[Kevin_Genius@BMWMtLaurel]

in case anyone was wondering, a few misc interior lights on both the i3 and i8 are not LED. Non LED lights on the i3 include: high beams, front turn signals, and map lights from what I have observed so far

[BrokenVert]

On a side note, has anyone else noticed that the i3 headlights are purple at their fringes? I'm serious, my car make roadsigns and the tailgates of trucks purple as I drive.

[ReturnZero]

That's from the LEDs. I've driven a few cars from different manufacturers with LED headlights and they all have very purple cutoffs.

[John_Page]

I too was disappointed by the dull orange glow from the high beam headlights, especially compared to the bright white low-beam lights.

I went into the parts dept at the dealer and looked up the bulb for the lower housing in the bumper. It is definitely an H11 halogen, not a LED.

When I turn on high beam, the low beam lights remain on and unchanged, but the lower halogens come on too, creating the orange glow.

The manual and instruction video says there is a fog light switch to the left of the rotary light switch. It is not there in all the i3's I checked.

The above are facts. What follows is my pure speculation:

The lower lights in the bumper are really meant to be fog lights. The low position and halogen bulbs suggest that.
Perhaps something went wrong late in the game so the LED high beams could not be used. Regulatory issues?
The quick fix:
Use the fog lights as high beams.
Remove the fog light switch.

Whatever the reason it has left the i3 with two problems. First, the high beam lights are totally inadequate. Second, BMW has engaged in false advertising since it says the car has LED headlights. Any reasonable person would assume that means both high and low beam.

[-c-]

Yea I'm planning to upgrade mine to LED high beams. They have their own cooling fan but are around 3500 (7000) to 4000 (8000) lumens so way brighter than the halogen.

Theirs a few out their just have to find the best one.

[jadnashuanh]

The Euro i3s have rear fog lights (and if you change the headlight switch, you'd probably enable them on the USA cars as well). On my GT, I changed the headlight switch to the Euro version, and enabled the rear fog lights that are actually already there on the GT, and probably are on the i3 as well. Takes all about 10-minutes to pop the trim, take out the old switch, pop in the new one on the GT...haven't tried it on the i3.

[JasH]

Just curious, are the standard Euro i3 cars also LED for the low beams? Or are they xenon, unless you opt for LED?

[-c-]

Originally Posted by JasH

Just curious, are the standard Euro i3 cars also LED for the low beams? Or are they xenon, unless you opt for LED?

Halogens all around. HID's are not an option.
Halogen low and halogen high.

LED's in Europe are optional.

LED's in the USA are standard.

[JasH]

Originally Posted by -c-

Halogens all around. HID's are not an option.
Halogen low and halogen high.

LED's in Europe are optional.

LED's in the USA are standard.

Thanks

Typical of BMW. European car manufacturer charges us more in Europe, for less

No LEDs as standard, and no heat pump either. Both standard in US cars, which are cheaper too

BMW

[-c-]

Originally Posted by JasH

Thanks

Typical of BMW. European car manufacturer charges us more in Europe, for less

No LEDs as standard, and no heat pump either. Both standard in US cars, which are cheaper too

BMW

Yep it's also cheaper to buy a porch here than buy one in the same city of where it is built and also comes with more standard, not sure how that works.

[jadnashuanh]

Most of the price differences on things like automobiles between the USA and Europe is the tax structure. The auto import duty here is about 3.5%, whereas, VAT is nearer to 20% in many places in Europe, and can be significantly higher in some other places in Asia. Throw in the current strong dollar, and the exchange rates help, too.

[JasH]

I think it is more that US cars tend to much cheaper (and lower tech), and car buyers are therefore horrified by European car prices. So they sell them cheaper to get market share.

Sterling has been stable vs the US Dollar for example, and strong vs the Euro. And no import duty in the UK. Tax is VAT at 20% though.

[-c-]

Originally Posted by JasH

I think it is more that US cars tend to much cheaper (and lower tech), and car buyers are therefore horrified by European car prices. So they sell them cheaper to get market share.

Sterling has been stable vs the US Dollar for example, and strong vs the Euro. And no import duty in the UK. Tax is VAT at 20% though.

Yea a fiat 500 cost as much as an i3 in Vietnam or something like that! Colombia is just as bad for car prices.

[jadnashuanh]

One of the things that severely limits some of the vehicle lighting advances available in Europe verses the USA is that our vehicle lighting laws haven't been rethought for nearly 30-years...lots of things have changed since then. For example, there's a provision that you MUST have a high/low beam switch. So much for BMW's laser light implementation where the light beam gets adjusted automatically for the traffic situation - there IS no switch to go from high to low beam, since it is one beam that is manipulated by computer. Doing it otherwise, defeats most of the advantages and would make things unsafe. There's also a provision where there MUST be some light going up to illuminate overhead signs, ignoring that the vast majority of them in the USA are built with reflective materials or are illuminated and thus readable without dedicating some light to them (and the resulting glare).

[x5love]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

Street lights are common in a city...corners aren't a huge issue.

I live in LA, streelamps everywhere, and cornering lights help immensely.

When I went from my 335 to my Prius, one of the first things I noticed was reduced visibility with turns.

It's a big deal, and surprising that BMW would choose a feature they pioneered to nix for the sake of cutting costs.

I guess you gotta give people a reason to upgrade in the future.