BMW Interior Lighting Color Change
 

I've been working with the guys at Highline Car Audio here in Denver, Co. on converting the entire interior lighting color scheme in my 2005 X5 from the stock redish/amber to blue.

They are trying to see if they can get enough interest in carrying the LED's that are needed to do the job.

If you are interested or know anyone who would be please PM me and I'll give you Highline's contact info.

Once we get a little further on the project I'll post some pics of the blue LED conversion.

Thanks,

Ryan

You could just save yourself a lot of time and buy a VW :thumbup:

yeah but then it would be my wonderful X5 ;-)

So lets see some photos of this VW?

Um VW colors are Blue and Red...:thumbup:

So we finally got some of the color change done. It came out better than ever thought it would. I can't wait until we get the instrument cluster done.

The first is the HVAC, Heated seats etc below HVAC, and Shifter area.

Second is HVAC with flash to show the blue LCD.

Third is the overhead console.

Lastly is the light controls (sorry this one is a little blurry....I couldn't get a clear one for some reason).

Enjoy my BMW not VW!!!!

Looks quite nice at night, but looks a bit ricey in daylight. I guess it's the fact that it looks more white in the dark. Seeing blue on a BMW just doesn't seem right.

I think it looks great :)

That is a real cool color. I really like this blue. I think it would be a nice feature if BMW would allow customers to configure their light colors to better match their interior (or preference). An even better solution would be to allow the driver to change the colors whenever they want to (like some aftermarket radios do).

Good job on this. :thumbup:

I just noticed in the first image your aftermarket radio. Looks like a Pioneer Avic Z series. Your colors now match perfectly!

Looks a lot better than I imagined it would!

Very interesting mod. I still prefer the signature BMW orange but I appreciate the effort. This coming from a guy who at one time had all the LEDs in a Nokia cellphone changed to blue just to be different. :tsk:

It looks super nice at night but in the light it kind of seemed weird. But it is very unique and I like it!

I've always appreciated the BMW orange. Felt like it tied me into a tradition.

That being said, cool that you had the chutzpah to do this. It's a cool idea.

Looks like a spaceship.

Yeah it came out weird looking cuz it was taken with the flash at night...I'll take a daytime pick of it....just wanted to simulate the daytime affect but it didn't work all that well since my flash is so bright...

BMW did alot of researc to find the best color for interior illumination. They chose amber because it is easiest on the eyes... blue actually has the shortest wavelength of everything in the color spectrum and fatigues your vision much sooner.

I Would love to see ICE White !

:iagree: Good Job! :thumbup:

Unique, I like it. :thumbup:

nice job man :thumbup:- very unique, im a fan of the amber currently in the x

I like it..It kind of matches an all xenon theme...It would have to be a little whiter and less blue though..

Quite the project... thanks for posting. I'd like to see the cluster when you get done.

How sweet it is!!!!
 

OK we finally finished the X5 Interior Color Change Project.

I do have to say I'm one very happy customer!!!! This came out better than I ever would have imagined it.

The guys at Highline care audio are awesome and I would highly recommend them even if you aren't in the Denver area because their work is definitely worth it.

Here are the final pics of the cluster, the steering wheel controls, and the window controls.

Enjoy!!!! I definitely am. This ties in with the Avic Z3 perfectly now.

Nicely done!!

Interesting...looks great! I'm happy with my amber-theme but more power to you man. Not sure if you're the first to do this...a really cool mod imo :thumbup:

Now if only there was a way to be able to set/change the color anytime... My friends 06 mustang GT has that, pretty cool idea to be able to say "Eh, I feel like silver today, I was ice blue yesterday and red last night..."

Nice work.
btw back in 1996... a lady was Interested in buying my 325i back in the dayz and she asked is the lights blue???? i said no ... she said she not gonna buy it.

Very blue! Must have been ''hell'' of a job............ :popcorn:

:iagree:

The mod looks good in the sense that everything came out uniform and nothing looks half ass from what is seen. I'll give credit so far for those installers who took up the task of re-soldering new led's in place of the old ones. Thats no easy task at all.

How much did it run you to get your interior lights all changed? Curious to know...

The only thing that kind of pulls me away from from giving this mod a thumbs up is the gauge cluster now looks like a set of those once popular APC indiglo gauges. Still, it would catch the attention of a BMW enthusiast if seen on the street.

Charlie for the LED's for the whole X5 color change my guess would be around $400 to $500 (for good quality SMC LED's). This is anything and everything that was amber. It would also depend on the color of choice... I had to have blue which is one of the highest cost colors.

The guys at Highline Car Audio have said that it would probably be around $1500 for them to do the whole job.

But if I every get a new X5 I can guarantee that it will be the first thing I do to it..... I love the look!

I couldn't imagine anyone willing to pay that kind of money for that mod. I dont disagree with the cost due to the difficulty of the job. The skill and patience needed to tackle this assignment isn't something everyone posesses.

At least you did it the right way, the first time you did it. The interior lighting doesn't look half ass or anything close to mickey mouse. Looks good.