[AD300K]

Hi all,

I am wanting to get brighter reverse light bulbs, but I am trying to find ones that are error code free and that don't blink on startup or randomly while driving. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Billfitz]

Assuming you now have incandescent bulbs brighter means LED, LEDs must be coded, there's no getting around it. BTW, you should be asking in the Cosmetic and Lighting section.

[upsidedownfunnel]

The best you can do is get an LED that will not throw an error. With LED replacements, you will ALWAYS get some flashing as it does its checks. I suppose some flashing on startup is not that big of a deal for the reverse lights.

For budget LEDs that perform very well, I highly recommend JDM Astar bulbs. They are error free (I ran them for a week or so without any coding at all and they never hyper-flashed or threw an error in iDrive). They're not super cheap, but for their performance, they are very well priced. A pair of bulbs usually runs between $15-$30 depending on how bright you need them to be. I'd say they perform as well as those name brand LEDs that cost 2-3x the price. They're actually brighter than incandescent bulbs both in direct sunlight and in the evening.

EDIT Do take note that the LCI and pre-LCI cars have different size reverse bulbs. I'm not sure if a 2016 F32 is pre-LCI or not, but if it is, I'd be willing to send you some pre-LCI reverse bulbs I have for the price of shipping for you to try out. I took them off since I upgraded to LCI tail lights.

[Jam101jam]

Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel

The best you can do is get an LED that will not throw an error. With LED replacements, you will ALWAYS get some flashing as it does its checks. I suppose some flashing on startup is not that big of a deal for the reverse lights.

For budget LEDs that perform very well, I highly recommend JDM Astar bulbs. They are error free (I ran them for a week or so without any coding at all and they never hyper-flashed or threw an error in iDrive). They're not super cheap, but for their performance, they are very well priced. A pair of bulbs usually runs between $15-$30 depending on how bright you need them to be. I'd say they perform as well as those name brand LEDs that cost 2-3x the price. They're actually brighter than incandescent bulbs both in direct sunlight and in the evening.

EDIT Do take note that the LCI and pre-LCI cars have different size reverse bulbs. I'm not sure if a 2016 F32 is pre-LCI or not, but if it is, I'd be willing to send you some pre-LCI reverse bulbs I have for the price of shipping for you to try out. I took them off since I upgraded to LCI tail lights.

That's a nice offer for the OP! Cheers to peeps like yourself

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel

I suppose some flashing on startup is not that big of a deal for the reverse lights.

The cold check will flash them on start up. The warm check will flash them every minute or so after that. That's why coding is mandatory. And that's why there's no such thing as plug and play for BMW, no matter what the advertising may say.

[AD300K]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Assuming you now have incandescent bulbs brighter means LED, LEDs must be coded, there's no getting around it. BTW, you should be asking in the Cosmetic and Lighting section.

I didn't know that thread or section existed. Honestly, this is my first time using any type of forum board. I even had a hard time trying to figure out how to post a thread (I think that is what I posted).

[AD300K]

Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel

The best you can do is get an LED that will not throw an error. With LED replacements, you will ALWAYS get some flashing as it does its checks. I suppose some flashing on startup is not that big of a deal for the reverse lights.

For budget LEDs that perform very well, I highly recommend JDM Astar bulbs. They are error free (I ran them for a week or so without any coding at all and they never hyper-flashed or threw an error in iDrive). They're not super cheap, but for their performance, they are very well priced. A pair of bulbs usually runs between $15-$30 depending on how bright you need them to be. I'd say they perform as well as those name brand LEDs that cost 2-3x the price. They're actually brighter than incandescent bulbs both in direct sunlight and in the evening.

EDIT Do take note that the LCI and pre-LCI cars have different size reverse bulbs. I'm not sure if a 2016 F32 is pre-LCI or not, but if it is, I'd be willing to send you some pre-LCI reverse bulbs I have for the price of shipping for you to try out. I took them off since I upgraded to LCI tail lights.

Thank you for the information I really appreciate it!

EDIT I'll find out if my F32 is pre LCI or not, Thanks!

[perryo91]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Assuming you now have incandescent bulbs brighter means LED, LEDs must be coded, there's no getting around it. BTW, you should be asking in the Cosmetic and Lighting section.

Originally Posted by Billfitz

The cold check will flash them on start up. The warm check will flash them every minute or so after that. That's why coding is mandatory. And that's why there's no such thing as plug and play for BMW, no matter what the advertising may say.

I changed my front turn signals to LEDs and there was 0 error message and 0 flickering

[Billfitz]

Have you stood in front of the car watching the lights with the engine running but the lights not turned on? That's when the warm check will flash them every minute or so. I found out the hard way that the inner and outer brake lights have to be separately coded. I ddn't initially code the inners (the ones on the trunk lid) and didn't discover that they were blinking every minute or so until I happened to stand behind the car with the engine running and lights off. I hope I didn't piss off too many people in the months it took before I noticed it, thinking I was brake checking them.

[CrumbyButter]

Coding is a must for any LED upgrade with the F30. As others mentioned, they will flicker sporadically otherwise. And if you're going to go through the trouble of coding, you may as well do them all at the same time, since you will probably upgrade the other bulbs in the near future.

Error free bulbs only eliminate the annoying 'bulb is out' warning.

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by perryo91

I changed my front turn signals to LEDs and there was 0 error message and 0 flickering

0 errors is believable.

0 flickering? Unless it was coded by someone before you, unlikely. It's only noticeable when you first start the car, and only occasionally when you're driving. It probably does flicker, you just haven't seen it.

[perryo91]

Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel

0 errors is believable.

0 flickering? Unless it was coded by someone before you, unlikely. It's only noticeable when you first start the car, and only occasionally when you're driving. It probably does flicker, you just haven't seen it.

I mean they're turn signal indicators, so when I unlock the car, no flickering. When I turn on the parking lamps, then turn on the car, no flickering (its early in the morning so I can see them lighting upthe wall.

Not sure what to tell you men. If the resistance is matched to the incandescent bulb then the car doesn't need to perform a bulb check!

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by perryo91

I mean they're turn signal indicators, so when I unlock the car, no flickering. When I turn on the parking lamps, then turn on the car, no flickering (its early in the morning so I can see them lighting upthe wall.

Not sure what to tell you men. If the resistance is matched to the incandescent bulb then the car doesn't need to perform a bulb check!

You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the check is and why it behaves differently for LEDs. LEDs have an extremely quick rise time which is the threshold before it will turn on. When a quick pulse of voltage is sent to what the car thinks are incandescent/halogen bulbs, it is too quick for the filament to light up since it literally has to heat up the filament to be white hot which then illuminates the bulb. But the filament does resist the signal so the car can detect that and know there's a bulb connected. Even LEDs with resistors to avoid errors are still able to "see" quick bursts of voltage since resistors on their own can't slowly propagate a signal.

However, since an LED reacts much more quickly, it actually does illuminate when connected. If it didn't react that quickly, it kind of defeats the purpose of using an LED, right? The point is you get those extremely rapid turn-on from dark to light. By definition, you wouldn't design an LED that will not flash with those types of checks because that is the main defining characteristic of LEDs people like.

The flash never happens when the car is off. It only occurs when the car is on and it's very hard to see it in reflections.

[perryo91]

Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel

You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the check is and why it behaves differently for LEDs. LEDs have an extremely quick rise time which is the threshold before it will turn on. When a quick pulse of voltage is sent to what the car thinks are incandescent/halogen bulbs, it is too quick for the filament to light up since it literally has to heat up the filament to be white hot which then illuminates the bulb. But the filament does resist the signal so the car can detect that and know there's a bulb connected. Even LEDs with resistors to avoid errors are still able to "see" quick bursts of voltage since resistors on their own can't slowly propagate a signal.

However, since an LED reacts much more quickly, it actually does illuminate when connected. If it didn't react that quickly, it kind of defeats the purpose of using an LED, right? The point is you get those extremely rapid turn-on from dark to light. By definition, you wouldn't design an LED that will not flash with those types of checks because that is the main defining characteristic of LEDs people like.

The flash never happens when the car is off. It only occurs when the car is on and it's very hard to see it in reflections.

What I'm trying to say is, I had someone else turn on the car while I stood infront of it. There's no bulb check. I hate to burst your bubble man but my LEDs did not do it.