HID Conversion on a 12GS (pictorial)

Looks Great! Have you had any issues (fault reading) with the Canbus?

So just installed the VVME large all in one ballast on my '09 GS and it's not coming on. I get the quick flash when I turn the key on but won't light after start up. Strangely enough if I give it 12v from a battery it seems to work fine. Getting the dreaded Lamp! failure.

Any suggestions?

I used a similar ballast mounting method Touratech uses for their HID Xenon kit for '08+: HID Xenon kit Left side

Install pictures:

If its a GSA with spot lamps turn the spots off and hold the clutch in when you start the bike. Mine would do the Lampf if the battery was low or it was below 40 deg with a good batt.

My old VVME unit did the same thing but after it had been installed for a few weeks. Are you using a 35W kit with a CANBUS adapter:




Mike

Just the 35w kit. No Canbus adapter. Used the install method discussed in this thread.

The Lampf! error you are getting is the same as I get on mine. When you first get the HID going it pulls more amperage than the canbus system usually allows for so it shuts the circuit down. The HID has to warm up and pulls somewhere close to 6amps to do this but pulls less than Halogen bulbs once at operating temp. I end up having to tap the starter button long enough to get the lights to come on for a few seconds to help charge up the ballast then actually start the bike. I got the error eliminators from DDMtuning and I may have a bad one, which seems to happen now and then, and I still have to do that little trick to get the light to work. I just havn't gotten around to looking for a more efficient ballast or wiring up a relay setup.

My '09 needed the Canbus adapter. . . . LAMPF! without it. Back when I did mine, VVME didn't have one. I switched to 1-Off and have had no problems since. Besides, they warranty their units and have great customer service.

Mike

Gotta agree with Mike...I've messed with the cheap kits and they are hit or miss....next time I pay up and get the 1-off Motorsport kit and dispense with the headaches.

I agree with that totally. It's kind of like looking for cheap oil filters :huh Sorry but that has trouble written ALL over it.

I started with the 1Off's -which worked out of the box- and then tried to improve on them. Went to Morimoto's 50W ballasts and D2S Phillips 85122+ bulbs. Definitely more money and time to make it work (had to go to a relay system on the low beam side of things because the Canbus would shut down that circuit because it pull too high of amperage at start-up). But now I can run any OEM ballast as long as it has an integrated igniter within the ballast ( Denso etc.) with pretty much any D2S bulb. Got to make sure there waterproofed too. But a definite step up.

I feel I should add a little more info here... I really took this HID thing too far.

Bought the 1Off's installed them - and they worked. But I didn't know about the lag time for warm up period to full brightness, especially on the high beam side. I didn't like that long of warm up time, time to move up to something a little better.

Bought the Morimoto's 50W ballasts with the Phillips 85122+ D2S bulbs. MORIMOTO 5FIVE BALLASTS. Did a lot of experimenting with a bulb holder (custom made - machined aluminum) and found I made things worse because I got the focal length wrong and had to throw them away (custom bulb holders); ended up with making my own custom clips to fit the D2S bulbs. Put in a relay for the low beam side. All in all - about $400+ (maybe closer to $500) when you consider buying both set ups ( 1Off's - Morimoto's - Phillips 85122+ - wiring etc. etc.) and time to get things to work.

Was the point of moving to D2S bulbs THAT much worth it. Ehh... probably not. It is bright, too bright. :eek1 Will this last longer than a 35W system? No. But in the future the setup I have now is more pliable to use other items.

All said and done. The setups that offer an H7 plug in play item really for the money can't be beat. There is no need to go to the D2S bulbs at all unless you want the absolute best and money is not an object.

Get a good quality HID conversion and you should be fine.

The thing that sold me was the fact that HID bulbs have no filament in them.

Just my 2c

So your sure it wasn't the ballast that was bad? I just want to be sure before getting the Canbus adapter. Also which adapter did you use?

Tested the lamp straight to battery and it worked fine. :huh

Weirdness.

Yup, absolutely certain is wasn't the 55W ballasts dying. It was Canbus. With my '09 GSA, if I'd leave it in the motel parking lot on a chilly night, upon starting the next morning it would throw a fault code. I would let the bike idle for about 15 seconds and do a re-start. The HID bulb would ignite and be fine for the rest of the day. By the way, I had a brand new Odyssey battery under the seat so power wasn't an issue. One morning, I tried the proceedure and the bulb wouldn't ignite. Finally, after a few hours of riding, it finally cooked off and was fine the rest of the day. When I got home, I called the guys at 1-Off and they sent me a couple of 55W units. Same results. Then, they sent me a 35W kit and all was right with the world. That was in March of last year and I've had no problems since.

I had done both VVMW and DDM kits prior to 1-Off Motorsports and got no service from the latter. VVME told me to install some sort of resistor between the bulb and the ballast. I'm no electrical wizzard so I scrapped the unit and went with people who guarantee their product and will help you . . . . 1-Off.

Mike

I keep hearing this "cheap" this and "cheap" that and how you got no service with DDM. Well a lot of guys use DDM and they work right out the box for many users. Mine worked ok to start and then I got a lampf error on cold mornings. I used their website and left my problems on the tech support section. I got a response within 24 hrs. Got these for $14.50 for two on Amazon, but you only need one. NOT ONE lamp error since. Total cost for everything was right on $80. Yep, if you HAVE TO have plug and play then go to 1Off and pay the price.

Good I'm glad DDM works for you. And if you have gotten good results from them you absolutely should stand up and say so.

There are a lot of vendors selling HID kits and I believe most (probably 99%) of them are from China. Some good, some bad. I think what will sell or what is critical is the support from that supplier no matter what the cost.

Here are some vendors / suppliers that I have found in my search for an HID system for my '11 1200 GSA (from personal experience I have used variations of the top two vendors and they work - on the Morimoto's you have to use a relay - they draw 8 amps at start-up):

H7: MORIMOTO ELITE HID SYSTEM

BMW R1200GS HID Xenon Conversion Light Kit - (2004-2012)

HID’s from HID50

R1200GS HID Lights

HID Xenon Motorcycle Conversion Kits

DDM Tuning: Motorcycle HID Kits & Lighting

Motorcycle HID Kits

Xenon Philips HID Conversion Kits

HID Conversion Kit

BMW R1200GS

Motorcycle HID Headlight Kits

DistantXtremes Lighting

HID Ballasts

Thinking of converting to HID?

HID Startup current: Stock 55 watt, DDM 55 watt, HID50 50 watt

There are more, but it was time to stop.

In my search I have read where the older HID ballasts used were of the DC type that was not regulated and did not last a long time. The newer AC type regulated ballasts are reportedly lasting longer with no side effects.

This is what had me worried about ballasts that sometimes worked and then sometimes not. Draw your own conclusion.

Hope that helps.

Rick

Glad it worked for you, but when my DDM didn't work, I called them and they didn't mention a thing about these, so I asked if the canbus module would work and his answer was, probably not. Their only suggestion was that I solder a resistor into my stock headlight wiring.... Can you post up the product name so it can help others find it on Amazon?

http://www.amazon.com/Xenon-Warning-Decoder-Canceller-Capacitor/dp/B007S5FLMC
This one at $8.00
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Warning-Canceller-Anti-Flicker/dp/B002O95M3K
Here is another at $14.50.
I don't have the exact one here at this time. There are several. My bet they are all some kind of RC (resistor capacitor) circuit used to smooth out the initial surge in the HID.

There are a boatload more out there. DDM has a nice compact one for about $9 but shipping is about $20. My bet is that it is a very, very simple circuit and the ballasts advertised as CANBUS ballasts just have it built in.

But are they wasteful? If they consume 5-10w then that doesnt make me happy.

First of all, why does it make you unhappy? With all the GS's going down the road turning night into day that circuit isn't going to change anything significantly. It AIN'T going to affect gas mileage . Then again how do you actually know it is consuming 5-10w???? We really don't know what value or even if the box has a resistor in it. I'm also not so sure, and BMW isn't going to tell us what the real trigger is. We assume it is the 6 amp surge but if the box is an RC circuit it may be just rounding off a sharp peak. You know that infinite amount of current flow when a switch is turned on.

Just some food for thought. I never got a lampf error when the ambient temp was over 70 degrees. That adds several more possibilities for even more speculation.

I know that a 5-10w of extra waste (%5-10) is not really going to be noticeable using my 100w hid (which is only 20 percent efficient in lumens / watt)

Its a psychological disorder...

Btw, anyone ever got rid of the lamp error when using a relay to trigger their HID?

Teoman

Yep.

I had to use two 8 ohm resistors in series (from Radio Shack - don't remember the wattage rating right now - but they were the heaviest rated ones in the store at the time) in parallel with the power side to the relay. That way the circuit drew enough amps to keep the LampF error from showing.

Since then I have ordered two 10 ohm 50 watt Ohmite resistors from Galco as a better replacement item, just haven't put them in yet. So there may be a question of whether 20 ohms is too much resistance - I know 16 ohms draws enough amps - just don't know for certain if 20 ohms will keep the LampF error from showing up.

I should mention that on / using Hyper Lites (their suggestion) and tapping into a circuit that is monitored by the canbus system to use a diode to keep any feedback voltage from making it back to the computer. Precautionary note...

One of these days I'll put an ammeter on it to verify what it draws...

Hope that helps
Rick