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Changing from Pre Lci Lights to Lci Lights

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Old 02-22-2013, 09:30 AM
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Originally Posted by E60murph
Im looking in2 doin this but it looks long lol so i need the lci rear lights miranda cables nd im not sure weather mine is lm1 or lm2(07 plate 520d) thanks in advanve 4 any replys
If you have LM2, then there is no need for Bruce Miranda cables, if you have LM1, then the easiest way is to use Bruce's cables, but they are expensive compared to a new LM2 (275€ vs about 150€ an used LM2), and with LM2 you get extra features like Welcome Lights, Angel eyes as Day Running Lights, and other stuff

If yo go Bruce's cables route i have one set spare of v6 i could sell at discounted price, just plug and play. PM me if you are interested.

I understand you have a 2007 520d, so you have LM2 for sure. LM2 was installed from factory in cars manufactured from 2006-06, but only from 2007-03 they started to come with LCI lights.


Originally Posted by BallyM5
thanks RoberMC once i get a chance il go ahead with fitting the LM2 and see what errors get

i have made a back up already of the LM trace

il try the lights with out the wires and see what difference it makes

if they are needed to make it work il go ahead and fit them

how hard is it to make these work like the ricky effect i guess i wont have any strobing issues as i have a LM2 and if i change the wires to make it work like the ricky effect

its weird how the LM1 does this effect without any modifications could it be achieved by adding the brake light wire to the rods wire?
Once you have the LCI tail lights working, achieving Ricky's effect is easy, you can achieve it just with coding (harder but cleaner), or just disconnecting the 2 wires that supply current to the two brake bulbs, and connecting them to the fog light. i don't remember the number of the pins and they are different on each light. The rods are always at full brightness when using LM2, so no need to mod anything on them.

I won't recommend having ricky's effect, it is illegal in a lot of countries, and it defeats the purpose of having an OEM LCI tail lights, people would think you have installed a cheap third party tail lights or that you are using a cheap adapter cable which cannot handle all the functions properly.

What i did was code them so when braking only the outher brake light turns on, instead of the two at the same time as it was by default. This way my led rods are still visible while braking, and still preserves OEM look.

But hey, it is your car and it is your choice.

Last edited by RoberMC; 02-22-2013 at 09:39 AM.
Old 02-23-2013, 11:13 AM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by RoberMC
If you have LM2, then there is no need for Bruce Miranda cables, if you have LM1, then the easiest way is to use Bruce's cables, but they are expensive compared to a new LM2 (275€ vs about 150€ an used LM2), and with LM2 you get extra features like Welcome Lights, Angel eyes as Day Running Lights, and other stuff

If yo go Bruce's cables route i have one set spare of v6 i could sell at discounted price, just plug and play. PM me if you are interested.

I understand you have a 2007 520d, so you have LM2 for sure. LM2 was installed from factory in cars manufactured from 2006-06, but only from 2007-03 they started to come with LCI lights.




Once you have the LCI tail lights working, achieving Ricky's effect is easy, you can achieve it just with coding (harder but cleaner), or just disconnecting the 2 wires that supply current to the two brake bulbs, and connecting them to the fog light. i don't remember the number of the pins and they are different on each light. The rods are always at full brightness when using LM2, so no need to mod anything on them.

I won't recommend having ricky's effect, it is illegal in a lot of countries, and it defeats the purpose of having an OEM LCI tail lights, people would think you have installed a cheap third party tail lights or that you are using a cheap adapter cable which cannot handle all the functions properly.

What i did was code them so when braking only the outher brake light turns on, instead of the two at the same time as it was by default. This way my led rods are still visible while braking, and still preserves OEM look.

But hey, it is your car and it is your choice.
thanks what code values do i need to code if i want to do the job by coding

are you still using the fog light as brake or not by coding?

do you have a pic of how you tail light looks when you are braking?

i think there are three bulbs right for the brake which one is lighting up on yours

thanks
Old 02-23-2013, 07:25 PM
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There are some values in LM2 that control which light is turned on while braking, the parameters are:

RL_BL_1_BREMSL_FKT_33 --> Led rods
RL_BL_2_BREMSL_FKT --> Inner bulb
RL_BL_BREMSL_FKT --> Outer bulb
NSL_BREMSL_FKT --> Fog lights

Setting any of these to "aktiv" will make them turn on while braking, and setting any of them to "nich_aktiv" will make them beeing unnafected by braking. I only have RL_BL_BREMSL_FKT set to "aktiv", and the other are set to "nich_aktiv", so when i brake the outher brake bulb turns on, and the rest are unnafected. I don't use fog lights as brake light because it is not legal in my country, they blind people coming behind, and it looks aftermarket to me.

But if you really want fogs as brake lights, you can configure the brightness of them while braking with one of the next parameters (you will have one of the two):

PWM_ANSTEUERUNG_NSL_BL
PWM_NSL_ODER_BFD_ALS_BL

By default they are set at wert_05, which is about 9 volts, about right for brake lights. Wert_03 sets them at 12 volts, which is brighter and disturbing for other drivers. The other "werts" are less bright. You can do nettodat coding and set the voltage to whatever you want up to 16 volts (to brown people who dares to look at you from behind while braking)

Better do the install, and when you have everything working as stock, then start playing with values and choose by yourself the configuration that better suits your taste

Last edited by RoberMC; 02-24-2013 at 02:40 PM.
Old 02-24-2013, 12:04 AM
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Originally Posted by RoberMC
You can do nettodat coding and set the voltage to whatever you want up to 16 volts.
You may be able to set 16volts but you will never get it. A PWM system cannot up the voltage it van only lower it.
Old 02-24-2013, 04:48 AM
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Originally Posted by tom_il
You may be able to set 16volts but you will never get it. A PWM system cannot up the voltage it van only lower it.
From what i have read elsewhere, people are setting their GP Thunder bulbs as angel ayes at 16v, didn't tried myself so i don't know if it maxes on 13,7 volts or they are actually getting 16v.

Disable LED dimming via coding - Page 2 - BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum - E90Post.com

Even if it really works, i don't recommend running 12-13 volts rated bulbs at 16v
Old 02-24-2013, 06:32 AM
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yeah I have also about it on bmwcoding but nobody actually has measured the voltage.
Fact is that for increasing the voltage you need a different technology then for lowering it. Its a big difference. BMW never intended to increase the voltage so why would it then be possible by coding ?
Old 02-24-2013, 10:28 AM
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Hi RoberMc i have fitted the lights and have wired only right light wire to lm module

i have also added the code to the VO and done fa write on cas and lm

i have coded it to the car by using expert profile by doing sg codin on lm module

when i turn on the lights the fog light comes on low power on its own

when i press the brake pedal the rods light up but not that bright and so does the inner bulb the outside bulb does light up

any idea whats wrong here i havnt changed any other wires around yet

the reverse light works

when i turn on the rear fog that goes brighter

but no rods lights up with lights on and brakes off

thaanks

Last edited by BallyM5; 02-24-2013 at 01:38 PM.
Old 02-24-2013, 01:37 PM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by tom_il
yeah I have also about it on bmwcoding but nobody actually has measured the voltage.
Fact is that for increasing the voltage you need a different technology then for lowering it. Its a big difference. BMW never intended to increase the voltage so why would it then be possible by coding ?
A voltage step up circuit is something easy to do, and cheap. I don´t know if BMW's LM is capable of this, but thinking about it, it may be possible.

A bad car battery can run as low as 10,5 volts when ignition is off, maybe LM is able to upstep anything in the input to to the requested volts in the configuration. Also when cranking voltage drops even more, and lights are not flickering.

I really don't know, as i have not done any test, this is something i am not interested, i have seen with my own eyes burned LCI headlights from the inside by using overdriven bulbs as DRL's, so i would'n risk.

-----------------------------------------------------

BallyM5,

These are a lot of errors, it looks to me that the coding is not well done.

Check everything, read modules and make sure +MUEB is in your VO in CAS and LMA, then make sure you DON'T have FSW_PSW.MAN in your work directory, and code again with expertprofile. if it asks for a MAN file, then your expertprofile has been modified and you need the stock one.

If it does not work, extract a trace file of your LM2 and attach it here, i will have a look, so i can tell if the error is in the config or in the wiring. I have seen retrofit harneses badly wired by BMW, maybe it is the case. Plug the retrofit adapter to your factory plug and look closely if cable colors match from your pre-lci wiring to the adapter.

Also, if you coud post your VIN, that would help.

Good luck.

Last edited by RoberMC; 02-24-2013 at 02:19 PM.
Old 02-24-2013, 03:37 PM
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i been studying the retro fit pdf and the wiring has changed in the 2007 and 2008 pdf file as there was errors in the 2007 bmw stopped selling this retrofit wiring kit

the wiring i brought was wired up exact how the 2007 pdf shows which was the one with the error

i changed the wires on both left and right wiring on pin 4 and pin 6 around. as this is how the retrofit wiring should have came as shown in the 2008 pdf and il test again tomorrow
Old 02-24-2013, 04:08 PM
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Thanks for the reply I think it's caused by wiring as it seems its wired wrong

I did check the code was added into the vo and stayed there in cas didn't check it in lm il do that tomorrow

My expert profile is good as I have been doing quite abit coding and it does reset back to default without man file

Just to confirm when I do fa write to cas and then lm that copy's all the vo and vin to lm?

These were the functions that didn't work on front headlights inner ae rings , no main beam flasher


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