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Good afternoon ladies and gents of the V36 world. Lately I've been really itching to get rid of the stock incandescent bulbs on the G. I installed Diode Dynamics tail as turn mod, as well as replaced all other bulbs with Diode Dynamic LEDs. I.e. plate lights, interior etc....... Total for all that came out to about $100 for everything, however one last thing missing was the front turn signals.
D.D had them but at a nice $100 for just a pair. Plus I needed to buy resistors and then shipping. I was looking at around $120. I couldn't justify that for just two bulbs that would only be illuminated anywhere between 2 seconds to 2 minutes. VLEDs same thing. So I turned to Amazon like everyone else would and came across something that intrigued me. I wanted to see if cheaper LEDs are just as good as the higher priced ones
I found two LED bulbs that would be nice to try and wouldn't break the bank. First one I bought was:
Also at $19.99 but I paid $9.99 for them back in November when they were on sale.
Both arrived next day in almost similar packaging so I guessed they'd both be the same thing just different names but I was wrong.
JDM ASTAR on left. OXILAM on right
Initial impressions were that the OXILAMs looked and felt more durable and of higher quality. The JDMs base felt loose but still functioned. I went right ahead and installed em both. OXILAM in the passenger side. JDM on the driver's. My naive guess was that the JDMs would be brighter because it was bigger and had a few extra chips but boy was I wrong!
JDM ASTAR
OXILAM
In the last pic you can clearly see the difference in light output between the two. OXILAM was much brighter. Obviously so since it was advertised as having higher lumens. The JDMs were good too but when I drove at night, my headlights washed them out. They barely reflected off of road signs. OXILAMs looked great at night. Just as bright as the Q50s and the new Mercedes with the LED strips.
Overall I am happy with the OXILAMs and at $20 it's not bad. I've driven with these for about 6 months already and have no issues whatsoever. Even kept my hazards on for 30 minutes one night with no issues. I even got resistors from Amazon for $8. Pack of 4. So figure you pay full price, you're looking at around $30 and 30 minutes of your time. Much better than $120. Yes yes I bought a "luxury" car. Yes I should not cheap out. But this? Perfectly fine.
**EDIT** THESE ARE 7440 BULBS! So these only turn on when the turn signal is activated. I liked the cleaner look of no amber
Yes they are turn signals! 7440 instead of 7443. Edited the original post explaining this
Originally Posted by Rochester
Why did you buy resistors? They're advertised as "built-in load resistors", so doesn't that mean plug & play?
Great thread so far.
Bought them incase the JDMs were the better suited LEDs. During the testing I spliced the driver side wires where the JDMs were so I wouldn't have the ghetto hyperflash. Left the passenger side alone. OXILAMS did as advertised. No hyper-flash
Bought them incase the JDMs were the better suited LEDs. During the testing I spliced the driver side wires where the JDMs were so I wouldn't have the ghetto hyperflash. Left the passenger side alone. OXILAMS did as advertised. No hyper-flash
The last time I considered this (which was years ago), these kinds of bulbs required resistors wired into the circuit, and were expensive. I wouldn't be surprised if today load resisters themselves are plug & play to the various harness connectors.
Regardless, are you saying these $20 OXILAMS are completely plug & play, with no external load resistor? Just swap them in and no hyper-flash?
If this is getting repetitive, well, just humor me, man.
They dont require resistors, if used for front or rear only, and they cant be left on for long time, because heat is a big issue for these. But if you need killer brightness....cant go wrong with 3030 led chips.
Now that you mentioned keeping them on for a long time, yesterday I kept them on for 20mins and the passenger side did skip a few times. The side with the resistors didn't miss a beat. Forgive me for not paying attention to that. To busy enjoying my cheapness lol. I assume a resistor is still needed despite them saying none required. Heat is a bitch!
Now that you mentioned keeping them on for a long time, yesterday I kept them on for 20mins and the passenger side did skip a few times. The side with the resistors didn't miss a beat. Forgive me for not paying attention to that. To busy enjoying my cheapness lol. I assume a resistor is still needed despite them saying none required. Heat is a bitch!
Do they make plug-n-play resistors specific to the car & connector?
None that I've heard of or come across. I've learned about what resistors to get through a thread on the forums. Oddly enough I can't find that thread anymore. Go figure. I do remember reading that 50w 6ohms resistors were needed
Following the previous post about heat being an issue and me encountering said issue, I spliced the passenger side this afternoon. All is well now. Drove around with hazards on like a dummy and no longer does the passenger side skip. Resistors on something that has built in resistors? I don't know if that's good or not but time will tell.
Going to remove the front bumper and place the resistors a little neater than this. Couldn't reach under there with my big hands.
The description for iJDMTOY bulbs says, "Special Note: You can only use it for front/rear turn signal not for constantly light up as driving/parking or DRL lights."
Well, that's us when the headlights are on.
The more I keep circling around bulbs like this, the more convinced I am they all need external load resistors, as the OP did. Hmm.
The description for iJDMTOY bulbs says, "Special Note: You can only use it for front/rear turn signal not for constantly light up as driving/parking or DRL lights."
Well, that's us when the headlights are on.
The more I keep circling around bulbs like this, the more convinced I am they all need external load resistors, as the OP did. Hmm.
Not all of them needs them, but the ones dont need, most likely will have overheating problems in always on application.
THis bulb is pretty good, and it is really bright with Philips led chips. I have installed without resistors in my friends QX70 and in our Acura MDX. And the cool thing is it is a switchback:
Why does it look to me like you changed out the dim halogen "city" lights or whatever they are called in our headlights with some really bright yellow LEDs? Now I have to go turn on my flashers to see why I am confused.
Why does it look to me like you changed out the dim halogen "city" lights or whatever they are called in our headlights with some really bright yellow LEDs? Now I have to go turn on my flashers to see why I am confused.
We talking about the turn signals or the actual "city" lights that are above the headlight? If turn signal then yes, it was replaced with bright LEDs which only come on when the turn signal is used. City lights? Replaced with 5k LEDs.
06-20-2019, 02:07 PM
