Sonar Lights Story So Far - Fitted Today!

[tomoz4white]

20170118_154655.jpg (90.42 KiB) Viewed 2170 times

20170118_154423.jpg (80.72 KiB) Viewed 2170 times

Hi All,

Some of you will know from previous threads that I have been toying with getting these lights,

They were fitted today. The project is not completed yet in terms of "the preferred lighting set up I am looking for" but I am sure most of you will agree they do look lovely. Here is the story so far which may help others looking at purchasing these lights!

I have decided not to use the Horizontal Strip (as side light) as I think it looks odd and is not required. I want the Halo's to run as Daytime Running Lights also. The garage therefore removed the Horizontal Strip bulb (rather than hiding a "live bulb" behind the unit and taping up the hole, which could cause water issues!). On that subject, even though the bulb has been removed, the socket is in place and bizarrely, the lights have already experienced some condensation since I picked up the car this afternoon which I am hoping will clear!!!

So the Horizontal Bulb has been removed which has caused a dash warning light to come on. The garage set the DRL function in the ECU to active but that has not worked (for now). As it stands, turning on the side lights lightens the Halo's, but the side indicator bulb also lighten
(not flashing but they shouldn't be on of course!). When turning on the headlights, the indicator bulbs deactivate and the lights look normal.

The garage has advised me to purchase a 5W Side Light Load Resistor. Apparently when that is wired up it should HOPEFULLY deactivate the dash warning light, activate the DRL Function in the ECU for the Halo's to come on (from ignition key start up) and the side indicator bulbs will not lighten up apart from when I indicate to make a turn (which is always handy!)

I am reasonably confident the garage know what they are talking about although he was not 100% confident (but he was hopeful) about the DRL Function. He finished off by saying we will find out when fitted. Worse case the Halo's will then become a sidelight option only, without the indicators lighting up. On that note, he seemed very confident that the 5W Side Light Load Resistor will cure the indicators from coming on when the sidelights are activated.

I am more stressed now though about the early condensation if I am honest. I spoke to 2xcite and they said it maybe because the lights have been introduced from "my cosy house to the outside world and its cold", or it could be down to the fitting, which I am questioning as the garage I used is a BMW specialist. I will monitor the condensation and hope it clears !

That's the saga so far - I think they look great, I will get the lights working as I wish hopefully and the condensation will disappear!

[cj10jeeper]

Sounds like typical issues when you retrofit different things to the bus circuit.
Indicator on is certainly a bulb fail warning. 5w load will fix it but as Steve says better code it out

[JINGLE]

Interesting to see how this goes, I want to do exactly the same.... how's the light output with these? I couldn't stand my standard lights (even with osram nightbreakers/Phillips extreme vision) so fitted some 55w HIDs inside the housing, I'm guessing there's no room to install HIDs to the angel eyes if there not bright enough?

Oh and loving the White Z

[enzed4]

I'm not too surprised about the condensation, especially with the LED missing from the top socket and the weather you're having at the moment. I have had some condensation when washing the car on a hot day, but that's not unexpected either, and for the rest of the time they've been ok.
With the top LED in place, my lights work exactly like the garage has described - the halos are on as soon as igntion is on and they stay on when the lights are switched to the 'Park' position (not sure what you call it - first position after 'off') then go off when either the main or highbeams are on (as it is the law here). Based on this, I'm reasonably confident that yours will work the same with the resistor in place.
It is easy enough to code out monitoring of the sidelights - couldn't the garage just do this instead of the 5W resistor? Same result, and you could leave the bulb in place, covering the hole which may be letting the condensation form. (edit - sorry, coding out the monitoring won't stop the top LED from working, and like me, you don't want it on. I'll be looking for a cap to cover it or something...)
Hope you get it sorted either way; they will look good . Mine are in parts all over the spare room at the moment, waiting for me to sand and paint the chrome reflectors (minus the bit around the indicator bulbs) to satin black, to look more like the OEM ones on my car at the moment. I don't think chrome headlights look good on a black car, but that's just my opinion.
Did you replace the (H7?) main bulbs, or any of them, to give a 'whiter' look? If so, what did you end up fitting?

[tomoz4white]

Will report back later but just drove to Badminton and the headlights are poor but beam good

[tomoz4white]

Will report back later but just drove to Badminton and the headlights are poor but beam good

Very Poor....Bulb me up!

[tomoz4white]

I'm not too surprised about the condensation, especially with the LED missing from the top socket and the weather you're having at the moment. I have had some condensation when washing the car on a hot day, but that's not unexpected either, and for the rest of the time they've been ok.
With the top LED in place, my lights work exactly like the garage has described - the halos are on as soon as igntion is on and they stay on when the lights are switched to the 'Park' position (not sure what you call it - first position after 'off') then go off when either the main or highbeams are on (as it is the law here). Based on this, I'm reasonably confident that yours will work the same with the resistor in place.
It is easy enough to code out monitoring of the sidelights - couldn't the garage just do this instead of the 5W resistor? Same result, and you could leave the bulb in place, covering the hole which may be letting the condensation form. (edit - sorry, coding out the monitoring won't stop the top LED from working, and like me, you don't want it on. I'll be looking for a cap to cover it or something...)
Hope you get it sorted either way; they will look good . Mine are in parts all over the spare room at the moment, waiting for me to sand and paint the chrome reflectors (minus the bit around the indicator bulbs) to satin black, to look more like the OEM ones on my car at the moment. I don't think chrome headlights look good on a black car, but that's just my opinion.
Did you replace the (H7?) main bulbs, or any of them, to give a 'whiter' look? If so, what did you end up fitting?

The socket is secure....just bulb removed mate so wouldnt expect that to be the reason for condensation. I think it will disperse! Hopefully!

[Scooba_Steve]

This is quite interesting, seems to me the halos draw enough when on to not show an error but don't pass the cold bulb check. Solve this and your indicator problem goes away along with your dash light.
What did you ask the garage to do (and quote for)? If they can code then there is no reason they can't code out the bulb checks, it's 3 lines to deactivate. If they have enabled DRLs then I'd be interested to know which ones - sidelights as DRLs is an option in NCS but I've not tried it.

I would avoid load resistors.

Upgrade bulbs give minimal output gains and will always come with compromises, a HID kit will output about double the light, even though it's not recommended for these units. I think it should be possible to mount under rather than inside and is what I plan to do. 55 W is overkill (Jingle! ), 35 W gives good output and should keep the heat manageable inside.

[tomoz4white]

WOW!

I have just returned home from Badminton and my weekly Pool League Match night and do I need a beer right now!

The headlights are very poor, in fact I think they are worse than the factory dinosaur lights and that takes some beating!. I am not sure if it is down to some very cheap china H1 Bulbs it has come with - would an upgraded bulb make a big difference ?

Now don't get me wrong, I do live in the sticks (pitch black) and when driving in the urban areas this evening it was not all that bad but returning home was pretty daunting. The headlights appear to project to the sides rather than in front of you which is quite disturbing and can be a little hair raising if a car is coming towards you in pitch darkness.

Bizarrely, the headlight "beam" seems to be much better than the standard lights which was great in that respect - which is odd as it is using the original H7 bulb from the standard lights!

Would I drive on a dark motorway at high speed (where I cant use the beams), at this moment in time "NO NO NO" - would I feel more comfort with the original lighting - "JUST" but as we all know they are not great. Put it this way, the Mrs rarely drives the car anyway but would I let her out in the dark ? No way!

Any suggestions ?

I don't think I will be able to ask for a refund and after spending £350 on the lights and a further £135 today for fitting (with the lights still not rigged up correctly), I need to make these lights work. Afterall, they do look "much better and are very pretty", but safety is a must. I am not expecting the world but I did think that they would be better than the originals in terms of "light performance" - unfortunately that appears to only apply to the "beam" and the headlights can not be considered safe in pitch darkness in my opinion,

Open and hoping for some advice from other members who have already fitted these lights!

Tomo

[tomoz4white]

This is quite interesting, seems to me the halos draw enough when on to not show an error but don't pass the cold bulb check. Solve this and your indicator problem goes away along with your dash light.
What did you ask the garage to do (and quote for)? If they can code then there is no reason they can't code out the bulb checks, it's 3 lines to deactivate. If they have enabled DRLs then I'd be interested to know which ones - sidelights as DRLs is an option in NCS but I've not tried it.

I would avoid load resistors.

Upgrade bulbs give minimal output gains and will always come with compromises, a HID kit will output about double the light, even though it's not recommended for these units. I think it should be possible to mount under rather than inside and is what I plan to do. 55 W is overkill (Jingle! ), 35 W gives good output and should keep the heat manageable inside.

Scooba Steve - so it's not recommended for these units, but will a HID 35W kit work and what one did you go for ?

It was like driving blind coming home in the pitch blackness this evening (unless using the main beam) - not the best way to travel!

[tomoz4white]

Sorry lads / lasses,

Ive got my bulbs mixed up!

It was my OWN H7's fitted to the Sonar's from the original lights - That confirms that I am still driving with the same dipped headlight bulbs (ie blind) and I guess it feels slightly worse than the OEM'S due to a different projection from the aftermarket lights,

The H1 bulbs came with the Sonar's and are MUCH BETTER than the OEM'S,

Next step - Buy some new H7's that may improve the blindness ?

Any suggestions?

[cj10jeeper]

Sorry lads / lasses,

Ive got my bulbs mixed up!

It was my OWN H7's fitted to the Sonar's from the original lights - That confirms that I am still driving with the same dipped headlight bulbs (ie blind) and I guess it feels slightly worse than the OEM'S due to a different projection from the aftermarket lights,

The H1 bulbs came with the Sonar's and are MUCH BETTER than the OEM'S,

Next step - Buy some new H7's that may improve the blindness ?

Any suggestions?

Problem with aftermarket lights is they simply do not have the R&D to develop the lights correctly in the way those for OEM are done by Hella (iirc who makes them) They'll pass some basic criteria about beam angles, pattern, cut-off, etc. but simply won't maximise the benefit of the light. You already in effect have proved this by having the same bulbs and suggesting the beam spreads elsewhere. They have gone for looks over performance

Since you won't revert to oem then you can only:
1) adjust the beams correctly for the new lights
2) fit aftermarket HID's and hope that pumping more light out gets some where you need it
3) fit brighter standard bulbs, but avoid higher wattage as heat may be an issue

[tomoz4white]

Hia Jeeper - the headlight BEAM is significantly better - it's the dipped headlight that we use 99% of the time which is terrible like the OEM's but actually maybe a little worse. The garage did say he had aligned them correctly for the car!

What Brighter H7 Bulbs in your opinion, would be the best to give me a little more light ?

[tomoz4white]

Just purchased the Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited H7's for the dipped headlights. When the car goes back in on Tuesday to fit the Load Resistor to sort out the Sonar's set up, I will ask the garage fit the Osram's and raise the lights a little. Hopefully when I drive home in the dark next Wednesday, I may be able to see a something without relying on the main headlight beam which is spot on as mentioned above!

I will keep you posted on the whole Sonar Saga and report back next Tuesday night!

Light Headache!

Tomo

[ranski]

The more I see these aftermarket lights fitted, the more I understand why people go to the trouble of doing cut & shut on their OEM's

They just look a bit cheap and don't suit the car