Interior door panel light
 

Over the course of the weekend, I discovered that my car is equipped with an LED (10) and optical conductor (11) inside the door panel compartment or storage.
I said "discovered" because I've never seen these lights on.
Is there a way to turn them on?

http://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/i...ize/159366.jpg
http://www.relayspec.com/Company_lis...6_03/06_03.jpg

Good Catch... Just looked, never noticed them before after 6+ years with the X, and I have the clear plastic "optical conductor" as well. It doesn't look like there is any LED or bulb at either end, so this may be a good mod/addition to make these do something.

Thanks,
John

Yes, there is an LED bulb that is attached to the optical conductor. It is on the latch side of the door.
I know this because I removed the door panel this weekend.
There's a wire running to this bulb, so it might be connected.
The question is how to turn them on.

Cool... Subscribed

ditto

I just played with mine... Light switch to auto and turn up intensity control to full brightness, then I could see the light, never noticed them before.

Solved. They go on when the headlights are on.

Yep, very dim...

IIRC this is the ambient lighting pkg part of the premium pack and yes it's barely visible even at night!

Mine are on at night and cast a very nice light. I haven't noticed them to be overly dim.

Yeah, they're kind of neat concept and look cool but they aren't very bright but they're not supposed to be. They kind of remind me of the two LEDs above the center console and in the interior door handles in my M5.

Since the pic is posted in post 1.. does anyone know how to remove part #1 to replace the bulb? I tried but stopped before breaking something.
Looks like maybe the rear part has a clip that needs to be pried off?

Those are tricky, best to use a plastic pry tool there's a clip from the back facing the hatch...they get stuck sometimes. But you need to get the pry tool in between the light housing and the clips just inside above the light, once you pry the clip pull the back end down. I had one that was so stuck I ended up carefully removing just the clear lens.

The e39 is BMW's best chassis. I sold my 530 5spd last year and miss it. I watch the e39 M5 listings every week. Anyway, the e70 has an interior led just like that. It's a great feature.

The E39 is a wonderful chassis. I notice the upper console lights in the X5 are a little more directional whereas in the M5, it's hard to pinpoint the source of light and the result is a very even and nuanced effect that I like. I still appreciate the feature in the X5 though.

Thanks for this information! I never knew it was there until I saw this. Going to check mine tonight.

:beerchug:

My front passenger LED does not light up. So I can replace part #10 in OP's diagram without removing the door panel?

No, you need to remove the door panel.

Thanks. I already bought some extra clips, anticipating the need to remove the door panel after reading your initial post. But then I read MAK3N3's post and wondered if I could avoid pulling the panel.

Below is what the LED module looks like. Getting the panel off is not hard. What looks a bit tricky is replacing this module. Its wire gets wrapped together with other wires forming a harness that runs back into the car.

http://www.autopartsapi.com/eEuropar...fe3fdefe4b.jpg

FYI:

Those are tricky, best to use a plastic pry tool there's a clip from the back facing the hatch...they get stuck sometimes. But you need to get the pry tool in between the light housing and the clips just inside above the light, once you pry the clip pull the back end down. I had one that was so stuck I ended up carefully removing just the clear lens.

I was actually referring to the post #12 question...he wanted to replace the #1 in the diagram. But yes, you still need to remove your door panel for what you need.