anyone purchased their angel eyes through jlevi?

[Weasel]

Originally Posted by Ldiggs910

Jlevi sucks! I bought the Umnitza Angel eye kit. Upon installation I cracked one of the rings by flexing it too much (AAARRRGGHHH!!! pain in the ass to bake those headlights twice!!). Anyway, I called them to say I needed a replacement ring immediately. I needed the bigger of the two rings. They charged me $48 shipped for a new large ring.

They took a few weeks to send it and in my frustration I started browsing on ebay. I forget the seller, but I found an ebay ad that had pictures of an angel eye kit with the various parts shown sitting atop the packaging.

The pictures of this ebay kit were identical to my $200 Umnitza kit. And this kit was only $60 shipped!!! Well to Jlevis credit, the ebay kit didnt include the wiring harness that allows the angel eyes to illuminate upon a door opening and when the car is started but all headlights/parking lights are off. But you could still hook this kit to the parking or fog lights and turn them on that way.

I ordered the $60 ebay kit just in case which ironically arrived the same day as the $48 Jlevi replacement ring. Here's the irony:

The Umnitza replacement ring was simply a neon tube, naked and unsheathed in the plastic. I was supposed to open the old plastic ring, take out the broken neon tube and replace it with the new. Additionally, the connector on the end was not the same so I would have had to splice a connector onto the end to plug into the ballasts.

The $60 ebay kit was 100% identical to the $200 "Umnitza" kit I received. The only difference was, as I said, there was no wiring harness included, the label on the identical ballast looked a little different and the box was a little smaller. But other than that everything including the very packaging was the same.

I wound up flexing another ring and breaking it upon installation so I had two ebay rings in one headlamp assembly and two "Umnitza" in the other.
The install came out great, there is absolutely no discernible difference in quality between the two and basically Umnitza GOT US ALL THAT BOUGHT THEIR KIT!!!

Then I had to fight with them to get my $48 back for the ring that I didnt use because I was saying it wasnt the same as the one that came in the package. Eventually they conceded but it was such a friggin hassle! Dont buy anything from them!!!

UMNITZA!!!

Is jlevi affiliated with umnitza? I thought they were 2 different "companies"

[ekvals]

You should check out www.cargym.com too..

They can probably provide you with AE ballas's if you send them an email..

I bought a set earlier where one of the inverter/ballast stopped working..
They sent me a replacement straight away..

Also when two of the AE rings stopped working, which might have been my own fault , they sent me replacements..

Good prices, and great service..

[simoncpw]

I believe Umnitza branded some of the products with their name, and Jlevi was selling for them at some point. But looks like they broke up too and I don't see Jlevi listing any of Umnitza's products.... such as the famous P53.

Originally Posted by Weasel

Is jlevi affiliated with umnitza? I thought they were 2 different "companies"

[JT///MC]

I'm sorry you guys had to find out the hard way. Umnitza is the worst vendor. Period. Don't ask me how I know. I've been on BMW forums since 2000 and he is by far the biggest/shadiest vendor. JLevi was pretty good but for some reason they decided to join forces and thats probably where they went wrong.

The only vendor I use now is EuroDyne and DDMTunning. You guys should avoid Umnitza at all costs.

[Major04]

Hey y'all...I would have to agree with Umnitza is the worst vendor.

Also, concerning those ballast/inverter? There has been some cases where the wiring has melted and cause some fires, especially around the connector from the inverter to the angel eyes. I know this 'cause my car almost caught on fire. If you are in a process of changing the eyes...IMO try to see about getting some LEDs. And you will not need the ballast/inverter. I do not know if someone makes LEDs for the X5s, but I know they make them for the E46s.

When or If you do get LED angel eyes. It's simply to wire up...just cut off the ballast/inverter and hard wire it directly from your old wiring.

Good Luck - everyone.

[Ldiggs910]

Originally Posted by simoncpw

I believe Umnitza branded some of the products with their name, and Jlevi was selling for them at some point. But looks like they broke up too and I don't see Jlevi listing any of Umnitza's products.... such as the famous P53.

Yeah I just looked on their website, I see no Umnitza stuff either. I guess they are separate companies so forgive me for beating up on Umnitza. I really meant Jlevi...

[X5Dawg]

We have two issues here - defective products from Umnitza and crappy customer service from jlevi - both are at fault...

[blackbeauty]

TY all for your response. i knew i couldn't be the only one with ring problems. it stinks though b/c i know some people that have ae's and rarely have to change the ballasts, if ever. i have to figure out what i'm going to do...get replacement ballasts which is a temporary solution or purchase a new AE kit and start from scratch.

nymench: photos of what?

[JT///MC]

BTW, yes, I broke a ring just like you did on install. Yes they ripped me off on a $40 replacement ring. And NO, it did not match my other rings already installed. And Yes, I had to pry the whole thing apart and glue it back. The ring should have been FREE. Bitches.

[blackbeauty]

Originally Posted by X5Dawg

We have two issues here - defective products from Umnitza and crappy customer service from jlevi - both are at fault...