baz11
11-29-2013, 04:43 PM
Umnitza Orion v2/v2.5 (http://www.umnitza.com/predator-orion-v2-led-angel-eyes-with-remote-p-1198.html)
So Umnitza was having it's annual black friday sale this past week, and as I had been researching angel eyes for a week or so, called them up on Monday 11/25 with all intentions of ordering their Orion v2 4300k Angel Eyes (AE) with night controller for my 05 imolarot ZHP. I talked with Matt (who i believe does most of the work advertising and helping out customers on the forums). Unfortunately, he said they had run out of the v2 4300k (they weren't really supposed to be part of the BF sale either on top of that) and they wouldn't be arriving until sometime in december at the earliest. He immediately recommended their new (summer 2013) v2.5 in 6k, saying they had 2 left at $135 shipped (v2.5 does not come in 4.3k yet). I was pretty set on 4.3k, but after him immediately emailing me pictures of a customer car with the 6k and him pushing me to buy the 6k v2.5, I figured since the normal price is $200+shipping I should just buy a pair of the v2.5s, and if I don't like them put them up on the marketplace and break even. That way I could tell if I liked angel eyes in person - pictures are one thing, but seeing something in the flesh is another.
So I ordered the v2.5 6k angel eyes (I also was told that the night controller wasn't necessary and a DIY rheostat was cheaper and more flexible), which don't have the option to add a night controller for some reason. For anyone not familiar, the night controller is supposed to dim the angel eye lighting when the factory xenons turn on. The order was processed Monday morning in the west coast, and I picked them up from my doorstep Wednesday afternoon. Fast shipping! (from CA to the great lakes)
Because install how-to's are commonly found, this post will be more of a review and "lessons learned" for the installation rather than a tutorial.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3004_zps01b5ef0f.jpg
So, the angel eye box came in a large USPS envelope, the box consisted of the wiring harness, 4 angel eyes (90 led each), instructions, and 4 'splice connectors'. The angel eyes have a slight yellow color when powered off due to the LEDs. I installed these over the course of 2 days (taking my time) as this was during thanksgiving holiday. Disassembling the light assembly was easy, although I did run into a quick snag as the driver-side factory xenon ballast (see below) has a phillips-head screw underneath that I couldn't find to remove the rubber plug to route the angel eye wiring out.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3015_zpse860f4c6.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3014_zpsd30899e0.jpg
One thing I wasn't expecting, and was a little disappointed with was the fact that the rings nearest to the grille don't fit flush with the headlight bowls. Also you can see here that there is a slight tinge of yellow. Not terrible, but it definitely is noticeable if you are looking at the headlights. Stock (without the AEs) looks cleaner.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3029_zpsbf708f9c.jpg
Also, in numerous places online and in the instructions with the kit, it is mentioned 'Do not slide the AE ring all the way back into the projector'. I didn't, however the issue is that the clip mount angle causes the ring to sit angle, not perpendicular to the top of the xenon surround. Apart from bending the angel eye clips and possibly breaking them, I'm not sure if that can be resolved. Once you have the black headlight surround and the lens on though, it is visible, but no one is going to notice except for you.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3022_zpsd1e2f385.jpg
One thing I should note, my headlight lenses are likely stock (~110k on the car), and need replacement. I plan to order a new set of lenses from ECSTuning. You can buy a polishing kit for $20 and an hour+ of your time, but I'd rather pay a little more just for a brand new set. Like others have mentioned, you notice your lenses are more pitted with the AEs due to the wide light spread.
I wired in a rheostat to allow dimming of the AEs per this excellent tutorial: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=677806. It didn't take long and wasn't difficult as long as you can walk in to a radio shack and solder wires together. So far I have been using ~85% of max I would guess. Visible during the day and not too bright at night. In the future I might tie in an auto dimmer with the xenons turning on at dusk to allow for full bright during the day (like the $40 night controller Umnitza sells)
Angel Eye Pictures (these are super hard to photograph like you would see in real life). All pics un-edited, taken with iPhone 5s
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3053_zps2648f803.jpg
With DRLs on, I like the faint warm yellow glow.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3064_zps2400c290.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3085_zpsf275bb8e.jpg
Summary
Positives
+ v2.5s Look Great - 6k color much better than I expected. I haven't seen 4.3k in person, but I would say I 6k looks very 'OEM' (especially when dimmed with a rheostat) and likely prefer it to the 4.3k (as Matt suggested)
+ Umnitza - super fast shipping and good customer service (great price too!)
+ Good instructions - everything you would need for a basic install was supplied with the Umnitza kit. (shrink wrap, wire conduit, etc for "OEM" wiring install is extra)
+ Did I say they look great?
+ DIY Rheostat works as expected, dimming light output with the turn of a knob (in the engine bay currently)
+ 'Remote' trigger wire option super easy to install for AE functionality when locking and unlocking car. The included splice connectors are super helpful.
+ Wiring harness had ample length (yet easy to bundle up in conduit for OEM look), mesh black covers over much of the length of the wires is a nice touch.
Cons (pretty minor)
- Angel eye fitment could be better. 99.9% of people will never notice, but if you like perfection, it's not going to be perfect.
- Slight yellow tinge to AEs when viewed from certain angles. Other viewing angles look OEM. A small gripe.
- Install instructions could include how to remove silver ballast box to get at rubber boot on the rear of the driver-side headlight assembly.
- Hard to photograph with an iPhone! :)
Overall, I'm very satisfied with the v2.5s!! A good buy from Umnitza. A future step on this install (maybe in a few months) would be a Euro LCM to better control the angel eyes (on/off, rheostat dim) from the cabin. Thanks!
:like
PS - a note about the 6k color, it looks much different in person than many pictures you see online. If I had to provide an estimate of the most representative pictures on a red car, this below would be closest.
With stock xenons on you can see the difference between xenon and AE up close, but 1) the difference fades away at normal viewing distance & 2) the v2.5 6k color is a very true white
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3036_zps700ddc64.jpg
So Umnitza was having it's annual black friday sale this past week, and as I had been researching angel eyes for a week or so, called them up on Monday 11/25 with all intentions of ordering their Orion v2 4300k Angel Eyes (AE) with night controller for my 05 imolarot ZHP. I talked with Matt (who i believe does most of the work advertising and helping out customers on the forums). Unfortunately, he said they had run out of the v2 4300k (they weren't really supposed to be part of the BF sale either on top of that) and they wouldn't be arriving until sometime in december at the earliest. He immediately recommended their new (summer 2013) v2.5 in 6k, saying they had 2 left at $135 shipped (v2.5 does not come in 4.3k yet). I was pretty set on 4.3k, but after him immediately emailing me pictures of a customer car with the 6k and him pushing me to buy the 6k v2.5, I figured since the normal price is $200+shipping I should just buy a pair of the v2.5s, and if I don't like them put them up on the marketplace and break even. That way I could tell if I liked angel eyes in person - pictures are one thing, but seeing something in the flesh is another.
So I ordered the v2.5 6k angel eyes (I also was told that the night controller wasn't necessary and a DIY rheostat was cheaper and more flexible), which don't have the option to add a night controller for some reason. For anyone not familiar, the night controller is supposed to dim the angel eye lighting when the factory xenons turn on. The order was processed Monday morning in the west coast, and I picked them up from my doorstep Wednesday afternoon. Fast shipping! (from CA to the great lakes)
Because install how-to's are commonly found, this post will be more of a review and "lessons learned" for the installation rather than a tutorial.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3004_zps01b5ef0f.jpg
So, the angel eye box came in a large USPS envelope, the box consisted of the wiring harness, 4 angel eyes (90 led each), instructions, and 4 'splice connectors'. The angel eyes have a slight yellow color when powered off due to the LEDs. I installed these over the course of 2 days (taking my time) as this was during thanksgiving holiday. Disassembling the light assembly was easy, although I did run into a quick snag as the driver-side factory xenon ballast (see below) has a phillips-head screw underneath that I couldn't find to remove the rubber plug to route the angel eye wiring out.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3015_zpse860f4c6.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3014_zpsd30899e0.jpg
One thing I wasn't expecting, and was a little disappointed with was the fact that the rings nearest to the grille don't fit flush with the headlight bowls. Also you can see here that there is a slight tinge of yellow. Not terrible, but it definitely is noticeable if you are looking at the headlights. Stock (without the AEs) looks cleaner.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3029_zpsbf708f9c.jpg
Also, in numerous places online and in the instructions with the kit, it is mentioned 'Do not slide the AE ring all the way back into the projector'. I didn't, however the issue is that the clip mount angle causes the ring to sit angle, not perpendicular to the top of the xenon surround. Apart from bending the angel eye clips and possibly breaking them, I'm not sure if that can be resolved. Once you have the black headlight surround and the lens on though, it is visible, but no one is going to notice except for you.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3022_zpsd1e2f385.jpg
One thing I should note, my headlight lenses are likely stock (~110k on the car), and need replacement. I plan to order a new set of lenses from ECSTuning. You can buy a polishing kit for $20 and an hour+ of your time, but I'd rather pay a little more just for a brand new set. Like others have mentioned, you notice your lenses are more pitted with the AEs due to the wide light spread.
I wired in a rheostat to allow dimming of the AEs per this excellent tutorial: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=677806. It didn't take long and wasn't difficult as long as you can walk in to a radio shack and solder wires together. So far I have been using ~85% of max I would guess. Visible during the day and not too bright at night. In the future I might tie in an auto dimmer with the xenons turning on at dusk to allow for full bright during the day (like the $40 night controller Umnitza sells)
Angel Eye Pictures (these are super hard to photograph like you would see in real life). All pics un-edited, taken with iPhone 5s
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3053_zps2648f803.jpg
With DRLs on, I like the faint warm yellow glow.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3064_zps2400c290.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3085_zpsf275bb8e.jpg
Summary
Positives
+ v2.5s Look Great - 6k color much better than I expected. I haven't seen 4.3k in person, but I would say I 6k looks very 'OEM' (especially when dimmed with a rheostat) and likely prefer it to the 4.3k (as Matt suggested)
+ Umnitza - super fast shipping and good customer service (great price too!)
+ Good instructions - everything you would need for a basic install was supplied with the Umnitza kit. (shrink wrap, wire conduit, etc for "OEM" wiring install is extra)
+ Did I say they look great?
+ DIY Rheostat works as expected, dimming light output with the turn of a knob (in the engine bay currently)
+ 'Remote' trigger wire option super easy to install for AE functionality when locking and unlocking car. The included splice connectors are super helpful.
+ Wiring harness had ample length (yet easy to bundle up in conduit for OEM look), mesh black covers over much of the length of the wires is a nice touch.
Cons (pretty minor)
- Angel eye fitment could be better. 99.9% of people will never notice, but if you like perfection, it's not going to be perfect.
- Slight yellow tinge to AEs when viewed from certain angles. Other viewing angles look OEM. A small gripe.
- Install instructions could include how to remove silver ballast box to get at rubber boot on the rear of the driver-side headlight assembly.
- Hard to photograph with an iPhone! :)
Overall, I'm very satisfied with the v2.5s!! A good buy from Umnitza. A future step on this install (maybe in a few months) would be a Euro LCM to better control the angel eyes (on/off, rheostat dim) from the cabin. Thanks!
:like
PS - a note about the 6k color, it looks much different in person than many pictures you see online. If I had to provide an estimate of the most representative pictures on a red car, this below would be closest.
With stock xenons on you can see the difference between xenon and AE up close, but 1) the difference fades away at normal viewing distance & 2) the v2.5 6k color is a very true white
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/aerobaz11/IMG_3036_zps700ddc64.jpg