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      11-05-2011, 09:26 AM   #1
cooots
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Drives: Z4 M Coupe
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Australia

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Lightbulb LED Interior Lights / Lighting

This is a DIY for the installation of LED interior lights on your Z4. A very easy and cheap mod that provides great results!

Will this work on my car?
I did this on my Z4M Coupe, but I'm pretty sure all Z4s have the same interior lights so it should be applicable for all Z4 variations.

Who should do this?
If you don't like the old yellow glow that the standard interior lights give off, then this mod is for you. The LED lights will give off a nice white light that, in my opinion, is much more aesthetically pleasing. In addition to this, the LEDs last much longer, are more reliable, use less energy and produce less heat than conventional bulbs.

Who shouldn't do this?
If your purely after MORE light, don't do this mod. I found that the LEDs I installed generally seemed to give off the same amount of light as the standard globes - if anything, even a bit less (particularly the roof lighting).

What tools do you need?
- A flat head screw driver

What parts do you need?
- 3 x 194/168 LED (Roof Light)
- 2 x 194/168 LED (one per Footwell)
- 1 x 194/168 LED (Glovebox)
- 1 x 194/168 LED (Centre Console)
- 1 x 39mm festoon LED (Boot)

Where do I buy the LEDs?
Ebay. All you need is an LED light that replaces the standard globe. You don't have to worry about getting ones that are CANBUS/Error free etc. as the Z4s interior lights don't set off any warnings. What you do have to worry about, however, is making sure the LEDs will fit through the holes/in the available spacing of the light housings - this is mainly an issue with the roof lights as they have small holes that the globes have to fit through, you shouldn't have any problems with the others.

I actually ended up working together with a guy called Jack from China (through ebay) to get my LEDs. Top guy! After I sent him some details and photos, he put together a Z4 specific LED interior lighting kit and shipped it over. Given that I told him the kit worked well, he has now made it available for anyone to buy from his ebay store. FYI his ebay ID/store is called easylife_go (note that I'm not affiliated with this seller in any way).

These are the parts he sent me...

3 x 194/168 LED with vertically directed light (roof)
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4 x 194/168 LED with horizontally directed light (footwells, glovebox, centre console)
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1 x 39mm festoon LED (boot)
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How do you install the LEDs?
Very simple. Use the flat head screw driver to carefully pop the light housing out, pull the standard globe out, put the LED in and carefully pop the light housing back in its place. Keep in mind that the LEDs need to be installed with the right polarity, so if they're not lighting up - pull them out, flip them over and stick them back in again.

How long does the installation take?
30 minutes.

How are the results?
I couldn't take a photo of my actual results as my sh*tty camera wouldn't pick it up, however the photos below depict pretty much exactly what my interior lighting looks like now when viewed in person...

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As you can see, the LEDs give off a nice soft neutral white light. There is no harsh, white, fluorescent type light and by no means does it look cheap/after markety. I really can't stress enough how much nicer this looks compared to the standard lighting. The orange dash lights look so much better against the neutral LED lighting too and it perfectly matches the speedo and tacho. Also, the LEDs fade in and out just like the standard globes.

Personally, I'm wrapped with the results and highly recommend doing this to everyone.

I wrote up this DIY as I felt it was time for me to give back to the community that has helped me out a million times over. I understand this is not the most technical of DIYs out there, but hopefully it will be of some value to you

Thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts/comments/suggestions/feedback below.

cooots.

Last edited by cooots; 11-05-2011 at 10:37 PM..
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