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M135i / M140i Rear LED Install Guide (Updated)

53K views 93 replies 27 participants last post by  m140wad 
#1 ·
Hope this helps a few people as removing the rear light clusters can be tricky. The video at the bottom of this post shows how much better LED bulbs are.

What to buy?

Pre-LCI M135i

2 x 382 clear pairs and 1 x 581 amber pair for the indicators (ie, 6 bulbs in total)

LCI M135i & M140

3 x 382 clear pairs (ie, 6 bulbs in total)

The general opinion is irrespective of any clears pairs used in the factory, buying coloured bulbs gives a far nicer look. I'd recommend purchasing red bulbs for the brake lights and amber bulbs for the indicators even if you have an LCI M135i or M140.

I'd recommend buying some 7mm ferrite cores to prevent any issues with DAB Radio.

Issues Surrounding LED Bulbs

Certain bulbs have various issues, others don't. Hopefully I will come up with a list of recommended bulbs to buy.

Warning lights in instrument cluster - This can be coded out using bimmercode.
Random flickering of the bulbs - Lower quality bulb and should be avoided.
Loss of DAB radio when bulbs in use (ie: reversing) - Resolved by clipping on a 7mm ferrite core to the power cable.

Video Demonstration of Flickering

This video shows LED flickering. Watch the top brake bulb.
Bulbs with Known Issues

Halfords at £19.99 a pair (5yr guarantee) - 500 Lumens. These bulbs suffer from dab interference and flickering.

Recommended Bulbs

I'm waiting on some deliveries of the following (thanks to Tom314 for the recommendation)

Twenty20 CREE 382 at £29.50 a pair (3yr guarantee) - 750 Lumens

Twenty20 CREE 581 at £29.50 a pair (3yr guarantee) - 750 Lumens ** Amber for Pre-LCI M135i **

Instructions

Remove the plastic cover and the nut



Using two fingers behind the blue plastic part start to pull in a rocking motion to gradually loosen the gromets. It doesn't take long (under a minute). Keep going until the entire light cluster breaks away from the vehicle.



This is the tricky part if you don't know how to do it. Basically you need the blue plastic in front of the screw, however the bumper is in the way. Put your finger behind the blue plastic, and then pull the bumper away pulling the blue plastic over the screw.



This is where you need to end up, now carefully move the entire light cluster upwards and then once cleared you can pull it away from the vehicle. Unplug the power cable when able to do so.



These are the gromets for reference. You need to ensure the black plastic screws are lined up when putting it back.



Ease out the four clips so you can pull the plastic bulb retainer out.



Twist out the old bulbs and replace with your new LED ones.



Clip on a ferrite core to the power cable.



Put everything back and test.

Video Comparisons

Halfords Bulbs - The right side is LED, the left is standard. You'll notice the indicator and brake light is much brighter and has a thicker spread of light. It's more prominent at night, and really looks the business.


Twenty20 CREE Bulbs - The right side is LED, the left is standard. You'll notice the indicator and brake light is much MUCH brighter due to them having a lumens rating of 750. The spread of light is thicker and has better colour saturation. Looks fantastic!

 
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#6 ·
#7 ·
Just fitted the twenty20 cree bulbs. See the bottom of the first post for a youtube comparison video. Taken in bright daylight you can still see the vast difference between the standard and LED bulbs. Indicator and brake are not only brighter, but they are much more colourful. Reverse is very very bright and has a lovely cool white tone.

I'm now checking for any issues with them and will report back.
 
#8 ·
glen8 said:
Just fitted the twenty20 cree bulbs. See the bottom of the first post for a youtube comparison video. Taken in bright daylight you can still see the vast difference between the standard and LED bulbs. Indicator and brake are not only brighter, but they are much more colourful. Reverse is very very bright and has a lovely cool white tone.

I'm now checking for any issues with them and will report back.
Did you get white LEDs for everything or did you colour match them? do you think the twenty20 are worth the extra over the halford ones?
 
#9 ·
I fitted the coloured ones and got the same results, theory I went with is that you'll always get more light from the coloured leds as the lens isn't filtering out the majority of the spectrum.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
ItsMeKyle said:
glen8 said:
Just fitted the twenty20 cree bulbs. See the bottom of the first post for a youtube comparison video. Taken in bright daylight you can still see the vast difference between the standard and LED bulbs. Indicator and brake are not only brighter, but they are much more colourful. Reverse is very very bright and has a lovely cool white tone.

I'm now checking for any issues with them and will report back.
Did you get white LEDs for everything or did you colour match them? do you think the twenty20 are worth the extra over the halford ones?
Coloured, I'll know if they are worth it in a few days when I've properly tested them. They do look good though. I'll try and get a dusk/night time video
 
#13 ·
ItsMeKyle said:
Tom314 said:
Still working fine for me after about 2 weeks of use :)

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
No DAB, bulb out or flickering issues?
Nope none, although I don't see them when driving but after fitting I did start the car and stand behind it for 10 minutes watching for flickering and I didn't see any.

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#15 ·
Still working fine for me :) I've had the very occasional (twice so far) bulb out warning on the indicators but I've switched the bulbs between sides and haven't had an issue since. If I do get it again I'll get a replacement under the 3 year (iirc) warranty.

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#18 ·
Wondering if coding the tails to LED would help resolve the bulb out warning (despite them being canbus compatible) :?

I'm looking at ordering for my M140i, but as I'm in Australia, getting warranty replacement would be an expensive operation.

So I guess I'm wondering if they're reliable enough to commit to (and I can code the updated bulbs no issues).
 
#19 ·
Hi, coding out would solve the bulb out warning, but for me I fancied a solution which didn't involve coding. Which thinking about it is rather silly as I'm happy doing it myself and done so recently....

If you're in aus, and are intending to code the rear lights as led anyway then I'd buy some cheaper non-canbus LEDs. The only issue you might have is finding some which are bright and reliable which is the reason I went to who I did.

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#23 ·
I think these would look great in the Shadow Edition. Very disappointed that they haven't been upgraded to LED rears on the LCI2. I guess these are the next big thing.

How are people getting on with Twenty20s so far in terms of reliability and any comments/issues from other road users (too bright etc)?

Cheers
 
#25 ·
1 red for brake lights, 1 amber for indicators and 1 clear for reversing lights. The tail lights are already LED.

As for reliability of lamps, all still great, haven't had a bulb out since swapping indicators between sides. The brake lights are possibly a little bright from seeing my wife drive the car but I'd prefer it that way than not bright enough...

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
#26 ·
Tom314 said:
1 red for brake lights, 1 amber for indicators and 1 clear for reversing lights. The tail lights are already LED.

As for reliability of lamps, all still great, haven't had a bulb out since swapping indicators between sides. The brake lights are possibly a little bright from seeing my wife drive the car but I'd prefer it that way than not bright enough...

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Brill, cheers Tom
 
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