i think it needs to be recoded. anybody going OEM route would need the taillight + retrofit wiring harness + new LCM (light module). from another member, the old headlight will lose some features and gain some features. might be ideal to do the headlights as well. i have looked and a few other members are going to receive the parts to do the facelift. so just hang in there--will keep everyone posted.

about the taillight, i am not sure about the vendors out there. justin from roveractive carries them (euro specs amber turn signal). garry from newport bmw i think has the US specs taillight (red turn signal). newport bmw have the 25% off for e60.net members.

 

yes as far i know, it is the oem bmw wire harness to enable connection between pre-lci car and lci taillights & headlights.

 

Anyone know the part number? Maybe Gary from Newport can get it too!

 

1. do you know what the issues are with the pre lci headlights if someone installs the lcm and wire harness to get the rear lci taillights working ?

2. does this way of install allow full and correct lci rear taillight operation ? ( 5 led rod operation during lights on, no strobing, fading when switching off etc. )

 

3. Does recoding of with the new LCM allow functionability of LCI headlights on pre-LCI E60's?

 

1. not sure of the issues. a member, merdashti, did the taillight + light module coding. the pre-lci headlight like lost some features and gained some features such as dimming. however, no errors for the pre-lci headlight.

2. for lci taillight everything was the same as the facelift...no strobing etc.

3. functionality as in question 1? the new light module supports the lci headlight. what i'm not clear is that for 2005 or newer cars--not sure if changing the module is even necessary. since my car is is an '04 built in 12/'03, i went ahead and order a new module.

have to wait and see....hopefully be hearing some good news from alex.br soon

 

Root a lot of people are going to wait for you to figure this one out. merdashti got a new LCM and got his dealer to recode it for the taillight retrofit. I helped him with a cable that had absolutely no electronic components but its still probably not the way BMW would want it connected. The LCM with the recode is still expecting a cable with 7 connectors. But without changing the entire wiring loom you are stuck with the six wired cable and then you need to decide where to connect the 7th feed. With the Brake and the Tail lights now being off in normal use the only feed I could think of for Merdashti was the Fog light (circle).

He still gets some iDrive errors but everything seems to work like an LCI car.

 

bruce, the modified e46 cable seems pretty close but maybe one pin is off? it is very unlikely bmw would put an electronic circuit in the oem retrofit cable especially when they can manipulate exactly what they want by recoding the LM. i still cannot quite figure out the 7th feed. with the LED rods
as taillight, all of the braking would be done separately with the bulbs. still hard to guess, since the recoded LM could reassign pins or add functions to it. i'm guessing the 2 pins (light rod and side leds) orginated from the same feed?

a. ground(a)
b. reverse(b)
c. turn LEDs?
d. tail light rod LEDs(d) + side LEDs(e) ----taillight rods on during DRL, side LEDs on during DRL?
e. circle fog (f) ----US spec. acts as a dim tailight bulb only when light switch turns on, + brake force display?

f. 3 bulbs brake(g) ----- only comes on when braking, + maybe brake force display?

his error was a brake light failure, maybe something to do with the circle fog ? his rear looks exactly like LCI but missing the adaptive brake feature--hence the error?

 

Root when you buy the e46 cable from BMW it comes with the connectors but there are also some extra wires in that cable that are very long and probably designed to go all the way to the front of the car possibly to connect to the LCM directly. I'm absolutely sure that BMW w ill not add electronics to the cable itself. But what I'm not so sure about is if the cable will be simply a foot long conversion cable or a something similar to how the e46 cable starts off before I start cutting and soldering

The Led rods and side LEDs are exactly the same line and infact its a smart idea to soak up the 12V. If you count you will see that the Turn light is made up of exactly twice the number of LEDs in the taillight part (inc the side LEDs). That way both of them can be powered with a 12V feed directly.

We know that the BFD light is the Taillight in EU and the Fog light in the US. When the BFD light blows you get a Taillight failure message on the idrive but he is getting a Brake light failure message even though the outer light is connected to the pre-LCI brake feed and the middle light is connected to the pre-LCI Taillight feed. So this again makes me believe that the recoded LCM now thinks that its got 7 wires well in fact its still got only 6.

 

surprises me-- the e46 cable has wires that long? i remember reading the e46 cable set harness was simple plug and play. to get rid of the lamp out message, a recode of the light module was necessary. in addition, older model had to have their LM replaced for recode to work.

could the long wire be for the trunk light that many refer to? the e60 light module is right behind the light switch in front of the car. it would be cost prohibiting to reroute the wire that far i would think as it would scare away potential buyers from the dealer? once i receive the cable harness, i'll definitely keep an eye out for long wires.