retro fit indicators

T

Tbone

Member
 Dartford, Kent
I just came back from my local BMW dealer today, the car was booked in for a service
and the work wasnt done!, (another story, and Im not happy!)

While I was there I was enquiring about retro fitting a set of these (in the picture) to replace the really tacky looking plastic ones on my Zed.
The guy was basically telling me it was going to cost 1,200 quid to get it done, because all the modules for the lights would need updating.

it sounded like he was talking out of his ass to be honest, and I was guessing they couldnt be bothered to help. (just like the service)

I have been looking around and seeing vids on youtube of people having retro fitted these, and they are saying they are plug and play, just a case of remove the old and fit the new...

has anyone done this, and what was your experience? The guy at BMW was saying that it would keep setting off the HUD warning and that it would fail an MOT if this was happening.
 

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I have a 2011 which had the white indicators, I have a mate who was visiting from Germany and I got him to bring me a set of the newer style indicators. I removed the old ones, cleaned the bodywork, plugged the new ones in and stuck them down as they have an adhesive strip as well as clips, look a lot nicer and never had any issues :thumbsup:
 
he was reeling off some crap about the voltage not being the same, and when the car boots up it sends a test signal round the car to check for faults, and that the newer LED side tabs were a different voltage, as a result the car would think theres a fault.

I was a bit baffled as they are only LED lights., surely.... that sounds like BS to me!

But I dont want to splash out 100 getting some and find theres an issue
 
I don't know how old your car is but mine is a 2009 and Ive had them on it for at least 3 years with no problemsindicator.jpg. Mine came from Germany also.
 
Complete and utter Bs by someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

Get the parts from the dealer or eBay. You’ll have them fitted in under 30mins depending on how easy you manage to get the old ones out. Complete plug and play as described above. Lots on here, including myself, have done it. I even had mine sprayed.
 
he sounded like he had a chip on his shoulder tbh.

saying that BMW do it to prevent any old mug from turning their car into an M4 (figuratively speaking of course) apparently the bods at BMW dont like that. Personally I dont give a rats ass what other people or BMW come to mention it think... the Zed on my driveway is mine!

When I also mentioned some M-sport brake calipers to him, he said, yeah but they would only be aesthetic, lol
errr, well if they were just aesthetic the braking system wouldnt be very good would it! get the feeling this guy was a weapons-grade plum.

needless to say I wont be going back to that garage!

dont think replacing the old ones will be a major issue, one of them fell off during its last wash anyway and is stuck down with tack. lol

Thanks for the advice chaps, Ebay it is! I've seen several advertised on there that claim to be genuine BMW parts
 
Yea as others have said, simple plug and play. :driving:
You may need a long screwdriver or similar to press the spring down holding the old ones in if they are as stiff as mine were. Other than that, Plug em in, clean the area and stick em down!
(Best to check if they blink before you stick em down - or like me you will feel like a right Muppet when you have to take it off and plug it in properly...) :lol:
 
I think there’s a clip/lug on the lci indicators that needs trimming off as there nowhere for it to clip into on the pre facelift cars :thumbsup:
Rob
 
Bought mine from bmw after quoting to them ebay price so they matched it
Talk to the service dept not sales to get a good deal
They are simples to fit and don't affect the cars systems and make the car look younger!
 
dont forget to snap the tab off though or they wont fit. the later models have an extra hole in the wing for this but the older ones like ours dont. so you snap the tab off from the thin end. just use the stick foam pad it will hold it. As lots of people have said an easy job. I sprayed mine the same colour as the car. that too was easy :)
 
i did notice the tab, wasnt sure if that was going to fit, but thanks for clarifying it I will trim/break them off
I have ordered a genuine OEM Pair off Ebay, the were £105, which seemed pretty reasonable.

Im going to leave mine polished chrome style as it will go with my new rims.
 

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Tbone said:
i did notice the tab, wasnt sure if that was going to fit, but thanks for clarifying it I will trim/break them off
I have ordered a genuine OEM Pair off Ebay, the were £105, which seemed pretty reasonable.

Im going to leave mine polished chrome style as it will go with my new rims.
Click to expand...

Your car looks very sporty in red, that & Valencia orange were the only other colours on my palette when I was looking 8)
9B32D321-0AFF-44D7-82B0-AD357C652FA6.jpeg
Rob
 
I do like the white Zeds, but they are too common imo. as are black ones.
When I bought her I wanted a manual, and that was the best one I could find in my price range. I like red anyway, I've had 7 red cars., not intentionally. but it is a nice colour.

out of the cars I looked at 19 were auto, just 4 were manual. but the mileage was just over 25k, and the price was good too, at £14,950.
the interior on mine is a bit boring though, its all black. Tan seats would have looked great.
 
Tbone said:
i did notice the tab, wasnt sure if that was going to fit, but thanks for clarifying it I will trim/break them off
I have ordered a genuine OEM Pair off Ebay, the were £105, which seemed pretty reasonable.

Im going to leave mine polished chrome style as it will go with my new rims.
Click to expand...

Like the wheels - what are they?
 
they are Veeman V-FS8's 19"

One of my 326M's had cracked so I opted to go after market. got those goddamn awful runflats off now, and fitted some Goodyear Assymetric 3's on it, have to say I much prefer the ride on the non-RFs., its much more comfortable.

All in the wheels and tyres came to just over 1500 from my local tyre shop, cheaper than any price I could find online. so was just a little more expensive than replacing the BMW alloy and buying new tyres., but for the extra 2 or 300 I got the full set. The tyre guy was really helpful, he ordered the rims especially, as he didnt stock them. I think they came from the USA., im not 100% sure.

That photo doesn;t do them much justice, the are diamond cut polished aluminium look and really reflect the light on a good day.

The audio system is next on the list of upgrades. want some more speakers, a head unit and an amp, perhaps if money stretches I may treat myself to a Denon stereo.
 
I dont think he was bullsh!tting you. Just being a bit overcautious perhaps.
From my own experience, as well as others on here, when playing around with LED replacement lights on my E85 I got a bulb warning light with some but not all types of LED lamps.
Front sidelights no problem but reversing light was a no-no. Warning every time. I put this down the differential in the voltage between lamp and LED and this would resonate exactly with what your dealer has advised you about the voltage check routine.
 
Chris_D said:
I dont think he was bullsh!tting you. Just being a bit overcautious perhaps.
From my own experience, as well as others on here, when playing around with LED replacement lights on my E85 I got a bulb warning light with some but not all types of LED lamps.
Front sidelights no problem but reversing light was a no-no. Warning every time. I put this down the differential in the voltage between lamp and LED and this would resonate exactly with what your dealer has advised you about the voltage check routine.
Click to expand...

Thats fair enough, and exactly what he did say about LEDs. but the price they quoted was more than excessive in my view. £1200 to fit 2 indicator tabs. I could buy a car for that or pay 2 years insurance.
 
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