[mblaucoupe135]

So I have noticed recently that sometimes the display between the tachometer and speedometer that shows what gear you are in, number of miles on the car, etc. , sometimes changes from orange to white and back again while driving. I thought at first it had something to do with the headlights being on, but after watching it the last few days, this doesn't seem to affect it. Has anyone else noticed this? If so, any idea why it changes colors for no apparent reason and without me doing anything?

[BEM-S4]

Your first guess was close, it's for day and night driving. Annoying in low light daytime for instance when it bounces back and forth.

[BoomWasabi]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Annoying in low light daytime for instance when it bounces back and forth.

Also annoying that at low light it's getting out of sync sometimes. Top part with speedo/tach gauges turns orange, but bottom LCD panel (and AC display) stays white for a while. And then when it gets darker, everything turns orange. Such an obvious bug.

[B.a.f]

When the bottom part is white it's not lighted at all in fact...

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by B.a.f

When the bottom part is white it's not lighted at all in fact...

And this state is the most annoying of all possible combinations - one of those many "cost reduction" stupidities BMW implemented in their lower series vehicles to remind the owner he paid a little less than he would for similar engine class vehicle of a higher series. Don't know about the 3 series, but the dash illumination in my F10 was either all red (night illumination), or all white (but actually illuminated white) for daylight, when everything was consistent and elegant. BTW I wonder how much BMW actually saves by not illuminating the upper portion of the dash during dusk hours...

[nike001]

It's light.

When it's light outside, it's white. When it's dark enough for your auto headlights to turn on, it's orange.

Originally Posted by moldcad

And this state is the most annoying of all possible combinations - one of those many "cost reduction" stupidities BMW implemented in their lower series vehicles to remind the owner he paid a little less than he would for similar engine class vehicle of a higher series. Don't know about the 3 series, but the dash illumination in my F10 was either all red (night illumination), or all white (but actually illuminated white) for daylight, when everything was consistent and elegant. BTW I wonder how much BMW actually saves by not illuminating the upper portion of the dash during dusk hours...

Holy god.

Only in some of the higher BMW's did BMW put regular lighting behind the dash cluster. Almost EVERY other BMW before the F10 never had dash lighting during the day. The regular 3 doesn't have it. Get over it.

[mblaucoupe135]

Originally Posted by nike001

It's light.

When it's light outside, it's white. When it's dark enough for your auto headlights to turn on, it's orange.

Holy god.

Only in some of the higher BMW's did BMW put regular lighting behind the dash cluster. Almost EVERY other BMW before the F10 never had dash lighting during the day. The regular 3 doesn't have it. Get over it.

Thanks all for the replies. It does seem odd it would function this way, but at least now I know why it is changing colors.

[BEM-S4]

Probably the only thing I miss about my old Saab was the blackout button that would turn all interior lighting off for night driving. That was a nice feature.

[skeeedunt]

Wonder if any aspects of this are code-able. The white looks more modern to me and I might turn it on all the time if possible, not sure if I'd regret it at night though.

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by nike001

Only in some of the higher BMW's did BMW put regular lighting behind the dash cluster. Almost EVERY other BMW before the F10 never had dash lighting during the day. The regular 3 doesn't have it. Get over it.

And yet my pedestrian-looking, modest Golf R has the clocks permanently back-illuminated (in white all around the clock, pun unintended), and it looks neat especially with the light intensity automatically regulated by the level of ambient light. Compared to this, our "premium" M235i's dash can sometimes look like broken - e.g. driving through a short tunnel it's not dark enough for the all-red illumination to kick in, but the lower white-illuminated portion looks even whiter in semi-dark while the main portion of the clocks (including scales and needles) don't reflect enough light - the result looking terrible.

Of course I know most of the cars still only have dashboard illumination at dark (just like my old good E46 used to do)- the trick is that if entire clock is at the same level of illumination it just looks "normal", while with the main portion almost invisible and the lower portion unnaturally bright - it looks as something is wrong...

[Ruhnie]

Originally Posted by moldcad

And yet my pedestrian-looking, modest Golf R has the clocks permanently back-illuminated (in white all around the clock, pun unintended), and it looks neat especially with the light intensity automatically regulated by the level of ambient light. Compared to this, our "premium" M235i's dash can sometimes look like broken - e.g. driving through a short tunnel it's not dark enough for the all-red illumination to kick in, but the lower white-illuminated portion looks even whiter in semi-dark while the main portion of the clocks (including scales and needles) don't reflect enough light - the result looking terrible.

Of course I know most of the cars still only have dashboard illumination at dark (just like my old good E46 used to do)- the trick is that if entire clock is at the same level of illumination it just looks "normal", while with the main portion almost invisible and the lower portion unnaturally bright - it looks as something is wrong...

I just assumed there was a way to change the brightness level of that backlit panel/screen thing somewhere, but haven't come across it. If it's not something you can change that sucks, I agree it looks bad.

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by skeeedunt

Wonder if any aspects of this are code-able. The white looks more modern to me and I might turn it on all the time if possible, not sure if I'd regret it at night though.

Unfortunately you cannot "turn it on all the time" as the main/upper portion of the clocks do not have white illumination at all - in daylight they are supposed to reflect the ambient light (in white, since the scale, needles and the ring are white). The only actual back-light source in that area is red, and comes on in the dark. Bummer.

[mblaucoupe135]

since our cars don't have oil temp gauges, I was kind of hoping it was orange until the car warmed up at which time it would turn white, signaling that you could now rip on it. that would have been really cool!

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by Ruhnie

I just assumed there was a way to change the brightness level of that backlit panel/screen thing somewhere, but haven't come across it. If it's not something you can change that sucks, I agree it looks bad.

Very bad indeed - luckily not permanent...With enough daylight falling on the dash from the back, you can't see a difference between the white-illuminated area and not illuminated remaining portion - especially that the more ambient light, the lower white illumination intensity.

As I said, all is OK in the dark (all is evenly illuminated red); the worst scenario is the big contrast with daylight only coming from the front (like when you're at the end of a tunnel): not enough ambient light for the main portion to reflect light in white, with the white illuminated lower portion adopting its highest intensity.

[nike001]

Originally Posted by moldcad

And yet my pedestrian-looking, modest Golf R has the clocks permanently back-illuminated (in white all around the clock, pun unintended), and it looks neat especially with the light intensity automatically regulated by the level of ambient light. Compared to this, our "premium" M235i's dash can sometimes look like broken - e.g. driving through a short tunnel it's not dark enough for the all-red illumination to kick in, but the lower white-illuminated portion looks even whiter in semi-dark while the main portion of the clocks (including scales and needles) don't reflect enough light - the result looking terrible.

...and Toyota's have back-up cameras and lane assist as standard equipment. All car's cannot be a like.

Hell, before 2015.. bluetooth streaming wasn't even standard equipment on BMW's and yet Ford/Toyota/etc had it for a year or two as standard.

[BoomWasabi]

Originally Posted by B.a.f

When the bottom part is white it's not lighted at all in fact...

Wait, what? The bottom part is LCD. It doesn't work without source of light behind it.

[B.a.f]

Originally Posted by BoomWasabi

Wait, what? The bottom part is LCD. It doesn't work without source of light behind it.

Sometimes (not easy to say exactly when...) the gas gauge and the m.p.g. part is completely switched off. I noticed that during daytime when one enters a tunnel, then, if it's long enough, it turns red...

[HTTP 410]

My 2015 climate control lights are always orange. How do you make them white? I know how to change the ambient lighting in iDrive, but it doesn't effect the climate area apparently.

Originally Posted by nike001

It's light.

When it's light outside, it's white. When it's dark enough for your auto headlights to turn on, it's orange.



Holy god.

Only in some of the higher BMW's did BMW put regular lighting behind the dash cluster. Almost EVERY other BMW before the F10 never had dash lighting during the day. The regular 3 doesn't have it. Get over it.

[German1967]

Originally Posted by RBBuff

My 2015 climate control lights are always orange. How do you make them white? I know how to change the ambient lighting in iDrive, but it doesn't effect the climate area apparently.

You cannot turn them white. It is a different unit. BMW updated late MY 2015 builds with the new HVAC unit that has silver frames and the white/ orange light unit. Those cars also have the NBT EVO nav unit with OTA map updates.

[HTTP 410]

Well damn...

Originally Posted by German1967

You cannot turn them white. It is a different unit. BMW updated late MY 2015 builds with the new HVAC unit that has silver frames and the white/ orange light unit. Those cars also have the NBT EVO nav unit with OTA map updates.

[BoomWasabi]

Originally Posted by B.a.f

Sometimes (not easy to say exactly when...) the gas gauge and the m.p.g. part is completely switched off. I noticed that during daytime when one enters a tunnel, then, if it's long enough, it turns red...

Oh, I see. I have "extended" LCD, so only the fuel gauge is mechanical. When the car is off, Both LCD and the fuel gauge are (almost) invisible. While driving bottom part could be either white or orange depending on the lightning.

Here is the pic. First is daytime, second is daytime with exterior lights on, third is nighttime.

[jgunnz]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Probably the only thing I miss about my old Saab was the blackout button that would turn all interior lighting off for night driving. That was a nice feature.

I miss that from mine too.