C's Bimmer

Where did you get the interior bulbs from Boner? Are they the interior Xenon's that Bimmian sells for $70? Does it cover just about every single light inside the car?

info@trinityautosport

looks good.

alpinewhite

nerwel...u should do it. cheap and nice mod. i was driving behind my dad (who was driving my 5) and i was like... i wonder whos that cool looking car with those lights in the back belong too

info@trinityautosport

maybe i will.. haha. it does look good. but first ill be getting my rear bumper repaired. i still havent done it.. havent had the time since i was rear-ended. ill probably be getting that done during spring break on the week of the 9th of april. then ill hopefully be getting spacers soon. so yeah.. we'll see if i could afford it or if i have to save up some more again haha.

bonehead

I got the bulbs individually from autolumination.com. Had to remove all the housings to figure out which ones I needed. I put blue LED's in the footwells and doorsills. I think it looks cool, but the GF hates it
It was quite a bit more expensive this way rather than get it from Bimmian, but I heard their set is very dim. These aren't that bright either, but I like it. If I did it over, I'd probably get a cheaper LED kit from some website like Bimmian and get separate colored LED's from autolumination for specific areas. I'll take some pics when I get a chance.

And BTW, here are the pics of my pup

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=37551

blinkme_210

The Bimmian set is not LED, they are merely blue coated incandescent "Xenon filled", if you believe that. You can get the same bulbs from autolumination.com at $1.49 each.

I bought a mix of both LED & incandescent super white bulbs from autolumination for the interior. When I get them, I will post up pics to compare the brightness and look of the LED's between the incandescent.

The bulbs for the interior are as follows:
Dome lights (front & center) = 6 x W5W (cross referenced as 194)
Vanity lights = 2 x 44mm festoon style
Under door sills = 2 x W5W
Glove compartment = 1 x 44mm festoon style
Trunk = 1 x 44mm festoon style
License plate = 2 x 39mm festoon style

I think those are correct sizes, I'm typing this up from memory. If anyone knows the correct sizing, post up a reply.

bonehead

Really wish you had posted that before. I bought the festoons thinking they were all like the license plate bulbs. But as you correctly state, all the other ones are 44's, not 39. No matter. I just bent the metal leads and they all work.
I will add a few things. In the M5, at least, the center bulbs in the front and rear dome clusters are a smaller diameter than the other two bulbs on either side. No idea why, but VERY irritating.
You will need FOUR 194 bulbs for the doorsills (we have sedans, not coupes )
Trunk in the M5 has two lights; therefore, you will need TWO 44mm festoons.
Footwells lights take 39 mm (I think...) festoons. Need TWO of these.

However, I will correct you on a few things. The dome lights on the M5, at least, do take the 194's, but the center lights in the front and rear clusters are of a smaller diameter than the two on either side of it. I have no idea why.
Door sills take 194's, but you will need FOUR of them (we have sedan's, not coupes

blinkme_210

Just went outside and checked all of my bulbs & door sills individually, so the list I typed up is correct. I can't comment for other regions like US, UK, etc, but on my car at least, there are some differences:

1) All the bulbs in my center and rear console are all the same size, W5W aka 194
2) I do NOT have lights underneath the rear door sills (-2), or front footwells (-2). For the footwells, there is cut outs, but they are capped with black inserts.
3) I only have 1 light in the trunk (-1).
Total missing = -5 bulbs

I was wondering why the Bimmian interior kit includes 19 bulbs, because on my car, I only count 14 bulbs including the license plates. Now I know. The lights you mentioned I was "missing" makes up for the surplus of bulbs in the Bimmian kit and on my 530xi at least.

Could someone from other regions please go and count how many lights they have in their car, seems like we've discovered another difference between E60's.

blinkme_210

On a separate note, when you are replacing any of the W5W/194 bulbs, measure each bulb individually with a caliper. There are a variety of 194 size bulbs, and if you get the wrong ones, they will not fit unless you make the opening larger, or will have to purchase new ones if they are too long.

For the W5W/194 bulbs, you should not exceed 11mm diameter x 24mm length.

bonehead

Well, that's strange. The dome lights are all 194's, but for some reason, the hole in the housing for the center bulb is smaller than the two side ones. I couldn't get the LED to fit, so I used a hyper white incandescent bulb instead.
As far as the footwells, trunk, and rear doors, I wonder why they didn't include the same lights for those in the regular 5-series vehicles as in the M5? Does it really save that much money in production costs?