[norman_100390]

Originally Posted by rollinstone157

Ahh...no. No, that is not supposed to happen. It sounds like you got the wrong capacitor, because it exploded. Here's the best analogy I have to what happened:
Imagine a garden hose. Ok, now, Imagine a garden hose turned on, with your finger over the end. If you keep the pressure on what most houses would send out, its pretty easy right? Ok, now, imagine you are holding your thumb on the end of a garden hose. But this time, it's hooked up to a pressure washer used to clean jet engines. Your thumb would not be able to hold back that pressure--in fact, it would probably be removed from your hand with the pressure. Imagine the water in the hose is the electricity going to the bulbs, and your thumb is the capacitor.

well i got the right capacitor ive double checked the numbers and everything...

anyways i got both of them to work. now my only issue is that while driving
my car around it throws me the fog light/ low beam error and either the left or right just cuts out. they turn on when i restart the car but after a few minutes it cuts out again or it just throws the error light at me. dont know what to do anymore... i followed this threads instructions all the way through....

thanks!

[AUbeast86]

Has anyone had any luck with this setup on early model e92's. My production date is 08/06. I just got off the phone with a DDM tech and he said it's probably better to go with the Raptor Ballast (analog) if you are wiring in the capacitors. Can anyone confirm this?

[zeroXTC]

Is there a kit you can buy that include the capacitor pre installed, and all you have to do is plug and play? Anyone have a link?

[BRAISKI]

Looks like I have to do this with the DDM HID fogs I got... I was hoping I would avoid doing this.

[rollinstone157]

Honestly, why not spend another $30 to get an error-free set instead of this? the HighPerformanceBulbs.com kit is proven to work. Just hit up the TopGearSolutions team in the Vendor section and they'll give you good prices.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

2008+ is error free guaranteed. http://www.highperformancebulbs.com/bmwhidfoglia.html

No reason to cut corners and play with buying resistors and soldering ETC.

DDM tuning is known for using the lowest quality ballast available.

[FastBimmerN54]

The high performance bulbs HID kit is error free for me. Worth the extra dollars for peace of mind and no hassle plug and play.

[Mrbanhbao]

okay i tried this on my 07 328i .. it turned for a min then shuts off. It doesn't turn back on. Only way to turn it back on is to restart the car. Any clue anyone...?

[Mrbanhbao]

bump for help!!

[Flea7]

Wow...this thread is still going!

My $40 ebay plug and play 6k kit is solid....no problems. I installed them march of 2010.

[Mrbanhbao]

Originally Posted by Flea7

Wow...this thread is still going!

My $40 ebay plug and play 6k kit is solid....no problems. I installed them march of 2010.

maybe because yours is an 08? im not too sure. I hope the OP or who had success can chime in on this..

[Torres_335i]

This works and i have a 06 sedan but you still need the car coded.

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by Mrbanhbao

okay i tried this on my 07 328i .. it turned for a min then shuts off. It doesn't turn back on. Only way to turn it back on is to restart the car. Any clue anyone...?

PWM signal.

Code your car and raise the PWM signal so the duty cycle is 100%.

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by 335iredline

Capacitor stores excess power and distributes as needed from the source requesting it. Issue with BMW when switching to HID's is the HID bulb requires much less power to light than a typical halogen bulb. With less power needed our computer detects that it is consuming less than normal power and it throws an error code and also sends pulses repeatedly to ensure it is accurate as being bulb out situation (hence the flickering members speak of). Well when you add a capacitor it stores the excess power tricking the computer into thinking it is a normal situation and sends only amount needed for HID ballast to function in turn eliminating the error and pulse situation



I have no idea. Im pretty sure this is why US spec cars did not get this option lol

This is super wrong, not to mention just adding a cap over the power and ground wires is a poor circuit design.

There is a PWM signal on the halogen fixtures.

By adding the cap, the fluctuations in voltage are seen by the cap and hides the fluctuations from the ballast. It stores the power and when the cap is fully charged, it gives off the power in a constant voltage.

The reason why the HIDs didn't work before was because the PWM signal turns the lights on and off rapidly, which makes the voltage fluctuate. The ballasts need a constant voltage to operate properly.

The halogen fixtures in the high beams are 35W. The HID kit is 35W. So they consume the same amount of power. I'm not sure how much power the fogs use.

Bulb check system is only on start up and at random (well I haven't figured out the sequence) while the car is on.

The flickering is caused by the PWM signal.

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by 2008montegoblue335i

ok so i i have NO idea what happend before, but i rewired some new caps, 50v 10000uF caps and everything works great.

The voltage out of the oem harness was about 11.7v after i installed these caps it was about 14.2.

Maybe my negative pin didnt make good contact before, IDK.

Thanks for all your help guys.

Prime example of Pulse Width Modulation right here.

PWM is used to dim lights. That's why before the cap was installed, it sat around 11.7v. After the cap install, the voltage flattened out and sat around the output of the alternator....14.2v

For those of you still having problems. Different models will have different duty cycles for the PWM signal. The higher it is, the higher the voltage. This is why some people have no problems with hooking up a HID kit at first. But 2 months down the road, the ballast goes out. The PWM signal, which is constantly changing voltage, will stress the components in the ballast.

If you guys want to run a cheap HID kit, either code your car to 100% duty cycle, wire it so it's triggered by a relay (which bypasses the PWM signal), or buy a canbus kit which is has a built in PWM filter.

Or build a proper PWM filter.

[banky]

question for you guys getting errors. specifically, what error is it throwing? is it the light bulb error? is it the low beam failure error?

i only ask because i only started getting a "Low Beam Failure" error recently (no idrive for specifics) but both low beams work. i have HID fogs (bought car with them from PO) but again, only recently got the error so i'm trying to diagnose.

[E91_schoolbus]

just a tip where to put the ballast onto. Mount it to the body frame or bumper bar (the metal bar, not the bumper itself). Don't mount it close to the tire pressure monitoring module as it will interfere with the pressure signal. The pressure module is located right in front of the tire, behind the wheel well cover.

I also put a ground wire to ground the ballast body to the body just to be safe.

[Mrbanhbao]

Originally Posted by *********

PWM signal.

Code your car and raise the PWM signal so the duty cycle is 100%.

I'm not exactly sure how to do that. U also said i can just purchase a canbus ballast. Where is a good place to purchase that? I was told that highperformacebulb are not 100% to work on 06-07 models...so i'm not too sure?

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by Mrbanhbao

I'm not exactly sure how to do that. U also said i can just purchase a canbus ballast. Where is a good place to purchase that? I was told that highperformacebulb are not 100% to work on 06-07 models...so i'm not too sure?

Hmm yea they are finicky on those model years. If you don't know how to code, I would go the relay route. Coding isn't that hard though.

Get a bosch relay from radio shack, auto parts store, etc and google the pin layout. You only need 1 and can run both sides off the one relay.

Then you need a resistor to get rid of errors. You would wire that across the wires for the existing fog lights.

[Mrbanhbao]

Originally Posted by *********

Hmm yea they are finicky on those model years. If you don't know how to code, I would go the relay route. Coding isn't that hard though.

Get a bosch relay from radio shack, auto parts store, etc and google the pin layout. You only need 1 and can run both sides off the one relay.

Then you need a resistor to get rid of errors. You would wire that across the wires for the existing fog lights.

that sound all easy, but im not that electrically inclined. I'm more of a visual person. If there's a DIY or something, then yeah it might be possible.

[darkzero]

I tried the relay purchased from eBay already. It didn't even come on . All I heard is the buzz sound coming from from the the relay. I even code out the bulb check also but still no hope.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Mrbanhbao

I'm not exactly sure how to do that. U also said i can just purchase a canbus ballast. Where is a good place to purchase that? I was told that highperformacebulb are not 100% to work on 06-07 models...so i'm not too sure?

If anyone is interested in the HPB ballast for 2006-2007 model he told me to tell you guys to email him about it before ordering. So he can help you through the process in case they dont work.

I've mentioned this a few times elsewhere but me and HPB teamed up a while ago to find a kit that worked on 2006 and 2007. We tried about 6 kits and found one that worked on the majority of those years. However, over the years I have heard of a few that slipped through the cracks. Just being brutally honest I dont want people being mislead. There is no 100% guaranteed method unless you code. However, working with a high quality canbus kit has seemed to work for a vast majority. I would say 90%.

If you are willing to work with HPB they are willing to help you.