[AlpsRider]

My car is a 2016 M235i, I replaced the turn signal, brake and back up bulbs with LED lights.

The bulb codes on each line are all correct. Different sites may use any or all of the codes as a description, that is why they are all listed.

Front turn signal: two pieces, 1156PY, 7507, BAU15s (amber)

Rear turn signal: two pieces, 1156, 7506, BA15s (red)
Rear Brake lights: six pieces, 1156, 7506, BA15S, (red)
Rear Backup lights: two pieces,1156, 7506, BA15s (white)

That is a total of twelve LED lights that I installed that cost less than $140. I evaluated several lights from different vendors. The latest 2835 LED chips are bright and efficient, they are also mounted on aluminum circuit boards instead of fiberglass.

Rear lights: 1156, BA15S, 7506

White lights will work at the rear of the car since they illuminate through colored plastic, but I like the look of the red LEDs, they emit a very rich red color similar to factory installed BMW LED lights. I bought the red ones for the brake and rear turn signal lights along with white LEDs for the rear backup lights from here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._st_dp_summary or here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1), they are for the rear of the car 1156, BA15S, 7506 and will not fit in the front turn signal socket. These lights are much brighter than the stock bulbs, there has been no error messages or hyper flash with my car. Amazon has an easy return policy and free two day shipping in the US for Prime members.

I tried a few different amber lights for the rear turn signals, only one type that I tested was able to emit a convincing amber color through the red plastic lens, all the others still looked orange/red. The 50 watt amber Cree bulb illuminated a strong amber color but it wasn't as bright as the 2835 red LEDs that I used for the brake lights. I decided that I preferred the deep red over amber for the rear turn signals. The new BMW 4,5,6 and 7 series I've seen in the US come with red LED turn signal lights at the rear. This is where I bought the amber rear lights http://www.ebay.com/itm/172185266736...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT.

Front turn signal: 1156PY, 7507, BAU15s

I think the front turn signals should by law emit amber light. I bought these LED lights on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/231759398547...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ), these are for the front turn signals only 1156PY, 7507, BAU15s. The lights are much brighter than stock and have a nice appearance. The silver finish of the LEDs look good through the clear head light lenses. I haven't had any error messages or hyper flash with these lights. I was unsuccessful at finding a US source for these. Although the vendor is in China, the purchase is made through ebay in the US using PayPal, they shipped to me in 7 days from the time that I ordered to delivery. I returned a set that I didn't use, they were very professional and gave me a full refund.

Sirius from Amazon offered to give me a bulk forum discount. If someone wants to negotiate a group discount with Sirius, they are open to the idea. The prices are already pretty good compared to other purchase options that have been posted in other threads, but why not try for a % discount?

All LED lights do the quick "light show" which is the car checking the bulbs on startup, I've seen a video that shows it somewhere on this forum. It's harmless and is in fact kinda cool. The only slightly annoying thing about LED lights in our cars is a single flicker when the car periodically checks the lights, it is hardly noticeable and can apparently be coded out. I haven't done it yet, it's not a high priority and can wait until I do a major coding day.

I have no affiliation with any sources that I mentioned.


Installation instructions:

Tools needed
10mm socket, flat blade screwdriver, soft cloth to protect signal lens


Push on the tabs to release the door behind the front turn signal.



Reach through the hole, turn the light socket counter clockwise.
The front BAU15S bulbs have a 150 degree pin offset, so the new LEDs can be screwed into the socket only one way. Push down on the bulb and turn to release it.


Tail light removal
Remove the two 10mm nuts. There is a third rubber friction fit pin which will need a little jiggling to break it loose. On my car one side was easy to pull out and the other side not so much. Once the housing is dislodged, hold it with both hands rolling it up and slightly tilted to the side, be careful not to scratch the paint on the bumber. You might want to apply some Duct tape around the bumper rim. If it is done correctly the housing will not scrape on the bumper, it will just roll out and away from the car, don't force it.
You'll probably need a screwdriver to release the lock pin before unplugging the wire.



Place the tail light assembly face down on a soft cloth. The tabs around the bulb plate are strong, pry them out to release the pins.



Install the new LEDs
These BA15S lights have a 180 degree pin configuration, they can be rotated and screwed in either way.



Reassemble, enjoy your bright and colorful LEDs

I took a few pics with my phone. The LEDs are the brighter of the lights shown in all the photo/videos. Unfortunately it is impossible to show how good they look with such limited image quality, the bright light just blows out the highlights. I decided to take another pic inside the garage with the light reflecting off of the door. These lights are a nice deep red compared to the original orange/red of the incandescent bulbs which doesn't properly show up in the pics. The LEDs really are much brighter than the stock bulbs. They are also safer because there is no lag in illumination. I think it's a crime that a $50,000. car is still being shipped with incandescent bulbs.
Sorry about the awful phone pics.

[mjsaville]

Do you have pictures, before and after?

cheers

MJ

[AlpsRider]

Installation pics are up

[Spydeputy]

The periodic bulb check is not a concern to me either. if someone sees it it draws their eye to your car, and they see you.
That's what the lights are there to do in the first place!

[Drpoomanchu]

Thanks for the post, i would also like to see pics. I am interested in upgrading to LEDs sometime soon ..

[Chr2004]

Def interested in LED's and a group buy!

[AlpsRider]

Originally Posted by Chr2004

Def interested in LED's and a group buy!

I think you guys should try, I already bought and installed mine. I approached both sources from Amazon, Sirius responded positively to the idea of a group buy.

[Drpoomanchu]

Originally Posted by AlpsRider

I think you guys should try, I already bought and installed mine. I approached both sources from Amazon, Sirius responded positively to the idea of a group buy.

I am definitely interested in a group buy

[gtmax500]

Could someone explain all those numbers? I did some googling and determined that 1156 is the bulb size and BAU15s is the base but the links OP provided only have 1156, no BAU15s or the the numbers beginning with a 7. Also some places say 1156 is not interchangeable with BAU15s because of the offset so if I wanted to buy what OP did which options would I need from the amazon page? Thanks in advance!

[AlpsRider]

Originally Posted by gtmax500

Could someone explain all those numbers? I did some googling and determined that 1156 is the bulb size and BAU15s is the base but the links OP provided only have 1156, no BAU15s or the the numbers beginning with a 7. Also some places say 1156 is not interchangeable with BAU15s because of the offset so if I wanted to buy what OP did which options would I need from the amazon page? Thanks in advance!

I've edited the first page. I hope it is more clear now.

The codes listed for each bulb 1156, 7506, BA15S are each different codes which apply to that light. They are all correct independently, different sites may use any of those codes, they are all correct. I listed them all for that reason.

1156, 7506, BA15S lights have sockets with the pins at 180 degrees which is exactly opposite from each other. These lights fit in the sockets of the rear tail light housing.

1156PY, 7507, BAU15s lights have socket pins at a 150 degree spacing, they are for the front turn signals only. They will not fit in the rear light sockets.

Also, I listed lights that work. I tried some that produced a hyper flash with the turn signals so when you're looking around keep that in mind.

The lights I listed from the Amazon page are 1156, BA15S, 7506 LEDs for the rear tail light sockets.

You can order the front turn signal lights from eBay with the link that I provided, their codes are 1156PY, 7507, BAU15s.

[gtmax500]

Originally Posted by AlpsRider

I've edited the first page. I hope it is more clear now.

The codes listed for each bulb 1156, 7506, BA15S are each different codes which apply to that light. They are all correct independently, different sites may use any of those codes, they are all correct. I listed them all for that reason.

1156, 7506, BA15S lights have sockets with the pins at 180 degrees which is exactly opposite from each other. These lights fit in the sockets of the rear tail light housing.

1156PY, 7507, BAU15s lights have socket pins at a 150 degree spacing, they are for the front turn signals only. They will not fit in the rear light sockets.

Also, I listed lights that work. I tried some that produced a hyper flash with the turn signals so when you're looking around keep that in mind.

The lights I listed from the Amazon page are 1156, BA15S, 7506 LEDs for the rear tail light sockets.

You can order the front turn signal lights from eBay with the link that I provided, their codes are 1156PY, 7507, BAU15s.

Perfect. Thanks!

[robman23]

Great post!

[robman23]

I replaced mine this past weekend based on this post. Pretty simple DIY. The only part that had me thinking was how to pull the rear light fixture off the car once the two nuts were removed. simply pull straight back about three inches. The sucktion (sp) like plug will release. Great post AlpsRider.

[AlpsRider]

Originally Posted by robman23

I replaced mine this past weekend based on this post. Pretty simple DIY. The only part that had me thinking was how to pull the rear light fixture off the car once the two nuts were removed. simply pull straight back about three inches. The sucktion (sp) like plug will release. Great post AlpsRider.

Cool! As I mentioned before, I had one light housing that came out easily while the other one was stubborn. Did you notice the "light show" when you turn the car on?

[robman23]

The light show is a nice add on.
Any idea on whether it makes sense to replace the remaining small clear bulb (the clear skinny bulb)? I believe it is the reverse light.

[AlpsRider]

Originally Posted by robman23

The light show is a nice add on.
Any idea on whether it makes sense to replace the remaining small clear bulb (the clear skinny bulb)? I believe it is the reverse light.

I'm pretty sure that is the rear fog light which is mandatory in Europe and not permitted in the US. It looks like halogen so it would probably be brighter than any single LED light. The reverse light is a normal bulb. The white LED I recommended in the DIY would have been for the reverse light.

There is a mod to activate the fog light switch, then you'd have to code it for it to work. I think I'll go ahead and do the switch mod then code it later, not that I need it, but why not it's there might as well activate it.

I found this: Rear Fog light switch mod(1).pdf

[xisthekey]

What is the very small bulb in the real tail light? I have been looking all over for it.

[AlpsRider]

Originally Posted by xisthekey

What is the very small bulb in the real tail light? I have been looking all over for it.

It's a fog light, look at my previous post.

[AlpsRider]

Originally Posted by xisthekey

What is the very small bulb in the real tail light? I have been looking all over for it.

I discovered that it is also an extra brake light that illuminates under hard braking. It is very bright, I don't think there is any reason to change it. The headlight control module can be replaced with a European version for about $110. or do a mod on the existing one to activate the rear fog light mode.

[AlpsRider]

These lights are reported to work with the M2 as well.

[jmwilson125]

Just installed mine tonight. Pretty easy install and looks great! One tip I have is using a plastic trim removal tool to pop the last rubber Conection.

I was having no luck in getting the assembly out until I tried that. Then it came right out.

[MyMiniM3]

Trying to interpret this correctly. I see you listed all the codes for each bulb and there respective color, but what's confusing me is the 3 codes you list..are you required to purchase two of each code listed in your list or are those just the three options we can use in our cars that work? When I click the links they only show that you can purchase from your list of codes the 7507 for amber and the 1156 for white and red. So that being said can I just buy the number you listed for each section in those two codes and be good to go?