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      08-25-2015, 03:27 PM   #1
Dante
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DIY: Illuminated LCI AC/radio trim retrofit

Hi all,

since the standard trim piece for AC/radio controls is very boring flat black grey plastic, I've replaced it with the gloss black version of the 4-Series luxury line as soon as it was available. That already made a huge difference:



Now, with the F30/31 LCI out, there is another possibility to improve the looks of your interior. The LCI trim piece has a slightly different, more angular shape and is gloss black throughout. And, and that's the interesting bit, the thing has a built-in ambient lighting! I knew I wanted that as soon as I saw it.

This is how it looks like mounted in my car at daylight:







And at night with ambient light set to orange 'Classic' mode:



And at night with ambient light set to white 'Sport' mode:



Please note: The different ambient light modes depend on options. White 'Sport' mode is only featured with M-Sport and Sport Line and Luxury Line, AFAIK.

You like this? Here is how its done:

Last edited by Dante; 10-18-2018 at 02:27 AM..
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      08-25-2015, 03:28 PM   #2
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First of all, please note:

- Your car needs option code 563 'lighting package' to make my mod work!
- Your car must be built before 07/2015 to make my mod work!
-> If your car is newer built than 07/2015 (no cupholder LED), click here for alternative Method posted by Chew: link

You're doing this mod on your own risk. I can not be held responsible for any damage on the car!



So, first you'll need the actual LCI trim piece.
The BMW part # is 64119358940 and the price in Germany at the moment is EUR 36,- incl. VAT.

It will come like this:




For removal of the AC trim cover you'll need a T20 torx driver and a small thin screw driver for releasing te clips of the control panels.
Here is a tutorial of how to remove the trim (stop @1:35 ):



To make this work you'll need to get juice for the orange and white LED's of the trim piece to work. I found the LED illuminating the cup holder area just below to be the perfect source. It sits in here:



Note: You'll only have this LED when you have the option 'lighting package' and your car is built before 07/2015!

So, to get juice of the LED, I thought of fabricating a Y-adapter out of genuine BMW parts, which would work Plug'n'play and keep everything working as original. This ways you don't need to tamper with the wiring of your car and it's completely reversible.

The idea in drawing:



This is the parts list with everything needed to make your own y-adapter:

2x Universal pin terminal uncoded 3 POL. #61136931929
1x Universal socket housing uncoded 3 POL. #61138377072
3x pin contact 0,2- 0,5MM² #61130005198 (comes with crimped on cable!)
3x bushing contact 0,2- 0,5MM² #61130005197 (comes with crimped on cable!)
3x pin contact 0,75 MM² #61131393723 (without cable)

This is what you get:



Assambling the Adapter:
- Click the 3 male pin contacts with cable (#61130005198) into one of the pin housings (#61136931929)
- Click the 3 female bushing contacts with cable (#61130005197) into the socket housing (#61138377072).
- Shorten all 6 wires to a lenght of about 10cm. Strip the insulation about 4-5mm on each wire.
*Caution: The next step is extremely important!*
Make absolutely sure to connect the wires in correct pairs!
The pin assignment is brown Pin1 (ground), red/white or red Pin2 (orange LED), blue/white or black Pin3 (white LED).
Since all wires of the adapter are black, you need to find the pairs with the corresponsing pin numbers (1,2,3) imprinted on the green pin and socket housings.
For the next steps I strongly recommend using a crimp tool for dupont contacts!
- Connect the two wires for Pin1 by twisting the wires together.
- You'll have to crimp one of the single pin contacts (#61131393723) onto the connected wires. If using pliers to crimp, click here for details: link
It takes some practise to get it right, so the crimped contact with the two wires fits into the remaining pin housing. I found it useful to widen the openings of the contact housing with a sharp blade.
- Make sure to push the contacts all the way in until you hear a slight 'click'. Only this way the pins are secured in the housing and won't come out again. Push down pin lock on the connector.
- Make pairs for Pin2 ans Pin3 the same way.

The result should look like this:



This is what the adapter looks like mounted in the car:



There you go!

Last edited by Dante; 08-14-2017 at 10:01 AM..
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      08-25-2015, 03:29 PM   #3
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Diy??
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      08-25-2015, 03:30 PM   #4
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Love that!!! Part number? Was it plug and play? How involved is the install process?
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      08-25-2015, 03:53 PM   #5
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You still need IHKA3 if you want the white LED temperature display during the day like on the LCI model.
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      08-25-2015, 04:01 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tr0y View Post
Diy??
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahero4eternity View Post
Love that!!! Part number? Was it plug and play? How involved is the install process?
DIY in post #2
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      08-25-2015, 04:01 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aritaurus View Post
You still need IHKA3 if you want the white LED temperature display during the day like on the LCI model.
This mod is for the illuminated trim piece only.
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      08-26-2015, 03:57 AM   #8
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Mate that made a huge difference to the ambience of the interior. This is my next mod for sure. Well done!

Where did u buy the trim from.?

Last edited by x328x; 08-26-2015 at 04:21 AM..
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      08-26-2015, 04:27 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x328x View Post
Where did u buy the trim from.?
Thanks!
Bought at my BMW dealer.
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      08-26-2015, 07:11 AM   #10
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Thanks. Eventually I'll do this.
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      08-26-2015, 07:46 AM   #11
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Cool mod!
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      08-26-2015, 11:54 AM   #12
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Very cool. How do I get this part? Does your dealership sends to Brazil? I liked it a lot. Congratulations on that.
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      08-26-2015, 11:57 AM   #13
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this is awesome. in pictures it looks like it makes a huge difference....but i have myself convinced in reality its going to be disappointing as the rest of the lighting package is. at the highest setting, its barely visible
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      08-26-2015, 12:40 PM   #14
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Thanks all for the nice comments!

Quote:
Originally Posted by marcospoffo View Post
Very cool. How do I get this part? Does your dealership sends to Brazil? I liked it a lot. Congratulations on that.
With the part# I posted you can get it anywhere all over the world where BMW parts are sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by carzaddict View Post
this is awesome. in pictures it looks like it makes a huge difference....but i have myself convinced in reality its going to be disappointing as the rest of the lighting package is. at the highest setting, its barely visible
In fact it's better visible than the rest of the ambient lighting, but not as much as to distract.
The brightness of the ambient lighting is dependent on the setting in the lights menu as well as the switch for the lighting of the instrument cluster. The higher the setting for the instrument cluster, the brighter the ambient lighting.
Mine is set to 100% in the lights menu, but coded to be independend of the instrument cluster switch. If I remember correctly...
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      08-26-2015, 02:52 PM   #15
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Great upgrade you did there! I´ve wanted to do this myself since i saw the picture of the lci!
I´m going to my dealer tomorrow and ordering the parts myself

For some reason, the last picture you posted in the diy doesn´t show ( the one where the cable is mounted in the car). Could you post this again?
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      08-26-2015, 03:51 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xan View Post
Great upgrade you did there! I´ve wanted to do this myself since i saw the picture of the lci!
I´m going to my dealer tomorrow and ordering the parts myself

For some reason, the last picture you posted in the diy doesn´t show ( the one where the cable is mounted in the car). Could you post this again?
Thanks!
I've posted the pic again. Does it show now?
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      08-26-2015, 05:30 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante View Post
Thanks!
I've posted the pic again. Does it show now?
Yeah, now it´s there! Thnx!
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      08-26-2015, 05:52 PM   #18
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Thank you for sharing
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      08-27-2015, 12:26 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante View Post
DIY in post #2
The DIY wasn't present/visible when we posted...
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      08-27-2015, 12:29 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ahero4eternity
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante View Post
DIY in post #2
The DIY wasn't present/visible when we posted...
I was making it
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      08-27-2015, 03:38 AM   #21
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What other LCI goodies can we retrofit??
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      08-27-2015, 09:56 AM   #22
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Great mod! But I don't have option code 563 but I do have a white/amber led above the cupholder, can I still do this mod? Also the parts for the Y cable, did you also order those at the BMW dealership?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante View Post
Mine is set to 100% in the lights menu, but coded to be independend of the instrument cluster switch. If I remember correctly...
I'm interested how you coded this, I haven't heard of this before, maybe you can add this to the DYI?
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