[43220]

I have lots of tools, so no issues there. Ha ha. I can figure out how to do it; it's just a matter of having enough space. But I don't have fat hands (XL length, but M width), so hopefully enough space, just to minimize the time spent changing bulbs. Will change both, even though the high beam is likely to never be used... but it'll serve as a replacement bulb, if the low beam happens to crap out on a trip. About how many miles are they supposed to last? Do you know? Since the low beam is on all the time, the mileage should be a good approximation, although a person sitting in traffic a lot might have less. I only use my bike for trips, so idle time is only limited when I hit a red light.

 

[fireman]

I have lots of tools, so no issues there. Ha ha. I can figure out how to do it; it's just a matter of having enough space. But I don't have fat hands (XL length, but M width), so hopefully enough space, just to minimize the time spent changing bulbs. Will change both, even though the high beam is likely to never be used... but it'll serve as a replacement bulb, if the low beam happens to crap out on a trip. About how many miles are they supposed to last? Do you know? Since the low beam is on all the time, the mileage should be a good approximation, although a person sitting in traffic a lot might have less. I only use my bike for trips, so idle time is only limited when I hit a red light.

Not sure of the lifespan, but people say it is shorter than the regular H7 long life (low beam). Unless you do touring, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You could probably keep one of the bulbs under the seat, just in case.
I’m sure you know, but just in case: don’t touch bulbs with your bare fingers, any kind of grease, etc. contamination makes bulbs burn out faster

 

[43220]

Yeah, makes sense the lifespan is reduced, since the coating makes it run hotter. But was curious how much. I'll follow your recommendation to have one of the 2 stock bulbs below the seat (there's space there). That way I could swap the Diamond high beam to the low, and put a stock bulb for the high beam. I don't put that many miles on my bikes per year (about 5K), so it should last me at least 2 years. Thank you.

I should get the bulbs tomorrow. Will report how the attempt to replace them with the 'swing' method goes .

 

[43220]

You need a really short torx driver to temove the left bolt, and swing the light out.

I changed the bulbs yesterday, and guess what? The light does not swing out; IT PULLS RIGHT OUT!!! That's right, folks. There's no hinge or anything like that. You just need to disconnect ONE connector, and that's it. I needed a plastic trim tool to pull the connector out, but took me less than a minute. And no need to realign the headlight... although I'll probably do it at some point anyway. And yes, no other way to remove that pesky bolt inside, other than with the supplied Torx tool under the seat. I marked both bolts, to avoid having to search for the factory TQ specs. That damn baboon a$$ headlight is HEAVY.

Oh, and I also changed at the same time the ugly turn signals, and they fit and look OEM, after marking the brand, and everything else that wasn't black, black. And yes, they're definitely noticeably brighter than stock, which was the main reason to replace them. And they look right at home on the sporty HP, IMO. Oh, and the blue bulbs match the blue on the
bike, so that doesn't bother me. Ha ha. Hope this helps others who might be considering both mods .

 

[Panzermann]

The light does not swing out; IT PULLS RIGHT OUT!!! That's right, folks. There's no hinge or anything like that.

The headlight assembly on the 1250 is the same part number as the 1200LC with LED DRL option. All headlight bulbs on Roadsters are H7 quartz halogen - no LED option.

If you remove the RH mounting bolt and loosen the vertical hinge bolt after removing the surround, the headlight will swing out to the left, leaving vertical adjustment unchanged. No tools are required to remove/replace the bulb itself - held in place by a spring mount that you rotate to remove/replace.

Surprisingly, the process is fully described in the manual …

 

[43220]

I just mentioned that the headlight PULLS RIGHT OUT after removing the vertical 'hinge' bolt... but there's no 'hinge' anywhere. I already did it . Just disconnected it, and changed the bulbs on my bench. Factory alignment is preserved, since the right (when in front of the headlight) horizontal bolt is still there. And where did you get that I said the headlights were LEDs? The manual says that (doesn't even mention H7 bulbs), but nobody is going to confuse a freaking halogen bulb for LED. Ha ha. And certainly not me .

 

[Panzermann]

I just mentioned that the headlight PULLS RIGHT OUT after removing the vertical 'hinge' bolt... but there's no 'hinge' anywhere. I already did it . Just disconnected it, and changed the bulbs on my bench. Factory alignment is preserved, since the right (when in front of the headlight) horizontal bolt is still there. And where did you get that I said the headlights were LEDs? The manual says that (doesn't even mention H7 bulbs), but nobody is going to confuse a freaking halogen bulb for LED. Ha ha. And certainly not me .

My reference to LED headlight was simply to correct any misconceptions arising from earlier discussion.

The vertical bolt you removed is the hinge. See Post #22 (or your manual

Bulb spec is stated in the technical data part of the manual. I’d recommend reading the manual.

 

[43220]

Again with the freaking manual? Geez. For the third time, I already did this, and I'm telling you, the headlight pulls right out when you remove that bolt. Why the heck would you try removing the bulbs, and risk losing the screws, bending something, touching the bulbs, etc, by swiveling the light, when you can just disconnect it, and remove it, without having to realign/readjust anything? Besides, as reported by many, it's almost impossible to do anyway. I'm just trying to help those who want to change their bulbs. And in case you haven't noticed, the manual is wrong on many other things too, including that our bikes have full LED headlights (there's not even a mention of H7 bulbs), that the HP has a Lithium-Ion battery (it doesn't), and lots of incoherent instructions due to a bad translation.

 

[joax87]

Hello everyone,

Last week I did the 600 miles maintenance at BMW and I asked them if I could mount LED bulbs (for low & high beams).
They said yes and advised me to buy these Leds bulbs.

What do you think of them ? Do you think they might work fine ?

 

[tima]

I've replaced my headlight lamps with LED ones. I do not think the lamps suggested by your dealer will even fit, sorry. Maybe ask them if they've even tried to fit them?

If they did fit by chance, then there's the possibility of ECU faults (due to insufficient load).

Here is a pic of stock vs. my replacement. I think it's pretty apparent they won't fit...

 

[43220]

They said yes and advised me to buy these Leds bulbs.

They don't show the connector side, but it says they fit the R1250R, so they should. There's plenty of space vertically, between connector and cap. What I didn't like at all is they're not calibrated for the bike, so they rotate 360-deg. That means you probably have to d*ck with them a lot, and then they might move with the vibrations. Without at least a few testimonials, I'll keep my DiamondVisions for now. Oh, and wonder if they're meant to be running all the time, since US bikes must have low beams on all the time, and those bulbs are European, where they don't.

Here is a pic of stock vs. my replacement. I think it's pretty apparent they won't fit...

Did you try them? My guess is they might fit... as long as the largest diameter of them is not larger than the base of the stock bulbs. Seems very close, so I'd give it a try. May I ask if those bulbs are (electrically) ventilated or not? At least they don't rotate. And do they claim to have the circuitry (CANbus friendly) to not trigger a dash warning due to less current drawn? Please keep us posted. I'd like to put LED bulbs if possible, but want to make sure they're going to work fine all the time, and they illuminate at least as good as DiamondVisions I have now. Thank you.

 

[tima]

No, I didn't try them. Go ahead and try if you think they'll fit..lol. Let us know...

"Electrically ventilated" - I'm not sure what that is, my guess is no. I mean they were only $30 bucks for both.

Here is the thread I created for the install,

LED headlight lamps installed | BMW R1200R Forum

 

[43220]

Go ahead and try if you think they'll fit..lol. Let us know...

Send them to me, and I would try them for fit for you . But at $30 for both, no way I'd put that on my bike. Ha ha. Electrically ventilated means an electric fan inside, to keep them from overheating (like the ones linked on post #49). Without one, they'd probably burn quickly with constant use (low beam is always on), and possibly be a fire hazard as well.

 

[tima]

The ones I used were $30. These are still installed in my bike.

I do not own the ones in post 49. I was only trying to answer the question, "What do you think of them ? Do you think they might work fine ?"

 

[Moderately Excessive]

I ordered an LED replacement kit from LEDPERF and they sent me something that wouldn’t fit, then admitted that they should have sent me the ‘nano’ version. They then sent me that, which still didn’t fit…. I was finally able to make it work, but only after extensive mods. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the work (just wanted to get it done and had limited time), but the extensive mods consisted of having to grind down the back-plate (that closes or seals the headlight shell), to give me the extra bit of clearance I needed, as well as clipping the plastic piece that the actual prong receptacles are carried in, also to get some additional clearance. Then, I had to 'improvise' a carrier/strap to hold the LED 'bulbs' in place, which I secured with the same two small torx screws (for each bulb) that held the original bulbs in place. I was finally able to close the headlight shell... In spite of all that, I do get a fault on the TFT display, after a few minutes of riding. I plan to look at that next season, as I installed these at the very end of last year and it was too cold to do anything more.

I gave them a poor review on TrustPilot (LedPerf.com reviewed by Raùl Barqueiro on 11/17/2021 (trustpilot.com)); since you need to create an account to see posts, here's a screenshot - their reply says it all:

I don’t recommend that company to anyone!

 

[43220]

The ones I used were $30. These are still installed in my bike.

And how did they fit, and work, compared to stock? Is the light pattern what it should be, meaning a clear cut-off line, to prevent blinding oncoming traffic?
The other bulbs linked on post #49 seem better made, and should be functionally better than the other cheaper ones (since they're cooled)... BUT there's no way I'd order them. The fact you're supposed to rotate them until they seem acceptable, is a no-go for me. And even when you find such a position, they might move on their own. No thank you. Seems like a half-a$$ implementation of an otherwise acceptable LED bulb to me.

 

[tima]

I ordered an LED replacement kit from LEDPERF and they sent me something that wouldn’t fit, then admitted that they should have sent me the ‘nano’ version. They then sent me that, which still didn’t fit…. I was finally able to make it work, but only after extensive mods. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the work (just wanted to get it done and had limited time), but the extensive mods consisted of having to grind down the back-plate (that closes or seals the headlight shell), to give me the extra bit of clearance I needed, as well as clipping the plastic piece that the actual prong receptacles are carried in, also to get some additional clearance. Then, I had to 'improvise' a carrier/strap to hold the LED 'bulbs' in place, which I secured with the same two small torx screws (for each bulb) that held the original bulbs in place. I was finally able to close the headlight shell... In spite of all that, I do get a fault on the TFT display, after a few minutes of riding. I plan to look at that next season, as I installed these at the very end of last year and it was too cold to do anything more.

@Moderately Excessive, Thanks for confirming what I thought from looking at the lamp in question. Normally a pic speaks a 1000 words, but not always...

And how did they fit, and work, compared to stock? Is the light pattern what it should be, meaning a clear cut-off line, to prevent blinding oncoming traffic?
The other bulbs linked on post #49 seem better made, and should be functionally better than the other cheaper ones (since they're cooled)... BUT there's no way I'd order them. The fact you're supposed to rotate them until they seem acceptable, is a no-go for me. And even when you find such a position, they might move on their own. No thank you. Seems like a half-a$$ implementation of an otherwise acceptable LED bulb to me.

Please see the thread I posted above in #52...

 

[43220]

I just read it; thank you. Just like I expected, light output is all over the place. Plus I'd never touch the factory wiring myself, so any of those bulbs are completely out of consideration for me. By the way, if you need to wrap any wires, Tesa tape is the way to go for me.

Anyway, the last chance of a plug-and-play LED bulb is the one linked on post #49, but I'm almost certain it'd have exactly the same problem as yours, as it has the LEDs positioned the same way. Hopefully somebody will order one, to know for sure (and position the LEDs pointed to either side). And even if such bulbs throw more light, it's less on the road, so typically worse off than a stock bulb. I'll keep my DiamondVisions, which throw less light than stock, but I couldn't tell the difference, so they're not bad at all (color temperature must makes a difference, I guess). And they're plug-and-play, with no errors. But they'll crap out sooner than stockers for sure, so hopefully there will be a better plug-and-play alternative by then .

 

[Moderately Excessive]

The ones shown in the link at post #49 are what were first sent to me. They extended a half-inch or more beyond the edge of the housing; not a hope in hell of ever making them fit.

The ones shown in post #50 are similar in size to the 'nano' ones that were subsequently sent to me, but mine (which I finally made fit) have a fan at the back-end (similar to what's shown on the ones in post #49 but smaller), and therefore the two prongs shown in post #50 are actually out the side rather than at the back.

With the back-and-forth of incorrect items, I finally received and installed the 'nanos' just before putting the bike away for the winter, so didn't get to try them at night. But they were visibly brighter than the H7's, just by looking at the lens. As for the dispersal pattern, that's dictated by the shape of the reflector, to the best of my knowledge, so a brighter bulb shouldn't adversely affect the spread of light.

 

[tima]

"As for the dispersal pattern, that's dictated by the shape of the reflector, to the best of my knowledge, so a brighter bulb shouldn't adversely affect the spread of light. " That is true....

But having the light 'source' (the lamp) coming from a different angle or angles by using flat sided LEDs (vs. the cylindrical lamp shape of a halogen) will affect the dispersal. I'm pretty sure this was proved in my project. The dispersal was worse off using LEDs.