I put Bimmian sidemarker replacements on my car. I give em 4/5

[chris82]

Okay so I finally got around to replacing my sidemarkers. They were working but got clouded and one had some condensation building up in it. So I found some on Bimmian and ordered them. I got the crystal style lens as opposed to OEM style. I also got the invisibulbs that are chrome finished but they light up amber so you get that clear look. Everything was well packaged and I even got 4 standard amber colored bulbs in addition to the chrome colored bulbs which is nice. So here we go:


Here are the lenses as they came.


Here is a comparison to the old ones




Now here is one problem I had. There are these "L" shaped plugs that your reuse from your OEM sidemarkers. They hold the bulb on one end and plug into the wires on the car on the other end. They only go one way into the lens. And they have to go that way in order for you to put the lens back in the side of the car.

Now on the left side of the car the "L" plug points frontwards because the wires come from the front of the car. On the right side the "L" plug points backwards because the wires come from the back of the car. Makes sense and thats where I ran into an issue. If you look at this picture you'll notice the clips I've outlined are on the same side of the NEW sidemarkers where they are swapped on the OLD sidemarkers.



I had to switch one of the "L" plugs around on one lens which wasn't difficult, but there was a good chance I would brake the clip (thankfully I didn't). I wrapped this ghetto rigged one with electrical tape just to secure it more.



One more issue I had. There is a metal piece that acts as a spring that secures the lens into the car. On one of the lenses this metal piece was not pushed into place fully and when I tried to install it into my car it would just pop out. Here is a picture of the old vs new of the lenses. This was the difference between the lens staying on the car and the lens falling right out.
Now I could not press this metal piece in and thought I was gonna break it. Thank god I order two sets of these lenses (one for my brother's e92) and that one had the spring fully pressed in.



Here is the old one on the car:


Here is the new one on the car:


All in all they look nice, fit perfectly and light up amber just like the old ones. I would have opted for the OEM style lenses next time though. I didn't think the "Crystal" style would be that clear as it exposes the light bulb too much for me. Oh well, no big deal. Anyways hope you enjoyed my review of this product!!

[RedRanger]

Should have got the LED side markers from ebay. I have had mine for a year and I love them. Good 30 dollar buy.

[darkrom]

Not a huge change IMO.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by darkrom

Not a huge change IMO.

It didn't do as much to the car as I thought it would I'll be honest. But I've been wanting to do this for a while

[eviled]

Way cleaner looking then the yellowed out originals. Where can I find some?

[chris82]

You get them at bimmian.com, but I say get the OE replacement part. The clips like I said weren't in the correct location and if I knew that I would not have bought them

[BMist371]

I wish someone would make a smoked variant with perfect fitment, and sealed. Seems like too much to ask for.

[chris82]

Yea I always had condensation build up in my left sidemarker. After I replaced it I still have condensation in that sidemarker but my right side one doesn't. So I think it has soemthing to do with the rubber around where the light goes in not necessarily the lense.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by BMist371

I wish someone would make a smoked variant with perfect fitment, and sealed. Seems like too much to ask for.

Aftermarket lighting is pretty much universally crap.