[Interject]

Hello!

Are the laser lights worth it? Where are they more useful than the "regular" LED headlights?

And out of interest what is the blue area on the laser lights? Can someone explain difference and tell more about the Laser lights vs regular?

[BullitX]

Hi there! I see you are a newcomer, welcome to the Bimmerpost forum!

Regarding your question;

The BMW Laser Light Headlights on the 5-series, use Adaptive Matrix LED for the low-beams and use a laser module to enhance High-Beam performance.

The supposed benefits of using Laser Light is that the light range is around 650 meters (in EU), also it will follow the curvature of the road. But these functions are only in High-Beam mode.

In non-high beam usage, the Laser Light is said to homogenise the low-beams in a more even spread.

The blue accents are just pure for design aesthetics, showing that you have laser lights. They don't do anything "extra". In Europe, these blue accents glow.

Also I believe that the Laser Lights will only work above a specific speed limit and outside of urban areas.

Being "worth it" is something that only you can decide. In Europe, the Laser Lights costs about 1.000. It's usually almost always a YES.

[Interject]

Originally Posted by BullitX

Hi there! I see you are a newcomer, welcome to the Bimmerpost forum!

Regarding your question;

The BMW Laser Light Headlights on the 5-series, use Adaptive Matrix LED for the low-beams and use a laser module to enhance High-Beam performance.

The supposed benefits of using Laser Light is that the light range is around 650 meters (in EU), also it will follow the curvature of the road. But these functions are only in High-Beam mode.

In non-high beam usage, the Laser Light is said to homogenise the low-beams in a more even spread.

The blue accents are just pure for design aesthetics, showing that you have laser lights. They don't do anything "extra". In Europe, these blue accents glow.

Also I believe that the Laser Lights will only work above a specific speed limit and outside of urban areas.

Being "worth it" is something that only you can decide. In Europe, the Laser Lights costs about 1.000. It's usually almost always a YES.

Thanks for such a quick answer

and thanks for the welcome

i live in Europe and i've yet to see the blue lights glow blue

right now it seems like a very minor improvement over regular headlights/High beams

[SonD]

They are not 'blue lights' merely accents to the light fitting which are blue in colour.
When the lights are on they will alow some light through, hence the slight blue glow from them.
Are laserlights worth it?
For me, yes, others will be otherwise.
Pretty amazing bits of kit, and yes, they only work above 36MPH, otherwise, the lights will be just LED.
The light output with lasers illuminated is pretty phenominal, but well dispersed and gives great clarity to the road ahead.

[Umair89]

Hey, kind of new here. I have a 2021 m550i and currently have the adaptive LED lights. Anyway to upgrade them to laser? Kind of a newbie. Any help or guidance will be appreciated.

[eric_gm]

Do you want to upgrade to the real laser headlights or the Chinese replicas that are found everyhere on eBay and Aliexpress? The latter are not true laser lights and will be a complete downgrade vs what you have now.

If you are looking for the real deal, have you checked prices? Original laser headlights are several thousand USD for the set, plus coding. That's for a marginal increase in low beam distance only at specific speeds.

[Umair89]

Originally Posted by eric_gm

Do you want to upgrade to the real laser headlights or the Chinese replicas that are found everyhere on eBay and Aliexpress? The latter are not true laser lights and will be a complete downgrade vs what you have now.

If you are looking for the real deal, have you checked prices? Original laser headlights are several thousand USD for the set, plus coding. That's for a marginal increase in low beam distance only at specific speeds.

So I looked up prices and saw a set online for $2500 the EU version (used). Do you think it’s not worth it overall? And as far as coding I know nothing about that stuff. I can do the labor just not coding was hoping to be able to figure it out. But it seems like your saying performance won’t be much better compared to the adaptive led. I know the EU vs US laser are much better. So I was going to risk it and install them but just feeling out opinions here. Thanks for input!

[eric_gm]

Original US vs EU laser lights are the same headlights with different features enabled/disabled (somebody correct me if I'm wrong).

So regardless of which ones you get, coding makes all the difference. I say they are worth it if you mainly drive at night and $2500 seems like a reasonable price to you.

I've gone through the hassle of retrofitting better headlights to essentially all of my cars and to me every bit of extra light counts, but I also stay within a reasonable budget. My pre-LCI G30 with adaptive LEDs (Euro) is good enough and I don't feel the need to upgrade those.

Word is that BMW stopped making laser headlights since LED technology has caught up and offers the same level of illumination. Of course this applies only to newer models, in the G30 laser is still an upgrade, but it's hard to judge if it's a justified one vs what they cost.

[Neusser]

Originally Posted by eric_gm

Original US vs EU laser lights are the same headlights with different features enabled/disabled (somebody correct me if I'm wrong).

So regardless of which ones you get, coding makes all the difference. I say they are worth it if you mainly drive at night and $2500 seems like a reasonable price to you.

I've gone through the hassle of retrofitting better headlights to essentially all of my cars and to me every bit of extra light counts, but I also stay within a reasonable budget. My pre-LCI G30 with adaptive LEDs (Euro) is good enough and I don't feel the need to upgrade those.

Word is that BMW stopped making laser headlights since LED technology has caught up and offers the same level of illumination. Of course this applies only to newer models, in the G30 laser is still an upgrade, but it's hard to judge if it's a justified one vs what they cost.

Interesting on the dropping of the laser tech. Not that I was ever really that interested in it though--I really can't imagine headlights needing to be any better than the lights on my pre-LCI.

[Umair89]

Originally Posted by eric_gm

Original US vs EU laser lights are the same headlights with different features enabled/disabled (somebody correct me if I'm wrong).

So regardless of which ones you get, coding makes all the difference. I say they are worth it if you mainly drive at night and $2500 seems like a reasonable price to you.

I've gone through the hassle of retrofitting better headlights to essentially all of my cars and to me every bit of extra light counts, but I also stay within a reasonable budget. My pre-LCI G30 with adaptive LEDs (Euro) is good enough and I don't feel the need to upgrade those.

Word is that BMW stopped making laser headlights since LED technology has caught up and offers the same level of illumination. Of course this applies only to newer models, in the G30 laser is still an upgrade, but it's hard to judge if it's a justified one vs what they cost.

Thanks for all the feedback. Cost is def not ideal but I like the blue look of lights. Main concern is the coding as I’m not familiar with all that stuff. But appreciate all the info.

And yea I’ve heard they discontinued it but can’t verify. Their website doesn’t let you do it as an add on either for any car I custom built to test.

[G30M]

It's worth it if you drive at night where there is a lot of corners and no street lighting.

I'm not sure if the newer adaptive led is as good but the laser swivels to exactly where my eyes are looking around the corner.

Regarding 650m that's rubbish. I can't see a thing beyond like 200-300m. Could be because the close range light is so bright (like the sun) that at distance appears dark.

[Fox3gu]

Originally Posted by G30M

It's worth it if you drive at night where there is a lot of corners and no street lighting.

I'm not sure if the newer adaptive led is as good but the laser swivels to exactly where my eyes are looking around the corner.

Regarding 650m that's rubbish. I can't see a thing beyond like 200-300m. Could be because the close range light is so bright (like the sun) that at distance appears dark.

Hi my laser light angle was low as shown in the pic, is it normal?? I mean it always pointed to the ground just like the low beams even though it DOES avoid the incoming cars sometimes.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by Fox3gu

Hi my laser light angle was low as shown in the pic, is it normal?? I mean it always pointed to the ground just like the low beams even though it DOES avoid the incoming cars sometimes.

the brightest lasers point to the ground on the G30. no idea why.

there are ones that point above the horizon, but those are not as bright. and for some reason, when on adaptive beam, the brightness also gets turned down. drive one night pitch black with no cars, and then start with adaptive, then switch to fixed high beam and you will see it's brighter, then go back to adaptive and it will dim.

[spezwend]

Originally Posted by Fox3gu

Hi my laser light angle was low as shown in the pic, is it normal?? I mean it always pointed to the ground just like the low beams even though it DOES avoid the incoming cars sometimes.

I had the same problem. It is not normal. You need to adjust the height of the headlights.

[MelbourneFinn]

Laser lights definitely are worth it! Not sure $2500 worth though…

First of all, lasers only operate in “pitch black” darkness - so no other meaningful light sources, no other traffic coming against you (identify oncoming lights) and also no traffic to the same direction (at least within 500-600 meters. But when they do operate, they are AMAZING! The difference between normal LED high beam and laser is like night and day.

It’s actually American regulation that is killing BMW lasers - the brightness can’t exceed a certain level, which is about 1/3 of what lasers do. That’s what BMW has declared as a reason to drop lasers.

But if I was on the market for a 5-series, I wouldn’t even think about one without them! Unfortunately G60 no longer has them even as option, so not for me - then again, it’s butt ugly… Time to change brands, unfortunately…

[G30M]

Originally Posted by spezwend

I had the same problem. It is not normal. You need to adjust the height of the headlights.

when you adjust the headlights such that the lasers point up, the low beam will blind oncoming cars.

there are only 2 adjustments for the entire headlight unit per side. one for vertical axis one for horizontal axis. the high beam cannot be adjusted independently of the low beam.

i adjusted mine such that the lasers are pointing at the horizon.

even then one in every 10-20 cars will flash me telling me that my low beam is blinding them.

i am considering lowering it slightly, to just under the horizon. i guess that makes sense. the lasers are still lighting the tarmac.

unlike my M340i, that car the lasers are pointing just above the horizon bang in the middle, forming a shape of a pyramid triangle. beautiful lights spread, i think it's better than the G30 (lasers pointing horizontally at the tarmac). however i can tell you it makes no difference to the road visibility when i drive both cars. they are both more than good.

[spezwend]

Originally Posted by G30M

when you adjust the headlights such that the lasers point up, the low beam will blind oncoming cars.

there are only 2 adjustments for the entire headlight unit per side. one for vertical axis one for horizontal axis. the high beam cannot be adjusted independently of the low beam.

i adjusted mine such that the lasers are pointing at the horizon.

even then one in every 10-20 cars will flash me telling me that my low beam is blinding them.

i am considering lowering it slightly, to just under the horizon. i guess that makes sense. the lasers are still lighting the tarmac.

unlike my M340i, that car the lasers are pointing just above the horizon bang in the middle, forming a shape of a pyramid triangle. beautiful lights spread, i think it's better than the G30 (lasers pointing horizontally at the tarmac). however i can tell you it makes no difference to the road visibility when i drive both cars. they are both more than good.

You do not adjust high beams. You need to adjust when low beams are on. There are lot of DIY videos on YT how to adjust headlights. Or go to the dealer, they adjusted them for free when the car went to service last time. Maybe I was lucky.

[Fox3gu]

Originally Posted by G30M

the brightest lasers point to the ground on the G30. no idea why.

there are ones that point above the horizon, but those are not as bright. and for some reason, when on adaptive beam, the brightness also gets turned down. drive one night pitch black with no cars, and then start with adaptive, then switch to fixed high beam and you will see it's brighter, then go back to adaptive and it will dim.

Yes exactally, but I guess this may due to the conditions or the sensor sensitivity of the adaptive function, but no matter the high beams are fully turned on or not, the laser always pointed to the ground. The guy that did coding for me has no idea about that, and the dealerships can do nothing as well since it is a retrofit. I am so frustrated.

[Fox3gu]

Originally Posted by spezwend

I had the same problem. It is not normal. You need to adjust the height of the headlights.

I tried but the laser is coupling with one of the inner low/high beam light. The laser itself has as a motor to adjust the height itself but there is no way to adjust them manually, meaning that either the vertical motors were broken （very unlikely as there are less likely that both motors are broken at one time）, or there are coding issues （or regional configuration） to prevent the laser from lifting up.

[Fox3gu]

Originally Posted by G30M

when you adjust the headlights such that the lasers point up, the low beam will blind oncoming cars.

there are only 2 adjustments for the entire headlight unit per side. one for vertical axis one for horizontal axis. the high beam cannot be adjusted independently of the low beam.

i adjusted mine such that the lasers are pointing at the horizon.

even then one in every 10-20 cars will flash me telling me that my low beam is blinding them.

i am considering lowering it slightly, to just under the horizon. i guess that makes sense. the lasers are still lighting the tarmac.

unlike my M340i, that car the lasers are pointing just above the horizon bang in the middle, forming a shape of a pyramid triangle. beautiful lights spread, i think it's better than the G30 (lasers pointing horizontally at the tarmac). however i can tell you it makes no difference to the road visibility when i drive both cars. they are both more than good.

Actually there are 2 more screws that SEEM to adjust the outer low/high beam light (as marked in red circle), But because the lasers are coupling with the inner one, it still struggles between low lasers or high LEDs... and one of the screws were broken as these are thin plastics.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by Fox3gu

Actually there are 2 more screws that SEEM to adjust the outer low/high beam light (as marked in red circle), But because the lasers are coupling with the inner one, it still struggles between low lasers or high LEDs... and one of the screws were broken as these are thin plastics.
Attachment 3628772

have you got more information about the red circles? i don't see any screws.

thanks

[Fox3gu]

BTW this is the pattern when all lights are on, where the left laser are pointing exactly at the low beam's height while the other one is even lower, and this is before I switched the FLM2 modules between the 2 headlights, and after switching them, both lasers are pointing at the lowest height (same to the right one in the pic). This is why I suspect that the height adjustment might be controlled by coding.

P.S. the lasers were manually lighted up by connecting an activator module from the market which was removed later because the lasers won't adjust themselves at all when lighted up by the activator.