Anyone noticed 2 yellow spots in the middle of the beam from their high beam led's? At first I though it was from the halogen driving lights I installed...but then I changed the bulbs and discovered that they were there still even with the driving lights switched off. The spots are most visible when the lights are aiming at a wall at night.

 

I find it hard to believe that no one has not noticed this. Can someone please let me know if this is standard with the LED lights. I have the adaptive feature on mine (cornering). Thanks!

 

Both sides show it in the same location on each one?

 

George - Yes. Seems weird as the LED's are so white.

 

Seems unlikely to be a dead emitter then. Curious: Might be a question for the dealership.

 

Do you have these lights on your car?

 

No. I actually ordered halogen for exactly the reason that if one of these dies outside the warranty period, you have to replace the entire headlamp unit, which is like $1K+ per side.

 

Ha! I had been kicking myself for not ordering the LED type. Mine is Halogen. I feel much better now.
Thanks for the info!

 

Haven't been using high beams much yet (I have LED headlights as well), but out of curiosity I just went out and turned them on against the garage door. I did see some yellow, but would describe it more as a hue around each light than 2 distinct 'spots'. I held up a folder a few inches in front of one of the lights, and I could see yellow showing up around the beam edges.

Haven't heard of having to replace the entire F56 headlamp unit before. Pretty sure the Xenon bulb can be replaced for a few hundred bucks (at most), like with the R56 and previous models.

 

Oh yes - the whole unit needs replacing! I had a tourist from Florida side swipe my car's front end and my body shop replaced the unit for $ 1200 (Canadian). People have to be sure they really need this technology - look nice, perform better but $$!
Xenon bulb? Umm, I thought LED meant light emitting diode?

 

I haven't noticed any yellow spots with mine by the way. I'll have to check again tonight. As someone suggested, Greg, maybe contact your dealer and see if they have any info for you.

Replacement, if necessary, may be expensive, but from a safety and visibility standpoint, I am very happy that I went with the LED option.

 

Checked last night. Looked into lights. See lots of spots, many colors...everywhere.

 

The yellow doors are seen on a wall the lights are projecting on. They are pretty obvious. Please let me know.
Thanks

 

Yes....I realize that. What I meant to say was that I thought I saw online that the LED headlight assembly can be changed out, like the Xenons. But, I would guess your body shop wouldn't have replaced the whole unit, if all it needed was an LED assembly (unless the entire thing was damaged too badly, affecting the adaptive controls, for example). Guess I hope I never have to find out myself at that price.....

 

According to the parts schematic, the LED headlamp assembly is one unitized component. Just one PN for the whole thing. It does not appear to be serviceable.

 

I have noticed this. At a distance the light appears to have a purple hue, especially on the edge of the beam. I have noticed a yellow coloration in the center when the light shines on a close object.

 

Anyone know or experience the reliability or unreliability of LED Headlights Vs. Halogen Headlights on a 2014 Hartop ?

 

Well, the oldest LED Mini headlamp is going to be less than a year old, so?...

Halogen lasts forever. You just replace the bulbs when they burn out.

 

I see yellow at the top edge of the lights when on low beams in my garage. I need to check how it looks with high beams to see if it's just that shutter causing it. Doesn't bother me though, nor does the cool purplish hue out on the road. I love my LED headlights!

 

I just started noticing this over the last couple weeks. I can even see yellow on the ground out in front of the car when driving.

 

I have LED's as some outside lights at my house. They are bullet proof and seemingly last forever. I think an accident is one thing - but if that does not happen I bet they outlast the car!

 

No disagreement there whatsoever. Speaking only for myself, the concern was the "adaptive" part. Dealers don't fix things, they replace them. So, if one of these things quit working outside the warranty period, well...

I'm not saying it will or that anyone made an unwise decision. Just that devil in this car is going to be the electronics. It's a BMW, not a Honda.

Just my 2-cents.

 

Until LED headlights are as easy to maintain as a 9005 (et. al.), where you can buy a new bulb at Pep Boys in 5 minutes for $6, I'm having NOTHING to do with them. To have the entire $1k+ unit as a LRU is absolute insanity, I don't care HOW much prettier they look at night. Not only that, but LEDs are NOT failure-proof. They're not much different than any other mass produced semiconductor, except for the fact that the rate of their wearout mechanisms are subject to the level and characteristics of the drive, plus how well heat is removed from them. Then there's the complexity! OMG. Drive electronics ('cos they're soooooooo good at hi-rel electronics, right?). Linkages. Actuators. Other mechanical doodads that work great in warranty but start getting a little arthritis and no longer work smoothly four years downstream. Jeebus.... I had an E39 with HIDs and it was a nightmare! The auto-levelling worked for the aforementioned four years, and could simply not be fixed without replacing $2500 worth of hardware. Thanks, but no thanks. You couldn't PAY me to get these overpriced failures-in-waiting.

So would I trust that these headlights are designed for 40,000 hour operation? ROFL!! In your dreams. Fellas, you're welcome to 'em. Hope you enjoy waiting 3 days and paying $1000 for a new one when it eventually craps out. Which it will. Guaranteed. It's the BMW way.

 

You seem awfully bitter... Self leveling headlights have been around for years, and many cars 10 years and older are still on original motors and xenon bulbs as well. Granted these are led, but led in fact burn cooler than xenon and are superior in almost every way including life cycle.
What if your wiring harness burns up on your halogen headlights, and you have to replace that? I mean it is a bmw after all right?

Sounds to me like a lot of people convincing themselves that they made the right choice sticking with halogens. I mean really your buying the car as a whole(bmw made mind you) and this is the one thing reliability wise your worried about. Lmao give me a break. I've always went with the xenon option, but my last mk6 gti to save money I went with halogen and regretted it the entire 2 years I owned the car, but I guess to each their own. Oh and BTW, you act as if led is a new technology. It's not, it's just getting to the point now where it's an affordable option in automotive applications.

 

I remember back in 1998 I bought a plasma screen TV (Panasonic) - paid a fortune for it ($16k) - I had a good year that year. People told me that that TV display would not last and I would get "burn-in". Well sold it 2 years ago to a friend and he is still using it everyday. So, yes LED's are expensive. I could have waited 5 years for the price to come down but I had so much enjoyment from that TV. Also Plasma TV's like LED's do things that other TV's can't.
I agree you can wait.... for the laser lights to hit next year or act like someone from 1910 when they built houses with both gas and electric lights because they were not sure which way it was going to go.
I think the adaptive feature alone is worth the price of admission....but those yellow dots drive me crazy!