Increase brightness on instrument cluster?

[Khurram]

Is there a setting to increase the backlight on the instrument cluster and other controls? I looked through the menus but can't find anything.

[C17MooseDriver]

Yes, I just discovered this yesterday. On the stalk on the left handside of your steering wheel, there's an up and down tab. Press it, it'll lead to a menu next to your speedometer. Click it up or down till you get to lighting, then press the BC button. After that it's self explanatory.

[Khurram]

Thanks!
Sometimes I wish the instrument cluster was lit in red as well instead of white.
The red just looks so much better.

[THEGERMAN]

Originally Posted by Khurram

Thanks!
Sometimes I wish the instrument cluster was lit in red as well instead of white.
The red just looks so much better.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by C17MooseDriver

Click it up or down till you get to lighting

OP, just make sure your lights are ON, or you won't find it .

[Bhdien]

Bringing this old post back up. I have adjusted my brightness to max but it seems that the cluster is still dim. Like half way dim at max. Does anyone else have this problem? I've searched for over a week now and just can't seem to come up with anything.

[wshyangmur]

I just discovered this yesterday.

[Helmsman]

Guys, not sure if the display light adjustment in the iDrive also affect the cluster but might be worth to check should this be turned down.

Cheers

[roastbeef]

I'm curious to see if this is something for non-idrive cars or supplemental to the idrive settings.

[steveff4]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

I'm curious to see if this is something for non-idrive cars or supplemental to the idrive settings.

It's the same on both.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by Khurram

Is there a setting to increase the backlight on the instrument cluster and other controls? I looked through the menus but can't find anything.

Didn't look through the manual though, eh? (Pro tip: Grabbing the PDF version allows you to search its contents for words like "brightness", which makes this exercise far less painful.)

Originally Posted by Khurram

Thanks!
Sometimes I wish the instrument cluster was lit in red as well instead of white.
The red just looks so much better.

Eh, my previous car (08 Acura TL Type-S) had red lighting throughout the car: instrument cluster, center console controls, overhead, etc. I liked it there compared to the base TL's blue in those places, but I think it depends on the character of the car. Red seems more appropriate to less expensive sporty cars, like an RSX, Golf, etc, but I'm not so sure I'd like it on an M3. White is classic and neutral. Anyhow, I vastly prefer it to the orange backlighting of the series cars, even though I actually do like the orange lighting throughout the rest of the car.

[The-Traveler]

I love how white is suddenly classic, when M cars before the e92 had yellow. hehehe

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by The-Traveler

I love how white is suddenly classic, when M cars before the e92 had yellow. hehehe

Ha! Didn't mean classic for BMWs or even for instrument cluster lighting, just classic as a color in general, like black.

[SukSqueezeBangBlo]

Originally Posted by Bhdien

Bringing this old post back up. I have adjusted my brightness to max but it seems that the cluster is still dim. Like half way dim at max. Does anyone else have this problem? I've searched for over a week now and just can't seem to come up with anything.

Mine feels a bit dim also, mainly the numbers? I have it set to max too.

[Bhdien]

Yea, it seems like the numbers mainly. I can still see it at night, but it's just not as bright as I think it should be. Wonder if anyone else has this problem.

[MGB]

Followed the instruction in the paper manual, the in-line canal, and the revised M3 manual, but speedo and tach still rather dimly lit.

[DSilk]

Originally Posted by The-Traveler

I love how white is suddenly classic, when M cars before the e92 had yellow. hehehe

Traditional BMW instrument cluster lighting was orange.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by MGB

Followed the instruction in the paper manual, the in-line canal, and the revised M3 manual, but speedo and tach still rather dimly lit.

Hmm... I even keep it down to half or so strength to not have the cluster too bright, while only having a click or two on the iDrive. Plenty juice in my eyes?

[Solo_M_Tech]

The color white is hard on the eyes at night. BMW intentionally made them dim in order to keep eye fatigue to a minimum and prevent you from having an accident.

[GVIFlyer]

Originally Posted by Khurram

Thanks!
Sometimes I wish the instrument cluster was lit in red as well instead of white.
The red just looks so much better.

Red is also easier on your night vision. When we were to do unaided night missions, we began them by sitting in a red lit area for 30 minutes to dark adapt our eyes.

[dtmdriven]

Has anyone figured out how to increase this? Seems like there is debate on what is classic, easy on eyes, etc. Nobody knows what the coding option is to turn this up more? I find the instrument cluster unsafely dim even on the highest setting in the idrive and dash.

[sunny]

I complained about this in this forum and people just made fun about it.