Ambient lights - barely visible - new OEM LEDs?

[walmark]

For better or worse, I made a frustrating discovery today.

I installed a set of the new LEDs in one of the rear doors, but it left me unimpressed. Yes, the intensity was slightly better than the (essentially invisible) stock, but it was underwhelming. But hey, at least now I can SEE them. Oh well.

Tonight I was stuck in traffic, playing with the controls, and I found out that:
DESPITE having designated iDrive controls for the Ambient Lighting,
AND having iDrive controls for the Display Brightness,
AND having iDrive controls for the HUD Brightness,

ALL of the above are controlled by the Instrument Cluster Brightness Control dial anyway!!!

I always turn down the illumination of the gauges in every car as I don't like it shining in my face at night while driving, but I had no clue that this also dims down the ambient lighting. When I turn it to High, the brightness of the stock ambient LEDs is actually acceptable.

So now I have a dilemma. I got 12 of the Benzinfabrik white/orange 605 LEDs and one door done. Should I replace the remaining 3 doors? Or go back to stock and sell the LEDs?

Im sorry for being obvious if all of you knew this already, but it was certainly "news" to me tonight.

[Noggie]

Originally Posted by walmark

For better or worse, I made a frustrating discovery today.

I installed a set of the new LEDs in one of the rear doors, but it left me unimpressed. Yes, the intensity was slightly better than the (essentially invisible) stock, but it was underwhelming. But hey, at least now I can SEE them. Oh well.

Tonight I was stuck in traffic, playing with the controls, and I found out that:
DESPITE having designated iDrive controls for the Ambient Lighting,
AND having iDrive controls for the Display Brightness,
AND having iDrive controls for the HUD Brightness,

ALL of the above are controlled by the Instrument Cluster Brightness Control dial anyway!!!

I always turn down the illumination of the gauges in every car as I don't like it shining in my face at night while driving, but I had no clue that this also dims down the ambient lighting. When I turn it to High, the brightness of the stock ambient LEDs is actually acceptable.

So now I have a dilemma. I got 12 of the Benzinfabrik white/orange 605 LEDs and one door done. Should I replace the remaining 3 doors? Or go back to stock and sell the LEDs?

Im sorry for being obvious if all of you knew this already, but it was certainly "news" to me tonight.

Yes the dial is the "master", the other settings pretty much set the max when the dial is at max.
So if you set your ambient lights to 50% in the iDrive, the dial will adjust between 0-50%
Set them to 100% in iDrive and the dial will adjust 0-100%.
So if you have your dial at 50% and the ambient light iDrive at 100%, you will have brighter ambient lights than when both are i.e. at 50%.

Looks like you have a -15, meaning you have the bright OEM ones.
So unless you find the new ones better at 100%, maybe selling them is the way to go.
I guess you will need to look at the one door you have done and compare with the stock ones and decide what you like better.

[ruben356]

Anyone seen this video recently on Youtube on this? Not sure if this is from anyone on the forums. This is a question i was trying to answer, if it was possible to code in the options to have as OEM as possible. Honestly might give this a shot.

[walmark]

Originally Posted by Noggie

Yes the dial is the "master", the other settings pretty much set the max when the dial is at max.
So if you set your ambient lights to 50% in the iDrive, the dial will adjust between 0-50%
Set them to 100% in iDrive and the dial will adjust 0-100%.
So if you have your dial at 50% and the ambient light iDrive at 100%, you will have brighter ambient lights than when both are i.e. at 50%.

Looks like you have a -15, meaning you have the bright OEM ones.
So unless you find the new ones better at 100%, maybe selling them is the way to go.
I guess you will need to look at the one door you have done and compare with the stock ones and decide what you like better.

Thanks, Noggie. I'll think about what to do.
The new ones are brighter, but not all that significantly. You can see in the picture below (front:stock, rear:upgrade) that the door handle and pocket are significantly brighter, but the light strip is only slightly more noticeable.

Thanks for the explanation!

[rockyfeller]

Originally Posted by ruben356

Anyone seen this video recently on Youtube on this? Not sure if this is from anyone on the forums. This is a question i was trying to answer, if it was possible to code in the options to have as OEM as possible. Honestly might give this a shot.

Those are aftermarket full LED strip replacements that have been mentioned earlier in the thread.

The new LEDs that members are now installing aren't LED strips. They are upgraded LEDs that fit right into the OEM LED holders. They are "plug and play". Because BMW has the F10 coded to 2 ambient LED colors, you can't switch to more colors than that through the NBT menu. Not just that, the way the OEM wiring is designed, it handles just 2 colors.

However if you want the ultimate option which you can choose a multitude colors, you have to go for aftermarket full LED strip replacements that are the RGB type as shown in that video. It has a module that actually plugs into the NBT. This module is the actual LED controller and it interfaces with the car so it expands the color options. You have to code the car to get it to work but it allows you color control through the menu as shown in that video. It is the most intensive install of all, but it may be worth it to you.

I just find it interesting that BMW actually has those ambient coding parameters even available! Why are they there and what did they plan on using them for? Apparently it never came to use on any pre-2016 BMW I know of. Perhaps it was there to tinker with for future development of the G30/F90? Props to whoever figured it out and designed a module to work with it.

[ruben356]

Originally Posted by rockyfeller

Those are aftermarket full LED strip replacements that have been mentioned earlier in the thread.

The new LEDs that members are now installing aren't LED strips. They are upgraded LEDs that fit right into the OEM LED holders. They are "plug and play". Because BMW has the F10 coded to 2 ambient LED colors, you can't switch to more colors than that through the NBT menu. Not just that, the way the OEM wiring is designed, it handles just 2 colors.

However if you want the ultimate option which you can choose a multitude colors, you have to go for aftermarket full LED strip replacements that are the RGB type as shown in that video. It has a module that actually plugs into the NBT. This module is the actual LED controller and it interfaces with the car so it expands the color options. You have to code the car to get it to work but it allows you color control through the menu as shown in that video. It is the most intensive install of all, but it may be worth it to you.

I just find it interesting that BMW actually has those ambient coding parameters even available! Why are they there and what did they plan on using them for? Apparently it never came to use on any pre-2016 BMW I know of. Perhaps it was there to tinker with for future development of the G30/F90? Props to whoever figured it out and designed a module to work with it.

I see. Honestly for me, if i were to tackle this which still up in the air, i would go this full route rather than have buttons and stuff poking out of places, IMO. This just seems more cleaner, and its just why wouldn't you go the extra mile to make it cleaner.

[CanadianTSi]

Originally Posted by BMW FOREVER

Great thread guys! I just ordered 12 orange 605/white for my F10. The factory ambient lights used to look great on my Pre LCI 2012 F10 with Dakota beige but on my new LCI F10 with Mocha Nappa...I can hardly see it!

Have you guys faced any heat issues with the higher output now?

Just wondering how you got these shipped to Canada as it doesn't seem to be listed under the shipping options on the website. Thanks

[AirborneHunter]

Bump on an older post to update all using the link in this post for the German shop selling replacement LEDs (Benzinfabrik) they have upgraded their LEDs since this original posting.

"UPDATE:
We have updated the PCB boards and adjusted the configuration of the PCB board.
The board is no longer black; we now use an aluminum PCB board."

I ordered a set of 12 today to answer the question on what the difference is in orange vs orange-605 is "Orange version with a wavelength of 605nm, which corresponds to the original BMW. The red content of the 605 version is higher than the classic orange ones."

Nice to have a plug-and-play version specifically designed to be indistinguishable between OEM and aftermarket, the exception only being the brightness.

[m5rosco]

On my current f10 m5, and the previous, whenever I set the ambient lights using idrive to the white version, the next time I drive it has reverted back to amber! Not that bothered as I prefer the amber over the white, but weird how neither car “saves” the setting. Any ideas?!

[AirborneHunter]

Originally Posted by m5rosco

On my current f10 m5, and the previous, whenever I set the ambient lights using idrive to the white version, the next time I drive it has reverted back to amber! Not that bothered as I prefer the amber over the white, but weird how neither car “saves” the setting. Any ideas?!

Bimmercode would be my suggestion.

There may be a driver profile setting that saves it however not 100%