LED tail light DIY

[zonefive]

I tried that yesterday -- I couldn't figure out how to get the tail lights off. Is there a mini-DIY?

Originally Posted by mrbmwx5

LOL.... You dont have to take out everything like you did, all you need is to remove this panel and take out the inner lights.
Much faster and less work .

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx5

LOL.... You dont have to take out everything like you did, all you need is to remove this panel and take out the inner lights.
Much faster and less work .

Tom, Can you also install the rear trunk bottom hatch tail lights with this procedure? I seem to remember a thread in which someone added the taillights on the bottom trunk hatch. Did you do this? If so, were they LEDs?

[z168]

its been 4 years...how come theres no pic of the final product?

[TerminatorX5]

the plastic trim of the lower hatch comes off with a flatblade screwdriver... then, there are about 9 philips screws that hold the surrounding plastic piece, and they are not created equal, remember which ones were taken from which spot - there are two types of those screws... don't forget the screws that are at the lock side of the panel, there are two small square plastic covers that can be popped with a thin blade, and two more screws (iirc) towards the sides ... once you remove that plastic shroud, along with the sponge/foam, then you should full access to the nuts holding the light assemblies...

[deepblonde]

Originally Posted by z168

its been 4 years...how come theres no pic of the final product?

Here are some photos of my LED tails...

[z168]

Lovely

[X5Ghost]

Very nice, thank you for the detailed DIY.

[TerminatorX5]

I have a question about the facelifted models with Brake Force Distribution (BFD)... the BFD signal uses Pulse Wave Modulation (PWM) to modulate the intensity of the tail lights and on the LED lights makes them flicker... this issue is resolved with installing a capacitor that smoothes out the square wave of the PWM and the LEDs stop flickering.

the question is about the programming - there is a line in the LCM programming code that states "LED taillights - nicht active"... I don't remember exact spelling at this moment, i would need to dig up the old file to look it up, but...

I wonder if there is a member who has the LED tail lights, does not have a capacitor (or can remove the capacitor rather easy) and is able to use NCSExpert, could change the line in the programming code to see if the LEDs will stop flickering AND will retain the BFD ability...

Any takers?

[tmv]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

I have a question about the facelifted models with Brake Force Distribution (BFD)... the BFD signal uses Pulse Wave Modulation (PWM) to modulate the intensity of the tail lights and on the LED lights makes them flicker... this issue is resolved with installing a capacitor that smoothes out the square wave of the PWM and the LEDs stop flickering.

the question is about the programming - there is a line in the LCM programming code that states "LED taillights - nicht active"... I don't remember exact spelling at this moment, i would need to dig up the old file to look it up, but...

I wonder if there is a member who has the LED tail lights took them off the 3.0 before I sold it, does not have a capacitor I don't need it for pre-facelift (or can remove the capacitor rather easy) and is able to use NCSExpert I can, could change the line in the programming code to see if the LEDs will stop flickering AND will retain the BFD ability...

Any takers?

TerminatorX5, you might as well said "Hey tmv, can you ....."

Sure, I'll keep you all posted.

[TerminatorX5]

Originally Posted by tmv

TerminatorX5, you might as well said "Hey tmv, can you ....."
Sure, I'll keep you all posted.

hey tmv, can you??..