This is Part 3 of my review of the 2016 BMW S1000XR. If you haven’t already, be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2.

LED Headlight Installation

BMW’s S1000XR comes with antiquated incandescent bulbs that don’t throw a lot of light.  Here’s how to replace your stock headlights with brighter, longer lasting LED bulbs. A special thanks to my friend, Jerry Skene of Skene Design, for his instructions and photos.

 

I bought high quality LED headlights direct from China, from this eBay seller. These bulbs are very bright and have a fairly compact design that is compatible with the even more compact design of the OEM headlight shell. They also have built in load resistors, so they do not generate the dreaded LAMP FAIL warning. Their fanless design reduces the possibility of mechanical breakdown.1

BMW uses a small twist cap on the rear of the headlight. This must be removed in order to provide enough space for the rear of the LED bulb. To seal up the rear of the shell I used these flexing rubber boots:

Instructions

1. Remove the stock high and low beam bulbs:
   • Remove rear covers on the headlights by twisting them counter clockwise
   • Unplug the 2-pin socket from the bulb. Rock this back and forth while pulling
   • Release the wire bail around the rear of the bulb by squeezing each end inward so it comes free of headlight shell’s metal clip
   • Flip the bail up and out of the way and pull bulb out
2. Cut a ½” hole in the end of each boot. I used scissors for this.
3. Push the LED through the hole from the back of the boot, and pull the boot rearward until it clears the bulb.
   • Insert the 2-prong connector on the LED harness through the hole in the boot from the rear so both protrude out the front.
   • Slide the boot down to leave some space between the bulb and the boot (photo 2).
4. For a clean and reliable installation it is desirable to have the connector to the OEM socket inside the boot as shown.
   • This means that the connector must be pushed into the headlight housing beside the bulb.
   • Unfortunately, the OEM connector is too large for this. The solution is to remove the metal sockets from the plastic connector housing and not use the housing (photo 3).
5. The sockets can then be installed on each of the pins of the LED’s 2-prong connector (photo 4).
6. After the connector contacts are installed, it is necessary to insulate the connector so it will not make electrical contact with the headlight shell. I used black Rescue Tape (photo 5).
7. This will now be small enough that it can be pushed into the space between the headlight reflector and the headlight shell (photo 6).
8. Now insert the LED bulb into the reflector and do up the clips on the wire bail (photo 7).
9. You can now stretch the boot over the headlight shell opening and close it up. You should secure the LED’s ballast block to a nearby part of he headlight shell. I used some stick-on velcro for this (photo 8).

LED Parking Light Bulbs

I swapped out the incandescent parking light bulbs with 6000 Kelvin LED replacements. They look great and make your S1000XR much more visible. Unfortunately, both Sylvania and Philips bulbs create a LAMPF error that require you to either install a load resistor or use a tool like Motoscan to clear the error.2

LED Turn Signal Bulbs

I also purchased LED bulbs that are much brighter than the stock incandescent bulbs. As with the parking lights, these will create a LAMPF error.

Visibility & Safety

Other items on my visibility to-do list include:

• Skene Lights P3-D-TS (decelerometer brake lights)
• Skene Lights Photon Blaster-A-TS
• Skene Lights IQ-270-A intelligent headlight controller

 

Next: Part 4

Be sure to read Part 4, where I cover upgrading the stock S1000XR horn.

Updated on November 20th, 2018