After months of staring at the parts I finally got around to installing the HID Reverse Light kit I bought from Umnitza. Most of the work involved modifying the reverse bulb housing with a Dremel to fit an H3 bulb. The rest was spent wiring/debugging the harness which took way longer than it should have, though the walkthrough i used- Umnitza Product Photos :: ReverseHID How To, was a little inexplicit. I'm still working on a better heatsink mount for the resistors which get HOT. The nice part is nothing on the car was really modified, just the housings the bulb sit in which cost about $7 each, so a return to stock would be easy.
For those interested, I'm pretty sure you could spec the parts from DDM for ~$50 (DDE Relay Harness $15/HID Kit $30/Resistors $5). Right now the lights trigger when in reverse, but I'm planning on adding a switch to turn them on while driving.
Bulb color is 6000k, I think I would have gone a little lower in retrospect. You can see in the pics, the bulb sits slightly tilted in the housing. This is because the fit was TIGHT, but it is plastic epoxied in place so its not going anywhere.
I envisioned it more as a response to being "flashed" by someone else. I also originally thought i was going to tie it to the NAV, so they worked as parking lights but they're a little too bright (blinding) for that.
I envisioned it more as a response to being "flashed" by someone else. I also originally thought i was going to tie it to the NAV, so they worked as parking lights but they're a little too bright (blinding) for that.
You guys are evil.. I was just thinking you wanted to like, see better when you reversed. lol. Cool idea tho.. I'd probably back off if someone "reverse-lighted" me.. mainly because I'd think they were about to blow their gearbox or because my retinas were burnt out of my skull.. you know, whichever. LOL
A bit off topic... but the Cadillac models have very bright reverse lights. Blinding I must say. I can't stand it when the GM vehicles are unlocked and those lights illuminate. They always spook me at night in the parking lots. You think they are about to back out...
Anyway, I had a guy "flash" me once for no reason. The idiot cut me off in his 740i on the freeway. I wasn't in a BMW at the time and had I been, he might have had more respect... jerk. I wouldn't do this mod as I would think it would tick people off. The roar alone of the exhaust is scary enough
I have this problem all the time, I tend to drive quite slowly if I'm not on the highway. I think the the low speed and loud exhaust combination confuses people then they flash me .
I think you guys are sort of missing the point though... this was primarily to see through tinted windows at night and because i thought it was neat! The ability to activate it while not in reverse was an afterthought because i spent so much time on the relay trigger and want to show it off.
Be careful with hids in your reverse lights. These assmblies were never intended to be used with a high heat source bulb (except the rear fogs) and are prone to melt if on too long, which in time really isn't that long at all.
I've seen people put h3 halogens in reverse lights and melt the entire tail light assmblies. Not to mention, hids require 45 seconds to strike and generate a strong arc to sustain. So like turning off and on your headlights is really bad for hid bulbs, the same applies to hids in the rear. Bulb life will be sacrificed.
Sorry but this seems like an utterly pointless waste of money that will do nothing but infuriate drivers in parking lots that dont like having unaimed non-projector housed HIDs shine in their face while waiting for you to get out of a parking spot. Getting flashed sucks, but momentarily blinding them is not the answer. Why dont you install rear fogs and trick them into thinking your braking?
All that will come from this is burnt HID bulbs, melted taillamps and maybe a few tickets. Oh and the people trying to get where they are going, who flash you for driving slow, who you flash back with your HIDs, will definitely be momentarily blinded, possibly getting in a car accident. Especially at night.
But no, its worth it, so you can see where your reversing at night through your tinted windshield.
You did all that work but I fail to see any thinking.
Agreed. Those pictures make them look WAY too bright. How dark is your tint that you need a light that bright to see? And you want to turn them on while driving? I don't think I've ever seen someone flash another car for driving too slow on surface streets. But, to each his own, glad you like them.
I applaud this mod. I'd LOVE to be able to flash a tailgating person so they back off my tail. I thought about installing rally lights on the rear parcel shelf but they would take up too much space and look hideous.
This is a nice solution. Just don't use it on people who flash you, save it for tailgaters who deserve it. I've flashed people before because they deserved it, I didn't deserve to get blinded. Now tailgaters......
HIDs give off much less heat than halogen bulbs do (think about the efficiency-- half the wattage, 3 times the light output). In fact a lot of cars have issues where HID bulbs do not melt snow/ice where Halogens did. I have tested these running for about 2 minutes and the from the outside the housing is no warmer than the regular incandescent, though the resistors used to trick the LCM are a different story.
Also, my iPhone GREATLY exaggerates the light these things throw off, especially in the dark garage.
Here's a picture taken during the day
I was considering this mod a while back since it would help visibility while reversing as I have aftermarket window tint and tinted tail lights but I just couldn't stomach the price. I will solve my visibility problem by Getting a Dynavin H/U and installing a rear view camera.
In my opinion, one of the questionable designs of this product is the "warm up" period xenon lights go through before their full output is achieved. Most of the reversing I do is while parking and only takes 3-5 seconds, so before the lights are fully lit, their services will no longer be required.
I will probably wait until there is an LED bulb with significant light output over stock and doesn't throw codes. LEDs would be nice with their instant-on instant-off nature. There is no denying that this HID is bright though.
The only cars that flash me from behind are cops! kinggf
Hello i would like to ask about fuses, do you use original fuses in bmw, do they blew up or stayed intact? 35W ballast consumes about 3amps of power, should be okay with the 7,5Amp fuse. While standart bulbs are 2x 21watts...
Or they blew up, and what did you do? Put a beefier one?
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