[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

So what's the benefit of replacing them for LED's ?

Also what happens if the LED goes out... you don't get any notification?

I was an early adopter of LED brake lights waaaay back in 2002, back when I rode sportbikes. I installed what were then the best ones available in a red Honda Interceptor (ergo, the "Viffermike" screen name), which had two 1157s in the back housing. The sockets required some modifying and they were only marginally brighter, but the reduced light-up response time is what sold me. I had more than one buddy tell me that the reduced light-up time kept them from getting too near my tail on, um, spirited backroad rides.

The other benefit? If they're well made, they will pretty much never burn out.

[modeboy]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

I assume it's possible as well, though the procedure isn't on the latest F22 "cheat sheet" I've seen from pikcachu here. I'll be inquiring about that on that thread in the coming days.

Well, coding it myself would cost me more than $200. How, you ask?
- I'm a Mac
- I'm an Air with an SSD with only 30GB of room left (E-Sys takes 45GB of space -- before a partition with Windows 7) meaning I'd need an external drive and Win7 at a minimum
- The more obvious solution: cheap refurb PC laptop with Win7 installed ($200), OBD cable ($20). But I just can't justify $220 for something I'll use for one thing.

I was surprised to learn that there are apparently no coders in the Dallas area ... but there are in Houston and Austin. Perfect excuse for a road trip in the new car, eh?

http://www.*********.com/

That place is in Dallas and does coding. I also found a coder on one of the coding forums that came to my house with his laptop and did my coding for free. I'll see if I can find the info on how to contact him via the Forum.

EDIT: looks like the forum blocks URLS. So, you can just google "bmw coding dallas" and find the URL. Or send me a PM and I will send it to you.

Jason

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by modeboy

http://www.*********.com/

That place is in Dallas and does coding. I also found a coder on one of the coding forums that came to my house with his laptop and did my coding for free. I'll see if I can find the info on how to contact him via the Forum.

EDIT: looks like the forum blocks URLS. So, you can just google "bmw coding dallas" and find the URL. Or send me a PM and I will send it to you.

Jason

It doesn't totally block URLs, modeboy; you just need to create a hyperlink via the text editor. But yeah: send me the name of the place (and the forum member) in a PM. I also know a guy who's decently plugged in to the NTX Bimmer scene who likely has a couple of coding resources. Thx!

[modeboy]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

It doesn't totally block URLs, modeboy; you just need to create a hyperlink via the text editor. But yeah: send me the name of the place (and the forum member) in a PM. I also know a guy who's decently plugged in to the NTX Bimmer scene who likely has a couple of coding resources. Thx!

Ok, so I found out the guy I used to do coding for free moved to Virginia... the site I was trying to link was http://www.*********.com ...

EDIT: so apparently that URL IS blocked ... I even used the link button in the editor this time.

Jason

[T4455]

NO coding required with the LEDs I purchased from deAutoLED
They are still going strong too!

Very happy

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by T4455

NO coding required with the LEDs I purchased from deAutoLED
They are still going strong too!

Very happy

No, those won't throw codes. But by all accounts, they WILL flicker on startup, and every once in a while when your foot is on the brake and the car decides to do a voltage test - which is what coding deactivates.

If you can live with that flickering, wonderful. I can't.

[nyeager]

So I've just finished installing all the bulbs -- both front LED turn signals (from Bimmian) and rear LED turn signals, brake lights, and reverse lights (from deAutoKey).

Here's what I've ordered:
Bimmian front turn signals (amber) by Spektrum - Cree
deAutoKey rear tail lights - 6x Osram
deAutoKey reverse lights - 2x Cree
deAutoKey rear turn signals - 2x Osram

A foreword: I'm super OCD with technology and can't stand things that don't work the way they're supposed to. That should be kept in mind for what I'm going to say below.

Flicker:
I was not able to observe any flicker on startup or after running on the FRONT LED bulbs (from Bimmian - Spektrum Cree's). I'm almost positive these don't flicker at all. I'll report back if I find this changes.

The rear LEDs from deAutoKey are a different story... There is some interesting flickering at startup, almost like a strobe-light show it's more cool than alarming though. That flicker eventually stops after about 1 second.

The lights will randomly flicker then doing self tests every 30 seconds or so. I monitored this behavior on the road -- I had my dad drive my car while I followed closely behind. It's a very faint flicker; actually more like a twinkle. and it's not annoying or blinding or anything. You have to definitely be looking / paying attention to notice it. I think it's safe to say this should cause absolutely no issues on the road -- people probably won't even notice it, and if they do, they'll have no idea it's an LED flickering.

I'm about to go try some coding to see if I can prevent the flickering. I'll report back later if I, a): fix the flicker or, b): melt the bulbs through the car

[nyeager]

Ok, so small update:

Front, Bimmian lights do flicker. I originally didn't notice because they were turned on -- they don't flicker when turned on, only when off...

I've done the coding and have solved all instances of flickering, except for the lower brake lights... Not sure what else to try and deactivate but I'll repost once I find out the exact things that should be coded to stop all flickering.

G4Z808, any ideas here? Are you seeing any flickering at all?

--
Update: Got it all working, originally, I just coded what was on the post here turns out you need to code a few more things.

The whole list, as Pickachu pointed out previously is L and R items for each (i.e. BL_L + BL_R):

SL_2
BL
BFD
NSL
RFS
FRA_H

Additionally for front LED turn signals, you need:
FRA_V

For each of those items, you simply match it with its respective command that disables cold monitoring, warm monitoring, and marks the bulb as LED. (i.e. FRA_V_L_KALTUEBERWACHUNG):

xxx_x_x_KALTUEBERWACHUNG - set to nicht_aktiv
xxx_x_x_WARMUEBERWACHUNG - set to nicht_aktiv
xxx_x_x_IS_LED set to aktiv

[ryansauce]

Originally Posted by nyeager

Ok, so small update:

Front, Bimmian lights do flicker. I originally didn't notice because they were turned on -- they don't flicker when turned on, only when off...

I've done the coding and have solved all instances of flickering, except for the lower brake lights... Not sure what else to try and deactivate but I'll repost once I find out the exact things that should be coded to stop all flickering.

G4Z808, any ideas here? Are you seeing any flickering at all?

--
Update: Got it all working, originally, I just coded what was on the post here turns out you need to code a few more things.

The whole list, as Pickachu pointed out previously is L and R items for each (i.e. BL_L + BL_R):

SL_2
BL
BFD
NSL
RFS
FRA_H

Additionally for front LED turn signals, you need:
FRA_V

For each of those items, you simply match it with its respective command that disables cold monitoring, warm monitoring, and marks the bulb as LED. (i.e. FRA_V_L_KALTUEBERWACHUNG):

xxx_x_x_KALTUEBERWACHUNG - set to nicht_aktiv
xxx_x_x_WARMUEBERWACHUNG - set to nicht_aktiv
xxx_x_x_IS_LED set to aktiv

was install easy?

[nyeager]

Yah, for the most part.

The front turn signals were a pain to get at as the access to them is from the wheel-well. Even with my somewhat small hands it was difficult to find the bulb housing and turn it (quarter turn to pop it out) and get it in/out. The back was super easy: there are two bolts that hold the entire light housing in place; pop those out, and then there's a plastic box you pop off from the housing and you have access to all the bulbs.

The upgrade definitely looks slick and adds some extra coolness to the car! ;P

[ryansauce]

Originally Posted by nyeager

Yah, for the most part.

The front turn signals were a pain to get at as the access to them is from the wheel-well. Even with my somewhat small hands it was difficult to find the bulb housing and turn it (quarter turn to pop it out) and get it in/out. The back was super easy: there are two bolts that hold the entire light housing in place; pop those out, and then there's a plastic box you pop off from the housing and you have access to all the bulbs.

The upgrade definitely looks slick and adds some extra coolness to the car! ;P

Please take video

[pikcachu]

wonder if these would work?

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...Specifications

[nyeager]

What do you want a video of? The process of replacing the lights or just the lights in action?

Originally Posted by ryansauce

Please take video

[ryansauce]

Originally Posted by nyeager

What do you want a video of? The process of replacing the lights or just the lights in action?

Lights in action

[T4455]

Great info here! I want front turns, but i don't want to use Bimmian as deAutoLEDs were brighter when I compared them at a show, plus they were cheaper, does deAutoLED have a front turn for the bmw or what type do you need? I use to shop at Bimmian, nothing wrong with them but I found that deAutoLED while not big from what I can tell and their website is a bit cheesy, they have the best stuff, I feel like that is how it always is in life though, I remember going to this burger place that had to be discovered rather than a place you knew like McDonalds. I don't know if that makes sense, but that is how i feel. lol

Originally Posted by pikcachu

wonder if these would work?

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...Specifications

Not bright at all, the OEM are almost brighter, someone had these and I compared them, I use to shop at SBL but then realized they don't have the brightest LEDs, just very generic LED chips, when I started to shop in places like Bimmian (bright) and deAutoLED (very bright) is when I realized how bright LEDs can be.

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by T4455

Great info here! I want front turns, but i don't want to use Bimmian as deAutoLEDs were brighter when I compared them at a show, plus they were cheaper, does deAutoLED have a front turn for the bmw or what type do you need? I use to shop at Bimmian, nothing wrong with them but I found that deAutoLED while not big from what I can tell and their website is a bit cheesy, they have the best stuff, I feel like that is how it always is in life though, I remember going to this burger place that had to be discovered rather than a place you knew like McDonalds. I don't know if that makes sense, but that is how i feel. lol




Not bright at all, the OEM are almost brighter, someone had these and I compared them, I use to shop at SBL but then realized they don't have the brightest LEDs, just very generic LED chips, when I started to shop in places like Bimmian (bright) and deAutoLED (very bright) is when I realized how bright LEDs can be.

[T4455]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

What front bulbs does our car require? LOL, I am contacting deAutoLED right now to see what info I can gather.

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by T4455

What front bulbs does our car require? LOL, I am contacting deAutoLED right now to see what info I can gather.

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...&postcount=119

[nyeager]

According to a post from soghetto here they are 1156 / P21W bulbs.

I personally really like the Bimmian bulbs. They're definitely brighter than the stocks and really have that clean, awesome look to them. I'm sure there are brighter bulbs out there but these are plenty bright for me!

I'll try to post a video when I'm with my car next (which isn't until Sunday)... Going through withdrawal.

Originally Posted by T4455

What front bulbs does our car require? LOL, I am contacting deAutoLED right now to see what info I can gather.

[T4455]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...&postcount=119

Originally Posted by nyeager

According to a post from soghetto here they are 1156 / P21W bulbs.

I personally really like the Bimmian bulbs. They're definitely brighter than the stocks and really have that clean, awesome look to them. I'm sure there are brighter bulbs out there but these are plenty bright for me!

I'll try to post a video when I'm with my car next (which isn't until Sunday)... Going through withdrawal.

nyeager-it looks like the other post says they are bau15s 150 pin offset and not 1156 180 pin offset.

I will try to do more research.

I had bimmian LEDs before too, not bad. I am just not happy with their pricing when there are brighter LEDs for less. It actually took this thread to convince me to try the deAutoLED bulbs myself, I wasn't confident with them much and I was more confident shopping with bimmian for sure but the deAutoLED customer service was great and they boosted my confidence.

[OpenAir]

Originally Posted by T4455

nyeager-it looks like the other post says they are bau15s 150 pin offset and not 1156 180 pin offset.

I will try to do more research.

I had bimmian LEDs before too, not bad. I am just not happy with their pricing when there are brighter LEDs for less. It actually took this thread to convince me to try the deAutoLED bulbs myself, I wasn't confident with them much and I was more confident shopping with bimmian for sure but the deAutoLED customer service was great and they boosted my confidence.

Having pulled mine out already, I can confirm that they are 150 pin offset.

[T4455]

Thanks!
I got in contact with the deAutoLED and they said it is a bau15s in their bulb guide also so I got some coming in the mail, excited to see what happens.