Completed interior led color change

[9M71]

Originally Posted by cryptz

keep in mind the polarity of the led matters, there are some areas where bmw reverses it compared to an adjecent led. i checked each one with a multimeter to light the led to determine polarity. i found it best to take a picture with my cell phone, print it out and then mark led polarity for the large pcbs that have alot of leds on them.

Funny you say this, i started with the start/stop switch today, took a look at the LEDs and thought they had the polarity marked so i followed suit.

Turns out these were not polarity marks and everything was opposite of what i had done. Took it apart and redid it all and unfortunately the auto-start/stop indicator light is no longer working now. Need to take a closer look and see if it can be repaired.

Didnt order the hot air station - huge regrets, going to put in an order now. The 1206 LEDs are a little bigger than the replacements, and as you mention in your original post, the soldering points are under the LED. Took some witchcraft to make them sit right with a soldering iron.

[cryptz]

make sure you get soldering paste to go along with the hot air station, you dont want to use normal soldier. also if you have plans on doing the compass in the rear view mirror, get a product called quick alloy. that will help you remote the small lcd screen inside, since it has a bunch of contact points. basically it helps lower the melting temp of the existing soldier

[9M71]

Originally Posted by cryptz

make sure you get soldering paste to go along with the hot air station, you dont want to use normal soldier. also if you have plans on doing the compass in the rear view mirror, get a product called quick alloy. that will help you remote the small lcd screen inside, since it has a bunch of contact points. basically it helps lower the melting temp of the existing soldier

Thanks cryptz, your tips are always helpful! Much appreciated on the neat tricks and insight.

[Daggers]

Originally Posted by cryptz

keep in mind the polarity of the led matters, there are some areas where bmw reverses it compared to an adjecent led. i checked each one with a multimeter to light the led to determine polarity. i found it best to take a picture with my cell phone, print it out and then mark led polarity for the large pcbs that have alot of leds on them.

Yep. I did the same - checked each one with a multimeter first, then swapped that LED, then test, then repeat. That’s why it too so long lol.
Thanks for the encouragement though I’ll do some more today!

[Daggers]

Originally Posted by 9M4N71U

Looks good!!! keep us posted on the rest of your progress.

Tackled the center display today. Had to stop as needed to finish so it’s part way through currently :

Top row done. Bottom row 1/4 done. Swapping all the amber to white, and greens (Heated seat heat level and aircon “auto” button etc) to blue.

Very happy so far. More tomorrow.

[Daggers]

cryptz - how on earth did you do the button below the hazard warning switch, and the small led's in the gear shift?

I've so far done all the dashboard and centre console. Some were extremely difficult obviously, but the one in the door lock/unlock button are through the circuit board backwards and I can't figure out a way :/

Photos a bit later today of my progress so far

[cryptz]

The gear shift leds are small, the pcb comes out though so you can do them. I converted it to the carbon fiber one at the same time. Its a good approach because otherwise the adhesive may not be that great when you put it back. I dont recall the hazard warning switch being an issue, you may need to show me what you are talking about. are you having a problem taking it apart or what? the hardest part imo was the rear view mirror, followed by the idrivecontroller/gear shift. also the sos button, its orange plastic. I took the orange plastic out, drilled a whole through the middle, and then painted it black. that way the white light shines through it.

the 1 led i didnt change in the entire car is the wiper stalk led, i couldnt figure out how to get the stalk apart and it seemed apparent i would break it. Its easier to just never drive when it rains =). If you manage to figure that out i would love to hear about it. Its possible you can take the steering wheel all apart and get it but the plastic itself didnt seem to want to come apart and i didnt see and screws. I truthfully didnt realize it was there until i was done everything else.

The rear seat dome light in the f82 is a little bit of a bitch, i lost the metal clip in the headliner and had to get it with a magnet. I also recall there were plastic tabs that i had to break to get the pcb out, i ended up gluing that back inplace of the plastic tabs. That is the only thing i recall being made to not come apart.

[Daggers]

Thanks for the reply

It's the size of it - it's the smallest LED I've ever seen lol. I'll take it back out tomorrow and have another look, but it's also that it faces the wrong way on the board - IE, you solder it from behind and it pokes through the board and shines out the back. It's maybe less than 1mm, but it is also round. I'll get a photo tomorrow

Gear shift again is another job for tomorrow - today I did the larger LED's in there, but I've spent 6 hours on this today so I'm going cross eyed lol

I don't have to do the rear view mirror because europe cars don't have compass etc so no problem there I found the idrive controller quite easy actually but the gear shift worries me!

Thanks for sharing your memories of doing this - I know it's a long time ago for you but I really appreciate your help

Here's where I'm up to:





I'm doing steering wheel buttons around typing to you

[cryptz]

its looking good, when you have the steering wheel apart take a look at the wiper stalk. regarding the hazard light, im fairly sure i didnt buy any round leds, i prob just did the normal rectangle one and shot it through whatever hole u are seeing. def not a memorable one.

i think the idrive just stands out because it was hard to get open. i do recall the small leds in the shifter, i think the ones i used were slightly too big, in the end it worked fine, but i think the leds i used were a bit larger then they should have been. likely the same with the hazard light you mentioned, just because the stock one is super small doesnt mean the replacement has to be as long as there is physical space.

[Daggers]

Originally Posted by cryptz

its looking good, when you have the steering wheel apart take a look at the wiper stalk. regarding the hazard light, im fairly sure i didnt buy any round leds, i prob just did the normal rectangle one and shot it through whatever hole u are seeing. def not a memorable one.

yep for sure if I find a way to have the wiper stalk apart, you'll be the very first to know!

[9M71]

Looking good and it's amazing how the new LEDs really gives the interior a much more updated look.

[BzsBimmer]

Would this help determining the polarity of the SMD LED’s without having to power up/down with every LED?

https://lighthouseleds.com/blog/pola...-smd-leds.html

There has to be a way to see correct polarity without using a meter on each LED?

Or surely someone could post their diagram for each component?

[9M71]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

Would this help determining the polarity of the SMD LED’s without having to power up/down with every LED?

https://lighthouseleds.com/blog/pola...-smd-leds.html

There has to be a way to see correct polarity without using a meter on each LED?

Or surely someone could post their diagram for each component?

The leds i looked at on the BMW were not marked, and what looked like a marking was actually wrong (opposite of 'marked'). PCBs werent marked either. I havent dived as deep as the 2 other folks above so perhaps they can chime in.

Testing each LED with a meter only takes a few seconds at most for each LED

[BzsBimmer]

Originally Posted by 9M4N71U

The leds i looked at on the BMW were not marked, and what looked like a marking was actually wrong (opposite of 'marked'). PCBs werent marked either. I havent dived as deep as the 2 other folks above so perhaps they can chime in.

Testing each LED with a meter only takes a few seconds at most for each LED

Just seems like there should be an easier way to go about this. Not to sound like an ingrate but seems like people are duplicating effort tracing LED polarity etc.

I haven’t started to embark on this but also want to learn from crypt’s past experience as well. Luckily he’s posted a wealth of info on PN’s etc. I think the last missing piece is a sketch of LED polarity and PN for each location.

[cryptz]

bzs, its really not all that involved, you put the multimeter on the led, if it lights up the polarity is right, if it doesnt light up its reversed. Its important to test each one before and after. At times i had the led shorted due to too much soldering paste underneath so testing each one before it goes back in the car is critcal. If your point is we should have the polarity documented you may be right but it is really a matter of 5 seconds per led.

[Daggers]

Originally Posted by cryptz

bzs, its really not all that involved, you put the multimeter on the led, if it lights up the polarity is right, if it doesnt light up its reversed. Its important to test each one before and after. At times i had the led shorted due to too much soldering paste underneath so testing each one before it goes back in the car is critcal. If your point is we should have the polarity documented you may be right but it is really a matter of 5 seconds per led.

cryptz is right.

It would genuinely take longer to read any diagram or documentation for each LED than it would to test each LED anyway.

Some circuits have each LED identical (negative always on the 'right' side of the board as you orientate it in a particular direction). Others seem to have every LED reversed. When you've got a multimeter in your hands, it would be quicker to just test than turn your head and try and see which is which on a print-out or something.

It's critical to photograph your circuit board before starting to work on it though - just in case you forget to check (or just forget between checking and 'doing'!). The larger LED's are marked and having a photo to look back at has saved me once already.

Originally Posted by cryptz

its looking good, when you have the steering wheel apart take a look at the wiper stalk.

There's a scratched up stalk on ebay for £30 so I might buy it just to disassemble and see if I can get to that LED without risk of damage to mine. I'll keep you posted

[Daggers]

cryptz






You can see the led is mounted “upside down” and tiny - shining through the board.

[cryptz]

Originally Posted by Daggers

cryptz






You can see the led is mounted “upside down” and tiny - shining through the board.

hmm so first off they absolutely make those leds and you can buy them, that may be the best approach. if you used a led that was slightly less wide i could see you soldering that in place though as well with a bit of solder on each side. truthfully i dont remember, i might have bought a few of those leds but i def didnt go back and buy anything later after the fact other then the rear view mirror, because those leds are the 4 contact type not 2 contact.

its been 4 years =)

[Daggers]

Hey dude it's fine honestly lol - don't feel obligated. It's good for me to learn too. I could of course already solder and had a little experience already with the reflow, but this has made me do like 100+ LED's already, and it's very challenging. I'm enjoying it so don't feel bad that you cannot hold my hand throughout it all

I'm grateful for your input as always

[9M71]

cryptz Daggers

Was wondering by any chance if you took any notes on the start button. Got the hot air station this week and went to work - wow, what a world of difference versus using a soldering iron. However i cannot seem to get the top LED on the start/stop button to work, and honestly may have damaged the PCB when i went hacking at it with an iron 2 weeks ago. Do you know what the polarity of the top LED (Start/stop switch status) is? For the other 2 LEDs on the start/stop switch, negative is on the left and positive is on the right with the switch oriented 'standing up'. Also, does the top LED turn on in ACC mode or only when car is running? I might have to get a new switch but good thing they are inexpensive on ebay.

View post on imgur.com

Please excuse sloppy soldering work :-), promise the next set will be much cleaner with the hot air station.

[Daggers]

I didn’t photograph that one I’m afraid. I can say that it does light up in ACC mode I think!

[Daggers]

Swapped the M buttons to red.

Only have gear shifter small LED’s and door lock button to do - but they can wait for a while.