When locking and unlocking your car with the key, you will notice that the interior lights will glow on (unlock) and fade off (lock). Combine this with a relay and you can have the angel eyes glow on and stay on until the car is locked again.
Notice: This will only work with LED and OEM/incandescent bulbs. CCFL are not compatible.
First, you are going to find the "Interior Lamp" wire. It is Blue w/ Red stripe. Splice this wire and run it through the firewall. I used a coat hanger to do this. In the picture below the blue wire is the new wire I added.
Once the wire is available under the hood, you can now wire it up as so.
Wire the Interior Lamp wire to the normally closed state on the relay. Wire the IGN wire to the coil on the relay. Then wire the 12V+ to the on state of the relay. The output of the relay will then be wired to the angel eyes. I didn't put it in the picture, but I would also put a fuse between the angel eye and the relay.
If the IGN wire you are using is sufficient enough to carry the load of the angel eyes you can eliminate some redundant wiring by wiring the IGN cable to both the coil and the on-state of the relay. If you don't know what that means, wire it like shown above.
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask questions.
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Here is how to do the CELIS tail lights. This is untested. I recommend a heat sink on the 7812 regulator. You don't have to wire the relay coil to the parking lamp. You could still wire the relay coil to the IGN and have the CELIS act like rear running lights. I actually plan on using the rear tail lights myself, but I'm going to do something completely different and not this one.
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VIDEO (AE only):
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7r2mrYnrkE[/ame]
Last edited by Xeniczone; 03-31-2012 at 01:41 AM.
beast
you have a vid of this in action?
Nice! If you could post a vid, we'd all be even more grateful. Great post, thanks!
I could 'fake' a video. Let me explain. My key doesn't work at all. I did have this wired up when my key did work, but when it broke I took out the now useless wiring.
I have plenty of relays and wires laying around so what I can do is put it all back in there and open the door to activate the interior lights since the interior lights aren't activated when unlocking with the door key.
<== Steptronic Sealbeach740
2000 740i sport: 74k Green/Tan chrome MPars, clear corners, quad brake lights, AIC hi-beams, Hoen fogs, 16x9 screen, MKIV, TFT LCD screen in back, license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, iPod audio/video (CDC/iPod audio switching, iPod video on 16x9 screen), Basslink, gauge rings, ///M pedals, switched steptronic +/- shifting mode, E46 paddle shifter steering wheel, Dinan engine & tranny software upgrade, DDEs controlled via Euro fog light switch, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, windows up/sunroof close via remote.
2003 540i sport: 81k, Sterling grey/grey, MKIV Nav, PDC & CWP - Added license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, paddle shift steering wheel, windows up/sunroof close via remote, Akebono's, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, quad brake lights, iPod audio via AUX mode/video via 16x9 screen, BMW TV tuner, ///M pedals & gauge rings.
Xenic,
We really do need a full high definition video with audio.
You can do that, but the effect will not work. With CCFL angel eyes when the interior lights are glowing on the CCFLs will just flicker and not fade on/off.
The reason for this is the ballast. In order for the lights to fade on/off the voltage to the angel eyes are adjusted by the general module. On LEDs and incandescent bulbs this would translate into a dimmer/brighter light. The ballast on the CCFL will attempt to raise to voltage to the proper operating voltage of the fluorescent tube no matter what the input voltage is.
Don't get me wrong, CCFLs are able to dim just not with this method or 99% of ballasts on the market. They use a special ballast which is designed for dimming them. I'm actually not sure how it work. I assume it uses PWM on the high voltage side of the ballast, but I'm not sure how it makes up for 'striking' time.
lol, I can do high definition and understand that, but why audio? You want to hear the lights turn on. :P
Very sick. I may actually try this on my car once I switch over to LED angel eyes. Does altering the circuitry cause the monitor to throw a warning lamp at all?
E34 525iT5
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the power on voltage too low for led's. That was the reason I was given for why they turn on during the light check and why led interior bulbs don't fade on.
98 540i | auto | sport | nav | m parallels
Thanks for the reply. I was curious because I actually did a similar mod years ago for my 740 that has CCFL AEs. While it's true they don't "dim" like the interior lights do, the do fade off, just not as smoothly as the interior lights do.
I do enjoy walking up to my car in the evening & unlocking it & seeing the AEs light up. I also have done the same thing for my 540 (which came with the factory AE rings, but now have LED bulbs). I actually wired mine without a relay. I just tied the tapped into interior wire into the feed for the AEs, along with a 1 way diode to prevent AE power from going back into the interior light feed. But, I think your relay method is a cleaner method.
<== Steptronic Sealbeach740
2000 740i sport: 74k Green/Tan chrome MPars, clear corners, quad brake lights, AIC hi-beams, Hoen fogs, 16x9 screen, MKIV, TFT LCD screen in back, license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, iPod audio/video (CDC/iPod audio switching, iPod video on 16x9 screen), Basslink, gauge rings, ///M pedals, switched steptronic +/- shifting mode, E46 paddle shifter steering wheel, Dinan engine & tranny software upgrade, DDEs controlled via Euro fog light switch, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, windows up/sunroof close via remote.
2003 540i sport: 81k, Sterling grey/grey, MKIV Nav, PDC & CWP - Added license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, paddle shift steering wheel, windows up/sunroof close via remote, Akebono's, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, quad brake lights, iPod audio via AUX mode/video via 16x9 screen, BMW TV tuner, ///M pedals & gauge rings.
Video Uploaded. View in 720p and 5.1 surround sound!
No, the angel eyes are no monitored for working conditions on the 2001+ car and the general module controls the interior lights.
EDIT: sealbeach informed me that the Angel Eyes are indeed checked by the LCM so it may throw an error code on 2001+ cars. You may have to look into getting the check turned off or using a code canceler on the AE.
I couldn't find a thermometer, sorry.
I smudge the camera lens with my finger thinking it would act like a IR filter, but it didn't.
Kind of, In the video it shows that there is a threshold where the LEDs no longer fade and just shut off/on. It is more obvious when the angel eyes are turning off.
I originally used a 6 Amp diode for this, but I used one on both the interior light and the IGN source. If you don't use one on both the interior lights would try to power all the IGN sources such as the radio, blower, etc. This could pull too much current from the interior lights and cause problems. I found that a sealed relay is more reliable than the the diode.
Sure the relay is mechanical and the diode is solid state, but this case the reason is different. Diode fail from heat. If they get too hot they no longer block the current and the issues of IGN power interior light and visa versa. If the relay fails the angel eyes no longer turn on with the IGN, but no other bad sides since the Interior lights and the IGN aren't actually connected.
I found that error after installing the diode method on a local friends E39, and the problem described above happened. His car would no longer lock and a few other weird electrical problems and it turned out the diode had failed and the interior lights were making the car think the key was still in the ignition.
Last edited by Xeniczone; 03-31-2012 at 01:12 AM.
I did this a couple of years ago, here is the video:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW3w7mZ3ZMk&feature=g-upl&context=G2d30a61AUAAAAAAAMAA[/ame]
Both vids is more noticeable than I thought looks good and if you don't lock car ae's will go out with interior lights right?
98 540i | auto | sport | nav | m parallels
I disagree with your first statement, above. It's true you'll never get a "Check Angel Eye" warning message, you do get a "Check Side Light" warning message if an Angel Eye bulb is out. Just disconnect one of your EA bulbs & you'll see.
Thanks for the info on a diode not being so reliable. I wasn't aware of that (I'm not much of an electrical person), so I'll keep that in my head if I start getting weird electrical issues. But, I did this mod to my 540 over a year ago with just the one diode inserted inline in the tapped wire into the interior lights & I've never ran into any trouble so far. Maybe I've just been lucky.....
Last edited by sealbeach740; 03-31-2012 at 01:28 AM.
<== Steptronic Sealbeach740
2000 740i sport: 74k Green/Tan chrome MPars, clear corners, quad brake lights, AIC hi-beams, Hoen fogs, 16x9 screen, MKIV, TFT LCD screen in back, license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, iPod audio/video (CDC/iPod audio switching, iPod video on 16x9 screen), Basslink, gauge rings, ///M pedals, switched steptronic +/- shifting mode, E46 paddle shifter steering wheel, Dinan engine & tranny software upgrade, DDEs controlled via Euro fog light switch, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, windows up/sunroof close via remote.
2003 540i sport: 81k, Sterling grey/grey, MKIV Nav, PDC & CWP - Added license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, paddle shift steering wheel, windows up/sunroof close via remote, Akebono's, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, quad brake lights, iPod audio via AUX mode/video via 16x9 screen, BMW TV tuner, ///M pedals & gauge rings.
This has been on my "To Do" list for a while. I want to also incorporate the rear running lights too (CELIS). Not sure if they will dim with the lower voltage or just flicker off. Has anyone wired them up for keyless fade?
O, I didn't know they did checks on the AE bulbs. My car is a 98, it doesn't have those fancy angel eyes from the factory. I will correct my original statement.
Yeah, I didn't know about it either and mine also worked fine. It was my friends that introduced me to the dilemma of what is possible of the diode fails, probably from heat. That's when I came up with the single relay design.
The rear CELIS will work and fade on and off similar to the LED angel eyes. I can not recommend this for the rears though unless you also wire in a 12V regulator. LEDs run on current not voltage. To run LEDs you need to either make a current regulator or use current limiting resistors. Almost all Aftermarket LEDs have current limiting resistors rated for 14-15v. The CELIS taillights are 12V. The 12.7 volts from the battery could blow the LEDs under certain conditions. A 12V regulator should fix this though.
I will draw up some diagrams for the rear as well if that helps.
How noticeable? Like how they aren't completely smooth fading on and off? I'm not sure why they do this exactly, but I have a few theories. Either it is to do with the LED threshold I mentioned above which I don't think is correct, or it is how the General Module is programmed.
The fade effect is nice, but can by annoying as when you first open the door and you need light. I know it uses PWM, but for more layman's terms... instead of starting at 0V and fading up to 12V. The general modules starts at 6V and fades up to 12V from there. This way as soon as you open the door you get the light you need, but still have that fade effect. Unfortunately, this non-0 starting point is obvious on the angel eyes.
I wish I had an oscilloscope to test my theory. I will have to see if I can see it with a multimeter.
I want to make a module that will fade on and off the LEDs from a starting point of 0, but I think something like that would be too complex for most people and that this simple wire hacking is much simpler.
That is what the diagram above shows.
Last edited by Xeniczone; 03-31-2012 at 01:11 AM.
I was saying that the fade of light is noticeable to the eye. I was expecting a more accelerated turn on. And I asked about ae's turning off because I usually don't lock my car at home. I also had not looked at wiring diagram. When I read that section I was still questioning weather LEDs would fade. But you have sold me. I might try this weekend.Originally Posted by Xeniczone
98 540i | auto | sport | nav | m parallels
They would indeed fade off after maybe a minute or two with the interior lights. The fade of the the light is noticeable? Did you want them to just turn off not fade, or are you talking about them kind of flicking a little as they fade?
Let us know how yours turn out.
That's cool. Thanks again for the T-Bar. I think my bumper turned out great! Still need to get some new fog lights though.
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