¦¦¦ AutoWerks E46 LED Tail Lights Have Arrived!! ¦¦¦

Originally Posted by CNi2i

I am cautiously optimistic. I appreciate the good news , but I hope this jan. 10th date doesn't turn out to be another "dec. 16th" thing. As much as I want these taillights, I will likely pull my order if there's another delay for whatever reason.
Josh, thanks for keeping us in the loop

I absolutely understand. These delays are equally frustrating to us! You would not believe the amount of cursing and hair pulling that has gone on around our office over this product.

I promise that it will be worth the wait!

Hey Josh,
I totally understand that this entire ordeal has been very frustrating for you and your crew over at autowerks too. Obviously, you want these taillights to reach your customers asap. I agree, these taillights are worth the wait. That is why so many of us fanatics are still waiting around for these to be shipped.

Bottom line is...we'll probably all forget about the long wait if these taillights look and perform the way they should

Chris/Josh/Jim: Just a few pointers & questions regarding to the LED tail light design which bothers me so much.

First, take a look on the area circled in red. I see a gap.

Second, I was told that the "LED" pointed by yellow arrow is actually a screw. The screw probably holds a certain reason why it's there, but for me it just doesn't look good with all the LEDs. In addition, when the turn signal (all the LEDs) blinks, there'll be one spot (and that is located at the center top) of the area that won't, of course, blinks.

Third, based on all the pictures of the LED tail light installed with the trunk light, I personally think there's no "flow" as someone pointed out before. I don't feel the trunk light matches the new LED tail light. For instance, on the picture we see type 3 trunk light installed next to the LED tail light. The area circled in blue shows that the red (film? spot light? what do you call that?) is higher than the other. In addition, the white (back up) lens has a dull look, while the LED's has crystal clear look.

Furthermore, type 4 trunk light on the picture, it's just not "right" (imho) to have facelifted style trunk light next to pre-facelifted tail light. Although, I admit it's the best bet to match the LED tail light in manner of "crystal clear look" both the red & white lens.

But again, it just doesn't "flow." Call me conservative, call me factory design fanatic. I do believe that's why BMW looks like BMW. I'm aware that this is not OEM BMW LED tail light and that is also why it won't possess the OEM perfection (Oh, did I mention the inner ring of brake light is more curved that the outer?). But hey! You guys did a excellent job in designing it to match the OEM spec But why stop at, let's say, 90%? Why don't you guys go all the way to 100% OEM BMW?

I don't think it'll ever be completely oem since the sedan tails are almost 1 inch taller than coupes? If you think about it and you have a original that isn't tall enough...wouldn't you just enlarge the reflector at the bottom? I think thats also why the curvature is off...The shape of the tails are slight different where there wasn't space to make it even on both sides? I think its already pretty damn good for a non-oem...





The real question is when are they ready to shipppppp

You might think I intend to find and point only to look for flaws. But that's not the case. I just want the LED tail light to be in high-quality the same as you do. Oh yeah, did I mention that I work as a QC manager?

it will look retarded if theres a led missing cause of a screw...it would look like a blown out led....not cool

I want this to end so my sister can get hers!

I think that the alignment issue highlighted in blue may be caused by the trunk being out of whack. It doesn't look right in the pictures. I'm not saying that the lights caused this, or didn't for that matter, just that the whole trunk may be throwing off perspective. Pics on another car may clear that up.

Wow, you have a good eye for detail! Let me try to address each of your issues.

Originally Posted by chandz

First, take a look on the area circled in red. I see a gap.

There is no gap, although in that particular picture the shadow makes it look that way. Look at the other shots and you cannot see a gap in that area.

Originally Posted by chandz

Second, I was told that the "LED" pointed by yellow arrow is actually a screw.

Yup, it's a screw in the sedan version only. There is a mounting point behind that screw and it didn't leave room to put an LED there. I agree that this is not an ideal solution and while I am no engineer, I would have hoped that they could figure something else out. Not much we can do about this one - the molds are done and that screw is there to stay for now - sorry.

Originally Posted by chandz

The area circled in blue shows that the red (film? spot light? what do you call that?) is higher than the other.

Actually, this isn't a misalignment of the lenses - it's the trunk. Take a look at the trunk light opening - not the light. It is sitting too high and makes the lenses look misaligned. We either didn't have the trunk closed all the way or Brad's trunk alighment is slightly off. The lenses have the same outer dimensions as the OEM units and use the same mounting points, so everything lines up as it should.

Trunk light selection will end up being a personal choice. I really like the Type 3 trunk light because I think it flows the best but the lens materials are not a perfect match. Type 4 is crystal clear but does not flow as well. I think they both look good, so it comes down to preference. I think the question becomes "Does it look better than my sad old halogen setup?"

You're the man, Josh!

Having finally seen pictures of the LED's....is it just me or do the trunk lights look like an afterthought? They look like completely different lights -- rather I should say, two different brands. I'm all for the main LED's -- they look awesome, but how can anyone feel comfortable with the obvious difference in the trunk lights? Perhaps im too anal, but at least my existing lights look like they belong together....all depends on whats important to you I guess...

Not a rant...just my $.02.. on top of other comments posted that were similar...

I am in total agreement here....

Originally Posted by chandz

Chris/Josh/Jim: Just a few pointers & questions regarding to the LED tail light design which bothers me so much.

First, take a look on the area circled in red. I see a gap.

Second, I was told that the "LED" pointed by yellow arrow is actually a screw. The screw probably holds a certain reason why it's there, but for me it just doesn't look good with all the LEDs. In addition, when the turn signal (all the LEDs) blinks, there'll be one spot (and that is located at the center top) of the area that won't, of course, blinks.

Third, based on all the pictures of the LED tail light installed with the trunk light, I personally think there's no "flow" as someone pointed out before. I don't feel the trunk light matches the new LED tail light. For instance, on the picture we see type 3 trunk light installed next to the LED tail light. The area circled in blue shows that the red (film? spot light? what do you call that?) is higher than the other. In addition, the white (back up) lens has a dull look, while the LED's has crystal clear look.

Furthermore, type 4 trunk light on the picture, it's just not "right" (imho) to have facelifted style trunk light next to pre-facelifted tail light. Although, I admit it's the best bet to match the LED tail light in manner of "crystal clear look" both the red & white lens.

But again, it just doesn't "flow." Call me conservative, call me factory design fanatic. I do believe that's why BMW looks like BMW. I'm aware that this is not OEM BMW LED tail light and that is also why it won't possess the OEM perfection (Oh, did I mention the inner ring of brake light is more curved that the outer?). But hey! You guys did a excellent job in designing it to match the OEM spec But why stop at, let's say, 90%? Why don't you guys go all the way to 100% OEM BMW?

thank god the coupe leds dont have that screw.....i got scared there for a second.

Hi Josh,
I unfortunately have to cancel my order right now #18283. I appreciate all of your help and dedication to this new product. I just can't live with the "screw" in place of an LED bulb. I know its minor, but I'm picky that way.
This has nothing to do with you or Autowerks whatsoever. This is just a personal decision.
So, please cancel my order # 18283 and please confirm this cancellation with me via email or pm.
Hopefully, we can do business sometime soon in the future.

Can we please get a good, stright on, close up photo of the type 4 trunk lights next to the taillights like you have of the type 3? I might want to switch which trunk lights I am getting. Thanks!

CNi2i, you couldn't email him and tell him? Or maybe call him? You had to post it in a public forum for everyone to see. I don't understand that.

Originally Posted by Xenomanon

CNi2i, you couldn't email him and tell him? Or maybe call him? You had to post it in a public forum for everyone to see. I don't understand that.

I really like Josh and autowerks. I definitely didn't intend to hurt their reputation in anyways. I've talked to Josh over the phone, and he is very nice and professional. So my bad for posting that message. I can see how it looks now.
Again, I said that this is not anything personal againt autowerks. I just wanted to make sure that my order could be canceled before it ships out to avoid any other confusion.

I personally think they look great and when I get my E46 Sedan I'm definitely going to get them. I just can't wait to put them on my sister's car and see how they look, then that will be the final deciding factor for myself. I honestly don't mind the screw, it doesn't look nearly as bad as any one makes it seem. Just be happy that it's not some other tail light that is a mix of LEDs/Bulb. This will be the closest thing to OEM LEDs for Sedans. for LEDs!

I am sure there are a lot of fanatics who love the sedan taillights like yourself. I really doubt what I said will change anyone's decision on whether to buy or not. What I wrote was a "trigger response," b/c this was the first time I realized that there was going to be a screw there. It just caught me off guard. I might be missing out on something really good, but that's just my personal taste.
Enjoy your taillights.

My bad for pointing out the screw then Anyway, these are just some facts (flaws/imperfections) some people including me found from the picture. Perhaps there'll be more to be found when the LED tail lights arrive in our hands. Perhaps there'll be less. Who knows? But one thing for sure, I haven't heard a refund policy on this. What if we changed our mind later when we installed it and said, "Hmm, I don't think it looks good on my car"?

I'm not trying to discourage people from buying this product. With respect, I raise my hat on Chris/Josh/Jim's efforts in developing the tail light. Like some people say, this is the best thing among all the E46 sedan LED tail lights in the market now that is closest to OEM specs and I 100% agree to that. But from my observation experiences, there'll always be next version. Before this one, you guys know there's DEPO version. And before DEPO, there's you-know-what version that looks awful to me (try a search on eBay). Another perfect example is E46 DDE/Angel Eyes. There are so many version that I've lost track to.

Well, my point is there will be next version of Chris/Josh/Jim' LEDs tail light. I believe they will do something to further enhance it. May it be the new trunk light to match the LED tail light? v1.1 of the LED without the screw? Who knows? But one thing for sure, I wait. Frankly, I almost placed my order. However, due to the reasons above, I wait. Perhaps until I see the LED in person and test it myself from local retailer or from other fellow E46 fanatics.