[lenvage]

[PHP]

Originally Posted by bmw330e90

I have installed those "xenon" interior lights. They are not real xenon lights, but they produce nice, xenon like color instead of original yellow and they are matching to the LED lights in the door handles. Installation was very easy, all process took me 15 min. Also, they are not brighter than original bulbs (central dome light actually looks dimmer)

The interior xenons are actually less bright than the original lights.
I was able to install most of the xenon interior bulbs on my e90 based on the bimmian website video tutorial. The tutorial was based on the e46 though. The only one i couldn't remove was the front central dome light containing the buttons for bmw assist and the passenger air bag. The e46 did not have these buttons. Does anyone know how to remove this dome so i can insert my xenons? Thanks.

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

On my E46, I installed these when I changed the turn signal blinker fluid.

Hey Zen, I'm thinkin' about changing my fluid too pretty soon. What brand do you recommend?

[fredtoo]

Originally Posted by CMD

Hey Zen, I'm thinkin' about changing my fluid too pretty soon. What brand do you recommend?

I have had good luck with this brand

http://www.kalecoauto.com/fluids.htm

Sweet, thanks! I'm orderin' some right away!

[D&G]

They have these Xenon's in the new IS350 interior. They look really nice!!! Wish the E90 would comes standardize just like the IS350.

[BZTR]

[QUOTE=mds82]bmw330e90 can you write up a small DIY?
I took some pictures today.
Regular head screwdriver from the car tool kit works fine.

-To remove center (rear) dome light simply grab the edge of the console as shown at the picture and pull it down at 45 degree angle.

-To remove front dome light you need to push 2 clips behind the reading lights. You can also find more pictures how to remove the front dome light here:dome

-To remove the light inside the trunk just push the screwdriver (1) and pull the light down (2)

-To remove plate number light, first insert screwdriver in to the opening on the left and push all light to the right, same time try to pull left side of the light

-To remove Vanity light just insert screwdriver and pull it down
Follow the same procedure for rest of the lights

[ward]

Xenon interior lights are about as cool as a kito auto sport exhaust

they're not even real xenons people

[Squawks]

Originally Posted by ward

Xenon interior lights are about as cool as a kito auto sport exhaust

they're not even real xenons people

That's like saying there's no good reason to switch to household GE Natural White bulbs from traditional, yellow lightbulbs.

Look at the history of your posts. You're undeniably a curmudgeon.

[ward]

I'm just not a fan of mods that don't increase performance and don't make the car nicer IMO

the only time you'd ever even notice is when you're entering or exiting your car at night, (which I'd imagine is a minority of the time for most)

it's a cheeseball mod that plays of the "coolness" of having xenon headlights (which are real xenons by the way)

Curmudgeon may be true, but my car's not full of "trendy" aftermarket items of questionable quality

[Squawks]

Well, if you feel that way, it's all good. I'm also not a big fan of aesthetic mods but the interior lights may have quite a difference. Like said earlier, it's not the issue of brightness, but the color of the light emitted.

I personally like to read things under a white/near-white light relative to typical yellowish/incandescent lights.

[ward]

I'm kind of a anti mod guy in general but I hope people have the intestinal fortutude to do whatever they want even if some bitter guy is telling them it's stupid.

It's not my money, not my car
have a great time! :rocks:

[poldim]

Originally Posted by ward

Xenon interior lights are about as cool as a kito auto sport exhaust

they're not even real xenons people

hahaha

I really need to make a web page of the dumbest things I've seen on this forum, kito is at the top for sure

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by vivekk

You people are just so funny!
If anyone wants bright lighting inside their car, why not try & get hold of a lighthouse bulb & wire it up to a second battery?!

It would certainly help when the cataracts play up

[lxapilot118]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

True xenon lights bulbs do not have filaments, and they can only work with ballasts. I think this is a little overkill, and I find it hard to believe a true interior HID lighting system exists...maybe "HID" halogen bulbs, but that's it.

Movie theaters use xenon bulbs, with filaments that weigh about a pound.

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by lxapilot118

Movie theaters use xenon bulbs, with filaments that weigh about a pound.

I don't know about the filaments, but you are correct about their size. I have a friend who used to work for a film production company as a studio technician, and he was telling me that they are very dangerous to change because if one of those puppy's explodes while you are holding it, it will take off your hand and your arm up to your elbow.

Not the small ones on in our cars though. He was quite interested in how they arc up, and wanted to know what if there was a mechanism to prolong bulb life by preventing them from being flashed on an off quickly...

[a burrito]

These xenon interior lights give off the "xenon" look, not the actual visibility of a xenon charged light. It is simply whitish-blue filament bulb.

[poldim]

Am I the only one that absolutely loves the ambient lighting in BMW's? Very subtle and very nice. The ones in the 760Li are even hotter.

[ward]

yeah, those LED's are one of the nicest touches

[magamaga]

I ordered some of those xenons for the inside of the car yesterday. They should be here on Friday. Btw, thanks for the tips on how to remove the front and back light consoles. I'll tell you guys what my opinion is after the new bulbs are in. I have the suspicion that the inside will look sophisticated. Right now the lighting is very subtle. We'll see.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by magamaga

I ordered some of those xenons for the inside of the car yesterday. They should be here on Friday. Btw, thanks for the tips on how to remove the front and back light consoles. I'll tell you guys what my opinion is after the new bulbs are in. I have the suspicion that the inside will look sophisticated. Right now the lighting is very subtle. We'll see.

Instead of sophisticated, it'll look cheap and dim.

I used to do this on my hondas. while it does look fancy, its pretty dim.

[poldim]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

Instead of sophisticated, it'll look cheap and dim.

I used to do this on my hondas. while it does look fancy, its pretty dim.

Aren't these supposed to be brighter than regular LED's?

[poldim]

Originally Posted by poldim

Am I the only one that absolutely loves the ambient lighting in BMW's? Very subtle and very nice. The ones in the 760Li are even hotter.

some extra info:

Interior lighting:

The concept of ambient interior lighting in the new 7-series BMW is unique: Eight ambient light apertures and four business reading lamps offer optimum comfort and safety for the driver and passengers, the value of the luxury interior is particularly emphasised. In order to improve the spatial perception of the interior in the dark through indirect lighting, Hella is using four CELIS light guides with LED light sources (positioned in the doors). Gentle incident light makes door trims with arm rests, handles and switches visible as 3-dimensional objects.
There is a further light guide integrated into each of the outer door handles which illuminates the entry area as well as the door handle and cavity as soon as the central locking system has been activated. The CELIS light sources are in the door trim.

The second generation of high-performance reading lamps is going into series production, and for the first time these lamps are using facetted free-form reflectors each consisting of 256 computer-generated individual segments. A certain part of the area to be illuminated is allocated to each segment. The result: despite the extremely small light aperture of only 18 millimetres in diameter the useful luminous flux has been able to be increased considerably and provides passengers in both the front and the back with a high-performance ”business light” for comfortable newspaper reading or laptop work. Additional LEDs in the reading lamp units radiate orange-red incident light which discreetly underlines the interior contours and makes orientation in the dark easier.