[gaifaun]

Not many of you know me so i'll do a brief intro. I made this account way back in '07 because I dreamed of having my own E90 some day. I know all about them, the mods, the tuner wars, people getting banned, vendors coming and going, and 99% of the aftermarket products, I know. You can say I'm a lurker till now! I just bought a AW E90 335i LCI white on black

** my pictures were taken with a Canon XSI on 18-55mm EF-S kit lens shot in fully automatic mode. No re-touching or post processing was done to the photos.


After a long dilemma from deciding on 8500k or 7500k, I finally took the jump for the 7500k reason being, its less blue and therefore has better visibility in the daylight. After only 10 days ( i live in Canada), I received the set of GP Thunders 7500k V2 from Derrick @ E92-Lighting.

Service and packaging:
Derrick is first class in customer service! questions are answered in a timely and prompt fashion. PM's are dealt with a professional yet friendly manner. My package safely arrived in a yellow bubble mailer and inside was the AE's in a plastic bag and a set of his business cards! If it weren't for his cards I won't ever know we share the same last name

Conclusion: 9/10






Product:
For the price i paid for them, let me tell you, their build quality exceeded my expectations and their results and light output is very nice, for the $23 dollars i spent. much more "attractive" or "catchy" than an M3 lip spoiler which is much more expensive. their results speak for themselves in the pictures below. I am not sure where these bulbs are built but if I have to compare the quality to OEM Phillips units, the GP's arent too far off, the only main difference i can spot is the different metals used. Only time will tell how long these bulbs will last me.

Conclusion. 8/10







Install:
Surprisingly, my LCI did not come with "warranty voiding" stickers that BMW later put onto newer cars that could have your warranty voided if you tamper with the lighting assembly of the car.
This is a relatively simple and straight forward install. After all, I never met a man who cannot change out a light bulb. However because of the tight and awkward location, this install needs patience and its a PITA to install. for the Driver side, you:
1) remove the finned weather cap by twisting
2)locate the yellow rectangular back of the H8 OEM bulb and turn it to the left. use moderate force because it may be stubborn
3) carefully extract it out of the housing.
4) unclip the OEM bulb from the socket
5) replace with GP Thunder and carefully wiggle it back in the housing
6) push into the housing firmly giving it a good seal and turn it right
7) confirm its not loose anymore and recap the finned cap.

I found the passenger side to be tighter and trickier to install. Everything is the same except for the turning direction of the bulbs:
1) remove the finned weather cap by twisting
2) locate the yellow rectangular back of the H8 OEM bulb and turn it to the right. use moderate force because it may be stubborn
3) carefully extract it out of the housing.
4) unclip the OEM bulb from the socket
5) replace with GP Thunder and carefully wiggle it back in the housing
6) push into the housing firmly giving it a good seal and turn it left
7) confirm its not loose anymore and recap the finned cap.

because the space is so tight in there, I managed to take some coloring off of the blue tip on the GP Thunders so Derrick, would this affect the performance and longevity of the bulbs? what is the blue coating for?
EDIT: Derrick's response to this:

in regards to the blue coating, it doesnt really matter if you took a little bit off, its mainly just for the color and it doesnt affect the performance of the bulb.

many people ask why their bulbs are loose and leave it the way it is but infact, that is incorrect and may not give you maximum light output.

the Key tip is to have patience and have small and nimble hands. also don't forget to wear thin latex or plastic gloves so you won't leave oils on the bulb.

install time: 45 minutes with cursing, sweat, and minor cut on the thumb.

Conclusion: 7/10


OEM Phllips H8 bulb (note the yellow rectangle marking)



GP Thunder about to be placed into housing.





Performance:
I am very satisfied with the way they perform. Yes It is dimmer than stock bulbs but that cannot be overcome because of the different color temperature they posses. Overall, I'd say the GP Thunder 7500k are dimmer than stock bulbs by around 15%. I'd gladly take this tradeoff for a whiter light while being still visible in the day, the cool and modern look at night, and for the value at only $23 bucks! why are people bothering with RD's...
I'm very pleased with the results!

Pictures do not do these 7500k V2's justice. Anyone with GP Thunders or any aftermarket AE bulbs can verify that. I can confirm, when at full power, these are pure white with a small hint of blue. Angles affect everything and therefore its hard to capture the true reality of the GP Thunders.


Conclusion: 9/10



Ignition OFF (GP Thunder VS OEM):












Xenon's ON, (AE's automatically dim) near perfect color match:







Ignition ON (AE's at full 14v power) both sides installed:












Thank you Derrick @ E92-Lighting!
Please feel free to post any questions or comments below!

[MassBimmer]

Nice review, love my GPT 7500K V2 too!

[Ron1n]

So, Derrick has these, even though his site doesn't reflect that they'er V2's?

[yooooooo]

think i saw you somewhere, i remember your plate .lol

[johnsonz1122]

if it's visible at daytime i wanna get myself a set as well. how much brokeage fee did the shipping guy charge u for that?

[gaifaun]

Originally Posted by MassBimmer

Nice review, love my GPT 7500K V2 too!

thanks!

Originally Posted by Ron1n

So, Derrick has these, even though his site doesn't reflect that they'er V2's?

yeah he does, just request to him you want the V2. are you gonna put the pictures i took up on your AE thread?

Originally Posted by yooooooo

think i saw you somewhere, i remember your plate .lol

really? i just got this car for 2 months! haha im constantly in Richmond and along SFU. give me a shout next time! i have yet to see a forum member on the streets

Originally Posted by johnsonz1122

if it's visible at daytime i wanna get myself a set as well. how much brokeage fee did the shipping guy charge u for that?

yes these are visible in daytime! I'll try to take more day time pictures soon! right now i'm busy installing my splitters i got from JBSpeed.
In total, it costed my under $25 for the lights and shipping

[J-Sin]

How are these opposed to the WeissLicht Ultra-Bright LED Angel Eye Upgrade from JleviSW?

[mattburch]

nice! how much brighter are the V2s in comparison to the first version?

[gaifaun]

Originally Posted by aznm0nk3y

How are these opposed to the WeissLicht Ultra-Bright LED Angel Eye Upgrade from JleviSW?

Sorry i never had experience with the WeissLicht. But i know for a fact that they have not come up with a solution for E90 LCI's (Xenon's) yet.

Originally Posted by mattburch

nice! how much brighter are the V2s in comparison to the first version?

thanks! unfortunately i have no direct comparision pictures or first hand experience with the first version so i don't know. But i have read that people say it is marginally brighter with a very very slight change in color. Nothing "day and night" though.

[gaifaun]

@ johnsonz1122: daytime pics are here!

so i had more time to observe the GP Thunders. During the day, they do emit a white light. just pure white, the camera may not capture it but believe me, it is white. When the sun is shining head-on (sunrise or sunset) the AE's will fade out a little thus appearing less white. When the sun is overhead the car, or not shining directly at the car, the AE's are pure white and at times a slight hint of blue.

At dusk or at night, its a different story, the AE's turn from pure white to whiteish blueish if you will. The color match with Xenons is very close!

its hard to capture the AE's but i will keep trying.

this picture is what sold me and probably best describes these AE's during the day.












I find it weird, in my garage it emits a blueish light but outside in the day (like in my first post) , the light changes character and emits a white light.

[Str8eye]

Looks nice.. I am still waiting for my GP Thunder's to come in I ordered it from Derrick_E92Lighting as well.. .. Hopefully soon, I have the car in the shop now, This way i can have the shop replace my fogs for me while they are repairing my bumper.

[bdardashti]

Very nice! I too ordered the GP Thunders 7500K V2 and I'm waiting for them to come in. I also have a AW (on order) and I've got the black grills as well. Can't wait!!

Since you're Canadian, can you please tell me something. I'm not going to be at home next week, and I'm worried about the package coming in. How exactly was it shipped? Signature required? Or was it just in the standard mail or left at the door? Thanks!

[gaifaun]

thanks! fog lights are harder to do which is why i didn't bother with it.

shipping should be inbetween 6-10 business days and Canadapost does the delivery. I'm pretty sure they just leave stuff at the front of the door. You can always leave a note for the mailman and tell him to put it under your doormat or hide it behind something. I'm sure your package would be fine!

[Professor///M]

Originally Posted by gaifaun

thanks! fog lights are harder to do which is why i didn't bother with it.

shipping should be inbetween 6-10 business days and Canadapost does the delivery. I'm pretty sure they just leave stuff at the front of the door. You can always leave a note for the mailman and tell him to put it under your doormat or hide it behind something. I'm sure your package would be fine!

Shipping was superfast to the US coast to coast. Shipped from CA and made it to the North East in 3 days. It took longer for order processing than it did for shipping.
for e92-lighting.com

[onnex]

just installed my GP Thunder 7500 v2s from e92-lighting as well. I had the iBrights for about 2 weeks (returned because of bad wiring), and the GPs are substantially dimmer as you might imagine. They match well, but they aren't very visible in sunlight. They look much better than the yellow OEM, but likely a temporary solution until goin for OSS.

[techlogik]

Edit...found the link for the install with photos on google...

Thanks good review.

[levy01]

I just installed the H8 GP Thunder 8500k for my AE and
H8 MTEC 4350k for my Fog Lights...

We'll see tonight how it looks and report back.

[Omnia]

Did you disconnect the battery while installing the bulbs?

[gaifaun]

Originally Posted by PAMidge

Shipping was superfast to the US coast to coast. Shipped from CA and made it to the North East in 3 days. It took longer for order processing than it did for shipping.
for e92-lighting.com

haha, it was a little longer for me because I'm in Canada but it was still relatively fast nonetheless

Originally Posted by onnex

just installed my GP Thunder 7500 v2s from e92-lighting as well. I had the iBrights for about 2 weeks (returned because of bad wiring), and the GPs are substantially dimmer as you might imagine. They match well, but they aren't very visible in sunlight. They look much better than the yellow OEM, but likely a temporary solution until goin for OSS.

yep, can't really argue with $20 bulbs. much better than stock but OSS, LUX are in an entirely different league. need to compare apples to apples.

Originally Posted by techlogik

Edit...found the link for the install with photos on google...

Thanks good review.

my pleasure

Originally Posted by levy01

I just installed the H8 GP Thunder 8500k for my AE and
H8 MTEC 4350k for my Fog Lights...

We'll see tonight how it looks and report back.

congrats! how did you like it?

Originally Posted by Omnia

Did you disconnect the battery while installing the bulbs?

no need to disconnect the battery while installing bulbs. just make sure the ignition is not on or that your lights are not switched on.

[PharmmerBen]

Thank you for this write-up!

Ben

[Shahaed]

LCI cars make my car look like shit...

[PharmmerBen]

Originally Posted by Shahaed

LCI cars make my car look like shit...

I respectfully disagree. IMHO, all variations/models are timeless in style and personality. I'm sure you have a gem.