The Random E46/ZHP Question Thread

[danewilson77]

I did OE RCR tails in mine, with LED bulbs. You get all the functionality and looks without going with the "aftermarket" look.

I put in LED brake light bulbs (red), turn signals front and back (amber), sidemarkers (amber), flash-to-pass H7 LEDs, and have a set of extra bulbs I'm going to put in for the running lights in the back. Love LED lighting while retaining an OE look.



RCRs are the euro factory tail lights. Instead of RAR (Red/Amber/Red), the lenses are RCR (Red/Clear/Red), like this:

20140825-007 by botond.pal, on Flickr

Another shot:

IMG_20150905_190518993 by botond.pal, on Flickr

oooooooooooooo

[derbo]

The brake and running lights are the same bulb. I bought the brake and turn signal bulbs from eBay.
I keep waiting for a more reputable manufacturer to make proper LED bulbs that come in Red so I can replace my brake and turn bulbs. They interfere with my radio reception whenever they're on, for some reason. But, then again, my rear glass is totally hosed so my reception is dreadful to begin with even with no lights on, so I'm not sure if the issue is isolated to my car or if it's the bulbs - haven't been able to swap with anyone to test.

Good thing I don't listen to my radio at all.

The bulbs are labeled "1156 CANBUS 25W". Those are plenty bright and if they are CANBUS, do not require resistors and do not hyperflash.
The only thing needed is to code out the hot and cold checks so they don't flicker when the car does its bulb tests.

It's probably because the LED grounds share the same ground as the Radio and causes some ground loops.

[das boots]

The brake and running lights are the same bulb. I bought the brake and turn signal bulbs from eBay.
I keep waiting for a more reputable manufacturer to make proper LED bulbs that come in Red so I can replace my brake and turn bulbs. They interfere with my radio reception whenever they're on, for some reason. But, then again, my rear glass is totally hosed so my reception is dreadful to begin with even with no lights on, so I'm not sure if the issue is isolated to my car or if it's the bulbs - haven't been able to swap with anyone to test.

Good thing I don't listen to my radio at all.

The bulbs are labeled "1156 CANBUS 25W". Those are plenty bright and if they are CANBUS, do not require resistors and do not hyperflash.
The only thing needed is to code out the hot and cold checks so they don't flicker when the car does its bulb tests.

LEDs without built-in resistors would show fault codes. The only one and reputable that I know that have no-fault codes are the ones sold by Bimmian. But man, are they expensive. Hence I stopped after the reverse LED bulb install.....read Funding.

[Dual]

FWIW my '06 coupe had zero canbus issues, presumably because of updates on BMW's side. I don't know what the cutoff date is for this broader compatibility.

[nextelbuddy]

What is the best recommendation for roof racks? low profile if available?

ive read a few threads on here and e46 fanatics but there really isnt a clear answer that i can see so maybe its just subjective?

I like the looks of a nice roof rack on sedans and i also have a bike. currently i have a trunk mounted rack on my altima but would love to get a roof mounted one on the bmw.

i saw a thread I think it was Dane? where he was selling one but it appeared to be custom and was in high demand for some reason?

[derbo]

LEDs without built-in resistors would show fault codes. The only one and reputable that I know that have no-fault codes are the ones sold by Bimmian. But man, are they expensive. Hence I stopped after the reverse LED bulb install.....read Funding.

Disabling Cold and Warm checks would solve this issue.

[az3579]

It's probably because the LED grounds share the same ground as the Radio and causes some ground loops.

If that's the case, then I have this static problem because my rear glass is hosed. I have the infamous poor reception issue, which is caused by a short in the rear glass that affects the antenna. The dead giveaway is that my radio turns to nothing but static when I turn the rear defroster on.

LEDs without built-in resistors would show fault codes. The only one and reputable that I know that have no-fault codes are the ones sold by Bimmian. But man, are they expensive. Hence I stopped after the reverse LED bulb install.....read Funding.

Bimmian's stuff is obscenely overpriced. The things they sell are for the most part the same stuff you can get on eBay.
Any LED bulb labeled as CANBUS will do the trick; these have built in circuitry to make them compatible with the CANBUS system our cars use. I found the best bulbs are the ones that have CREE chips in them. Mine have CREE chips, and are labeled as 25W (which are plenty bright even in direct sunlight), and are CANBUS bulbs, so all I needed to do was plop them in the bulb carrier (no extra load resistors, all built in) and do the coding.

Disabling Cold and Warm checks would solve this issue.

Disabling the cold/warm checks doesn't do anything for you other than disable the flickering the bulb checks cause. If you don't have the proper CANBUS bulbs, or bulbs with load resistors, then you will still get the bulb out errors and the hyperflash. With the hot/cold checks disabled, all you're doing is taking away the ability for the car to tell you a bulb is out before you go to use it. In this disabled state, they will still throw a bulb out error if you take the bulb out, or if the bulb isn't functioning, but you'll only get that notification when the car attempts to illuminate the bulb.

The full method of doing this involves CANBUS bulbs as well as doing the hot/cold check coding.

[derbo]

What is the best recommendation for roof racks? low profile if available?

ive read a few threads on here and e46 fanatics but there really isnt a clear answer that i can see so maybe its just subjective?

I like the looks of a nice roof rack on sedans and i also have a bike. currently i have a trunk mounted rack on my altima but would love to get a roof mounted one on the bmw.

i saw a thread I think it was Dane? where he was selling one but it appeared to be custom and was in high demand for some reason?

I have an OEM one (that sits in my shed now..)

Here is an older pic of it.

[derbo]

If that's the case, then I have this static problem because my rear glass is hosed. I have the infamous poor reception issue, which is caused by a short in the rear glass that affects the antenna. The dead giveaway is that my radio turns to nothing but static when I turn the rear defroster on.



Bimmian's stuff is obscenely overpriced. The things they sell are for the most part the same stuff you can get on eBay.
Any LED bulb labeled as CANBUS will do the trick; these have built in circuitry to make them compatible with the CANBUS system our cars use. I found the best bulbs are the ones that have CREE chips in them. Mine have CREE chips, and are labeled as 25W (which are plenty bright even in direct sunlight), and are CANBUS bulbs, so all I needed to do was plop them in the bulb carrier (no extra load resistors, all built in) and do the coding.



Disabling the cold/warm checks doesn't do anything for you other than disable the flickering the bulb checks cause. If you don't have the proper CANBUS bulbs, or bulbs with load resistors, then you will still get the bulb out errors and the hyperflash. With the hot/cold checks disabled, all you're doing is taking away the ability for the car to tell you a bulb is out before you go to use it. In this disabled state, they will still throw a bulb out error if you take the bulb out, or if the bulb isn't functioning, but you'll only get that notification when the car attempts to illuminate the bulb.

The full method of doing this involves CANBUS bulbs as well as doing the hot/cold check coding.

Brain Fart. My bad.

[wstr75]

I have an OEM one (that sits in my shed now..)

Here is an older pic of it.

Nice looking photos! Love the action in the top photo and the juxtapositioning against the neighborhood in the second. Good looking car, too.