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      10-16-2011, 10:23 PM   #1
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** E90/E92 M3 Factory Angel Eye Brightness Coding! **

I have been thinking about changing the angel eye brightness on my car for some time. It's easy on pre 2008 cars, but on my car I've always had issues getting it to work.

Today I spent hours decompiling the factory code to ascertain how to change the brightness. The biggest thing that bottered me is that the angel eyes would dim when the headlights were turned on. I wanted them to stay bright all the time. After 6 cups of coffee, I decided to take a step by step approach and determine how exactly all of the factory functions worked together.

For example:
1) What controls brightness with the headlights on?
2) What controls brightness with the headlights off?
3) What controls the brightness of the welcome lights?
4) What are the voltages set to?
5) Is there some sort of dimming function that can be removed?
6) How are angel eyes coded across the model lines - E90 vs E92, and M3 vs non M?

**UPDATED** You tube video showing brightness (notice how the factory yellow appears half way into dimming off, that's a good way to judge how much brighter it gets over stock programming)




Turns out that the E90/E92 M3's have specifically different coding for the angel eye brightness, which explains why my previous attempts to make them brighter on this specific application were unsuccessful. It's very strange the way that BMW configured the code -- almost counter-intuitive. Nonetheless, I now have a solid understanding of the interworkings of angel eye voltage, and am hoping to pass this on to you!

I've always been a person that has wanted to keep the car as factory as possible. Replacing bulbs, adding ballasts, modifiying wiring, and adding resistors has always left me feeling like there was a better solution. Not to mention the warranty concerns of having aftermarket hardware. This solution is 100% factory and stops them from dimming unnecessarially.

Furthermore, unlike some other solutions, you can still turn them off in your iDrive. Some other coding I've seen leaves them at full brightness all the time - I personally like to have options. For those that want the angel eyes off when the headlights are on, that is possible too, while retaining the options to turn them off/on with the headlights off.

This is an all inclusive solution to the factory dimming angel eyes, without physically touching the lights or opening the hood.

Enough talk, onto the pictures!

I'll start out with a couple of other light programming first -

1) Inner lights as daytime running lights. These are BRIGHT!



2) Angel Eyes Off w/ headlights on




3) Closeup of Angel Eyes off w/ headlights




4) Angel Eyes dimmer than stock:



5) Stock Brighness



6) Ok, now we are getting somewhere - now BRIGHT!






Both cars bright:



I will be working on this some more next week, just wanted to share with you guys

Edit: I know the pictures are not very good so I will try to get better ones up.
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Last edited by BPMSport; 10-20-2011 at 05:22 PM..
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      10-17-2011, 10:54 AM   #2
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Nicely done!!!
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      10-17-2011, 11:01 AM   #3
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when i was looking into making mine brighter
the voltage with headlights off was around 10.75
with headlights on it was 3.3v
so they basically never get the full voltage, even with the headlights off
good job
can't wait to hear how to do this
sales of GP thunders will sky rocket due to this
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      10-17-2011, 01:22 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kmarei View Post
when i was looking into making mine brighter
the voltage with headlights off was around 10.75
with headlights on it was 3.3v
so they basically never get the full voltage, even with the headlights off
good job
can't wait to hear how to do this
sales of GP thunders will sky rocket due to this
I can change it from six volts to sixteen. I can go higher or lower but didn't want to push the envelope in either direction. My goal was to just stop the headlights from dimming, which I achieved by setting the voltage slightly higher than the stock setting. I haven't tested the voltage at the rings themselves, but I suspect that the reading will be much lower than what is programmed in the code.

Edit: Anyone with GP Thunders - contact me to have it coded for free. I want to see what it looks like
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Last edited by BPMSport; 10-17-2011 at 02:40 PM..
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      10-17-2011, 07:37 PM   #5
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looks good. Can't wait to see how it works out.
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      10-18-2011, 12:54 AM   #6
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Changed the welcome lights as well... the difference is unbelieveable. I will post a video up in the next couple of days so you can see them with a side by side comparison when unlocking the car.

Here is how bright the welcome lights are (and it's nice because it fades up to that brightness, and fades off when you lock):



It's so bright it looks like aftermarket angel eyes. Stay tuned for the video.
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      10-18-2011, 07:58 AM   #7
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Will this shorten the life of the bulb? I have GP's and I'm willing to give it a shot.
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      10-18-2011, 09:14 AM   #8
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subscribed ive been looking to have this done for awhile!
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      10-18-2011, 01:22 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mkPOTO View Post
subscribed ive been looking to have this done for awhile!
I've got some exciting stuff coming up.

Took videos earlier, but I want to do it with a tripod and time it so you can really see the difference in real time, side by side.


For now, here is a teaser video of the brightness increased (it can go brighter):



I love the fact that its 100% stock without changing anything at all. I've always been skeptical about adding aftermarket equipment to the factory lights. This is a much better alternative to replacing rings, ballasts, lights, resistors, etc.
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      10-20-2011, 05:23 PM   #10
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Updated first post with a longer video.
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      10-30-2011, 09:47 AM   #11
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I like this. I like it lots....

Must know more - please advise!
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      12-20-2011, 05:13 PM   #12
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Whatever happened with this?

Any progress, or has it been shifted to another thread?
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      12-21-2011, 05:38 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony B View Post
Whatever happened with this?

Any progress, or has it been shifted to another thread?
Nothing really has happened...

Some people have brighter angel eyes with the headlights on, some brighter with the headlights off, some both. And some people requested angel eyes off compeltely with the headlights on.

So in summation, many different options are available, just depends what the customer is looking for.

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      12-22-2011, 10:01 AM   #14
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I would like my AEs to be brighter all of the time, welcome lights, with headlights on/off, and as DRLs. Interested but I'm in TX.

Probably a stupid question, can you code my car remotely?
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      12-22-2011, 01:24 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigjae1976 View Post
I would like my AEs to be brighter all of the time, welcome lights, with headlights on/off, and as DRLs. Interested but I'm in TX.

Probably a stupid question, can you code my car remotely?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Benvo View Post
Mike Benvo -- BMW Performance ECU Software / Module Coding / Retrofits
Custom Programming / DVD-In-Motion (REMOTE CODING AVAILABLE!)
Please see the coding list here: M3/M5/335/X5 Coding List
Email:mbenvo@gmail.com | Tel: 323-375-4BMW | LA Area

My gut says... yes.
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      12-22-2011, 01:59 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mattgold View Post
My gut says... yes.
Doh!

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      12-22-2011, 02:11 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mattgold View Post
My gut says... yes.


Made me laugh. Anyway, yes I can code it remotely. A few people from TX were emailing me about coding, perhaps you can put a feeler out there to see if a few people in your area are interested, and we can do a group buy at reduced cost.

I still need to make the side by side video..
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      03-20-2012, 05:57 PM   #18
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Any pricing??
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      03-22-2012, 10:24 AM   #19
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Probably too late, but did you ever find your volunteer for the GT Thunders?
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      03-27-2012, 03:14 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by robb7979 View Post
Probably too late, but did you ever find your volunteer for the GT Thunders?

Sorry for slow reply..

Yes, it worked quite well with the GP Thunders.

Of course it will never be like HID lights, but its a nice improvement over stock and removing the dimming is a very nice touch.
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      03-27-2012, 10:35 AM   #21
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Mike can you code e63 m6?
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      03-27-2012, 01:24 PM   #22
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Mike can you code e63 m6?
Absolutely... Any BMW from 2000 to 2012 (other than F series, but I am working on that)
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