I'm not sure what I'm going to call it yet. But it's ready for you. Are you ready for it?

New features:

* Slimline Design
* Snap Clip mounting clips that allow you to install it easily on any vehicle.
Integrated CCFL heating. No more cold start problems. The inverter measures the outside temperature and applies regulated heating in the proper wattage and length of time for the ambient temperature. Completely automatic operation.
* Inverters are now not common off the shelf variety. They utilize power regulation on the input and have all of the bulky relays, fuses and other jumble eliminated from the wiring harness.
* Inverters are no longer metal or plastic "computer fan" items. Ours now utilize surface mount technology and are completely silicone glue filled for absolute waterproofing. Come and see our Showroom Display where our inverters are swimming with the fishes. Will be shown on display at SEMA too.
* Pricing will be amazing, stunning, unbelievably LOW.
* Current DDE Lighting owners will get the absolute best pricing on new systems, as always. This is a completely redesigned system, everything changes.

The new DDE is ready, are you? Pictures available on-the-car, soon. We're just a little busy at the moment.

Shipping schedule to be announced as soon as the boat pulls up to the pier.

oo cant wait!

can the inverters be added on normal dde lightnings (upgrade)? or is it a whole new system. Can this new inverter warm up the dde's in -30'C (-22'F)?

and are there new systems for the e46 M3 w/ inverters? Thanx.

oo cant wait!

can the inverters be added on normal dde lightnings (upgrade)? or is it a whole new system. Can this new inverter warm up the dde's in -30'C (-22'F)?

and are there new systems for the e46 M3 w/ inverters? Thanx.

Every component is new. The new inverters can drive current halos but there is no way to add the heating to the current rings.

The inverters will correctly and automatically regulate the temperature of halos to -85 degrees fahrenheit. And they pull this off without 'cooking' rings at 50 degrees fahrenheit. The inverters measure the ambient temperature to within .25 degrees and apply just the right amount of heat for the ringht amount of time and sshut off when the halos reach operating temperature. And they keep them there even if you are above the artic circle.

So when are these expected to come out, and will it be available in 4500K colour to match XTEC hids? and will they be visible at all angles?

Yes, all angles. 5000K, 6500K, 8000K and 10,000K are availble.

The boat is on its way. Our target introduction date is September 1.

Jim

Also, DDE Lightning Enhanced Titanium Edition will remain on the market as well. People are already seeing the new pricing for Titanium. For people not affected by cold, this is a great system.

Huh? Apexcone ballasts for Xtec bulbs? Can you send me your phone number by PM so I can call you?

But yes, they work fine.

check email.

check email.

Ah, ok, extra bulbs make perfect sense.


Replied.

Well Jim I feel like I have waited for ever, anyway i can't wait, what will the prices be let me know, in case I have to work overtime to get mine.:)

Hot damn, send a set of 6000Ks my way and I'll have your "on car" pictures in no time ;)

Pricing will be much more than competitive.

Sorry Chris, I had the final production samples flown over and I'm probably going to put them on the M3 to take pics. The rest are on the boat. Soon though, very soon.

Jim, can't wait for pricing to be released, these would make a nice addition to the HIDs...

I've got to see what the off-the boat price ends up being and what the revised packaging will cost. But they are not going to suffer from the markups of the past. Not even from retailers.

:eek:



No more light boxes. :cry:rolleyes;)


Where's the pre-order button? I've been waiting a while to upgrade the GenV rings. I hope they're as painless to install as the previous versions.

No more light boxes. No more cold sart problems. No more inverter reliability issues. And since I will be carrying 3 variations: Plus, Enhanced Titanium and whatever I call this, besides its code name of CWP (cold weather package), there shouldn't be any question about what and where to get what you need.

Now to go get that other shoe to drop ;)

Awesome, when they get in I'll stop by the store to pick some up!

Jim, when is your light madness going to end?! Too many new products. They just keep getting better and better. These might make me want to upgrade AGAIN! Lights are costing me a fortune... :(

Jim, when is your light madness going to end?! Too many new products. They just keep getting better and better. These might make me want to upgrade AGAIN! Lights are costing me a fortune... :(

This might be the last one you will ever need.

Jim

how does the heating work? When the car is off or once power is applied? The reason I ask is that I don't want to come back to my car when it's 5 degrees outside and find out the battery is dead, know what i mean? :)

can't wait for the pics. Been waiting for these to get my ellipsoids + HID + DDE...

how does the heating work? When the car is off or once power is applied? The reason I ask is that I don't want to come back to my car when it's 5 degrees outside and find out the battery is dead, know what i mean? :)

can't wait for the pics. Been waiting for these to get my ellipsoids + HID + DDE...

The system contains thermistors to measure the ambient temperature. On startup, the circuit measures the temperature. If it is below a predetermined point, the heater circuit will kick in with a heating current proportional in wattage to the required temperature rise. The time to heat is also determined by the outside temperature. So at 50 degrees fahrenheit, a small heating current will run for a short time. For -50 degrees, a large heating current will run for a longer time. The heat is ramped to prevent sudden temerature changes to the lamp which would result in cracking the lamps. Additionally, there is a time limit for how long the heating will run and a dead man timer in addition to THAT to force the relay controlling the heater circuit to open in case the first timer is malfunctioning.

So no heating when the car is off. It heats proportinal in intensity and time to the ambient temperature and there are timers for heating duration and a forced off deadman timer to supervise the first timer.

Works perfectly. Patented to hell and back so you won't find this type of technology on other systems.

You just might find it in certain laptops coming to market soon though. Especially if you are a member of some branches of the armed forces.

Jim,

this is josh. I just sent you a PM about the replacement HID bulb that i need.

will this "automatic operation" drain our batteries if it sits outside during winter?

will this "automatic operation" drain our batteries if it sits outside during winter?

See post #21.

Jim

aweeesome
thanks!!!

Jim,

this is josh. I just sent you a PM about the replacement HID bulb that i need.

Josh,

I think we have your shippnig thing figured out. Can you give me a call again in the morning? I had/have you crossed up with another customer. Contact me and we can get your part right out.

Jim

i wanna see this.

Has there been any update on your pricing and shipment of these? What type of clip does it have for attachment to the HID's? Are they glued on or integrated? Do these DDE's have dead spots when viewing fro the side? What type of warranty and service will accompany this new DDE technology? Sorry for all the questions, but I am looking for a good set of DDE's and there are many different products and vendors to choose from.....

Thanks you in advance....

Jim,

I'll take a set. (6K)

I also need another set of HID's for my fogs... we talked about it a few moths ago, but now I can do both.

Put me on the wait list!

Dane

I can't wait till they come out! :redspot

BUMP!!!

Jim, Where are they? Winter is FAST approaching!!

any news on this Jim

If you're looking for him, its best to contact jim via phone call.

They're in transit, so Jim won't comment on them until they're in hand and he can confirm quality. When he's got them, he'll post pictures and details.

They're in transit, so Jim won't comment on them until they're in hand and he can confirm quality. When he's got them, he'll post pictures and details.

Can't wait :buttrock

Honestly these have to better than sliced bread. I feel like a year has gone by since we got word of it. Jim, I held of upgrading my lights because I wanted to see these before I go ahead. How much longer :))))) :(((( give us a peek, I think we have earned it. Really looking forward to seeing these.

Yeah my lights still aren't working.

keep me updated, im still in the market for a set

whats the scoop with these? they ready yet?!

me want now!

haha prolly delays in shipping

+1

I want a set to, give us the heads up

I'm sure a ton of us are waiting for these new DDEs. Come on Jim!

looking forward to this as well

hope theres enough for all of us vultures

well fellas, I just read in another thread that Jim will be back in the states on Tuesday. Hope he has some news for us when he returns.

Given that SEMA's in a couple of weeks, I'm guessing they'll debut there.

:redspot

when will this thing be out.......?????? :buttrock

:eyecrazy

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=431910

:D

Orders will be taken right after SEMA.

any pricing details?

any pricing details?

Not yet. But the non-heated version of Raptor will set a new price point. You can assume lower.

DDE Titanium will stay about where it is. There is a lot more technology and materials in the Heated version. It will be somewhat higher in pricing than todays leading brands.

Products line up roughly like this:

DDE Lightning Plus is equivalent to Predator Thinline but has always been cheaper.

DDE Lightning Raptor (unheated) is identical to Predator Chromium and will be priced significantly lower due to the significantly lower production and shipping costs involved.

DDE Lightning Titanium is still the brightest system on the market and no longer suffers from the widely mis-advertised dead spots. It will remain priced about where it is due to higher assembly and manufacturing costs associated with the parabolic backing plate and front lens assembly.

A heated version of Titanium will be available in the future.

DDE Lightning Raptor CWP will be the initial offering in the high technology heated ring arena. Raptor in the heated and unheated versions appears to be exactly the same product offering as Predator Chromium. Not knowing where Predator is produced, I cannot say for certain. But the similarities were astounding. I did draw the line at the ricey inclusion of fluorescent blue tint to the rings and removed it. So the visuals are the same. Our inverters tend to keep the rings at a somewhat elevated light output. Side by side you can see it. But it does not approach the overall brightness of Titanium. Raptor is really for the people who want a thinner profile ring. The bidding process and manufacturing to spec seem to have led to finding the same facotory. An unintended consequence. But at least there won't be any flame wars over who's ring is brighter or more visible from what angle. They are remarkably almost the exact same product at the ring level.

The difference is in the inverters and the patented technology in them.

Pricing will be more than fair, as always.

Jim

How much longer for prices and delivery? Im prob gonna end up buying some tail lights from you, so id like to pick some up in the same order..(plz check your pms)

How much longer for prices and delivery? Im prob gonna end up buying some tail lights from you, so id like to pick some up in the same order..(plz check your pms)I believe what Jim posted earlier was that pricing would be in the $100 range for the bare Raptor, and $200-250 for the CWP raptor. It has a lot to do with his retailers markup, his wholesale pricing is fairly set from what I understand, and what I have heard of it sounds very good, especially for the consumer.

How much longer for prices and delivery?
I should have pricing within a week, I just want to verify availability with Jim before adding the new DDEs to my site.

:alright Looking forward to a group buy

jim can you please clean your pms or gve me a contact number or email?

Thanks

jim can you please clean your pms or gve me a contact number or email?
Thanks

Try sales@apexcone.com (he responds to me on this email address)

Or contact me, since he's trying to focus just on the wholesale side of things.

Any chance of any new OEM color setups coming out inthe future? or are GEN Vs still the top of that market?

Any chance of any new OEM color setups coming out inthe future?
Yes! The the new DDE Raptor series will be avaliable with blue or red lenses by request. Those colors however are not street legal, so you'd need to have them on a switch separate from your running lights.

Yes! The the new DDE Raptor series will be avaliable with blue or red lenses by request. Those colors however are not street legal, so you'd need to have them on a switch separate from your running lights.

umm, by OEM color, i meant the orangy yellow halogen color of the rings that come from BMW.

umm, by OEM color, i meant the orangy yellow halogen color of the rings that come from BMW.

The issue with the orangy/yellow color is that CCFL is inherently white/blueish. There's probally something that can be done either with the rings themselves or by putting an overlaying color on the ring, but I wouldn't expect it to be released with the new product rollout happening after SEMA.

umm, by OEM color, i meant the orangy yellow halogen color of the rings that come from BMW.
Ahh, no. Hans is right, CCFL is much whiter than the halogen lighting used in the factory halos. I have seen some 4000K halos though that were a little "browner" than the standard 6500K units, might take a while to get those as they'd be custom order..

Whats the word on them. I need new dde's

Whats the word on them. I need new dde'sThey are being released after Sema (Nov. 1-7 or something like that) so tey should be available pertty soon.

any pricing yet?

Interested in upgrading mine.

Still waiting on news. Why is it that every 'promised' release never comes on time?

I need some new rings. One of my rings keeps on going out.

The new Raptor CWP halos are here now, the new inverters have been shipped this way and will be here by 12/10. Pricing is $220 shipped at understeer.com (http://www.understeer.com/onlinestore-lighting.shtml)

Any GB pricing on the new Raptors??

Any GB pricing on the new Raptors??
$220 is an intro price, it's going to up from there, not down.

Nice. I have to make a tough decision

Chris, non-CWP Raptors available? If so what's the pricing on those?

Chris, non-CWP Raptors available? If so what's the pricing on those?
I'll need to confirm that, they may have come over all complete assembled. If they shipped over without the halos assembled in to the reflector/lens assemblies, then non-CWP Raptors should be no problem. They'll be ~$130 shipped (US) for non-CWP Raptors.

Any discounts on upgrades?

Can we get detailed pics of the new Raptors? Like closeups of the rings, ballasts, and pics of them mounted? Thanks!

hmm, i thought that the enhanced titaniums were the way to go, but hearing the legendary jim powell coming out with the raptors cwp's i think that I might in fact just buy zkw's + dde raptors cwp's.

As long as they dont have the cold start problem, with one ring being dim for hours, and the price is right. I would give this a shot.

im about to dig in to them as soon as chris gets back to me. ill let you guys know if they REALLY work. i sure hope they pull through as they're supposed to... BRING IT ON -40c. this will be the true test since i park out doors aswell :(... we'll see how they do when i dont run them for a few days.
now... i just hope my car will start in -40

now my only question is... what happens if they fail?

i may upgrade mine

waiting for more info

now my only question is... what happens if they fail?My understanding is that it has smart circuits or something, if there is a short it shuts off, if there is an open circuit it shuts off, essentially it can't overheat. Then again they aren't in anyones hands yet persay, so I'm just going based on what I heard a few months back.

:needpics

:needpics


x2

Theses were posted up before, but the crash lost the posts.....


The first are Raptor vs. Titanium (the thicker ones), the last couple are installed Raptors...
http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium01_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium01.jpg)http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium02_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium02.jpg)
http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium03_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium03.jpg)http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium04_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium04.jpg)
http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium05_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor_titanium05.jpg)http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor01_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor01.jpg)
http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor02_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor02.jpg)http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor03_thumb.jpg (http://www.understeer.com/images/store/raptor03.jpg)

Chris, are the CWP's in stock yet?