Adaptive LEDs

Hello all,

I have had my i3 for 5 days and loving it already!

I have the Adaptive leds here in the UK. Now when i purchased the car i read they would react to the road ahead, but i have just driven around the block and up and down a main road to test in the dark, i see no real effect of the adaptive element. i slowed down and rocked the wheel side to side and the lights didnt seem to move, nor react to cars etc The only thing i really see is them self leveling up and down. I can put full beam on myself which makes a slight difference, but i thought this would all be automatic.

Anyone have any thoughts / experiences?

Simon

simonb said:

Hello all,

I have had my i3 for 5 days and loving it already!

I have the Adaptive leds here in the UK. Now when i purchased the car i read they would react to the road ahead, but i have just driven around the block and up and down a main road to test in the dark, i see no real effect of the adaptive element. i slowed down and rocked the wheel side to side and the lights didnt seem to move, nor react to cars etc The only thing i really see is them self leveling up and down. I can put full beam on myself which makes a slight difference, but i thought this would all be automatic.

Anyone have any thoughts / experiences?

Simon

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Have a look through this thread I think contains a lot of speculation/discussion about this subject.

http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=437&hilit=adaptive&start=120

Bill

They seem to have stopped calling them adaptive now by the way. They now just call them LED Headlights.

After reading about them on the forum, I weighed up the costs and benefits and deleted them from my spec. For plain LED headlights they are way overpriced and having normal halogen high beam with LED low beam is a bit of a mish mash.

I'll probably just replace the halogen globes with some Phillips blue vision ultra 4000k or similar.

Marketing materials have used LED and Adaptive LED interchangeably. Regardless the silver bands inside the front light units say Adaptive.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nanpalmero/11868146765/

This has been thoroughly discussed in previous threads. Pallerra's translation of the Norwegian explanation seems the most legit.
http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3543#p3543

It's quite simple. The adaptive label means the light pattern can change depending upon the circumstances. A big advantage of LEDs is more flexibility than traditional lighting systems (Philips Hue and the variable color options of the i3 interior lights, for example). The idea that the light pattern can be wider at low speeds and longer at high without complex mechanicals is logical. Same with the ability to change the pattern if you go from a left-hand drive country to a right-hand drive one. I suppose many people equate adaptive with swivel because that was the only way to get older lighting technologies to adapt. Such thinking is clearly dated.

Another big advantage of LED lights is their efficiency. Obviously an important issue in an EV.

Thanks for the explanation, i am much clearer now!

It sounds like a genuine benefit in both utility and efficiency so i am glad i added it to my spec.

stumbledotcom said:

Another big advantage of LED lights is their efficiency. Obviously an important issue in an EV.

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If you do a lot of driving with headlights on, but in any case, the benefits are marginal. IMO

A standard halogen is 45 to 55w, so 100w the pair approx. LED are usually 25w each, 50w the pair.

So if they are used for 4 hours, the LEDs will save 0.2kWh compared to a standard halogen setup if my calculations are correct. Should this become an issue, (which I seriously doubt in my situation) then I can retrofit LED lamps to the i3 for a fraction of the BMW option cost. In fact, I could install full LED low and high beams for less than the factory LED option.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SL3499

I like the idea of LED headlights, but I prefer to spend the money on the heatpump which will deliver greater benefits every day in winter over the standard heater day or night.

Here's an instance where the reduced options offered in North America proves an advantage since we are spared that choice. BMW NA made both the adaptive LED lights and heat pump (BEV only) standard.

stumbledotcom said:

Here's an instance where the reduced options offered in North America proves an advantage since we are spared that choice. BMW NA made both the adaptive LED lights and heat pump (BEV only) standard.

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I know the US are not able to get the sun roof but Europe doesn't get the garage door opener option, so it's not all one way.

Bill

stumbledotcom said:

Here's an instance where the reduced options offered in North America proves an advantage since we are spared that choice. BMW NA made both the adaptive LED lights and heat pump (BEV only) standard.

Click to expand...

That appears to be a most sensible choice by BMW NA, pity other offices didn't see the sense in doing the same.