LED Lighting with NO codes?
 

hey guys i wanted to upgrade my interior and exterior lighting to LED's (ie mirrors, license plate lights, side mirror lights, interior lights. Is there a brand/package that has all these lights included and don't throw error codes?

sorry if this is a re-post.

2006 BMW x5 4.4l

you will get no error with LEDS for the interior..... Any LED's will work. It's cheaper to order bulbs in "bulk" rather than kit

i will be doing this mod very soon. i am trying to find out what bulb sizes i will need and qty. i have a 2002 e53 but we will have the same qty and type i'm sure.

edit: after searching just for "LED" and sorting through it i found some decent info here. i was specifically looking for the exterior side mirror bulbs as they are not easy to get to... the rest i will remove and check their sizes and such... the mirror bulbs i believe are the same as the directional reading lights which are 194 T10.

so the list would be
6 - 194 T10 (2 for side mirrors, 4 for reading lights)
2 - lic plate
2 - dome
1 - glove box
2 - rear seat
2 - front foot wells
4 - under the doors
2 - vanity
2 - trunk

this is from memory while i'm just sitting here watching football.

This thread was exactly what I was looking for. It would be great if someone identifies each bulb and what type so that we could get the LED bulb replacements individually though getting a set would be much better ofcourse!

Would this be the one we're looking for?

LED All Interior SMD Bulbs Kit 2000-2006 BMW E53 X5 - eBay (item 170488231649 end time Dec-14-10 19:43:50 PST)

I'm not sure if this does not trigger check bulbs on the OBC though

you need:
3 slim 194 for dome (5 if you include side-view mirrors)
8 36-39mm festoon for sunvisors, b-pillar overheads, rear footwells
2 flank 194's for tailgate

And you need 5 more LED's for doors and glovebox. I can't remember if they are 194's or festoons.....

you can buy either from SuperBrightLEDs.com, autolumination.com, or v-leds.com. I STRONGLY go against "kits" off ebay. This way, you can choose what bulbs you want, not a kit of cheap ones.

And you will NOT get a bulb out for interior lights! I repeat, you will NOT get a bulb out for interior lights!

Are the lights that much brighter with LED's? If so, I would do the interiors, I dont like the LED tails as I have been behind some cars that are just mind blowingly bright!!! That is overboard in my opinion...

The only other mod I would like to do (after seeing my AE's yesterday evening) is put new AE's as mine are not bright at all! Mine is an 06 4.8 and did not think they should have lost that many lumens in such a short period of time.... JMO

Did some initial research on the type of bulbs we need to replace / look for for the X. So far, these are the bulbs and quantity:

External Type Color Quantity
Front Signal Lights 3157 Amber 2
Rear Signal Lights 7507 Amber 2
Rear Reverse Light 7507 White 2
License Plate 6418 White 2
Fog Lights H3 Yellow 2
Side Mirrors ?? White 2
Front Side Markers ?? Amber 2

Interior Type Color Quantity
Glove Box 6418 White 1
Map Light 6486 White 2
Dome Light Front 6486 White ??
Dome Light Rear 6486 White ??
Step Court/Light (Door) 6411 White ??
Floor Lights (Front) ???? White ??
Floor Lights (Rear) ???? White ??
Trunk 6486 White 2

Can anyone help me fill out the question marks???: type and quantity to purchase. This would make my ordering much easier. Did I forget any bulb?

Please look at my reply above. Also, leave out the exterior bulbs. exterior bulbs differ from pre- and post- facelift, but this thread is about interior bulbs. A lot of lighting manufacturers (e.g. sylvania, phillips, etc) use different reference numbers for bulbs. When talking about LED's for X5, just focus on either 194 and festoon (size may differ from 36-42mm)


LED's are a LOT brighter, depending on the type of bulb you get. There are many different types of LEDs.

I will give a specific list and where to get each bulb as soon as I get home this afternoon to actually check what bulbs they are. Please don't fill this thread with clutter that can be potentially wrong.

Are they different for an 06?

Here's the list for my 2005 (which should be the same for ALL X5's)

x3 slim 194's
Front Dome & Reading Lights
****Make sure they are no larger than 1 CM in diameter
WLED-xHP Specifications

x2 flank 194's
Tailgates
****Bulbs face sideways
2x 194 T10 1W SMD Flank White High Power LED Bulb Light - eBay (item 380288652049 end time Nov-15-10 12:32:01 PST)

x11 37mm Festoon's
4-doors, Front foot wells, Overhead B-pillar, Sunvisor Mirrors, and Glovebox
3710-xHPx High Power LED Festoon Bulb Specifications

X2 42mm Festoon's
Rear foot wells
4210-xHPx High Power LED Festoon Bulbs Specifications

is there a company that sells a packaged set of every light bulb we would need (by X5 year / model) to complete this upgrade?

No. Just order from superbrightled's and for the flank 194's, just order these:
High Power SMD WLED-xHP9-T (194 type) 360 degree Wedge Base bulbs Specifications

Your 2006 should be the same as my 2005. I don't understand the fascination of "kits". I have detailed what bulbs you need and even provided links on where to purchase them. Kit's are often older LED technology and way more expensive. If you really want to go cheap, order LED's off eBay and wait 4 weeks. Some of the best LED's have come from China and Singapore (purchased from eBay)

cool thanks brother!

I actually sell LEDs in my area, and here's a run-down of what you need:

No-error bulbs:
2- T10 (or standard bulbs that you'll have to wire a resistor in-line for, for mirror lights)
2- 36-39mm festoons (I recommend the 39mm, as they usually have one more LED, and therefore less resistors that make unnecessary heat). With the no-error festoons, make sure you get ones WITHOUT a heatsink, as they will not fit in the housings.

Standard bulbs:
4- T10 spot (for map lights)
4- T10 360 (for domes and trunk lights)
11- 36-39mm festoons (for floor, under dash, under doors, sunvisors, and glovebox)


To change the mirror ones, go buy yourself a set of plastic pry tools. It will make the job much easier, trust me.

papasmurf - thanks for your post. Sent you a PM.

seriously! that hit the nail on the head...waaiiit thats not how it goes..but you know what i mean! thank ya!

Not a problem at all. Fullmetaljacket, in class right now, I'll let you know when I'm home.

the link lists the festoon lights as coming in 3100K or 7000K. which did you opt for?

oh good question!

cool white (7000k). The warm white looks just like incandescent but brighter.

I've been searching the posts but could not find a DIY on how to change the bulbs: side mirror courtesy lights, interior lights - map lights and dome lights (never mind the floor, door and trunk - they are a no brainer as u can see easily where to pry them out). The other ones I've mentioned are not that obvious. I'm afraid to break or crack the assemblies if I do a hit or miss. Can you guys post your DIYs (preferably with pictures) on this please? Thanks!

Not much to say, they all pop. However, did anybody trying to do this nifty mod tried to see how poor the LED light is at night, compared to the old bulbs? You might as well call it "cool looking lamp" instead of "reading lamp". Anyway, I suggest you keep the old bulbs around, after you change them.

And the bulbs removal.

Chas3 - excellent post! Exactly what I needed to build my confidence! :) thanks!

Chas3,
Great post!Thanks for sharing mate...:)

Thanks, glad to help! :)

I agree with you.Yellow light has more intensity as well as looking more oem.

I am thinking of just putting some bright white leds to replace the old bulbs on the outside mirrors:)

I'm gonna upgrade my mirrors and interior lights to led.

Looks cool, not that bright :(
 

After changing all my interior lights to LEDs.....I kinda agree with some of you that they're really not bright :thumbdown They're just cool to look at :cool: I used high intensity LEDs, not the cheap ones and still they look kinda dim..? :confused: Seriously, I'm happy with the change in look and will stay with them for a while. I just wish the LEDs lifespan will be longer than the ordinary bulbs so that all these upgrades will have a sense and will mean something other than aesthetic purposes! ;)

Oh well.. As a previous owner of fully LED-ed car, I tried to warn you :)

Changed mine - with a set from eBay. Looks cool but is really so bright - unbelieveable. Everybody is laughing and asking "what is that?" when they see this light. My son always says: "it will burn a hole in the street if you leave the door open" :-))

Have fun, H

Guys, I cant seem to make my SIDE MIRROR LED LIGHTS light up :( tried installing several kinds but all of them behaved the same way. When activated, they just flash once then immediately dimmed to almost zero illumination.

Is there a special kind of LED bulb for the SIDE MIRROR courtesy light?? :(

Could you post a link to the Ebay seller please.
What leds are you using for the outside mirrors?Lets help Fullmetaljacket as he has contributed so much to this thread:thumbup:

That's because you need either no-error bulbs for them or you have to add a resistor. You can just add the resistor to one side, as the two bulbs are wired together.

Hi,

the kit I bought was only for interior light. The bulbs for the mirrors were not included. eBay: LED All Interior SMD Bulbs Kit 2000-2006 BMW E53 X5 bei eBay.de: Outdoor Lighting (endet 15.12.10 04:43:50 MEZ)

@papasmurf: the bulbs in the mirrors are not monitored - I believe.
@all: when the temperature comes up so that I do not break my mirror covers (right now we have -10°C here in the Alps) when removing them, I will try to put a T10 LED bulb in and post the outcome. But not sure when that will be. Temperature goes typically down the next months.

Best Regards, H

Edit: the "burn a hole in the street" is related to the under door lighting

-powers1 - thanks! :)

-papasmurf - thanks! how do you install the resistor? What kind of resistor do i buy? (value, type, etc) Can you show a simple diagram? Only for 1 side right?

Hey fullmetaljacket,

the chance came faster then expected. Changed one bulb with a T10 LED bulb (I believe that is the size which is in there) - all fine. Changed the second one - as you said. They flash for a second and go out then. Strange ... !

I assume we need to connect a resistor in parallel.

Original a 6W bulb is in.
I = P/U = 6W/12V = 0,5A
R = U/I = 12V/0,5A = 24 Ohm

So a resistor of 24 - 25 Ohm and a power of max 10 W would behave like the original bulb. It has to be connected in parallel to the bulb and it has to be isolated because it will become hot. Res: RES 24 OHM 10W 5% WIREWOUND - SQP10AJB-24R

Guys: school is over since a long time - if you find an error in that maths please do not hesitate to correct it.

Thanks, H

Fixed mine today. Only had a 33 Ohm 5 Watt resistor but this did the job also. Have added it to only one side - works.

Nice Helmuth.Going to do the same as well.Thanks for sharing:)

Thanks Helmuth!
 

Fantastic! Just what I needed! Now off to the electronic store I go...:whistle:

Installed the 30ohm 5w resistor last night exactly how it looks on helmut's pix. The LEDs are now working perfectly!!! Thanks!

By the way, does the resistor really heat up? I noticed after a few tests, when I decided to finally tape the terminals of the resistor, it was HOT! I hope this is just normal :) thanks again!

I installed 2 LED's today in the side mirrors on a (face-lifted) 2005 4.4. No error codes. I bought the resistor just in case.

Weird...

I would like to install mirror lights on my 00. is there any way to do this?

Just did this upgrade. What a difference. First off, for those that have done this and stated that the light output is decreased, the wrong LED's may have been used. All the applications except the reading/dome lights need to have the 6 LED bulbs installed. The output is very nice and the LED's change the light from yellow to bright white. The interior looks great at night and gives you better illumination at your feet when the doors are opened. Highly recommend it.

appreciate the work you put into finding these bulbs, deff going to do this mod soon.you didn't need any resistors for these bulbs correct?also when you say "tailgates" are you implying that the lights for the trunk and license plate lights are the same?or is this just strictly for the trunk?(lights on the lift gate to be specific)

You won't get error codes from the interior lights. He's talking about the lights inside the tailgate, not the license plate lights.

subscribing to this post :)

Hi guys,

I did a search on this but couldn't really find anything definitive.

I installed some LED's from this ebay seller -> eBay My World - bmw_led and they were fine for a few months but now intermittently I get the "CHECK PARK LIGHT" warning, I have looked at all my globes and they are all ok even the license plate ones, the LED's are fine as well.

On the ebay sellers site they say "no codes" but something I did notice was the other LED's on the market (higher priced ones) are 3w versus these ones 5w.. could this be the difference? I don't mind buying expensive stuff if it works and I never have to buy it again.. its just annoying that these ones were fine and now they are not! I will swap in the filament bulbs over the weekend just to be 100% certain that its not something else.

Help appreciated!

Cheers

The error codes are caused because LED lights don't draw enough power like a regular bulb. So going from a 5w bulb to a 3w bulb would seem to be counter intuitive.

As romeokc10 pointed out on this thread, the interior LED bulbs will not trigger any error codes. However, the license plate lights and park lights will. Get the more expensive no error code LEDs.

Cool. So someone care to point me in the direction of said led's ?

Cheers

Did you read the entire thread? There is several links to the appropriate vendors for this upgrade. Good luck.

Here, I got my error free LEDs here...

easylife go | eBay

I installed a rear camera with a built in LED light on my license plate light receptacle hence I had code errors perennially on my dash. I can only install 1 of these 2 error free LEDs on the receptacles so what I did was open the rear panel, did a wire tap on the line going to the license plate light receptacles and installed the LED bulb inside the rear panel (soldered and rubber taped). Finally got rid of the "CHECK LICENSE PLATE LIGHT" error code!

I didnt want to start a new thread since there are so many, but I wanted someone's opinion on these LED License Plate lights. I never seen these before but they are from Bimmian.com

Here is the link:
Bimmian WeissLicht LED License Plate Illumination Upgrade for BMW X5 SAV - 2000-2006 E53

These are the actual assembly that plugs into the trunk lid. I have yet to find a pair that doesn't give me an error message on my dash.

Tunerdomes.com "PLATES" bulbs, I have them on my X right now and on my other car as well, no errors!

I found that when installing the new bulbs I had to pinch the ends of the bulb holders in a bit so that the bulb stays put and doesnt move at all, when I initially installed them they had an error because the holder was loose from removing the old bulb. Scott free since then!


Oh and I got a full LED interior kit from ebay for 60 bucks, seller is "phillipsxenon" and I am thoroughly satisfied with them!

How long have you had them installed without errors? I don't think mine have resistors, but they were also advertised as error free. They were error free for about a month and now they barely illuminate. They will illuminate very dim, if i tap the clear lens cover it will light up but after an hour or so they will go back to being dim.

I used these in my license plate. Works great, no flickering and all that, no errors. 2 weeks since installed. 6418 SMD.
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

I used these in my mirror lights. No resistors needed, no errors, they dim like the factory and all that. Plug and play. 1w 168 SMD
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

I thought I'd chime in here ^^

I ordered these (along with some other stuff) off Bimmian about a month ago and they were on back order, they showed up yesterday.

I tried to get them to fit but they just won't, I mean I can get them in there and mounted and even lighting up but they just don't quite clip & lock in how they should! i.e. you bang on the tail gate to simulate a harsh bump and they just pop back out! So I took the LED unit out of the lens and stuck just the lens in, it fits well which means the LED unit is rubbing on the inside (I could actually see a witness mark of where it had rubbed fwiw) So I will try and find the time to modify them this weekend or next..

In conclusion they are rubbish and my advice is save your money and buy good globes if you can get error free ones, I am pretty disappointed with this product given the price. Mind you the Weisslicht Halo LED's are awesome!

I will check these out ^^ thanks for the heads up, are they still error free?

what i did is ....on x5...ordered 7x6418 bulbs and 4x t194 and 2x 194 extra strong bulbs for side mirror and trunk light...
I have attached where i got mine on amazon...

i ordered 8 pairs of thses and ran it through the whole car
--36mm Festoon 6 LEDs SMD LED Bulb White for 3021 DE3021 6411 6413 6418 DE3423 DE3425 Replacement (A Pair) =$80


I used these on my front dome light 3x
10x 194 168 2825 5-SMD White High Power LED Car Lights Bulb=$20


I used these one on my Side Mirror for better Light path and trunk light..

2x pairs-LEDwholesalers T10 LED 194 Wedge bulbs Dash Dome Light 12v DC 15 SMD LED 1.44 Watt 105 Lumen White, 1415WH= $25

HOPE THESE HELPED YOU.

Over a few months now, still working great!


The trick is you need to take the housings out and bend the tabs in with a set of pliers, to make them hug the bulb contacts tighter, that way when you close the trunk or something the bulb holders stay tight onto the bulbs.


i had problems initially with the bulb holders having poor contact but that was not the fault of the bulbs themselves. good luck!