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      05-13-2022, 12:16 AM   #1
BLKD_OUT_BMR
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Custom Made Iconic Glow Grill

I wanted to add a glow to my grill on my '22 X7 and after seeing how ridiculous the prices on aftermarket grilles were ($4k was the lowest price I saw so far), I decided to put my circuit city road shop skills to use and do it my way, for a shit ton cheaper too. I will eventually put the parts list on here, but the LEDs themselves were from Amazon for $18, link here. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I started off by removing the grill itself which is fairly easy. (Six tabs to push down while gently pulling on the grill. The LEDs themselves are in a 3 strip and you will only need about 8 of these. Of course, you can but different LEDs that may work better, but these seemed to work perfectly.




Next I lined up the LEDs to see the layout and best fit. I put blue tape where the center LED would be centered, and the other slots, one LED would cover two slots. Again, I am sure there are better LEDs I could have used, but was working with what I had.




Next I used a pick tool to make my markings on where I needed to drill a hole. I taped off a unibit after i figured out the size hole I needed, along with a right angled dewalt drill, was able to perfectly drill between the slots.






Once I got all the holes drilled and everything lined up, i used high temp hot glue to lock these LEDs in place.




Lastly I routed the wires to the DRL on the passenger side, adding in a small relay (Directed Electronics 8616 - Black to ground, Red to DRL power wire, Yellow to battery, Brown to LEDs in Grill, Orange not used) so DRL would flip the relay and the LEDs would get power from the battery instead of pulling more voltage through the DRL wire and possibly blowing a fuse. (DRL shown, relay not shown)




And here are some finished product pictures.





*Video of remote start and deactivation*
(My favorite part has to be when the fins open after the car starts)
https://youtu.be/Jgv-2xnLUrw


Hope you all enjoyed and let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

Last edited by BLKD_OUT_BMR; 06-03-2022 at 09:28 AM..
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      05-13-2022, 07:36 AM   #2
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Applaud your efforts, not sure I'm feeling the effect though... Is interesting. Maybe less output...? And the DRL circuit I would do a little more research on because it would be better to be able to match the dimming capability, than just tap the circuit for on/off function. But that would be my take if I were to attempt this.

Great job though, nothing taking away from it, just my thoughts!

Best Regards
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      05-13-2022, 10:02 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cooolone2 View Post
Applaud your efforts, not sure I'm feeling the effect though... Is interesting. Maybe less output...? And the DRL circuit I would do a little more research on because it would be better to be able to match the dimming capability, than just tap the circuit for on/off function. But that would be my take if I were to attempt this.

Great job though, nothing taking away from it, just my thoughts!

Best Regards
Thanks for the feedback. I am going to run a small radial dimmer knob into the cabin. Just trying to find where to inconspicuous hide it. LOL. And definitely wanted to wire it so it fades with the DRL but couldnt find the exact wire that cut power when they faded. I am hoping someone can post where I can find that wire, or which is best to use so I can adjust the relay I installed to switch on that, since I couldn't find anything on wiring schematics for the DRL.
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      05-13-2022, 10:33 AM   #4
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Maybe in the driver's glovebox?
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      05-16-2022, 09:06 PM   #5
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Looks wonderful, for those unable to do wiring electronics and such they sell this mod on BimmerJakes website!
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      05-16-2022, 09:22 PM   #6
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I like it!
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      05-16-2022, 10:11 PM   #7
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Not my jam, however, that is just cool af!
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      05-17-2022, 10:20 AM   #8
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No colors?
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      05-17-2022, 10:28 AM   #9
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You've gone so far with the DIY... Where is the RGB LEDs?
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      05-17-2022, 12:25 PM   #10
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Great job! Love these mods
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      05-17-2022, 12:44 PM   #11
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Circuit City… there’s a memory from the past… prior car stereo installer.

Lights look cool. Not sure if I would add a dimmer in line with interior lights. If you dim the interior lights, you may not want to dim the exterior and vice versa. The MB logo doesn’t have a dimmer if I recall.

If you are intent on being it dimmable in line with the interior LED’s, I would look into tapping into the dim switch but not sure how the CANBUS interacts with the lights as a reduction of voltage or signal to onboard brain.

Also I would be cautious of adding RGB lights to grill as it could be a moving violation depending where you live. There are VC rules on having colored lights other than white/amber as to not make it look like impersonation of police or EMS vehicle. Don’t ask how I know lol.
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      06-01-2022, 10:39 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BzsBimmer View Post
Circuit City… there’s a memory from the past… prior car stereo installer.

Lights look cool. Not sure if I would add a dimmer in line with interior lights. If you dim the interior lights, you may not want to dim the exterior and vice versa. The MB logo doesn’t have a dimmer if I recall.

If you are intent on being it dimmable in line with the interior LED’s, I would look into tapping into the dim switch but not sure how the CANBUS interacts with the lights as a reduction of voltage or signal to onboard brain.

Also I would be cautious of adding RGB lights to grill as it could be a moving violation depending where you live. There are VC rules on having colored lights other than white/amber as to not make it look like impersonation of police or EMS vehicle. Don’t ask how I know lol.
Appreciate the reply and input. Side note, I actually miss my installation days...lol...still do remote starts and car alarms for family on the side to keep me sane from my office job. lol.

Anyway, totally right about dimming, and after a few weeks of driving around, I noticed the pics make it look a lot brighter than it is. Its a perfect brightness in my opinion....simply put, if I am in a parking lot at night under a street lamp, you can barely tell the grill is lit, so I think it is right on the money.

As far as RGB, you are 100% accurate with EMS/Fire/Police....might be cool for a parlor trick when showing off, but I had blue LED parking lights on a previous car rigged to a cut off switch so I can flip them on and off at my leisure, yeah, cop wrote me a ticket for them and didnt care after i told him i forgot they were on and i can kill them with a switch...wont do that again. Lol
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      06-02-2022, 07:00 PM   #13
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NOPE
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      06-02-2022, 09:09 PM   #14
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Love it.

You deserve it for that level of effort 👌
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      06-02-2022, 09:31 PM   #15
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Quote:
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Love it.

You deserve it for that level of effort 👌
Agree. That's ingenuity and resourcefulness at its finest. Big applause for creating something cool rather than complaining that BMW didn't make it available as an option! Good work 👍
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      06-03-2022, 08:34 AM   #16
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Have you thought about any solution for the unlit grill channels on the edges? At least in the photo it is a slightly square look.
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      06-03-2022, 08:47 AM   #17
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Great write up.
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      06-03-2022, 08:50 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xlover View Post
Have you thought about any solution for the unlit grill channels on the edges? At least in the photo it is a slightly square look.
Hey thanks for commenting. With my OCD, yes, I thought about it and it still irks me that the two most outer and inner slots are not lit. Because of the LEDs I chose (which I should have done a bit more research on since I know there would be better options) the grill itself didnt provide much room on the corners to mount anything. If I find another solution for those pesky corners, I will report back. I think if I can find standalone LEDs that fit the whole I already drilled, I might be able to fit them in the corner slots on the ends.
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      06-03-2022, 10:00 AM   #19
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Is the grill on the 2023 X7s the same as the 2022s? Sure looks like it.
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      06-03-2022, 10:16 PM   #20
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I appreciate the effort; I'd like to see it a bit more subtle. Great job!
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      06-06-2022, 07:39 PM   #21
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That’s sweet
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      08-03-2022, 06:21 PM   #22
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Look great that I’m going to tack on this project but I’m stuck on which color wire is DRL… can you shed some light?
Thanks
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