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| 03-24-2012, 10:27 PM | #1 |
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New Member
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Has anyone done factory interior LED light?
Hi
Has anyone done factory interior LED light? Is it difficult? My local dealer told me that some of the interior light base has to be modified. |
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| 12-22-2012, 05:39 PM | #4 |
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New Member
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Your ebay seller is wrong - the BMW LED bulbs will work in all interior lights except for the cargo area. 5 bulbs are required to do the front dome light and two map lights and hte two rear passenger area lights. The only hard part is removing the rear light covers. Place a flat scredriver into the slot at hte foront of the lens between the lens and hte ceiling headliner - as you push it in pull hte lens down fromt eh fornt. There is a spring clip that must be pushed towards the back to release the lens. When I tried the entire assembly actaully came out ie the lamp holder, lens and black metal surround that should remain captive in the ceiling. Just separate the two parts and then place the black surround back into the ceiling and bend the retaining clips back into place. For the cargo area try this link http://www.bimmian.ca/ I just received the cargo light, it fits right in and is a lot brighter. I actually bought two and cut a second hole on the right side in the same realtive postion and identical size as the factory installed left one. Ran some wires under the cargo area from the left light and now have a much brighter cargo area.\Jack
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| 02-05-2013, 05:30 PM | #5 |
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Private
 
Drives: 2013 X1 x28i M & 2011 ActiveE Join Date: May 2008
Location: East Windsor, NJ
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I purchased and installed the BMW LED 10 Set (even cargo). The interior looks better now!
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2013 X1 XDrive28i M Sport, 2011 ActiveE Alpine White Electric
2008 E90 M3 Retired. Last edited by RDM3; 02-05-2013 at 08:59 PM. |
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| 02-08-2013, 03:14 PM | #6 |
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Private
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Hi RDM3
Did you manage to change the blubs without too much hassle and did it take long? Thinking about this mod for my X1 as the old yellow blub light just looks old fashioned now. J. |
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| 02-08-2013, 04:47 PM | #7 |
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Private
Drives: 2013 X1 x28i M & 2011 ActiveE Join Date: May 2008
Location: East Windsor, NJ
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Cargo light and the foot rest lights - Easy.
Front and the reading lights - Moderate. Rear seat lights - Moderate but it was easier after I read JACKINBC's post(above my post). If you need more information please let me know.
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2013 X1 XDrive28i M Sport, 2011 ActiveE Alpine White Electric
2008 E90 M3 Retired. |
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| 03-03-2013, 05:52 PM | #10 |
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Private
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I've now finished the LED mod, and what a difference it makes to the car a night! So much brighter inside the car which now matches the under door handle puddle lights. Going to take some getting use to, but I'm really happy with it.
I took some pics as I changed the bulbs and made a note of a couple of things to watch out for, but my bl**dy camera is not being recognised by my PC's USB sockets, so got to fix that. Infact nothing is being recognised on the USB sockets  I'll get the pics up via my laptop when I can. J. Last edited by fdpxfunix; 03-03-2013 at 05:59 PM. |
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| 03-04-2013, 02:44 PM | #11 |
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Private
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Final got the pics off my camera, so here we go…
1) These are the tools I used, and yes that's one of my daughter’s rulers. I did also use a small pair of needle nose pliers...  2) This is what I'm installing. BMW OEM 10 pack LED light upgrade. 6 bulbs for the dome lights, 2 for the front foot well lights and 2 spares...  3) The round blub with the lens is for the domes, and the flat one for the foot well...  4) Behold the front dome light assembly...  5) Insert a flat bladed screwdriver in-between the frosted lens cover and the dome surround. Be careful as you can damage the plastic. I only used the screwdriver to open the gap a little and then slid the ruler in to pull apart. If you lever the ruler up you'll feel the cover come away from the surround and make a ‘click’ sound. Carry on doing this across the front of the cover until it pops out. Again be careful to hold on to the cover to stop it falling on something…  6) Here's the dome with the standard bulbs and black map reading light directors in place…  7) Remove the black map reading directors by giving them a wiggle and a pull. There’s a knack to getting them out which I found easier if you try to turn them as you pull. At this stage you can also remove the standard blubs. The middle one is easy, but I found the 2 map reading blubs easier to get out with some needle nose pliers covered in a rag or cloth…  8) Insert the LED blubs. The LED blubs had larger contacts than the standard blubs, so you may have to push a little harder to get them in. They do fit though and are made easier to fit by the flat lens covers. You just use your thumb and press up…  9) Testing, testing, and testing. I had no problems with the polarity on these blubs as they worked either way round, but check when you’re doing it…  10) Before you put the map reading directors back on, make sure they’re fitted correctly. They can be fitted slightly off centre which then causes the frosted lens cover to not fit correctly. Just try and keep them centred as you push them into the hole and you’ll hear a little click. The frosted lens cover is best put back on by starting at the back. Get the cover into the same angle as in picture 5 and press up at the back. Then push the whole lens cover up to where it should be and then press firmly at the front. You’ll press the light buttons in as you’re doing this, but don’t worry as you need to make the cover click back into place. If it looks to be a bit proud, then take it off and check those map reading directors! I had to do this a couple of times before I realised what was going on. The finished article…  11) Moving on to the foot well. This is the passenger side (please excuse my wifes boot marks!)…  12) Using a flat bladed screwdriver at one of the short ends of the lens, lever it away from its housing. Pull the rest of the lens out so you can work with it…  13) Twist the lens (or blub mount) until they can be separated and just pull out the standard bulb…  14) Insert the LED blub, but make sure the actual light part of the blub finishes facing outwards toward the frosted part of the lens cover when you twist them back together. I guess you could do it either way, but I’m sure you’ll get more light into the foot well if you use my method. Once the blub is back in the lens push one side of the lens back into its housing and then press firmly on the other to pop it back into place. The drivers side light is in a slightly different position, but the same fitting method applies...  And that as they say is that! Apart from the map reading directors giving me some grief, the only other thing was one of the dome blubs had a very slightly blue tint, whereas the other 5 were very white. All I did was make sure the blue tinted one went into one of the rear map reading lights, which are not going to get used much. I really could not be bothered to take the kit back to BMW for one blub! Took me about 2 hours in all, but I did have to take the domes apart again when I found the blue tinted bulb, I did spend some time cleaning the lens covers and reflectors in the domes and of course taking these pics  I’ll upload some night pics when I get a chance. Hope someone finds this useful. It's a really easy mod and transforms the interior at night. Just a shame the glove box and vanity lights now look totally sh*t. I'll be on the look out for some decent festoon LED blubs now  J. Last edited by fdpxfunix; 03-04-2013 at 03:13 PM. |
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