Darla FAQs

The outside diameter of our Darla lights is just over 2 inches. It is approximately about 2 inches deep.

Each 2-inch diameter light plus the housing weighs approximately 7 ounces.

Darlas provide approximately 2,400 lumens per light.

At full power, Darlas use about 24 watts. As you reduce the intensity of the light using the adjustable control knob, the power usage drops significantly.
To get the most illumination possible, we designed a digital switching power supply to increase the efficiency of the LEDs. By combining this with the most recently developed LEDs, we are able to produce over 4 times the amount of light than a traditional halogen filament bulb can produce. We also researched and utilize the most unique spectra in our lights.
Because Darla is so unlike any halogen bulb headlight on the road, you WILL be noticed.

We consider Darlas to be a combination of a fog and visibility light; however, due to the adjustable “dimming” feature, they serve multiple purposes.
These lights are primarily for conspicuity (visibility to other motorists) rather than "down the road" illumination. Some customers have commented that even in bright sunlight, cars move over in front of them during their daily commute, whereas before our lights, they were constantly ignored. I find the car pool lane here in CA rarely has a car ignoring my approach from behind.
Although illumination is not the primary function of the Darlas, they will illuminate road signs, reflectors, and deer retinas much better than standard or halogen lights due to the higher bandwidth of light energy. You might be amazed at how far away exit signs can be seen.
Because all of our lights are much too bright to leave on “high” at night, we have designed a computer-controlled, adjustable control knob. It mounts on your handlebar and allows you to control the brightness of our lights via the digital controller in each light. Our "high/low" relay option is a useful recent addition to our lights. It allows you to "set" the intensity of the lights for the LOW beam switch position. When you switch your factory HIGH beams on, our lights switch to high as well. When you turn the factory high beams off, our lights then return to the brightness setting previously selected on the adjustable knob, which can be further adjusted depending on your driving conditions. This way, you don't have to control both lights with two switches.
We suggest you utilize the full brightness to maximize your conspicuity during daytime traffic or on open roads, then lower the brightness utilizing the adjustable control knob for use in nighttime traffic. Using the "flash to pass" headlight switch provides an additional way to demand attention when necessary.

Oncoming glare is reduced by utilizing the adjustable dimming knob, as well as your factory high beam switch. The dimming knob sets the brightness of our lights for the LOW beam switch position. When the HIGH beams are selected, our lights switch to high too. So, you simply need to dim your headlights with oncoming cars.
These lights are meant to improve your conspicuity and to add to side illumination by utilizing a unique and noticeable visible spectrum of light. By designing the beam to be broad reaching, we assure that you will be very noticeable in adjacent lanes of traffic, at night and in full sunlight.

No; you can control the brightness of the lights at the low beam setting by utilizing the adjustable control knob. We suggest that you keep Darlas on all the time, to afford you the most visibility in any situation.

You may have an H4 headlight, where the low beam and high beam are contained in the same bulb. In these kinds of bulbs, the low beam turns off when the high beam is activated; the red power wire connected to your H4 headlight wire turns OFF when you switch to HIGH beam.
You need to find an alternative source for the red wire. Try some other switched hot wire, such as GPS, or Aux...

We cannot use the same wiring because the factory BMW wiring cannot accommodate the adjustable control knob.

Many of our customers choose to run Darlas with their larger, brighter lights for added daytime and nighttime conspicuity. The wiring harness that comes with our 3.7 inch and larger lights includes a hook-up for our Darla lights so that one adjustable control knob, can controls both sets of lights. When you add Darlas to your order, you receive the standard Darla lights and bikespecific brackets, but not the unnecessary Darla wiring harness. This allows us to offer the Darla kit at a reduced cost when sold in combination with another light set.