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How To: Upgrade to Facelift Rear Lights

E8x 
165K views 94 replies 59 participants last post by  Alpejohn 
#1 ·
First of all, thanks very much to Tigor as without his wiring diagram i would not have been able to do this upgrade.

So, here's how to do it... :spotman:

So this is how the pre facelift car looked like...



Inside the boot, you see access panels that are pretty much in line with the rear light cluster. The left side looks like this and simply pulls out.



Below is the right hand side. For ease, I unclipped the First Aid kit, which simply unclips and pulls out. The access panel is then just pulled out. On both access panels, there are two clips at the bottom and just one at the top (which is easier to remove first) so you just lever it out.



With the panels removed, you'll be faced with this: To remove the light cluster itself. The cluster is attached to the main body of the car by 3 7mm bolts which i've highlighted in red:



The wiring loom from the main body of the car is higlighted in red. This is where it clips into the rear light cluster.



All you need to do is look on one side of the male connector to the light bulb holder and there is a small retaining tab. Press this tab down and pull out the male part of the wiring loom. You'll be left with this:



The other side of the car looks like this...



Now that you have removed the clusters off the car, you will need to rearrange the wires. The end of the wiring loom will look like this:



You will then need to remove the white retaining clip, which is held on by integrated pinch clips. Just use a pair of tweezers and gently pull up and it will come off easily. You'll then be left with this:



It is a bit hard to see on the pictures, but the metal bits inside the black plastic are actually just spade conectors that have a spring mounted ridge on them to stop them accidently falling or being pulled out. Use the tip of a ball point pen to push down on the ridges to pull out.



Now it's time to re-arrange the wires as per Tigor's guide:

old left side -> new:

1 - black/purple -> blue/green
2 - green/yellow -> green/yellow
3 - brown -> brown
4 - empty -> empty
5 - blue/green -> black/purple
6 - green/purple -> green/purple (my wires were actually grey and purple)

old right side -> new:

1 - green/yellow -> blue/brown
2 - blue/brown -> green/red
3 - brown -> brown
4 - empty -> empty
5 - green/red -> black/blue
6 - black/blue -> green/yellow (my wires were actually grey and yellow)

Problem Time!!!

The male part of the wiring loom that I had just re-wired did not fit into the Facelift Female lamp holder!!!! Here you can see that there is a fixed gromet (higlighted in red) on the male connector that needs to go where it is solid plastic as highlighted in green!



Solution: Cut out a recess that will allow the guide to slide down and ensure a snug fit.



Once you have cut down the recess, you bulb holder should look similar to this:



Now, the male connector from your pre-facelift car will slide nice and easily into the female connector within the lamp holder

At this point I clipped the lampholder back into the face lift light cluster and offered it up to the car. The new Facelift lap cluster is attached with smaller 5mm nuts, so a quick trip to B&Q and some wingnuts and nylon washers sorted the job nicely.



Testing: Having never done anything like this before, I started with trying the Hazards first to ensure I hadn't messed anything up...which I had! read Tigor's instructions twice before you re-wire! The nearside tail light became the indicator. After rechecking and rewiring, it was all sorted! phew! AND no error message either!!!

And just to show you all is working well now, here's a picture of my baby in reverse with tail lights on, hazards on and rear fogs on too.



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#57 ·
Hello ppl does anyone know or have a step by step guide for coding the leds bars and where I can get the wires for the led bars to light up?? Iv checked this site but no one has put a step by step guide or clear instructions for coding? Any help will be appreciated

Many thanks
 
#58 ·


All done :) guide was perfect thank you... Excuse the dirty car bloody winter.

Does the new facelift bulb holder have a extra bulb hole? As it came with all bulbs but one, all my lights work and no errors come up saying bulb missing.
 
#59 ·
The original wiring guide from page 1 is definitely correct? It's strange how on the left you need to swap 2 wires but on the right you swap 4??
 
#62 ·
Morning. I've done this upgrade and all lights work as they should. I do have an issue though as when you put the car in reverse the broken bulb warning light comes on the dashboard - its only when you put it in reverse but have checked and the lights are working - is this a coding issue?

Thanks for any help in advance!
 
#64 ·
Please, could you give me some info or guide, how to code the rear facelift led lights to work like they actually should? That means just the led bars were light up until you hit the brakes or turn on the fog lights?
My car is an 12/04 e87 120d with factory fitted automatic headlamps - xenons.
 
#65 ·
Kimitech said:
Please, could you give me some info or guide, how to code the rear facelift led lights to work like they actually should? That means just the led bars were light up until you hit the brakes or turn on the fog lights?
My car is an 12/04 e87 120d with factory fitted automatic headlamps - xenons.
On the 'Hi' version of these lights (for xenon equiped cars), the LEDs are the running lights and as such are on whenever the main or sidelights are on or in DRL mode (if activated).

For these lights there should be an additional wire (for each unit) linked back to the footwell module (FRM). This is the proper way of controlling the LEDs although some people fudge it by wiring them to the number plate lights.

Although the full set of halogen bulbs are present, the "normal" lights are coded off and the brake lights coded so that the bottom set light up on normal braking with the top set coming on only with "full beans" braking.
 
#67 ·
Kimitech said:
This is the part I do actually know. I was just asking for the coding details - how to make it.
Anyway thanks.
And just to add some infos - my car does not have the option of setting the DRL (angel eyes) so it´s got probably the old FRM module.
Ah, OK - the full xenon upgrade was coded for me so other than using something like the Carly app I can't help you there.

Yes, the DRL option was only brought out with later FRMs - you'll probably need an FRM3 "MAX" for this.
 
#68 ·
Kimitech said:
Please, could you give me some info or guide, how to code the rear facelift led lights to work like they actually should? That means just the led bars were light up until you hit the brakes or turn on the fog lights?
My car is an 12/04 e87 120d with factory fitted automatic headlamps - xenons.
For your e87 (prefl) just add +MUEB to your VO and code the FRM. That is what i did for my prefl e87 for the led bars.
 
#69 ·
I've just followed the excellent guide for installing the black lines and all looks good!.........
......except my reverse lights no longer work! :?

My pdc still works, I've put new bulbs in on both sides, I believe the wiring is correct, but still nothing......

Has anyone's else found this and fixed it? Or any other suggestions?

Many thanks in advance for the anticipated fix!!!!!
 
#70 ·
Did you swap the cables as per the photos above? (I am presuming you have a pre fl? May help by putting it in you signature?)
 
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