED chips will burn-out. This should still be better than 5,500 miles I got from my current Philips DiamindVision Ultimate White Light "marketing mambo-jumbo BS". Philips bulbs cost about $27 USD now, and about $22 when I bought a pair back in August 2022. Halogen H7 bubls go for $12 USD a pair on Amazon. Considering the desired whiter color temperature, hopefully being brighter and even whiter than fancy Philips Dimond VIsion "marketing mambo jumbo BS", and the inconvenience caused by bulbs burning-out too often, IMO, I'm willing to pay four times more for bulbs.

Battery voltage: 12.7 V DC
Auxito H7 w/ Fan Current: 1.46 A (fluctuates a bit around 1.32 A before fan spins-up, and went as high as 1.49 A for a few seconds)
Power Draw at 12.7 V DC: 18.5 Watts
Power Draw at 14.5 V DC: 21.17 Watts (calculated, not measured).

Power Draw when engine running, and alternator outputting around 14.5 V DC should be around 21 Watts*. I suspect it might not be enough to full CANBUS system, however I'm willing to give it a try anyway. I think Fanless version of this bulb has half the number of LED chips, so the power draw will be significantly lower, unless there is an extra resistor builtin.

* If i recall correctly, my bike when running outputs somewhere around 14.3 to 14.7 V DC. I never really pay attention to this value when riding, so let's say 14.5 V DC with engine running.
At 14.5 V DC, the maximum power draw would be around 21.17 Watts.


A few photos comparing OEM H7 bulbs and Auxito H7 w/ fans. Metal casting is OK quality, with exception of cut-outs around the fan - somewhat uneven, but nothing I would worry about. Auxito H7 bulbs is about the same length as OEM H7 bulb, maybe a bit thicker around LED chip area, and power leads stick-out maybe 2-3 mm further than OEM H7 bulbs. The retainer ring is about twice as thick comparing to OEM H7 bulbs, which are made of thin, maybe 1 mm, stamped-out sheet metal. Retainer ring mostly follows the same profile as OEM and should fit into the bulb housing.

LED chips lines-up pretty well with the halogen bulb coil. I'll provide an update after I had a chance to install it.

P.S. Just realized I've typed a whole review of the bulbs before actually testing them on a bike... wouldn't it be a let-down if bulbs don't fit or throw an error code. :ROFLMAO:o_O



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Installation report Auxito H7 LED Bulbs with fans: fits into R1250R headlight housing perfectly, just like the OEM bulbs. Zero clearance issues. I can't hear the fans at all. I didn't bother taking any photos of the connections, since there is nothing out of ordinary to report.

As I suspected, until bike isn't running, there is a CANBUS fault. My bike's battery showed around 12.3 volts before starting the engine and with low beam on (about 18.3 Watts load - not enough to pass CANBUS check), and a pair of Denali DR1 v1 turned on. Fault clears few seconds after engines starts and voltage gets up above 14 volts (confirmed via TFT).

Light output is subjectively brighter and whiter than Philips H7 55W DiamindVision Ultimate White Light "marketing mambo-jumbo BS" bulbs. Cut-off line appears good too. A few photos below - headlight not adjusted yet - I had to step away to take care of some stuff at home.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this, but we might have a winner.

This photo shows headlight tilted all the way down (hotspot mid-point to the wall). The bright spot on the wall is from Denali DR1 AUX lights.
Tire Vehicle Wheel Automotive lighting Automotive tire



This photo shows low-beam ON, and headlight tilted about where you would want it. There is a clear cut-off, and it seems even brighter than the Denali DR1s. It is hard to actually see, because phone heavily reworks the image to normalize brightness across the whole photo.
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Close-up of the bulb: Low Beam - ON: cell phone camera white balance adjusted all the way down.
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Photo of both Low-Beam and High Beam ON (LED bulbs).
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Here are the results after adjusting the light to BMW spec for Auxito h7 LED bulbs w/ fan. In short: seems good. I need to get to a completely dark location, since photos were taken in a fairly well-lit building garage.

LED bulb Low Beam ON. Aux lights covered. Per BMW spec, headlight is 5 meters (16.4 ft) away from wall. Blue tape on the wall is approximately at the middle of the headlight (~ 32 inch or ~ 81 cm off the floor). Photo taken with me seating on the bike, electronic pre-load set to auto, engine running, TFT reported voltage 14.4 V).

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LED Low and High Beams On. Aux Lights covered. Photo is not very representative of how well the high beam works, since bike is too close to the wall.
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Side view, Low Beam LED on. Aux Lights On.

Tire Wheel Land vehicle Vehicle Fuel tank

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I noticed a slight hallo on the ceiling of the garage with low beam on.
Not sure if it was there with halogen bulbs - never really paid attention to that, but I guess somebody else can chime-in. When looking at the Low Beam from about 2 parking spaces away, there isn't enough light bleeding to blind oncoming traffic. I think there is significantly more vertical light bleeding from my Aux lights: I do get flashed occasionally.

Halo on ceiling, Low Beam On, Aux Light On.

Building Wood Cloud Grey Beam




Here are a few photos of the LED bulb inside the headlight housing, and a few frontal photos of the bike for comparison.
I think there is a small portion of reflector at the vertical axis across light bulb not being illuminated properly: bulb housing covers some of led chip, and there are no LED chips pointing vertically. There is no way to adjust the bulb: it can go in only one way into the bulb retainer.

Low beam LED bulb:
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High beam led bulb:
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Frontal photo of the bike, about 3 parking spaces away. No lights.
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Frontal photo of the bike, about 3 parking spaces away. Low Beam LED ON. AUX lights covered.
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Frontal photo of the bike, about 3 parking spaces away. Low Beam LED ON. AUX lights On.
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I had a chance to test LED bulbs in real word conditions today. Moderate rain, about 50’F outside. I'm happy with how the Auxito H7 Led Bulbs with fan performed.

I didn’t get flashed during my evening commute through the city; might be a different story on a dark countryside road with no overhead streetlights. Below are a few photos from a city park’s parking lot. Conditions are less than ideal, however very representative of the real-world scenario when good lights are a must have: a few streetlights, drizzling rain, wet reflective road surface.

2020 R1250R daytime running led light ON (built-in OEM). Low & High Beam OFF, Aux Lights OFF
Sky Road surface Tree Asphalt Body of water


Low Beam On. Aux lights Off.
Atmosphere Water Road surface Tree Asphalt


Low Beam and High Beam On. Aux Lights Off.
Pardon crappy quality - it was raining and phone didn't want to focus. This time car had its low beam on - unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take a photo without car's headlights on. Still there is a visible difference with High Beam On.
Atmosphere Automotive lighting Road surface Asphalt Tree


Low Beam ON. Aux Lights off. Right Side view. Pardon the crappy photo. The car parked next to me had its lights turned off. You can see how wide the beam spread is and a distinctive cut-off to the right. Essentially the same on the left.
Atmosphere Automotive lighting Street light Tree Atmospheric phenomenon

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Excellent review and write up!
Thanks for the pics and effort to post.
@fireman
On behalf of those of us who have been looking for such a clean+simple+affordable improvement/upgrade,
Thank you very much for this huge contribution of patience + time + effort + details AND the willingness to share all that for the sake of benefiting others, very much appreciated
(and personally I am going for it)

This easily earns several rounds of beer

TO FIREMAN ! TO FIREMAN ! TO FIREMAN !
View attachment 118344

My pleasure. I'll go buy myself a pack of Guinness Draught tonight :)
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The “Grumpy Goat” installed these on his 2016 RS with tempting results.

These bulbs have an integrated fan and are the same size of the H7 and do not require any modification of the cap.
But as we know the space is very tight on the R and may prove to challenge for cooling compared with the roomier RS headlamps.

Has anyone tried them on the R12XX R (LC)?

Here is his video:

Bulb set:
I have to give @Ontrip a thumbs-up for finding this video in the depth of the WWW abys. For 5 or 6 years I was periodically researching LED bulbs for my motorcycle (previous and current). There wasn't anything worth spending time on. To compensate for lackluster headlight on my bikes, I invested in fairly expensive Denali AUX lights, upgraded to all LED turn signals on my previous bike and Dynamics Motorrad LED turn signal bulbs on BMW (also eyewatering expensive for what they are). 90% of halogen reflectors are basically incompatible with LED bulbs on the market. My car also used H7 bulbs, but behind projector lenses (big difference) and this past summer I found a passively cooled LED H7 bulb that worked well in my use case.
Now it looks like we collectively found an LED H7 bulb that is bright enough and works well in BMW R1250R headlight reflectors and fits into very narrow housing. If this LED bulb survives long enough, let's say 20,000 miles (which is more than most of us will make in 3 years), it will be just an awesome option.

I can't stop and think that I'm getting way too excited for an LED bulb, yet, considering how much effort I've put-in to compensate for lackluster lights on my vehicles, I feel this deserve a little celebratory dance. So here it goes, lets pat ourselves on the back, gulp down that Guiness Drought, and find a new motorcycle-nerd thing to obsess about.

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Good heavens... I look at all these threads on upgrading lights on the R12xxR and I just have to shake my head in amazement. Why does it have to be so darn complicated? I mean, leds with fans?!? I could have sworn leds were running much much cooler than halogen, but I'm obviously mistaken. And complex wizard circuitry to avoid tripping the bmw sensitive feelings detector and all that jazz with error codes... Why aren't the engineers at bmw realizing that upgraded lights just might be a possible thing an owner might want to do?

I'm a relatively new owner (first year) and absolutely love my bike, but I've now given up on upgrading the lights, which I thought I wanted to do, but there's no way I'm dealing with all that hokus pokus.

Sorry if this sounds like just a rant (I guess it is)
Don't give-up! There is light at the end of the tunnel! It is an R1250R with a bunch of LED lights on it!!! LMAO
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Finally received mine and they have been installed but no chance for a test ride with winter and salty roads.

Very satisfied with the increased brightness for daytime visibility.
View attachment 118387
@Ontrip I see some Yeungling Lager in the background... will do for a celebratory sip, yet still not my favorite. If you prefer something lighter than Guiness, I suggest trying Weihenstephaner ;-)
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Well, the bulbs arrived yesterday and are now fitted. No CANbus errors so far, but they’ve not been switched on any longer than a few short runs to test the brakes post-bleeding - time will tell on that front.
Lovely white light, significantly brighter than the Phillips halogen’s and the spread looks good. MOT will be the acid test I guess.
shame: not shipping to Italy. :(
You can try buying directly from manufacturer. Somebody on Facebook had luck purchasing from their website directly
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I rode to an old airport field and took a few better-quality night-time photos of the Auxito H7 LED Bulbs with fans as installed on R1250R (see below).

Verdict: coverage and brightness - excellent.

AUX lights were a safety necessity for riding my R1250R at night even with decent Philips H7 Dimond Vision H7 bulbs, especially in inclement weather. With Auxito H7 LED bulbs, I would say adding AUX lights is still a good idea to increase conspicuity, however it is not a necessity anymore. I've been riding with Auxito bulbs for a few weeks now, mostly in 40-50'F weather, and half the time in moderate rain after sunset in dusk/dark (I commute by bike most days). No fan noise, no CABUS errors, unless I toggle low/high beam switch before starting the engine.

All photos below are Low Beam On, Aux lights Off.

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what happens if you toggle the high/low switch? is there a fix? why would someone do that?
battery voltage is not sufficient to clear CANBUS check. Alternator outputs higher voltage, and that allows to clear the fault. Essentially it is a non-issue.
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Heat wise:
As many here, I have also found it puzzling that the heat emitted from LED could be an issue, because it implies LED emits more heat than halogen emits (and halogen emits a lot of heat),
And indeed - as I have held the bulbs during some LED-vs-halogen crude-tests (see below) I could confirm the halogen emits much more heat;
H7 halogen bulb doesn't transfer as much heat into the metal base of the bulb as an H7 LED does, at least the bulb I've looked at. Metal base of the LED H7 bulb acts as a heat-sink of sorts. Even though a halogen bulb filament is much hotter than the LED chips, it is all concentrated in the front. Purely resistive tungsten filament is somewhat isolated from the metal base.


but then could someone explain why the CANBUS does not complain once the engine is running ?
I believe it depends on the voltage that your DC charger outputs. The higher the voltage, the higher the Watts. Watts=Amps x Volts. Motorcycle alternator outputs around 14.4 Volts. I believe for the purposes of this exercise, Amp of the LED bulb is constant, then when voltage increases, the Wattage increases as well.
On another side note: during my 1st ~25min day-time ride today and later on during my 2nd ~20min night-time ride back home I got the 'check low beam' warning: it popped up several times, sometimes disappearing on its own after 1 or 2 seconds, sometimes remaining and i had to dismiss it, and I am not sure if there is something wrong w/ that particular LED-bulb (or perhaps it is triggered when the LED-fan is off which means 1w less is drawn ?), but honestly I do not care and willing to live with it in return for the beautiful beautiful beam I get in return.

@rxc In case if you grow tired of the CANBUS errors, Auxito bulbs are still available on Amazon: Amazon.com: AUXITO 2023 Upgraded H7 LED Bulbs, 350% Brighter, 6500K White, 1:1 Mini Size, No Adapter Required, Non-Polarity, All-in-One H7ll Fog Light Bulb Conversion Kit, Plug and Play, Pack of 2 : Automotive

P.S. This company should really start paying R1200Rforum a commission by now :)
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So is this a pretty solid confirmation that the Auxito bulbs do not cause any canbus errors?
No error when engine running. If I for some reason decide to turn-on low or high beam before I start the engine, I do get a fault. It clears as soon as I start the engine. I really never turn on low/high beam manually before starting the engine, and haven't had any issues since I've installed the Auxito bulbs several weeks ago. My 2020 R1250R doesn't switch on Low beam until engine is running, unless I override it.

TLDR: 2023 version Auxito H7 with fan bulbs work well.
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Hola!!, saludos a todos. gracias al foro he adquirido las lámparas AUXITO 2023 H7 y son espectaculares, no Canbus ni con el contacto ni arrancada , perfecta, solo tengo la duda sobre el calor que genera, mi recorrido suele durar 1 hora o más, si Fireman que ha comprobado todos los parámetros confía en que durará se lo agradecería, saludos y gracias View attachment 118507 View attachment 118508
I don't know if Auxito bulbs will last, but I'm hopeful.
Some sad news... this morning I had a persistent low beam CANBUS error with AuxitoH7 bulb. Bulb still works, but the error was popping in and out... It is quite distracting on R1250R TFT. It happened after a fairly spirited acceleration to speeds I would rather not discuss... I suspect that fan crapped-out from vibration, but I'll know more if I have time to check what the problem is over the weekend.
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