NIGHTEYE A315 LED Headlight Review and Installation

The stock headlight of the 2018 BMW G310 GS is a little better than a candle in the wind. So upon the advice of other 310 GS owners I chose to upgrade to the NIGHTEYE A315 LED headlight. The difference was as huge as night and day, pun intended. Here are some unedited photos taken from my iPhone with (1) low beam, (2) low beam and high beam, and (3) low beam, high beam and auxiliary lights.

As you can see, the low beam alone is good enough. With low beam and auxiliary lights, I’m pretty much sorted. I have a powerful focussed beam that shows what is ahead of me and the auxiliary lights illuminate my immediate surroundings. From the pictures above you will notice that there was some mist on the road which the auxiliary lights took care of. Come to think of it, I should have done this a long time ago.

The nice thing about this bulb is that its a direct replacement to the stock H4 bulb. However, there is a way to install it which allows you to use the rubber casing which protects the bulb and prevents water from entering into the headlight assembly. You don’t need to cut the rubber or modify it in any way. I will list down the installation steps below. It’s pretty simple and straightforward. 

As you can see, the rear end of this headlight has a fan instead of a male plug. The male plug of this bulb sits at the end of a wire that comes from the bulb.

A regular H4 bulb has a circular disc with three locator strips radiating out from it, as can be seen in the top right of the image below.

These locators strips fit into the headlight assembly and a thin metal wire clip holds the bulb in place. To replace a bulb, all you need to do is release the wire clip, remove the bulb, fit a new one and secure it back in place using the wire clip.

To install the NIGHTEYE A315 bulb on the BMW G310 GS, the procedure is a little different. The main difference is due to the way this bulb is designed. When you take the bulb out of the box, you will notice that it has a a circular disc with the three locators just like any other H4 bulb. However, what you may not realize is that this disc can be removed from the bulb by holding the disc and twisting the bulb counter-clockwise. Basically the bulb locks into the disc like a normal pin type household light bulb. So the plan is to first install just the disc onto the headlight assembly, secure it in place using the wire clip and then fit the bulb into the disc. If you do it this way then you will have the chance to fit the rubber casing to close the rear of the bulb. Otherwise the fan at the rear of the bulb will prevent you from fitting the rubber casing. So here are the steps:

1. Unplug the headlight cable from the stock bulb
2. Remove the rubber casing
3. Release the wire clip holding the stock bulb in place
4. Remove the stock bulb
5. Remove the disc from the NIGHTEYE A315 bulb
6. Place the disc on the headlight assembly using the locator strips as a guide
7. Lock the disc in place using the wire spring
8. Fit the rubber casing
9. Gently slide the bulb through the hole of the rubber casing and press it against the disc
10. Twist the bulb clockwise to lock it into the rubber disc. This could be a little tricky. Patience helps. 
11. Connect the headlight cable to the male plug of the bulb
12. Secure the headlight cable using zip ties to the body of the motorcycle so that it doesn’t shake around.
13. Rotate the handlebar to check if the cables interfere with the headlight cable

When I saw the fan of the NIGHTEYE A315 bulb the first thought that crossed my mind was what would happen to the bulb in the rain and during a high pressure wash. The company claims that the bulb is rain resistant and the bulb itself is waterproof. It comes with a 3 year warranty. So I think I will take their word for it.

As regards cost and where to buy, there are many sellers on Amazon.in which liberally use the NIGHTEYE name in the listing, but the brand name in the product details section is something else. Also some of them list some trading company as the manufacturer, which I found weird. Seems like there are a few fake products being sold using the NIGHTEYE brand name. I bought this bulb from a fellow BMW G310 GS rider who has a motorcycle accessories store. He has been using this bulb on his 310 GS for a while now. Has also ridden in the rain and pressure washed the bike a few times.

Here is the link to the store.