Custom Instrument Panel Lighting

[Geneticist]

Has anyone out there changed the color of their dash LEDs from the stock orange? If so please add you pics

Thanks!

[JackEatsEmoKids]

I believe that would require you to open the cluster and un-solder the surface mount LED's that are used for lighting and solder in new ones.

One guy did his ENTIRE E46 instrument paneling to blue. I will see if I can find the thread.

[webdesigner]

Has anyone out there changed the color of their dash LEDs from the stock orange? If so please add you pics

Thanks!

You can switch the LEDs out to white but IMO the red is better

[mattmartindrift]

You can switch the LEDs out to white but IMO the red is better

it's not an opinion, it's a scientific fact. red light does not constrict the pupils to the same degree that other, more narrow-wavelength lights do. Thus, they stay dialated further to let in the light the really matters - in front of the car.

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

Yes it can be done, but it's a real pain in the butt to do as if you change your cluster to blue, it looks out of place with the rest of the amber illumination. To then go round and change all illumination to match requires a lot of patience, time and skill. It's been done by a handful of people. If it's your thing, be prepared for the long arduous slog of doing all the soldering changes etc. If you pay someone to do it, be prepared for a fiarly hefty labour bill/charge as it will take time to do.

As Mattmartindrift mentions, for human night vision, it's proven that reds/amber for dashboard/interior lighting in a car is best as it doesn't causes the least amount of eye strain.

Cheers, Dennis!

[Pistonbroke]

Take a peep 'over the fence' at http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/
I remember some guy changed his interior to blue a few years ago (it might be the E46 guy referred to above, I'm not sure).
Results are very impressive. A ton of work apparently.

[Xeniczone]

Here is the E46 everyone is talking about:


It is a pain to do, but the results are somewhat impressive because it is unique. The hardest part would be the backlight on the LCD screens. These are hard to get right without screwing up the bightlight, aka making it dim or no light at all. The LCD backlights also use SMD LEDs you would need a small tip soldering iron to do those.

The reason I resist doing something like this is the reason for using amber is brilliant for night driving.

[parkerbomar]

smd led's are very small

[christitsworthb]

it looks out of place with the rest of the amber illumination

[webdesigner]

it's not an opinion, it's a scientific fact. red light does not constrict the pupils to the same degree that other, more narrow-wavelength lights do. Thus, they stay dialated further to let in the light the really matters - in front of the car.

Correct, the current color is scientifically optimized for night driving. They even set it up so you don't have to turn on a light to read something... I won't give away more details An "avid Toyota enthusiast" went nuts when he noticed little features like that in my car.

[freethrowdunk]

it's not an opinion, it's a scientific fact. red light does not constrict the pupils to the same degree that other, more narrow-wavelength lights do. Thus, they stay dialated further to let in the light the really matters - in front of the car.

Except he was probably stating his preference for red over white from an aesthetics viewpoint, which, regardless of the scientific data explicating the advantages of red over white, is just that, an opinion. In line with the same reasoning, one's choosing of instrument cluster lights that are anything but red is simply a matter of personal preference--aesthetic or otherwise, but more than likely to be the former--despite the evidence that choosing so is minutely detrimental to their driving.

[Xeniczone]

Correct, the current color is scientifically optimized for night driving. They even set it up so you don't have to turn on a light to read something... I won't give away more details An "avid Toyota enthusiast" went nuts when he noticed little features like that in my car.

The color chosen isn't really optimum for night driving. If it was it would be a "pure" red color. I'm sure the reason they chose is to make it easier to see. Red on Black doesn't provide enough contrast, especially at night, to provide the ability to simply glance at the dials and know what is going on. BMW probably chose the amber color as the next best thing.

[hon2bmw]

Looks cheap and overtly trendy.

[Xeniczone]

Looks cheap and overtly trendy.

Looks more like a VW to me.

[MightyDuc]

funny... i've always admired the amber dash lights when driving my previous vehicles at night and glanced over as a BMW passed. plus i absolutely detest soldering. i'll be keeping mine the factory amber hue...

[LaLaRay]

it's not an opinion, it's a scientific fact. red light does not constrict the pupils to the same degree that other, more narrow-wavelength lights do. Thus, they stay dialated further to let in the light the really matters - in front of the car.

ahhh i love it when he does this sh*t

[CLKFAN]

a strange yellow or violet would be an interesting color choice for our interior lighting but the red looks great to me

[Duckman540i]

Is there anymore info on those white LED's in the pictures above?

I actually think it looks pretty good.

[Rallim]

I like the blue, I think it looks great at night. Does kinda hurt the eyes though, but its quite nice to look at. If the dash was actually RED that'd be awesome, it's a bit too orange for me, at least considering reds a favorite of mine.

[Xeniczone]

Is there anymore info on those white LED's in the pictures above?

I actually think it looks pretty good.

What more information do you want?

You take the cluster apart, with a fine tip soldering iron you remove the amber SMD LEDs, and replace them with white SMD LEDs.

[topaz540i]

i just redid my gauges but they still look the same at night

[LaLaRay]

Am i the only one here that likes the orange ? -___-

[topaz540i]

the orange reminds me of a 1990 vw

[Duckman540i]

I was just wondering if there was a write-up for the DIY, as well as more info on what exact LED's were used.

[topaz540i]

it looks like old technology that was cool at one point but the world moved on kinda like in a calculator watch kinda way