how do people mod thier interior gauge cluster lights?

[AdamRamjit]

i just saw this guys picture of his interior and he changed all the buttons and gauges blue. is this easily done?

[KingOfJericho]

Not easily done. I remember seeing this in another thread a few months ago. A Russian company had white lights in theirs but I think it was a pretty involved customization.

[AdamRamjit]

do you think i would have to replace the existing lights? or is there a bulb that changes all of them?

[KingOfJericho]

I'm not even sure it's just the bulbs. The bulbs are probably white but shining through orange colored plastic.

[Greenkirby21]

i believe the bulbs are soldered into the circuits, so it is extremely risky to do .

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by AdamRamjit

i just saw this guys picture of his interior and he changed all the buttons and gauges blue. is this easily done?

Oh, for the love of God. Just go guy a Niassan Altima or something.

[Ronnie Sikh]

seems like a expensive mod to have done and a big pain in the ass....i like the colors i used to have baby blue lights in my tahoe (stock) they were nice but def not as effective for driving they were nice though...

[1speedbike]

There is a real reason the gauges are orange/red. The wavelength of light of the orangish color interferes the least with your night vision. The rod cells in your eyes responsible for low light vision are stimulated the least by the low frequency, high wavelength red light, allowing you to clearly see the gauges at night and then look up to the road without your eyes needing much time to adjust at all. I kid you not, BMW actually considered this when choosing gauge color. It serves a purpose. White/blue/purple light is the worst for desensitizing eyes to low light conditions. The red/orange gauges are part of owning a BMW imho.

[doublevanosrc]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

There is a real reason the gauges are orange/red. The wavelength of light of the orangish color interferes the least with your night vision. The rod cells in your eyes responsible for low light vision are stimulated the least by the low frequency, high wavelength red light, allowing you to clearly see the gauges at night and then look up to the road without your eyes needing much time to adjust at all. I kid you not, BMW actually considered this when choosing gauge color. It serves a purpose. White/blue/purple light is the worst for desensitizing eyes to low light conditions. The red/orange gauges are part of owning a BMW imho.

This^

[i128]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

There is a real reason the gauges are orange/red. The wavelength of light of the orangish color interferes the least with your night vision. The rod cells in your eyes responsible for low light vision are stimulated the least by the low frequency, high wavelength red light, allowing you to clearly see the gauges at night and then look up to the road without your eyes needing much time to adjust at all. I kid you not, BMW actually considered this when choosing gauge color. It serves a purpose. White/blue/purple light is the worst for desensitizing eyes to low light conditions. The red/orange gauges are part of owning a BMW imho.

You could be right, yet, there seem to be a few newer model BMW's that don't seem to stick to the traditional amber lighting in the cluster.

Notably the new M5.

[Gdubz]

Originally Posted by i128

You could be right, yet, there seem to be a few newer model BMW's that don't seem to stick to the traditional amber lighting in the cluster.

Notably the new M5.

Weren't the M5 and the 7 series clusters white with amber accents?

[GotM]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

i believe the bulbs are soldered into the circuits, so it is extremely risky to do .

I was hoping I could verify on RealOEM for the 1er, but I could not. But, standard type bulbs were used in the instrument cluster on my '99 M Roadster. It actually was not that difficult to get out the cluster and take apart to remove the bulbs. I could see that changing the face plate would be easy to do as well.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

The red/orange gauges are part of owning a BMW imho.

This.

With the exception of the most recent models, they were pretty thorough about it, too - it's not just the gauges, but the stereo, A/C, EVERY single button, even the shift knob (in cars that offered illuminated shift knobs, of course). It gives the cabin a very focused feel, almost military-like in it's utilitarianism. When I drive other cars now I'm always annoyed by the level of glare, which is becoming even more prevalent with all the little LCD screens becoming incorporated into dashboards. I understand their utility, but dammit, give me a way to turn it off!

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by i128

You could be right, yet, there seem to be a few newer model BMW's that don't seem to stick to the traditional amber lighting in the cluster.

Notably the new M5.

I mean, that USED to be the point. Utilitarianism and catering to the driver more than anything else. And now in recent years, BMW has given us ///M versions of SUVs, while the 1M limited and using the same N54 engine. Heck, they even got rid of the REST button. BEST. BUTTON. EVER. They're veering away from their ultimate driving machine shtick lately..

[AdamRamjit]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

Oh, for the love of God. Just go guy a Niassan Altima or something.

well my one is montego blue so I want da interior lights blue to match.

[KingOfJericho]

oh boy...

[Snertz]

It's a fairly involved process but with the right tools it can be done. All the lighting in the instrument cluster are surface mount LED's, you can get replacement LED's at Digikey, Mouser, or the like.

A good example DIY from an E46 is : http://************/82s7bmc and http://************/7bxqfuy

Basic tools you'll need are various hand tools (IIRC mostly Torx bits), soldering iron, tweezers, and a steady hand

[icabod7]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

There is a real reason the gauges are orange/red. The wavelength of light of the orangish color interferes the least with your night vision. The rod cells in your eyes responsible for low light vision are stimulated the least by the low frequency, high wavelength red light, allowing you to clearly see the gauges at night and then look up to the road without your eyes needing much time to adjust at all. I kid you not, BMW actually considered this when choosing gauge color. It serves a purpose. White/blue/purple light is the worst for desensitizing eyes to low light conditions. The red/orange gauges are part of owning a BMW imho.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...56&postcount=8

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by icabod7

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...56&postcount=8

It's not a huge effect, and the dimness of the light is indeed the most crucial factor, but if you're arbitrarily choosing a color for the gauges, why not choose one that is generally thought to at least provide a little benefit to night vision?

Most sources agree that there is at least a little bit to the idea...

http://www.alicesastroinfo.com/2010/...-night-vision/

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...ght/00202.html

http://stlplaces.com/night_vision_red_myth/

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...l_night_vision

[Bimmer-Bob]

I don't know. From spending time with the infantry, I know that we were ever only allowed to use red-lens lights (if that) for map reading, etc. while in the field or during actual operations. The argument was that it preserved night vision. Same goes aboard naval vessels steaming at night - lighting in many spaces switches to red. The red lens also certainly made the light less bright, which is probably a big part of it, I suppose. It could be that it's difficult to make a white light dim enough to still be effective to the user?

[icabod7]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

I don't know. From spending time with the infantry, I know that we were ever only allowed to use red-lens lights (if that) for map reading, etc. while in the field or during actual operations. The argument was that it preserved night vision. Same goes aboard naval vessels steaming at night - lighting in many spaces switches to red. The red lens also certainly made the light less bright, which is probably a big part of it, I suppose. It could be that it's difficult to make a white light dim enough to still be effective to the user?

I've always liked how the M3's speedo is a soft white light breaking up all the red/orange.

[Guildenstern]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

I don't know. From spending time with the infantry, I know that we were ever only allowed to use red-lens lights (if that) for map reading, etc. while in the field or during actual operations. The argument was that it preserved night vision. Same goes aboard naval vessels steaming at night - lighting in many spaces switches to red. The red lens also certainly made the light less bright, which is probably a big part of it, I suppose. It could be that it's difficult to make a white light dim enough to still be effective to the user?

It used to be. An old light bulb at low power tends to throw out crappy yellowy orange useless light. That's where the whole red filtered thing came in. It reduced the intensity while still allowing a useful beam and that helped more than the color of the light. The military primarily still uses it because well, they like sticking with stuff. (perhaps also red light doesn't travel as well in the dark, you know for being seen?) For their flight operations I thought they were using a greenish blue filter now though. The most recent civil aircraft I have flown have very dim-able and effective electroluminecent and LED white lighting, and I have a little LED flashlight that has an intensity control for white light. In flood light conditions it's way more comfortable to use and effective than a bright red light both for legibility of text and color information. Both important things for using charts and such.

I do notice thinking back to my blue lit Golf, that the orange doesn't glare reflect as badly as the blue used to, although my eyes always get a bit dazzled by high wavelength light like those silly blue/purple LED's people used to put on their windshield washer sprayers a while back. So it could just be me. The orange is a really nice color for a gauge cluster, But I can see the OP asking everyone likes different, but man would that be a lot of work.