F25 LED Bulb Error Fix.
 

Problem, I have not been able to find much about replacing the OEM incandescent turn and brake bulbs with LED’s. Like many I was disappointed that my new X3 did not come with LED’s for the turn signals and brake lights (My two year older F10 does have them) so I started pulling together as much info from all the forums I could find and then started filling in the holes. I have read good and bad about Error Free LED Bulbs and did not wish to cut any wires to add load resistors, so I looked into coding as an alternative (I just started coding on both my FXX vehicles with great success).

Result, I am 99% sure I have figured out the codes which check for front & rear turn signals, brake lights, fog lights and reverse light errors on my F25. I tried it this afternoon by removing a bulb then coding that particular bulb to “not active” and it worked, the BC warning and fast flash rate both went away immediately. Now I am going to order regular LED bulbs and see if there are any problems. If this works I will post the codes for others to use.

I didnt try this but there should be a way to turn the bulb sensors off as you dont need them for LED lamps.

Yes, that is what I did, basically deactivated the Warm and Cold check for bulbs. Wish there was a way to print out or save the screen shot from E-Sys as it would make trouble shooting and posting results much easier.

There are tools to capture screen shots like Snipping tool etc. but the readily available though not so convenient tool is "Print Screen" and then paste it on a Paint for editing before you save it as jpg file.

Thanks, I have tried Prt Scr and nothing seems to happen.

That's cool that you're doing it through coding. I did "error free" leds in the front of my F25. If anyone is interested, I can try to track down the model number and stuff. I do have a video that I took during install to compare the incandescent to the led, so I can try to find that as well. Here's a pic:

http://i.imgur.com/EQxxm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EQxxm.jpg

OK, here are the ones I used in the front.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TWO-AMBER-No...36b227&vxp=mtr

Eventually that link above will die, so for future reference:
Item title: TWO AMBER No Resistor Required 7507 BAU15s PY21W 20-SMD LED Lights
eBay seller: maple125

PS - there's another LED thread here that I posted this same info to: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=650495

Thanks for the info. I have been successful in using non-error free bulbs and coding out the errors. I purchased my bulbs from Superbrightleds.com (7506) 48 SMD bulbs. I will be using them in the front and rear (front requires me to grind off one of the pins but it works great). The 48 SMD bulbs I got are significantly brighter than the stock incandescent bulbs. I have more details on X3 Bimmers site using the same original title.

I noticed in your other thread you used 7506s in the front and ground off the offset pin. Is there a reason why you didn't use 7507s with the pin in the correct spot? Was it that you wanted the brightest bulbs?

@SpaceManGray, can you please let me know if the leds you purchased for the front are brighter than the bulbs that came with your car? I'm sure that they will work just fine on dark/night environment, but how about on sunny day conditions?

Any Input is much appreciated

Here's a photo of the difference. The turn signal bulb on the left (passenger) side is the stock bulb, the one on the right (driver) side is the LED that I linked to above. I believe the stock bulb is slightly brighter, but I probably wouldn't have noticed without the direct comparison.

http://i.imgur.com/a5t6e.jpg

Thanks!! I do see a little difference on the stock bulb, but hardly noticeable.. What I'm really concerned about is at full Daylight, could you please share your thoughts on that?

Yes, that is exactly why I am doing it (don't have them yet), after I installed the 48 SMD in the rear and compared them to the 18 SMD 7507's that I had bought for the front the difference was so significant so I have decided to put the 7506's in the front as well. I was originally going to do just this and after talking to Tech Support at SuperbrightLEDs I purchased the 7507's. The 7507's were close to the OEM bulbs but I wanted brighter. I should have went with my initial thoughts and just got all 7506's.

I think they look fine, but I'd like to show you a photo so you can decide for yourself. I don't have any photos of them in the day and it's not the brightest day today but I'll see if I can get one today out on the street and it might be good enough.

Wow! Thanks for that... :thumbup:

How about this 127 SMD LEDs?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Amber-127...f68775&vxp=mtr

I have video taken with my IPad in bright sunlight of the Rear 7506 on the left and Stock OEM bulb on the right. Unfortunately, I have not been able to upload the video (only about 15 sec). It shows the LED as being dramatically more intense and brighter than the stock bulb. I would be happy to send it via email to anyone who wants it.

Can you upload it to YouTube? Should be an option in the photos app once you select the video and hit the share button.

My first try at Youtube. Try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er0gK1l_aJ4

Interesting, looks like they blink really fast, is that accurate or just the video?

No, they are not "fast flashing" I believe you the difference you are seeing is between the LED sharp on/off and the incandescent bulbs fade on/off. They flash at the same rate as the stock LED's on my F10.

Cool. And for the brake lights, do you use another set of the same red bulbs or are they different?

Additionally, I just looked at the Youtube version of the video and it is not as good as the one on my IPad, the Youtube video rate maybe making it look "fast flash".

I purchased 4 of the same 7506 Red LED bulbs (two for rear turn signals/two for brake lights). I also just purchased two 7506 Amber LED's for the Front Turn Signals.

YouTube videos are 30 frames per second, iOS shoots video at 24 fps... so that might explain why the flash rate looks different after YouTube has converted your iOS video.

Those will probably be brighter, but they're not error free so you'll have to insert a resistor on the wiring or do the coding that samillerfl has been talking about. The ones I linked to require no additional work other than attaching the new bulbs.

Here's the photo I promised. Again, not the brightest day here today but hopefully bright enough to decide if the LEDs are bright enough in daylight.

http://i.imgur.com/KkxIx.jpg