[fireman]

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).

I believe you can ask a BMW tech to disable the headlight warning for a small fee.

 

[Splodge]

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.

Started looking at the legality of this in the UK and came across this:
Please note that since January 2021, the MOT Inspection manual has been updated to include LED bulbs.
Section 4.1.4 now states the following:
“Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.”
This is a brand new update that seems to only focus on headlights.
There are no mentions to fail other LED bulbs such as brake lights, tail lights or reversing lights.

Be interesting to see how you get on at the MOT BB🧐

 

[BimblingBimmer]

Started looking at the legality of this in the UK and came across this:
Please note that since January 2021, the MOT Inspection manual has been updated to include LED bulbs.
Section 4.1.4 now states the following:
“Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.”
This is a brand new update that seems to only focus on headlights.
There are no mentions to fail other LED bulbs such as brake lights, tail lights or reversing lights.

Be interesting to see how you get on at the MOT BB🧐

My understanding is that what you’ve described is from the Cars and Passenger vehicles requirements. I can find no similar update for the motorcycle requirements?

 

[Scotto]

Had a moment of concern today when looking at the Auxito bulb add copy. It says 80 watts. Strange. If it's pulling more current than the halogen bulb then adding a resistor would only make it worse and bring wire gauge into question. So...I measured the current draw and got 1.7 amps on the LED and 4 amps with the stock H7. That's what I would have expected and is in alignment with adding a 6 ohm resistor in parallel to get close to parity on current draw. I have no idea where their 80 watts statement comes from. It makes no sense to me. I also wonder about them saying it's 98% CANbus compatible, especially when the draw is so low (as expected for an LED) and then they list a bunch of brands that it might not work with. Unless I'm missing something I smell BS on both counts.

 

[fireman]

Had a moment of concern today when looking at the Auxito bulb add copy. It says 80 watts. Strange. If it's pulling more current than the halogen bulb then adding a resistor would only make it worse and bring wire gauge into question. So...I measured the current draw and got 1.7 amps on the LED and 4 amps with the stock H7. That's what I would have expected and is in alignment with adding a 6 ohm resistor in parallel to get close to parity on current draw. I have no idea where their 80 watts statement comes from. It makes no sense to me. I also wonder about them saying it's 98% CANbus compatible, especially when the draw is so low (as expected for an LED) and then they list a bunch of brands that it might not work with. Unless I'm missing something I smell BS on both counts.

Cheap LED bulbs directly from Chinese companies... I always take their claims with a grain of salt. Most of the brands probably won't exist in a year from now (happened to both H7 bulb brands I've installed in my car).

After I switched out the low beam Auxito H7 bulb, I've put about 200 miles over several rides, mixed highway/city, rain/dry, temperatures ranging from 60'F to 25'F, going up to 90 MPH as well as over some bumpy roads locally. So far so good on the replacement. If I were you, I would try to replace the bulb first, and then add resistors if needed.

 

[Scotto]

I hear you but my DMM says otherwise. I would expect a code if current draw was less than half of normal. Not sure where they set the threshold but it seems to be on the edge given the intermittent error I'm getting. The bulb and fan are working.

 

[Scotto]

It's possible that the controller circuit in the bulb uses pulse width modulation that could trigger a fault. Don't know. A software solution would be great but I can't imagine a shop being willing to disable a safety feature. Perhaps the girl with the dragon tattoo is now riding an R1200R? Lacking her help, I'm going with the resistor. Bit of a Gilligan's Island solution but should work. We'll see.

 

[Scotto]

For experimental purposes, I'll leave the high beam bulb with no resistor. If that triggers an error and the other doesn't, we may have our answer.

 

[Panzermann]

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).

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.

 

[daniel.poirier]

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.

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

 

[Scotto]

Parts arrived today. Busy with other work today, so I'll get things installed this weekend and report back ASAP. Very happy with the heat sink and resistor match. I'll share part numbers if all goes well.🤞

 

[fireman]

Parts arrived today. Busy with other work today, so I'll get things installed this weekend and report back ASAP. Very happy with the heat sink and resistor match. I'll share part numbers if all goes well.🤞

good luck!

 

[Scotto]

Had the bike out for about 45 minutes today. No real revelations. Resistor temp was 117F with air temp at 50F. This is exactly as expected from the heat sink dissipation chart. So you can touch the resistor without getting burned but it is good and warm. Heat sinks work. We knew that. I didn't trigger any "light out" faults so that's good, but I put the high beam on (no resistor) for part of the ride and that didn't trigger any faults either. More time will tell. Nothing proven yet. Busy with other work now so not able to do a long ride just yet. I'll report back when I know more.

 

[Panzermann]

Very happy with the heat sink and resistor match. I'll share part numbers if all goes well.🤞

If needed, with, some further ingenuity you could fit two resistors in there, trimming the fixing tabs a little if necessary. With the additional temperature differential between the sink and ambient, heat transfer would be faster and hence running temperature differential less than double.

 

[Panzermann]

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

BMW can’t control the LED placement and dimensions in the same way a standard H7 filament is built to a standard, so they cannot be sure an LED bulb will meet homologation requirements fit beam spread etc. This may be why their electric current tolerance level is set fairly high, rather than what would be required to detect a faulty incandescent bulb. They always know what’s good for you. 😂

 

[Scotto]

If needed, with, some further ingenuity you could fit two resistors in there, trimming the fixing tabs a little if necessary. With the additional temperature differential between the sink and ambient, heat transfer would be faster and hence running temperature differential less than double.

Not Sure I follow. My objective was a temp on the sink that wouldn't melt zip ties or anything else.

 

[Panzermann]

Not Sure I follow. My objective was a temp on the sink that wouldn't melt zip ties or anything else.

The resistor will serve only one LED bulb. If you found it necessary to use one on each bulb, then you could likely mount two resistors on there and still have a suitable temperature.

 

[Scotto]

Oh, right. Good point.

 

[Scotto]

So the jury is still out, though I feel confident that this will work. attached is the order info from Newark Electronics in case anyone would like to try this. A few comments on execution for those who may be new at this stuff:

• These extruded heat sinks have very sharp edges. I suggest breaking the edges with a small file, especially if you will be using plastic ty wraps for mounting.
• I avoid no name power resistors sold on Amazon. Name brand ones shouldn't cost any more. They may be made in the same factory but we don't know. The Arcols I used measured exactly 6 ohms.
• I tapped into the yellow and white headlight wires in the loom that goes to the headlight connector as seen in the attachment. I don't cut the wires but instead skim the insulation off with a scalpel to expose the conductors. A solder pen will also work for this. Then I solder the wires together and add a small ty wrap for mechanical strength. Then I coat the connections with liquid electrical tape and follow up with vinyl electrical tape once the liquid is dry. A bit extreme perhaps but none of my connections have ever caused issues down the road. I strongly advise against using those clip on scotchlok style connectors for attachment. I've had countless electrical problems traced to those in bikes coming thru my shop. They may work ok for things that don't move and vibrate but I never use them for anything.
• Thermal paste is a good idea when attaching hot stuff to heat sinks.
• Regarding Panzermans comment, the only thing I don't like about his idea is that I didn't think of it first . I may try that down the road but I very rarely drive at night and given that the fault is not a constant thing my high beam wire may stay as it is without a resistor. If I do try it I will probably switch to some stainless steel ty wraps that I have. I don't love these because you have to push the tiny locking ball bearing in to get them tight and they are hard to cut off but things will be hotter.
• Take your time. This procedure is closer to 3 beers than 1 beer but I would save the beer until you are done.
• Good luck!

 

[Maxman376]

Hi just installed led headlight on my 2016 r1200r. Works good but warning light on cluster on. Is there a fix. Maybe install a resister.