I recently purchased a set of license plate aftermarket bulbs. ( I DO NOT WANT TO SAY FROM WHO BECAUSE IT WILL GIVE THEM BAD PUBLICITY). It was guaranteed that there would be NO ERROR on my idrive screen. I installed them and saw an error. I contacted the seller (GREAT GUY) and he said that was a rare occurrence since I had a 05' 530i. He said he will of course let me return the item but i was wondering.....Can I buy a cerain kind of housing/wire kit that will let me use this kind of brightness on my license plate? I just want there to be no error. Is there a kit I can buy that is as bright as this but causes no error. THanks

 

I never believe without extra resistor or retrofit harness which already build in resistor / relay / small light bulb can fool the OBC.
It must have error code if just replace light bulb to led only. you can search from forum some seller have retrofit kit or just like us solder the extra resistor in parallel.

 

well...if you want OEM LED's (the newer 3 series have them)

you can buy cables from members bruce_miranda, elite_motorsports_bmw or 777er (I bought mine from member 777er). All work without error codes or strobing...


it seems members f1autohaus also have an aftermarket LED bulb that is bright and works well...

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=70638


you cold even buy some inexpensive festoon LED bulbs and an inexpensive resistor get it to work..

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=315093

***IMO, OEM LED's are the cleanest...I've tried almost all the different bulbs (except the ones from autohaus)...and am happiest with the OEM set-up...

***I am pretty sure which bulbs you are talking about...did you try flipping the bulbs around to make sure you have the poles correct. The built in resistors in those bulbs can be finicky...


GL


Gene

 

Are the OEM Led's bright at all? I saw a couple 3's around and I was lookinf for something a little brighter than OEM. And yes I got aftermarket LED lights that I just plugged into the socket where the OEM (yellow ones) were

 

on e60's the OEM led's seem brighter than on the 3 series, IMO...


Aftermarket LED's will be brighter....but for a balance even distribution of light and brightness...OEM is good to go...

member knightcom's OEM set-up (I have the same set-up)

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=506631

 

I bet i can guess who you bought them lights from cause i got the same excuse when i kept on getting the same annoying error message! Whatever! this is the second pair of lights i purchase and not very happy with them all since iv been told that neither one of them would put out an error message. Im not here to bash anyone so ill just keep his name out of the forum.

 

I just installed mine last week with a resistor from raio shack and works like a dream and super bright. The resistors were $1.99 for the pair. (50ohm 10watt)
And looks good! Love em....

 

Sorry... Thats radio shack..
Problem solved for $2.00..And a super easy install. There's a dyi thread here that gives you an exact pic and steps.

 

I can honestly tell everyone that I was the seller who sold him the bulbs. It's honestly rare that the error message stays on. At the most, it will go on and off immediately when the OBC detects the current. U could use a 50 ohm 10w resistor from radioshack http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search

Wrap it around the ends and the error message will go away. Or send me the bulbs and I'll ship you new replacements. Whatever you need, I can help you with it. DO NOT GET 10 ohm. It will blow a fuse. 5 ohm 10 watts ONLY.

John

 

Nope you were not the one that sold me the lights. Did you mean 50ohm 10 watts OR 5 ohm 10 watts? thanks

And If I buy this product and wrap it around the ends of my AFTERMARKET LED TAILLIGHT It will give no error on my idrive? Are you sure..thanks