[eff32fl]

My new LED's from benzinfabrik.com have shipped yay! Can't wait until they come in so I can upgrade my ambient lighting.

I'm going to repaint the silver part of my front door/back seat/dash trim San Marino blue as well it's going to look sick!

[Dang3r]

Sounds promising, don't forget the pics when you're done.

[LA1Z24]

I just installed my footwell lights, and door panel lights in my F32. The floors are very bright. The door panel modules are also quite bright. I can actually see them slightly lit up during the day. Can't wait for it to get dark so I can check it out. If they are nice, I will order 2 more for the back seats, and the LCI dash trim.

[WillLowe]

I've just been doing mine. Changed my lights for around 10p each. Works well and still maintained the changing colour functionality.

[eff32fl]

Originally Posted by LA1Z24

I just installed my footwell lights, and door panel lights in my F32. The floors are very bright. The door panel modules are also quite bright. I can actually see them slightly lit up during the day. Can't wait for it to get dark so I can check it out. If they are nice, I will order 2 more for the back seats, and the LCI dash trim.

Very nice! My order from benzinfabrik.com still hasn't come in yet. I'm in USA and it's been about 3 weeks *sigh* hopefully they come in soon. What sucks is I can't even track the package after it left to USA.

Originally Posted by WillLowe

I've just been doing mine. Changed my lights for around 10p each. Works well and still maintained the changing colour functionality.

WillLowe, which LED strip did you use for the radio trim? The ones I've found are light blue and Chinese but can't find any deep/true blue ones like what benzinfabrik.com sells for the doors/footwell lights. That's the next thing I plan on changing to blue, but preferably would like to have blue/white so the color changing matches when my order comes in and I get the new LED's installed. Or are you using the bendable light strip/tube stuff? How did you change the colors of the Eco/Comfort/Sport buttons?

[WillLowe]

It's not an led strip I simply dismantled the oem led. It uses a fibre optic tube. I replaced the one of the two leds with blue (left is orange right is white) Very easy to do and cost me next to nothing.

[eff32fl]

Originally Posted by WillLowe

It's not an led strip I simply dismantled the oem led. It uses a fibre optic tube. I replaced the one of the two leds with blue (left is orange right is white) Very easy to do and cost me next to nothing.

Oh very nice that's super simple. The Chinese replacement trims I've seen use LED strips so I assumed the OEM was the same. Where did you buy the blue LED from or what kind of LED does it require? I can take a part my dash in the morning but figured it would be easier to ask lol. I'll have to go buy another soldering iron and some solder I have no idea where mine wandered off to.

[WillLowe]

It's just 0805 smds I ordered mind from crazyleds in the UK. Its very simple to disassemble

[eff32fl]

Originally Posted by WillLowe

It's just 0805 smds I ordered mind from crazyleds in the UK. Its very simple to disassemble

Awesome thank you! Just ordered some 0805 blue LED's and should be here by Monday yay!

[Squibby1996]

Originally Posted by WillLowe

It's not an led strip I simply dismantled the oem led. It uses a fibre optic tube. I replaced the one of the two leds with blue (left is orange right is white) Very easy to do and cost me next to nothing.

Ah I see, is yours lci? The ones in my f32 I thought were led strips?

[Dang3r]

Originally Posted by WillLowe

It's just 0805 smds I ordered mind from crazyleds in the UK. Its very simple to disassemble

It seems that theres a difference between aftersales LCI dash or stock installed. Here I thought theres a LED chain within both modules.
Thanks for sharing this info.

[WillLowe]

Yeah mine is lci. It's just a optic tube like the ambient door strips with an smd on each end. I'm struggling to find the correct leds for the window switches now.

[omie]

I went all in, and still not done! I changed all the amber LEDs to white ones, and it is a hell of a job I can tell you. Every door button, the light buttons, door lock buttons and so on. There are a lot! I dismantled almost every interior part, and soldered the new white LEDs in place. My "classic" mode is now white, and "sport" mode is blue. I also ordered the "benzinfabrik" LEDs because they light up a lot more, but still didnt have time to fit that in the doors yet.

[WillLowe]

Originally Posted by omie

I went all in, and still not done! I changed all the amber LEDs to white ones, and it is a hell of a job I can tell you. Every door button, the light buttons, door lock buttons and so on. There are a lot! I dismantled almost every interior part, and soldered the new white LEDs in place. My "classic" mode is now white, and "sport" mode is blue. I also ordered the "benzinfabrik" LEDs because they light up a lot more, but still didnt have time to fit that in the doors yet.

That's exactly what I'm in the process of doing. Any tips on dismantling the idrive control? The metal magnet thing at the bottom won't budge at all. Also do you know the code for the SMDs for the halo on the idrive controller? I've had a quick look and I didn't recognise the type.

[omie]

The iDrive controller was a pain in the ass yes, it took me quite some time to figure it out. I dont remember exactly how I took it apart, but I had this DIY to follow, clear with pictures:

https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/s...php?p=25716191

As for the leds, indeed they are different. I couldnt fine the exact ones, but I tried with 1206 SMD first. In general I used the 1206 Leds to replace the original Leds. They are slightly bigger, but also brighter. You need to wiggle it a bit as the 1206 is rectangular, and the holes are round, but it worked at the end. If you use the 0805 leds, that should definitely work. Just takes some time and patience, and a magnifier glass would have been great

[Sigge]

Wow, i really admire your commitment guys. What motivates you to do something like this? I would never have the patience.

[omie]

Sigge To be honest, I really was annoyed with all that orange from the first night I drove in my car. All my other cars (other brands) had bright and nice coloured interiors with several ambient lights. In my F30 it looked like I stepped into a car which was 20 years old! Fugly as hell, literally everything is orange. It bothered me so much that I decided to upgrade everything to a bright and updated interior before this winter. It was a hell of a job, and because it's my daily car I couldn't take apart just anything. But I knew what I was getting into, soldering around 150 Leds one by one :P

The result is just perfect, everything looks OEM, ambients work perfect, couldn't be happier!

[WillLowe]

Pretty much the same for me. Never liked the orange colour. I'm slowly getting there with my swap over. Having a nightmare with the mode select button now deciding to stop letting me choose sport mode after changing over the leds fun times

[Sigge]

Originally Posted by omie

Sigge To be honest, I really was annoyed with all that orange from the first night I drove in my car. All my other cars (other brands) had bright and nice coloured interiors with several ambient lights. In my F30 it looked like I stepped into a car which was 20 years old! Fugly as hell, literally everything is orange. It bothered me so much that I decided to upgrade everything to a bright and updated interior before this winter. It was a hell of a job, and because it's my daily car I couldn't take apart just anything. But I knew what I was getting into, soldering around 150 Leds one by one :P

The result is just perfect, everything looks OEM, ambients work perfect, couldn't be happier!

I agree that the orange feel a little outdated, but at the same time its something that defines BMW. I like it because of that reason. Its BMW and it makes you feel that you are driving something of high quality

But still, hella impressive work! Do you have any idea how many hour this has taken you so far?

[omie]

Originally Posted by WillLowe

Pretty much the same for me. Never liked the orange colour. I'm slowly getting there with my swap over. Having a nightmare with the mode select button now deciding to stop letting me choose sport mode after changing over the leds fun times

Had the same problem! I had some soldering wire which touched the copper of the PCD board and made a permanent connection of the button. I cleaned it up, and worked just fine. Look if you have some extra wire melted somewhere.

[omie]

Originally Posted by Sigge

I agree that the orange feel a little outdated, but at the same time its something that defines BMW. I like it because of that reason. Its BMW and it makes you feel that you are driving something of high quality

But still, hella impressive work! Do you have any idea how many hour this has taken you so far?

I agree for sure, not everyone likes the white, let alone the blue colours. People getting in my car have mixed feelings, some like it very much, others think it doesn't fit BMW. Orange is very much defining BMW, and feels luxurious. But to me it really felt like I stepped in an old car, and I just couldn't get over it.

I worked on it for like a month, weekly 10-15 hours. So approximately 50-60 hours total I think. I still have some small things to do, not 100% finished yet. That will take me another 10-20 hours. All in all it was well worth it

[Sigge]

Originally Posted by omie

I agree for sure, not everyone likes the white, let alone the blue colours. People getting in my car have mixed feelings, some like it very much, others think it doesn't fit BMW. Orange is very much defining BMW, and feels luxurious. But to me it really felt like I stepped in an old car, and I just couldn't get over it.

I worked on it for like a month, weekly 10-15 hours. So approximately 50-60 hours total I think. I still have some small things to do, not 100% finished yet. That will take me another 10-20 hours. All in all it was well worth it

Haha, thats insane :P ! I suppose you must enjoy this kind of work aswell? Otherwise im even more impressed..

I understand that there is mixed feelings about it, and i would for sure think it was really cool if i saw it, but maybe not think that it belongs in a BMW

But i respect that people have different opinions and its cool that you dare walk your own path!