High Beams

My 2014 i3/Rex appears to have LED low beams, but the high beams (located in the lower bumper - I originally thought they were fog lights down there) appear to be standard 55 watt H11 halogen bulbs. Wondering if anybody has replaced these with LED bulbs, and if so, what brand/part#?

Any H11 LED retrofit will work. You're Just going to have a weird-ish light pattern since most of these retrofits are just a bunch of LEDS on either side of a flat circuit board. The way my bulb locked into the socket, my high beams ended up illuminating chunks of trees and the top floors of buildings.

but....I have seen some newer cylindrical ones, but haven't tried those out personally. Might be worth trying those instead.

Well that doesn't sound too encouraging. Maybe I'll just stick with the halogens. They just look so strange when you flip them on after driving with the LED low beams.

Fisher99 said:

Well that doesn't sound too encouraging. Maybe I'll just stick with the halogens. They just look so strange when you flip them on after driving with the LED low beams.

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avoid these.

https://www.amazon.com/Osram-Lamps-LEDriving-PGJ19-X-67219CW/dp/B07RT1FGJQ/

try these:
https://www.amazon.com/Alla-Lighting-2800lm-Xtreme-Bright/dp/B07H6X6PM2/

I've seen these, havent tried them yet. should be better at blending and distributing light more evenly vs getting bright/ dark spots with the ones that are only flat mounted.

Fisher99 said:

Well that doesn't sound too encouraging. Maybe I'll just stick with the halogens. They just look so strange when you flip them on after driving with the LED low beams.

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The color temperature difference is growing on me after a week of coming home after dark. It makes spotting deer in the brush much easier.....

I used these in our i3.......work perfectly but you must aim the main beam correctly, from the factory it appears the high beams are aimed VERY LOW presumable because they are so crap with halogen bulbs, these work without any error codes throwing up, and the beam pattern is good, very much better than the halogen, and if you aim the beams up a lot they compliment the LED dips perfectly.
https://www.horizonleds.co.uk/exterior-leds/cree-led-headlights/h11-led-headlights-headlamps/h11-philips-luxeon-led-headlight-v2

Be aware the genuine Manufactured Philips H11 LED bulbs (the ones I shown only use the LED from Philips) do throw up,CanBus errors on the i3, the ones in the link work perfectly.

Thanks! The Philips kit looks like the real deal. But at nearly $170, I may just live with the halogens, at least for a while longer.

Keep in mind that @Boxbrownie is in the UK, where they are not cursed with the North American-spec headlights that we have on our side of the pond.....

electronchaser said:

Fisher99 said:

Well that doesn't sound too encouraging. Maybe I'll just stick with the halogens. They just look so strange when you flip them on after driving with the LED low beams.

Click to expand...

avoid these.

https://www.amazon.com/Osram-Lamps-LEDriving-PGJ19-X-67219CW/dp/B07RT1FGJQ/

try these:
https://www.amazon.com/Alla-Lighting-2800lm-Xtreme-Bright/dp/B07H6X6PM2/

I've seen these, havent tried them yet. should be better at blending and distributing light more evenly vs getting bright/ dark spots with the ones that are only flat mounted.

Click to expand...

The fake OSRAM bulbs are bad, but the Alla Lighting are even worse. They will produce a barely visible scattered light.
Generally, replacement LEDs work reasonably well in the projector type bulbs. I3 has a reflector based design and results may vary.
The best bet is Philips https://amzn.to/2CLaAVq These bulbs are actually certified for the road use, albeit only for the fog light use.
More reasonably priced Chinese clones may also do the job: https://amzn.to/2CMbr8l , https://amzn.to/2NQrhF7 or similar.
Avoid fanless bulbs like https://amzn.to/2QoAbM4 They will throttle down the power after a minute or two to avoid overheating. Also avoid other LED designs like https://amzn.to/33RUcOF , https://amzn.to/2KsT4JN , https://amzn.to/2NSmLX1 or anything else. They will never give you a good beam.
Whatever you do, examine the result not only for brightness, but for spread, uniformity and flicker.

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1111&start=90

jafcorrea said:

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1111&start=90

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That's a great price on the H11 replacement bulbs. I assume that you have done this to your i3? What do you think about the result?

Fisher99 said:

jafcorrea said:

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1111&start=90

Click to expand...

That's a great price on the H11 replacement bulbs. I assume that you have done this to your i3? What do you think about the result?

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yes did both, trying to put some pic's

The light pattern from a typical bulb is nowhere near the same as an incandescent, often leaving uneven light coverage. I've not found any bulb manufacturer that has certified their LED bulbs (in that size) passes the DOT requirements...so, use at your own risk. Uneven lighting can be stressful, but for most people, they can't actually engage their high beams all that much, anyway. Where I live, there's just too much traffic, so I rarely get a chance to turn mine on.

LEDs obviously, can work, but only in conjunction with a reflector that was designed for the proper light pattern...the high beams on the i3 were designed for incandescents, not LED. Bright spots with dark splotches just doesn't help all that much.