LED upgrade for all bulbs

[Strat Tuner]

For the rear LED bulbs, try red nail varnish to tone the white down

Two cultures separated but a common language." - George Bernard Shaw

It occurs to me that you meant that stuff women put on their fingernails!
For us Yanks, varnish is something you apply to a large piece of wood after you stain it.

Yes, I note that you did say"nail varnish", but that made me wonder what sort of nail (as in Nail and Hammer) needed wood varnish!

[David.]

I read that there's a physical latch that sets the headlight tilt for fully loaded and NOT fully loaded.

I have been unable to find this "latch", but it seems to be behind the instrument panel.

Have a look at this thread, viewtopic.php?t=8687

[David.]

Not sure what to say about compatible.

I noted that the light/dark lines match on both bulbs, but the light/dark line is a little high.

If the LED bulbs are the same, compatible with a H7 halogen bulb, then why does the beam height change and need adjusting.

[Strat Tuner]

If the LED bulbs are the same, compatible with a H7 halogen bulb, then why does the beam height change and need adjusting.

I was understanding compatible as "if I plug it in, will it work at all with NO canbus error". A Truly compatible bulb would need no up down adjustment. It's a good thing BMW makes room for adjustment.

[David.]

I did try super gluing the 13mm connector back on, but superglue can't take that kind of torque.

I plan to take it to the dealer to see if their tech can do anything with it.

If you can make sense of this, https://www.bmwlt.com/threads/headlight ... 0rt.36355/ a repair may be possible.

[Strat Tuner]

I confess I don't understand what he did in his post.

I don't understand how the adjustment mechanism works. Maybe taking the front panels off (left and right?) will help me see. Is that what he did to expose the headlight?

I noticed that there was a Phillips head screw at the center of the 13mm hex head after it detached.
Should I have been turning the screw at the center and NOT the 13mm hex?

Here's what I think I know....

The cable that has the 13mm hex head is a steel cable in a sheath.
Turning the screw pushes on the steel cable core, which pushes on something else, and tilts the headlight (both or just one?) up and down.

Making a repair to that means putting a tube-like fitting on the end of the cable that allows the threaded screw to move in/out of the cable.
Does the steel cable core slide in and out on its own?

That fitting, or small tubing, would have to slide on to the cable and hold securely. The other end would have to be threaded to accommodate the screw.
Turning the screw clockwise would push the screw into the fitting, and into the cable, and push on the steel cable core.
Does the core slide back out when when we back off the screw?

I confess I'm shocked at how fragile this thing is, but that's not a useful critiscism.

I'm thinking that it might be better to replace the headlight unit completely? (1,000 pounds for that?) (I'm an American, I don't have a British pound symbol on my keyboard.) That would be my last resort, but I'd like to honor this bike and do the right thing.

Once it's fixed, I will NEVER touch it again. I'll let the dealer do that.

Oh, and another thing... inside the headlight right around the LEDs, there's tubing that is shaped in odd ways. There's one on each LED "bulb".
Should those be installed to mirror eachother?
One side of that metal is "open". Should that open side be on the left on BOTH bulbs? Seems like the open side should be on opposite sides on both LED posts.

Yes, I do know I'm way out of my depth here....

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

Robert Browning

[Strat Tuner]

Wow... I just checked the price of a new headlight for a 2008 R1200RT.
PartZilla doesn't do BMW.

MotorRad (?) does....

A guy like me shouldn't own a bike like this.

[David.]

With the halogen H7 bulbs refitted, is the beam adjustment correct.

In the UK, headlight adjustment is part of the MOT test. Is there such a test to check the alignment in the USA.

[Strat Tuner]

I'll go and Google what an MOT test is...

Nope. Stat of California has NO equivalent. Motorcycles are even excluded from yearly "smog checks". Cars have to have that.

Still, Thanks to all who offered helpful advice. That was a kindness.

[Strat Tuner]

With the halogen H7 bulbs refitted, is the beam adjustment correct.

I could go back to the H7 incandescent bulbs just to dim the effect.
I have no way to know what "correct" is.

[Strat Tuner]

Drama Time: ... but that's my chosen life....

Convinced I had ruined the headlight aiming, I went in search of a replacement Headlight unit.
Motorrad wanted $2,000.00 PLUS (1,700.00 british pounds plus)!!!!

That ain't happening.

The entire bike cost $2,500.00 (1,994.00 british pounds), so I'm going to lay that much down again for a replacement headlight assembly. NO WAY!

Dejected, and unhappy, I found the same unit (2005 to 2009) for $450.00 (3,589.00 brit pounds) on EBAY.
That unit featured a rear photo of the headlight unit that showed TWO 13mm hex adjustments with the fabled "Load, NO Load" toggle switch!
Was mine the same????
YESSSSSSS......

Go ahead and say I should have known that, and you'd be right. I should have, but I didn't. I didn't know there were two 13mm Hex knobs or that I could have avoided all this if I'd found the toggle switch first. I am not a smart man.

Flipping that to the "NO LOAD" setting lowered the lights. I went out on the wine country test ride and only 1 car flashed headlights at me out of 20, not 3 cars like before.

I can see the line between light and darkness is lower on the highway ahead!
One street with several signs on the right (we drive right!) were apparent but NOT lit up the way they were during the last test ride!

I know it's not "stiff upper lip" British to be that dejected and then THAT happy, but I'm delighted and relieved.

(NB: I've travelled in Britain 3 times, and wife has gone 12 since she's an English teacher.)

The lesson for me is to NOT change things I can't change back. I'm about done modifying this BMW since the price of a mistake is way too high. I'll do the oil changes (I think) and leave valve jobs to my mechanic. I'll ride this R1200 until it has an engine failure that isn't worth repairing and then junk it.

Noting Lasts Forever

[David.]

To summarize, has switching the white lever to the heavy load position solved the problem and the LED bulbs are now fitted.



(Adjusting the rear shock preload can also assist with the headlight beam throw).

[Strat Tuner]

Heavy load seems to lower the beam, so I'll go with that.

Adjusting the shocks?

I'm reluctant now. Maybe that has a knob I can twist off too. :-)

[Strat Tuner]

To Summarize ... again....

Today's success came in the form of two RED LED 1156 bulbs for the rear brake lights...

The CanBus god is Happy.


NEVER attempt to adjust your own headlights with the 13mm hex nut. (Even if you find a post that says "no problem, it's easy".)
Use the "toggle" switch on the left hex nut (not the one on the left) to switch between HEAVY and LIGHT load settings. HEAVY (togggle sticking up) will aim the lights down a little more. You can reach the toggle with your hand without taking anything off the bike.

REMEMBER - The two bulbs that are the brake light are white in color. The red lens makes them show red so that the white bulbs may also illuminate the license plate below with WHITE light. If you're going with RED LED bulbs as brake lights, you have to figure out some separate way to light up the plate with white light.

Here is a list of the things that I know worked in my 2008 R1200RT....none of the caused a CanBus error.

---------------------------------------------HeadLights:--------------------------------------------
2x H7 LED Bulb, 34000LM 800% Brighter 1:1 Size, No Adapter Required, H7 Bulb 6500K Cool White Plug and Play IP68 Waterproof Interior Lights, Pack of 2

bmw r1200rt headlight no canbus error.jpg (239.88 KiB) Viewed 981 times

----------------------------------------------end Headlights----------------------------------------


---------------------------------------------Turn Indicator Lights:(4) -----------------------------
AUXLIGHT 1156 BA15S LED Bulbs Extremely Bright 7506 1156A 1003 1141 P21W Canbus Error Free Replacement for Turn Signal Lights, 2200K Amber Yellow (Pack of 2)

bmw r1200rt Turn Signals no canbus error.jpg (202.14 KiB) Viewed 981 times

----------------------------------------------end Turn Indicator lights-----------------------------------

---------------------------------------------Rear Brake Lights:--------------------------------------------
Sidaqi 1156 LED Bulb Red CANBUS Error Free Brake Tail Light 4000LM 30SMD P21W 1141 BA15S 7506 LED Blub Built-in Load Resistor Anti Hyper Flash for Stop Tail Brake Light 12-24V (Pack of 2)

bmw r1200rt rear brake lights no canbus error.jpg (152.32 KiB) Viewed 981 times

----------------------------------------------end Rear brake lights----------------------------------------









===============================================

[Strat Tuner]

... and one more thing...

the Brake light Flashing chip I like most won't work with the BMW system.

The chip needs a brake light that is ON then OFF.

The BMW brake light is on ALL THE TIME... .... LOW power for running light and FULL power for brake.

The chip thinks the brake is always ON and flashes as programmed, pauses, then repeats.