Need help building/purchasing driver for (3) P7 Leds.

[pungo]

I want to increase the output of the daytime running lights on a 2007 BMW Z4. The halos (circular rings) are used for the daytime running lights and are very dim. They use a BA9 10w Halogen. I have a string of P7 Leds with stars and wanted to try either 3 or 4 of them to replace the BA9 bulbs. I don't want to drive them to maximum power as I'm concerned with heat. I have some room to add a heat sink. Is there an inexpensive driver available that can drive 3 or 4 P7s? I did try some BA9 with with (10) 5730 SMD and they had similar out to the 10w Halogens. Maybe there are some super bright BA9 LEDs,but I haven't seen any.

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Need help building building/purchasing drive for (3) P7 Leds.

I want to increase the output of the daytime running lights on a 2007 BMW Z4. The halos (circular rings) are used for the daytime running lights and are very dim. They use a BA9 10w Halogen.

Welcome to the board. You've misunderstood your car's lighting system. The angel eyes are not the daytime running lights at all -- they are only the front position ("parking") lamps. If your Z4 has a DRL function enabled (that is, if it's a Canadian-spec car or a US-spec car that has had the DRLs turned on at the dealer) that function is done by reduced-intensity operation of the high beam headlamps. Changing the intensity of the front position lamps would not be wise, safe, or legal -- don't do it.

 

[pungo]

Re: Need help building building/purchasing drive for (3) P7 Leds.

Welcome to the board. You've misunderstood your car's lighting system. The angel eyes are not the daytime running lights at all -- they are only the front position ("parking") lamps. If your Z4 has a DRL function enabled (that is, if it's a Canadian-spec car or a US-spec car that has had the DRLs turned on at the dealer) that function is done by reduced-intensity operation of the high beam headlamps. Changing the intensity of the front position lamps would not be wise, safe, or legal -- don't do it.

Thanks...No disrespect, but the angle eyes ARE the DRL for this model car. Unfortunately, they are just too dim to be useful. Have you seen some of the newer BMWs with super bright angle eyes for the DRLs? The dealer turned on the DRL and the angle eyes are what turned on. I even went into the coding myself to see that it was set properly. The car has Bi-Xenon main beams. Is it even possible to change the intensity of Xenon lights? The car has separate amber parking lamps. It is a US spec car.

So with that being said, is there a driver or simple circuit that could drive 3-4 P7 LEDs?

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Need help building building/purchasing drive for (3) P7 Leds.

Thanks...No disrespect, but the angle eyes ARE the DRL for this model car.

Ah, you're right — I didn't have your year of E85-chassis Bimmer in mind, sorry about that. Digging into the matter via the EPC, it looks like you are indeed out of luck; the light source for those angel eyes is a unitized bulb/socket assembly, BMW part number 63127170858. The bulb is glued into the socket, and is designed not to be individually replaceable. If you cut/break the glue bond and put some other light source in, you will very likely wind up with one or more of the following:

-Error codes
-Melted plastic
-Improper light output

If the goal is to have brighter DRLs, that's possible to do, but probably not by altering the angel eye light sources.

 

[pungo]

Re: Need help building building/purchasing drive for (3) P7 Leds.

Ah, you're right — I didn't have your year of E85-chassis Bimmer in mind, sorry about that. Digging into the matter via the EPC, it looks like you are indeed out of luck; the light source for those angel eyes is a unitized bulb/socket assembly, BMW part number 63127170858. The bulb is glued into the socket, and is designed not to be individually replaceable. If you cut/break the glue bond and put some other light source in, you will very likely wind up with one or more of the following:

-Error codes
-Melted plastic
-Improper light output

If the goal is to have brighter DRLs, that's possible to do, but probably not by altering the angel eye light sources.

BTW, the chassis type is E86, but it used the same headlight and LCM as the E85, so it doesn't matter. Actually, you can remove the bulb from the unitized bulb/socket assembly by demeling 2 small notches 180 apart for the **** on the bulb to clear. As I stated in my original post, "I did try some BA9 with with (10) 5730 SMD and they had similar output to the 10w Halogens", well maybe a little brighter. And yes, I did get a bulb out error but easily coded the LCM to ignore it.

Also, the holder or the BA9 socket could be modified to hold a larger socket like a 1156.

I have a damaged headlight from a wrecked car to experiment on so if something melts, no biggie.

So with that being said, is there a driver or simple circuit that could drive 3-4 P7 LEDs?

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Need help building building/purchasing drive for (3) P7 Leds.

The modification you're trying to make really isn't safe and very likely will make your lamps perform in an illegal manner. The lighting modifications/products you're asking about or recommending are illegal and/or unsafe. Rule 11 of this board prohibits advocating illegal or dangerous activity. You agreed to follow the rules of this forum when you signed up to participate, and that means you're going to need to stop asking for help with an unsafe modification now. For the same reason, your other thread (about homemade headlamps) has been taken down. Your enthusiastic interest in car lights is great, but they are life safety equipment affecting everyone on the roads you drive, not toys and not flashlights that can be modified to your heart's content without regard to anyone else.

 

[pungo]

Re: Need help building building/purchasing drive for (3) P7 Leds.

The modification you're trying to make really isn't safe and very likely will make your lamps perform in an illegal manner. The lighting modifications/products you're asking about or recommending are illegal and/or unsafe. Rule 11 of this board prohibits advocating illegal or dangerous activity. You agreed to follow the rules of this forum when you signed up to participate, and that means you're going to need to stop asking for help with an unsafe modification now. For the same reason, your other thread (about homemade headlamps) has been taken down. Your enthusiastic interest in car lights is great, but they are life safety equipment affecting everyone on the roads you drive, not toys and not flashlights that can be modified to your heart's content without regard to anyone else.

Message acknowledged. I didn't realize I was doing dangerous activity by modified my DRL to actually be useful. BTW, I do regard everyone else on the road, that's why I tested and verified my headlights were not a hazard to others. I will return my headlight back to stock so I don't offend anyone.

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Need help building building/purchasing drive for (3) P7 Leds.

Sarcasm won't get you very far here, friend.