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

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)

fireman said:

US Amazon still has these.

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

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Has anyone tried these? If so, I'm extremely interested in finding out (a) if they are a true improvement relative to the stock bulbs, and (b) if they are truly no hassle with the hypersensitive BMW electronics. If it matters, my bike is a 2017 R1200R (and I have no clue if that's a hexhead ir bonehead, or if it qualifies as LC or not, the lingo just doesn't fit my brain). And of course I'm looking for plug-and-play, just swap the bulbs and smile.

Ontrip said:

Yes this unit is the Auxito 2023 Upgraded H7 Bulb is the start of this thread

@fireman has done an extensive review and and I have also installed them and they check all of the technical boxes regarding installation and compatibility with the Canbus system.

His initial verdict after Road testing is very positive.

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Hmm, then I guess some of you are more tolerant than I would ever be about canbus errors. When I had initially read Fireman's post-install review, I gave up when I read about these dreaded canbus errors. I also wasn't too warm about the idea of the fans (I still don't get why LEDs need fans that halogens don't 🤔... what's the temperature of a halogen bulb when lit?).

But thanks for the clarifications

Oh, now we have two contenders: the Auxito bulbs identified by Fireman, and the Car Rover bulbs suggested as a lower-cost alternative by Rxc. It would be so cool to see a side-by-side comparison, but that's probably wishful thinking.

A question for those of you who have done the conversion: how many bulbs are needed in total? Do you use the same led bulb for low-beam and hi-beam, or do you need different bulbs? If it matters, my bike is a 2017 R1200R. (note, I'm new to this bike, have never changed the bulbs yet, hence the blatant ignorance)

Panzermann said:

H7 is a single filament bulb so you’ll need an equivalent LED version for each of low and high beams, Daniel.

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Great, thanks! So a set of two bulbs would do it (one for low- and one for high-beam), correct? (or are there more than one low- or high-beam bulbs in an R1200R?)

fireman said:

@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?

With all these testimonials that seem to always end with "soooo close, but no cigar!", and clever chaps having to explore complex rigged hand-made solutions involving load resistors and heat sinks, you would think that some company out there would produce bulbs that actually work out-of-the-box (or that BMW would finally get the hint and update their cambus firmware with a selectable option for led headlamps).

Panzermann said:

To work ‘out of the box’ the bulb would need to draw current at least as much as the threshold for all CANBUS controlled light circuits. Any additional draw they build in will be expended by creating more heat, which is undesirable, hence the external solutions where the bulb triggers an error.

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Yeah, understood... So it's really in BMW's court: fix that darned CANBUS so that riders can use this century's lighting technology