Picked up a 2016 X1 Xdrive 28i for wifey. After getting it home and going through everything, I told her to turn on the headlights so we could check them out. It was then I realized not every BMW comes with BMW headlights. =/ Felt like I failed her.
After doing a bunch of digging around, I came across an aftermarket version of the new LCI style LED headlights. Marketed as being 'plug and play', a direct swap with the OEMs. Cost was going to come in way under any other options. Problem is there's literally nothing out there on these things, anywhere.
These are manufactured, or 'assembled', in China, and only available from sellers in China. So you're looking at an eBay purchase, or Aliexpress if you're the type that's into creating problems for yourself.
So we took the gamble. It turned out so well I thought I'd share here, in case someone comes along pondering the same option: Here's what you're going to get.
These are the original halogen headlights we were dealing with. Sorry if you have these, but they're whack.
Tape the wall to mark the beam height on OEMs. New units will have to be adjusted after installation.
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BUMPER COVER REMOVAL - I'll spare you, that's another thread*
New headlights were packaged well. Arrived in perfect shape. Generic box.
OEM headlights. VALEO brand.
OEM lenses.
OEM headlight weight. Approx 7 lbs, per my circa 1950 Sunbeam scale.
Aftermarket headlight brand. Surprise, surprise! VALEO housing, same as OEM.
Aftermarket headlight lens. Same as OEM.
I'd read comments in a forum somewhere, I believe here, about 'China grade plastic'. I'm pleased to say these are assembled using the exact same housing as the OEMs, VALEO brand.
Aftermarket headlights tipping in at just under 9 lbs. Assume the difference is being made up of all the LED and resistor components. Just want to show these aren't lightweight pieces of junk. They're every bit as quality as the OEMs.
Left side of pic is original halogen headlight, right side of pic is aftermarket.
Whoo-wee! Pretty special.
Really like how cleaned up these look; dropping the orange reflectors and leaving everything black and silver.
Even down to the BMW logo on the side
And...the final product:
I purchased the set from a seller on eBay named art_carlight, who was awesome from start to finish. If anybody's interested I can vouch he's legit and super easy to work with.
Here's a video of them in action. Hope all this info is helpful to someone out there.