***World's first E90 HID Reverse Light Retrofit!*** - BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum

DimSum · 11-25-2011, 10:32 PM

For those who know me, know that I’ve been playing around with the E9x platform for quite some time. I’m an expert on electrical and coding work for all of the e9x chassis’s, providing only the best to the community.

Today I just want to share with you one of my recent projects, as per discussed on this thread: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=611349.

I want to introduce to you the world’s first HID reverse light retrofit on an E90, to my knowledge it has never been done before. You may ask why did I do this mod? Simple, to increase safety and visibility when reversing. The E90 reverse lights are so dim… when you have tinted windows, you can’t even see the original reverse lights!

It is direct plug and play; just some simple wire tapping was done. As always it is non-flickering and error-free. I did not need error cancelers of any sort, just some custom coding was done. I will post videos shortly, however for now you can enjoy the photos I have taken earlier this evening.

Right now it is only in phase 1, phase 2 will include a simple switch will allow you to turn them on even when you’re not reversing. Nothing has been mounted down yet, but you get the point. Unfortunately the pictures don't justify how bright the reverse lights are, but from what I see when reversing it looks like I've got headlights on the back of my car!

DimSum · 11-25-2011, 10:33 PM

Videos coming shortly... need to find a good day to record them so you can see the difference!

g_rant · 11-25-2011, 10:36 PM

whoa, nice!!

elitefusion · 11-25-2011, 11:42 PM

Niceeee i wish it can be dont on LCI

DimSum · 11-25-2011, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elitefusion

Niceeee i wish it can be dont on LCI

Yup... It's unfortunate that the LCI car uses a t10 wedge bulb for the reverse light, you pretty much can't see anything

mashimarho · 11-25-2011, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DimSum

Yup... It's unfortunate that the LCI car uses a t10 wedge bulb for the reverse light, you pretty much can't see anything

Is that the bulb? Could you help me find the e92 LCI bulb for LEd reverse lights? I only know of one kind. It's like $140 though.........

just4kickz · 11-26-2011, 02:09 AM

haha so bright

heemry328i · 11-26-2011, 02:17 AM

u can increase wattage via coding nothing new or LED alone will be brighter than oem

edirtaynine · 11-26-2011, 02:44 AM

whoa...i need that for my e92

N0OS3 · 11-26-2011, 05:41 AM

awesome! ^__^ glad to see you took one for the team and did it! How much have you spent on it so far?

Josh1a1h · 11-26-2011, 08:41 AM

Great job bud!!! Thank you for giving it a go...

I am sure a lot of us would like a bit more detail on how you went about it.

Such as:
The code you edited
Whether or not relays were needed to cope with the 8amp ballast current compared to the stock 2 amp bulbs... (no one wants to fry their wiring)
What kit you bought... obviously no CANBUS was needed to cancel errors because of the coding, but supposedly some kits are a little dodgy.

So this basically means, a regular, cheaper, but reliable HID kit can be used. Relays? and just splicing it into the electrics?

Did you connect directly to the battery? and did you ground to the body or the battery?

Sorry about all the questions, but i am dying to get this done but dont want to fry my wiring... and just need to know which code needs to be edited.

MANY MANY THANKS FOR CARRYING THIS OUT

Josh

DimSum · 11-26-2011, 03:14 PM

Alright so its directly wire tapped to the purple wire (red), and brown wire (ground).
No need for canbus/error cancelers because of the coding I had done on the car.
HID ballasts are not 8-amps. They are truly only around 3-amps and this is only when they ignite for the first time from being cold. After 1-2 minutes they reach efficiency (warm enough) drawing only 20% of power to produce 80% of the lighting (being less than 2amps).

Here's the catch, the hid ballast I used in the picture seem to be a cheaper HID kit however is not the truth. It is actually manufactured by a very reputable company producing automotive products for Japanese cars for quite sometime. The housing is just generically stamped and sold to a different market. I am not able to say which brand/manufacturer.
But! I will tell you, after coding, most quality ballast on the market will/SHOULD work perfect.

Costs involved were little to none for me, I wholesale HID kits so I just grabbed the second best quality ballast I could find. However I can say that the kit I used retails for $160.00.
What you need is a H3 kit. Do not go with 12V kits, get something that rates 9-16v if you do plan on buying the HID kit from somewhere that is your first time.

Of course if you plan to DIY this, it is at your own risk!

But I am telling you, it is EFFING BRIGHT!

Josh1a1h · 11-26-2011, 04:56 PM

Thanks bud!

Great, so a little coding, and splice right into the power and ground on the original reverse cables.

I was always going to tap the battery for power, but of this works then why not keep it simple and less wiring mess!

I might try and install a switch but I think I will then need relays and definitely run off the battery to do so?

Nice work!

Josh1a1h · 11-26-2011, 06:08 PM

One more question... How did you fix the h3 bulb to the stock housing? Did you use glue or have to alter the housing in any way? If it fitted in comfortably and has little movement, that would make everything a lot easier!

Many thanks

rollinstone157 · 11-26-2011, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mashimarho

Is that the bulb? Could you help me find the e92 LCI bulb for LEd reverse lights? I only know of one kind. It's like $140 though.........

LCI E92 uses a non-standard bulb (funky bulb fused to a base...) LUX is your best and brightest option.

LCI E90 uses t10 wedge bulb, HighPerformanceBulbs.com sells an HID kit as a 921-type replacement @ $85, I would assume a similar install method (relays, coding) would get a similar result

onesuperboi · 11-26-2011, 08:50 PM

Awesome. I want to see how hard it would be for an e92.

Krozi · 11-26-2011, 09:06 PM

I did this over a year ago lol...granted on the E92.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=415718

N0OS3 · 11-26-2011, 09:37 PM

I'm looking forward to putting the HID kit in when deployment ends... ^__^ i think the switch for turning it on for tailgaters is pretty nifty too...

overall... impressive!

DimSum · 11-26-2011, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krozi

I did this over a year ago lol...granted on the E92.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=415718

Great work! I am going to integrate the HID reverse lights with the rear euro fogs. So there will be no modification or wire running needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lync9763

I'm looking forward to putting the HID kit in when deployment ends... ^__^ i think the switch for turning it on for tailgaters is pretty nifty too...

overall... impressive!

Hahaha, just imagine what the guy would think when he's riding on your rear bumper and suddenly sees your reverse lights light up!

Krozi · 11-26-2011, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DimSum

Great work! I am going to integrate the HID reverse lights with the rear euro fogs. So there will be no modification or wire running needed.

Yea, I was thinking about doing that too, but I wanted them on separate switches because I do occasionally use the rear fogs for their intended purpose lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by DimSum

Hahaha, just imagine what the guy would think when he's riding on your rear bumper and suddenly sees your reverse lights light up!

It works like a charm! hahaha

Must safer than brake checking lol

Cuba · 11-27-2011, 12:20 AM

nice love it

aretardedorange · 11-27-2011, 01:24 PM

Good job! Looking forward to your videos.

BTW, your not the first one. Your 3 years late. :P

11-25-2011, 10:32 PM	#1
DimSum Banned Drives: SLOW Join Date: May 2008 Location: LITTLEBIMMER.COM Posts: 2,743 iTrader: (10)	*World's first E90 HID Reverse Light Retrofit!* For those who know me, know that I’ve been playing around with the E9x platform for quite some time. I’m an expert on electrical and coding work for all of the e9x chassis’s, providing only the best to the community. Today I just want to share with you one of my recent projects, as per discussed on this thread: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=611349. I want to introduce to you the world’s first HID reverse light retrofit on an E90, to my knowledge it has never been done before. You may ask why did I do this mod? Simple, to increase safety and visibility when reversing. The E90 reverse lights are so dim… when you have tinted windows, you can’t even see the original reverse lights! It is direct plug and play; just some simple wire tapping was done. As always it is non-flickering and error-free. I did not need error cancelers of any sort, just some custom coding was done. I will post videos shortly, however for now you can enjoy the photos I have taken earlier this evening. Right now it is only in phase 1, phase 2 will include a simple switch will allow you to turn them on even when you’re not reversing. Nothing has been mounted down yet, but you get the point. Unfortunately the pictures don't justify how bright the reverse lights are, but from what I see when reversing it looks like I've got headlights on the back of my car! Last edited by DimSum; 11-25-2011 at 11:52 PM.
	Tweet

11-25-2011, 10:33 PM	#2
DimSum Banned Drives: SLOW Join Date: May 2008 Location: LITTLEBIMMER.COM Posts: 2,743 iTrader: (10)	Videos coming shortly... need to find a good day to record them so you can see the difference! Last edited by DimSum; 12-12-2011 at 09:53 PM.

11-25-2011, 10:36 PM	#3
g_rant Lieutenant Colonel Drives: Arctic325, NAMX5 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 1,588 iTrader: (2)	whoa, nice!! __________________

11-25-2011, 11:42 PM	#4
elitefusion Captain Drives: 2011 N55 335i xDrive E92 LCI Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NJ/NY Posts: 685 iTrader: (3)	Niceeee i wish it can be dont on LCI __________________ AW 2011 N55 335i xDrive E92 LCI

11-26-2011, 02:09 AM	#7
just4kickz boku no namae ha... Drives: 2006 BS 330i Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: S. Bay Area, CA + Newark, NJ Posts: 10,683 iTrader: (11) Garage List 2006 E90 330i [0.00]	haha so bright __________________ looking for a PreLCI Black Sapphire e90 front bumper without license plate holes "Akimbo shotguns. Broken wrists anyone? And don't give me that 'it's just a game' bull**. Where the are my akimbo interventions then?! One scope on each eye mother**er!!"

11-26-2011, 02:17 AM	#8
heemry328i Banned Drives: 08' SG E90 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SF 415 Posts: 906 iTrader: (6)	u can increase wattage via coding nothing new or LED alone will be brighter than oem

11-26-2011, 02:44 AM	#9
edirtaynine Major General Drives: e92 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SoCal Posts: 5,238 iTrader: (0)	whoa...i need that for my e92

11-26-2011, 05:41 AM	#10
N0OS3 Colonel Drives: E90 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Oak Harbor, WA Posts: 2,216 iTrader: (5)	awesome! ^__^ glad to see you took one for the team and did it! How much have you spent on it so far? __________________ WTB: 3 Stage Intake Manifold and components - PM me your asking price.

11-26-2011, 08:41 AM	#11
Josh1a1h Major Drives: SB Pre-LCI 335i Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: North London Posts: 1,477 iTrader: (1)	Great job bud!!! Thank you for giving it a go... I am sure a lot of us would like a bit more detail on how you went about it. Such as: The code you edited Whether or not relays were needed to cope with the 8amp ballast current compared to the stock 2 amp bulbs... (no one wants to fry their wiring) What kit you bought... obviously no CANBUS was needed to cancel errors because of the coding, but supposedly some kits are a little dodgy. So this basically means, a regular, cheaper, but reliable HID kit can be used. Relays? and just splicing it into the electrics? Did you connect directly to the battery? and did you ground to the body or the battery? Sorry about all the questions, but i am dying to get this done but dont want to fry my wiring... and just need to know which code needs to be edited. MANY MANY THANKS FOR CARRYING THIS OUT Josh

11-26-2011, 03:14 PM	#12
DimSum Banned Drives: SLOW Join Date: May 2008 Location: LITTLEBIMMER.COM Posts: 2,743 iTrader: (10)	Alright so its directly wire tapped to the purple wire (red), and brown wire (ground). No need for canbus/error cancelers because of the coding I had done on the car. HID ballasts are not 8-amps. They are truly only around 3-amps and this is only when they ignite for the first time from being cold. After 1-2 minutes they reach efficiency (warm enough) drawing only 20% of power to produce 80% of the lighting (being less than 2amps). Here's the catch, the hid ballast I used in the picture seem to be a cheaper HID kit however is not the truth. It is actually manufactured by a very reputable company producing automotive products for Japanese cars for quite sometime. The housing is just generically stamped and sold to a different market. I am not able to say which brand/manufacturer. But! I will tell you, after coding, most quality ballast on the market will/SHOULD work perfect. Costs involved were little to none for me, I wholesale HID kits so I just grabbed the second best quality ballast I could find. However I can say that the kit I used retails for $160.00. What you need is a H3 kit. Do not go with 12V kits, get something that rates 9-16v if you do plan on buying the HID kit from somewhere that is your first time. Of course if you plan to DIY this, it is at your own risk! But I am telling you, it is EFFING BRIGHT! Last edited by DimSum; 11-26-2011 at 03:21 PM.

11-26-2011, 04:56 PM	#13
Josh1a1h Major Drives: SB Pre-LCI 335i Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: North London Posts: 1,477 iTrader: (1)	Thanks bud! Great, so a little coding, and splice right into the power and ground on the original reverse cables. I was always going to tap the battery for power, but of this works then why not keep it simple and less wiring mess! I might try and install a switch but I think I will then need relays and definitely run off the battery to do so? Nice work!

11-26-2011, 06:08 PM	#14
Josh1a1h Major Drives: SB Pre-LCI 335i Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: North London Posts: 1,477 iTrader: (1)	One more question... How did you fix the h3 bulb to the stock housing? Did you use glue or have to alter the housing in any way? If it fitted in comfortably and has little movement, that would make everything a lot easier! Many thanks

11-26-2011, 08:50 PM	#16
onesuperboi Major Drives: '08 e92 335i COBB 4.01 Stage 1 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bay Area, CA (Alameda) Posts: 1,140 iTrader: (6)	Awesome. I want to see how hard it would be for an e92.

11-26-2011, 09:06 PM	#17
Krozi Deutsche Jung aus Kölle Drives: 2008 E92 ///M3 Alpine White Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: SoFla - Bonita Springs Posts: 2,699 iTrader: (20)	I did this over a year ago lol...granted on the E92. http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=415718 __________________ 2008 E92 ///M3 Alpine White//Fox Red//6MT// Florida Bimmer - Join us on FaceBook!

11-26-2011, 09:37 PM	#18
N0OS3 Colonel Drives: E90 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Oak Harbor, WA Posts: 2,216 iTrader: (5)	I'm looking forward to putting the HID kit in when deployment ends... ^__^ i think the switch for turning it on for tailgaters is pretty nifty too... overall... impressive! __________________ WTB: 3 Stage Intake Manifold and components - PM me your asking price. Last edited by N0OS3; 11-26-2011 at 09:45 PM.

11-27-2011, 12:20 AM	#21
Cuba Cuba Drives: 07 328xi Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: PA Posts: 1,507 iTrader: (9)	nice love it __________________ 07 328xi Monaco Blue\|Premium\|Cold\|Navi\|CA\|LLumar\|Mtec\|DDM\|aFe\|Ambe r-Gone\|Rear Fogs\|Bimmian\|PY-Speed\|OEM\|e92-lighting\|V1\|BavAuto\|Weisslicht\|Cyba\|Beyern\|Falken\| Sonic Tuning\|ECS Tuning\|JL Audio\|Rockford Fosgate

11-27-2011, 01:24 PM	#22
aretardedorange Banned Drives: E60 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Empire State Posts: 609 iTrader: (6)	Good job! Looking forward to your videos. BTW, your not the first one. Your 3 years late. :P

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