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      01-03-2012, 12:45 PM   #1
MR1ERMAN
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speedo lighting

i want to change the light colour to white in my speedo can someone tell me how i do this please and any pic requests...
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      01-03-2012, 01:12 PM   #2
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You'd need to buy a different car. BMW's have orange back lighting since they started putting light bulbs in them. If you get an M Car, you can have red needles, that's about the only option.
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      01-03-2012, 01:26 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MR1ERMAN View Post
i want to change the light colour to white in my speedo can someone tell me how i do this please and any pic requests...


Red light is also used to preserve night vision in low-light or night-time situations, as the rod cells in the human eye are not sensitive to red.


aka when glancing down at the gauges and back up your able to quickly adapt to the road again so your not "blinded" as your eyes adjust.
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      01-03-2012, 04:11 PM   #4
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      01-03-2012, 04:25 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MR1ERMAN View Post
Bummer
Anything is possible given enough time AND money.

For example many tacho(speedo) shops can custom make you a new speedo. But it runs around 1K euros for this "mod".

IF this is something you really want I would contact a good speedo shop. Start off by looking in your local yellow pages. But I would think a place like either of these two could handle it or point you in the right direction. Its probably gonna cost you though(few hundred $$$).

Palo Alto Speedo
www.paspeedo.com

or

North Hollywood Speedo
www.nhspeedometer.com
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      01-03-2012, 06:44 PM   #6
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Dack gave me an idea....so I did a search and found the following:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/led-digital...rid=c10220u0j1

-OR-

http://www.ehow.com/how_5928006_repl...t-cluster.html

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      01-03-2012, 06:57 PM   #7
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There is a thread somewhere on here (I just tried searching without luck) about a video showing a 135i with a really cool wrap done to it. Its silver, but looks like brushed aluminum. The car, I think, is in Russia, and during the driving portions of the video, you can see the white gauge cluster. Maybe someone else might have better luck finding it. Could be used as reference.
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      01-03-2012, 08:59 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by euro2fast4u View Post
Red light is also used to preserve night vision in low-light or night-time situations, as the rod cells in the human eye are not sensitive to red.


aka when glancing down at the gauges and back up your able to quickly adapt to the road again so your not "blinded" as your eyes adjust.
I did research on this when I was getting my B.S. in Aeronautics a few years back. It's actually false. The Rhodopson in the rod cells of the retina is sensitive to wavelengths all the way down into the near infra-red. With night vision the more important factor is intensity, not frequency. And in fact a lower intensity white light works better than the brighter red light needed to read the same indications or chart. Most new aircraft have white lights in the cockpit now and it increases night visual acuity as well as reducing eye strain.

That being said white IS a bad color for the IC because it's not different enough from the road environment outside. With illuminated instruments (As opposed to things lit by flood lights) you want a solid contrasting color that will help in the dark to define items inside and outside the car.

Also the cluster then won't match all the other orange in the cabin.
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      01-03-2012, 09:10 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guildenstern View Post
I did research on this when I was getting my B.S. in Aeronautics a few years back. It's actually false. The Rhodopson in the rod cells of the retina is sensitive to wavelengths all the way down into the near infra-red. With night vision the more important factor is intensity, not frequency. And in fact a lower intensity white light works better than the brighter red light needed to read the same indications or chart. Most new aircraft have white lights in the cockpit now and it increases night visual acuity as well as reducing eye strain.

That being said white IS a bad color for the IC because it's not different enough from the road environment outside. With illuminated instruments (As opposed to things lit by flood lights) you want a solid contrasting color that will help in the dark to define items inside and outside the car.

Also the cluster then won't match all the other orange in the cabin.

So having a low-lit white gauge cluster is better than the current orange?



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylon View Post
There is a thread somewhere on here (I just tried searching without luck) about a video showing a 135i with a really cool wrap done to it. Its silver, but looks like brushed aluminum. The car, I think, is in Russia, and during the driving portions of the video, you can see the white gauge cluster. Maybe someone else might have better luck finding it. Could be used as reference.

Ha! Found it.

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      01-04-2012, 07:51 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guildenstern View Post
I did research on this when I was getting my B.S. in Aeronautics a few years back. It's actually false. The Rhodopson in the rod cells of the retina is sensitive to wavelengths all the way down into the near infra-red. With night vision the more important factor is intensity, not frequency. And in fact a lower intensity white light works better than the brighter red light needed to read the same indications or chart. Most new aircraft have white lights in the cockpit now and it increases night visual acuity as well as reducing eye strain.

That being said white IS a bad color for the IC because it's not different enough from the road environment outside. With illuminated instruments (As opposed to things lit by flood lights) you want a solid contrasting color that will help in the dark to define items inside and outside the car.

Also the cluster then won't match all the other orange in the cabin.

very interesting. so because most drivers tend to keep the lights on full brightness then can we say that the red/orange light is better. honestly i have never seen any one dim there dash ever.
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      01-04-2012, 09:21 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by euro2fast4u View Post
very interesting. so because most drivers tend to keep the lights on full brightness then can we say that the red/orange light is better. honestly i have never seen any one dim there dash ever.
Really? My M Coupe is turned all the way down, and the 1er is one off the bottom. I can't stand bright lights, I think the nuclear bright lights in Lexus LS's is why they appear to be driven by idiots.
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      01-04-2012, 09:27 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bread View Post
You'd need to buy a different car. BMW's have orange back lighting since they started putting light bulbs in them. If you get an M Car, you can have red needles, that's about the only option.
I hope they keep it that way I just don't know any other color lighting. It's just perfect soft on the eyes at night, sometimes it reminds me of a submarine during battle haha.
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      01-04-2012, 09:34 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bread View Post
Really? My M Coupe is turned all the way down, and the 1er is one off the bottom. I can't stand bright lights, I think the nuclear bright lights in Lexus LS's is why they appear to be driven by idiots.

there you said it!!!!! i bet a lot of people dont know why or how to turn them down just make it bright so i can see what im wearing lol.
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      01-04-2012, 09:47 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by euro2fast4u View Post
very interesting. so because most drivers tend to keep the lights on full brightness then can we say that the red/orange light is better. honestly i have never seen any one dim there dash ever.
Mine are one notch from the bottom and sometimes on long night drives I'm tempted to put them on the bottom one.

Back to the original topic, I've seen more than a couple instrument clusters modified to include different color lighting. If you're good at soldering, then you should be OK. It's a matter of desoldering the current LEDs and then adding new LEDs. Which has me wondering, are the BMW clusters lit by LEDs or small incandescent bulbs? I've even seen people go so far as changing the LEDs in the radios, climate controls, door switches, etc. It's really just a matter of skill and time.
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      01-04-2012, 10:35 AM   #15
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A 335is owner swapped the amber LEDs for white ones, as well as the needles to M3 ones, but it is a very involved process and not for the faint of heart.

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10889

The first to do it was E60 owners, and he links to those original threads in the first post.
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      01-05-2012, 05:20 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylon View Post
So having a low-lit white gauge cluster is better than the current orange?
No for bouncing light off something to see it low intensity white light is better.

For direct Illumination you want a color that contrasts the usually white to whitish yellow outside environment . (BMW/Pontiac Orange, VW Blue, etc..)

euro2fast4u: It's not better for that, it still throws off you eyes contrast to have bright lights shined directly into your face while trying to see a dark scene outside the windshield, no matter the color. Not to mention reflection issues on the windows.

No mater what, the dimmer the better, and the more the gauges contrast the scene outside, the better. Up to the point that you can't read the gauges properly, some people have terrible reverse back-lit vision.
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      01-06-2012, 12:29 PM   #17
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I dont't think white is that bad (not at the brightest I agree). Used to have it on my '08 R32 and loved it but I have to say I love the classic look (and the quality) of the orange light in BMW's
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      01-06-2012, 01:49 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cvandenhaute View Post
I dont't think white is that bad (not at the brightest I agree). Used to have it on my '08 R32 and loved it but I have to say I love the classic look (and the quality) of the orange light in BMW's
I miss the white/blue lighting in my R32!
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