Pre/Post facelift rear light confusion
 

Hi everyone. I have an E53 X5 question regarding tail-light upgrades...

I'm a little confused about the difference between pre- and post-facelift rear light compatibility. I'm sick of getting the all-too-familiar Check Brake Lights warnings, which are now constant due to a bad case of corrosion on the contacts, so I'm looking to upgrade to LED.
I'm shopping around, and am seeing lots of options for pre-facelift E53's....but not many for my 2005 post-facelift. They look like identical shapes externally - are they? And if so, are there other incompatibility issues regarding the wiring/connections inside?

Apologies - I know there are lots of threads about the wider LED upgrade topic already, but I'm struggling to find a clear answer to this specific question. I just need to be sure I buy the right thing before splashing the cash.

Thanks
Andy
2005 X5d 3.0 Sport

I'm pretty sure you just need to swap two pins in each harness and add a capacitor to both lights.

I thought you had to code off adaptive braking or something like that as well? My memory seems to be getting worse with every passing year. :(

You don't have to if you do the capacitors. I haven't coded off my adaptive braking and mine don't flicker.

^this. Pins need to be swapped and capacitors for 03-06 models

And code off cold monitoring if you don't want the strobing startup if you are picky like most of us are.

the adaptive braking is the harder you push on the pedal the brighter the lights get right? Hence why there's no actual brake light switch. I was under the impression that started in 03 sometime, is that not correct?

Thanks all for the replies so far. As a relative noob, I'd need some 'how to' help on the capacitors and coding. I'm pretty handy in general, so the physical swapping out of the light units is no problem at all....but I have no idea what I'm looking for or what to do when it comes to those other points.
Frustrating....there is a wealth of lovely LED units for pre-facelift cars over here in the UK, plus a much bigger range of facelift units available in the states via online (seen some lovely Spyder ones). I'm just a bit reluctant to have to cough up the extra £100+ postage to get them sent over (yes, £100!!!!)
Andy

Something like that - but I have an 03 and still have a brake light switch (it went bad and I had to replace it a little over a year ago)

I don't have it either on my '03

10 cents of solder will solve your problem. After replacing three tail light assemblies. I found the solder fix, applied it to a problematic tail light assembly. Problem solved. Put a dab of solder on the tail light housing where the bulb housing rests. The problem isn't corrosion it's poor contact which causes shorting that damages the connection. The solder provides a better, solid connection. Problem solved. Ten cents.

This solution works well for the burnt bulb contact problem, which affects all model years.

There are significant differences in tail lamps wiring and operation between pre-facelift and facelift X5 models - unless you want a bunch of trouble, stick to lights designed for your year/model.

what are the differences? do the facelift models have the rear fogs?

I wouldn't say significant. You literally have to swap four pins (takes a small watch screw driver and 3 minutes) and add a pair of capacitors to each light . The capacitors just clamp inline to two wires on each light assembly. Done and done.

As far as coding, you can turn off cold monitoring if you want, if not they'll just flicker the first second you turn in your lights. Youlll have a brake force error if you don't turn off the adaptive braking but it'll never throw an error on the dash nor will it effect anything.

OK, maybe saying the differences are significant is overstating it a little but... there are a number of critical differences in the electrical systems.

The pre-facelift tails use dual-filament lamps and normal 12v power to the lamps, from the LCM. The facelift models use single filament lamps that are dimmed by a PWM power system from the LCM - the single filament lamps are modulated to at least three different brightness levels, depending on the situation - normal tail light, first stage brake light and second stage brake light.

This is why you need to add capacitors to non-facelift LED tails when fitted to a facelift model- the PWM signal won't work with the LEDS properly without some sort of averaging circuit (a capacitor). This averaging is done by the tungsten filament in normal incandescent tail lights.

This PWM is nothing to do with cold-monitoring - although that is there too. The PWM system driving the tails cannot be controlled by coding - you would need to replace the LCM.

ohhhhh yea the 04's & up have adaptive braking, that along is a huge difference in electrical.

It's actually 03 and up that have the adaptive braking. Many of us have LED taillights with no issues, including me.

not my '03

I don't think?

Change occurred at 10/03 so early 03's don't have it - late 03's do....

I didn't mean to infer that LED tails designed for pre-facelift cars won't work on facelift cars - just that unless you are handy with wires and a soldering iron (and are bloody careful!) it might be more than a mission for you. It's certainly not plug and play. :confused:

We've seen a few fried LCM (LKM) modules on this forum - although not due to the fitment of LEDS - and it's probably best to avoid cooking up your LCM (LKM). :thumbup:

thought so. mine was made in September '03 lol

Build date on mine is 06/03 and I have it. I know because when I went to put an aftermarket tow package I had to tap into the LCM HMBL to get the brake signal for the brake control and the Wiring harness had to be compatible with PWM so the tail/running lights on the trailer would work correctly.

Interesting since mine was built 3 months later yet I don't have it.

or maybe I do?

Turns out this is more complicated than I (or maybe anyone!) thought...

The tail light difference is dependent on the inclusion of Xenon lighting, the build date and intended market.

According to the wiring diagrams, all cars up to build date 09/01 didn't have the PWM tails. From 09/01 until 09/02 all USA cars got the "force-dependent brake light function" feature, not using the PWM feature but using an extra lamp. The rest of the world never got this configuration. From 09/02 in the USA and 10/03 in the ROW all cars got PWM tails, including the "force-dependent brake light function".

But it also looks like the "force-dependent brake light function" may have been included in the ROW Xenon package when it was selected as an option, so even though the wiring diagrams indicated that no ROW car had PWM tails until 10/03 and all USA cars had it from 09/02, I'm pretty sure there are exceptions.

At any rate, there are at least twelve different tail light wiring configurations! :confused:

USA Halogen - 09/99 - 09/01
USA Xenon - 09/99 - 09/01
USA Halogen - 09/01 - 09/02
USA Xenon - 09/01 - 09/02
USA Halogen - 09/02 - 10/03
USA Xenon - 09/02 - 10/03
USA Halogen - 10/03 - ??/06
USA Xenon - 10/03 - ??/06
ROW Halogen - 09/99 - 10/03
ROW Xenon - 09/99 - 10/03
ROW Halogen - 10/03 - ??/06
ROW Xenon - 10/03 - ??/06

All bets are off!!! :rolleyes:

So the brake light has different stages? About to pull in backwards across the street against the storefront to check lol

Are you sure about that wpoll? :

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ght-diy-3.html

I'm not sure about anything with the tails anymore... :D

BUT, it doesn't make sense to be able to change the mark/space ratio in coding, or at least too much, as that defeats the functionality.

My guess it the value you are adjusting is actually the frequency of the PWM, which will have the same (visual) effect as adding the capacitors. The caps smooth out the pulses so you can't see them - the higher frequency makes the pulses too fast to see. Same same...

Given that the "force-dependent adaptive brake light" function is driven from the state of the ABS and the deceleration sensors in car, it might be hard get it to activate - I've never managed it. :confused:

Haven't reversed through a storefront either..! :D

Yes, I think that is what I'm guessing is happening;
The reason such options would have been provided on the assembly line for easy provision for change,
I'm guessing,
was to provide an easy way to alter the brightness of the tail and brake lights.

Three years now ,

and no capacitors ,

No flicker;

and no problems with my LED tail lights! :2thumbs::bmw:

Nice find, deepblonde! :thumbup:

BTW, when I said "The PWM system driving the tails cannot be controlled by coding - you would need to replace the LCM" I meant that you cannot turn the PWM feature on or off in coding , i.e. turn an LCM that doesn't use PWM into one that does.

Adjusting the operating parameters of a PWM LCM is another matter, as deepblonde has discovered.

The main reason I went to the trouble of looking for a solution in coding before trying capacitors,
is because I wanted the tail lights brighter than they appeared when I first connected them;
At the time, I didn't see any other e53 LED tail light fitted X5s around,
now ,
they are everywhere,
but my tail and brake lights LEDs are much brighter. :D

Now I'm thinking should I upgrade to the new style LED tails available?
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/13...f?v=1470636993

Like this? But it seems to have less actual LEDs...

Those look pretty awesome - I have the other style from a couple years ago