(100% Done) E93 FLA High Beam Assist Retrofit (DIY)

[SaNGRia]

Hello guys,

I decided to do FLA/High Beam Assist on my E93 M3. And after countless of hour research and experience, i ve finally done this project and extremely happy to share with the family

E93 unlike any other E series everything has its unique creation. You realize that only when you own one As unique as it is modules and its locations also may vary depending on the places.

Since we have Convertible top, the universal radio remote control unit can not be installed in the rear window just in case your top position is down.

So they have installed this unit inside of the mirror. So if you get pissed at any e93 guy. Just remove his mirror while the car is parked. That will be the most nightmare he can experience

So i got 2014 e84 X1 interior mirror that has Compass/Dim/Homelink/Alarm/FLA (Gen2)

The FLA sensors are introduced with gen 1 which is rectangular and also gen2 which is circular. :

Gen 1


Gen 2


Gen 1 is well known with little late responses and something acting up. Gen 2 is sharp like a Soldier. Always ready.

So i was happy i got the latest one. I first removed my mirror and installed the X1 one directly to my car and i lost Comfort Access immediately. Then i decided to open the mirrors to see what is going on.

I will also tell you this. This is the First E93 FLA DIY in the world. I don't care someone has done it before me or not. NO ONE documented at ALL.

So when i opened the mirrors i saw couple differences. FIRST of all the guys who has done the FLA on e90/92s are LUCKY. You do not need to deal anything like this other than finding yourself a CANBUS point to run intertwined cable to this 2 pin connector outside of the mirror since you do not have Key Fob radio signal board in it.





So i thought FLA module only works with Canbus cables since everyone just plugging this 2 cable on E9x series. Well that wasn't the case for me.

As soon as i opened the new mirror i realized that FLA module has 9 pin connector on the mirror board that comes from the module. So without the connector you cant use your FLA. So because my old mirror did not have the FLA, i had to use new mirror board to do the project. But it is not as simple as you think.

The reason is, My old mirror has the same exact 10 pin plug outside of the mirror that connects to car wiring harness. When you compare the new mirror and my old one, you see that Old one has 9 pin filled since new one has only 6 pin filled.

one of the main reason my older one has more pins is because of Universal Key Fob Board runs with 6 pin socket (5 pin inserted).

And 4 pin comes directly from this 10 pin socket outside of the mirror.

So the theory is so simple. You remove that 4 pin from your old mirror's black 10 pin connector by noting their location. And inserting them to the same pins on the new plug so you will only need to figure out where to put the 5th one which i will also tell you later.

This is the 6 pin connector (Remote Control Board)


This is the 10 pin connector from old mirror


This is the 10 pin connector on the new mirror


This is the 9 Pin FLA connector in the new mirror


So why i spent countless hours?

First of all i removed all the pins from the white plugs to remove the wiring harnesses. Then i put my old wiring harness to new mirror and thought if i use the same location like my old one i can use all the features since car built in with this features with the order of this pinouts.

Well i am like okay my older 10 pin white plug uses the pin 10 that comes from the pin 5 of the black connector outside. Then if this is the case i should use the same cable on the pin 10 on the new mirror's white plug just like my old one. Well that was a terrible experience. Caused my EDC module to be malfunctioned. I realized that after i put all the cables back in their original position by removing all the pins again and again on the new mirror and installing to my old mirror just like came from factory and my car still wasn't recognizing the key.

Then i checked the EDC fuse and it was blown. So at this point i was about to give up.

Then i rethink everything and i said. Let me use the New mirrors plug instead of me removing my old plug from the old mirror. I used same exact wiring order that came from the x1. Did not change a single one.

But the issue here is, You need to put your Key Fob remote board 5 cable in the same exact order on the new mirror plug.

As i mention earlier, New Black 10 pin connector outside of the mirror came with 6 pin . So there is 4 empty slot there. But the confusion is, 2 of the pins that you need to use for the keyfob is taken by the new mirrors cable. But the other 2 can be placed to the empty area.



Instead of removing the pins on the new mirror, what i did is, the cable that came out from my old mirror for the keyfob, i plug them to the 6 pin white plug in the order of the picture you see above then I find out before i removed from the old black connector which color of cables goes to which pin just like above :

So the Pin 1 Yellow on the 6pin plug (Key Fob Board) goes to Pin 7 on the black 10 pin socket

Pin 2 Black and Red ( This is the most annoying cable. This cable is the 5th one not coming from the outside black connector . This one inserted to pin 9 on the older 10 pin white plug inside of the mirror as a parallel cable and my failing point was this cable. Because in theory if you can use the same exact pins and route them to the key fob board there is no way it wont work. But because of this 5th cable was going pin 9th on the old mirror's white 10 pin plug, i first did a Y cable from the 9th cable (on mew mirrors white plug) since on the new mirror the pin 9 was taken by a black cable that goes to outside 10 pin plug and this didnt work. So what i did at this point is TRY all the PINS to make it work AND YES Pin 4 on the white 10 pin plug inside of the mirror completes the circuit for the keyfob and DONE.



Pin 3 Purple Goes to Pin 9 on the black connector (taken so just Make a Y cable inside of the mirror using the purple cable on pin 9 cable that comes from the new black plug )

Pin 4 Red/White goes to Pin 8 on the black connector (taken, Make a Y cable inside of the mirror and wire to the pin 8 that is taken on the new plug)

Pin 5 Blue, goes to Pin 2 (Empty just put it on black connector)


As i mention the old black socket on the outside of my old mirror came with 9 pin. only 1 pin was empty. On the new plug even tho i put all 4 additional Key Fob cables (2 cable goes to empty pin of 2 and 7) and other 2 uses the same wires that is attached to the 10 pin white connector.

New Connector came with 6 pin + you used 2 additional empty ones for the board = 8 pin. 1 pin is missing on the new one. So i remove the Pin 1 the one was missing and add to the new socket JUST IN CASE. because you will realize one thing when you do this job, remove the pins and re routing the cables from outside to the inside of the mirror is pain in the butt. I taped the pins with paper tape and used fishing line to pull them carefully from outside to the inside of the mirror. So when you realize how annoying it is, you wanna do everything JUST in case not to deal with it anymore and i swap this cables about 10 times to figure this issue so you do not understand how lucky you are to have this here written, maybe you do

So i plugged that additional pin 1 cable on the 10 pin white connector to the only empty place left was pin 2. But that did not help anything and i think caused my mirror to stay dim all the time (i cant hundered percent tell it is but i removed after ahwile since it doesnt impact anything).

My mirror dims if you put flashlight to the sensor on the top of mirror side and undims when i put the same flash light on the back of the mirror.

But what i notice is when i drive night time the mirror has slightly tinted even tho there is no car behind. I may have to do more research on that but it is functioning without any issue.

The 10 pin white plug will look like this :



Here is all the other helpful pictures :






I used tape on the mirror in between testing period cuz it is hard to remove the mirror frame to reach out the board behind. Just tape the both side and try, if everything is working properly you can put everything back together and install the mirror back in place.

Another physical thing you have to do is find a can bus cable and plug into the 2 pin plug that is next to the 10 pin black connector.

I told seller to cut the car's factory harness and include all plugs that is attached to the car so that way i had canbus cable with the female plug already came with.

I dropped the light panel on the windshield area :



And luckily i saw the canbus cable. That makes this cabling like 2 minute job. Because before this i had a spare canbus cable that was under the foot well ( which came for the TRSVC module but i ended up not using that one so it was already in the canbus system waiting for the future project. And from passenger footwell area to mirror, I couldnt easily run the cable. You need to remove many panels for that. But because of this light, you just need a short intertwined cable and run to the FLA module. And you are all set as far as hardware goes.

Let's do the coding. You need to go to VO and FA Write $5AC to CAS/NFRM then default code your KOMBI, FRM and CIC.

If you have custom coded FRM + CIC + KOMBI save the trace file and compare with the default coded ones using the WinMerge software. And simply change the values on the old coded files and write the old ones back to the module with NCSExpert. SO you will have it all.

As far as i noted here is the values :

FRM MODULE :

FL_ASSIST_ENABLE aktiv

FL_ASSIST_FUNKTIONS_ANZ aktiv

FL_AUS_BEI_BIX_IN_S_FLC aktiv

FL_ASSIST_ZUST_22_32

CIC

HIGH BEAM ASSIST aktiv

KOMBI :

FLA -- active

After this process done. You now have FLA in your ECU menu. You can see this on the ISTA or NCSExpert or INPA.

Simply go back to NCSExpert and default code your FLA module. And you will be done with the procedure. (After default coded, FLA seeing the Convertible under the parameters)

I went ahead and reset the FLA module on ISTA. That reset all the settings and Compass also switch to Calibration Mode.

If you see your compass get this letter C in the mirror, that stands for Calibration. Go and drive the car about one or two miles. It will correct the direction. And you will be done with the project.

Before


After :



Then you will now see High Beam Assist Under the CIC/ Settings / Lighting Menu :

High Beam Assist ---> Tick the box.





Turn the headlight switch to Auto then push the high beam stalk forward once and you will now see a little icon on the kombi has the high beam icon with A.

It showed at the very first time on the top like a big icon then a little icon on the bottom screen right top corner :



And you are DONE :



Here is the video after the project done :

[Johnr3524]

I'm going to start saying this: "sharp like a Soldier. Always ready."

[brettcp]

Wow. Very impressive, great work!! I rarely drive my car at night but if I did, I'd be all over this retrofit!

[SaNGRia]

Originally Posted by johnr3524

i'm going to start saying this: "sharp like a soldier. Always ready."

😃🙏🏼🙏🏼

[SaNGRia]

I most probably drove less than 20 nights in 9 years. But i like to have it all, cant help it 🙏🏼

Originally Posted by brettcp

Wow. Very impressive, great work!! I rarely drive my car at night but if I did, I'd be all over this retrofit!

[brettcp]

What's the part number for the X6 mirror you used?

[Pappas Fritas]

Awesome, thank you for sharing SaNGRia!!!

I see you mentioned CIC menu. Any idea if there would be any difference doing this with CCC iDrive?

[SaNGRia]

My pleasure. I am not sure how it is on CCC let me check the coding index on CCC here.

I just did and couldnt find any parameter related to High Beam Assist!

Originally Posted by Pappas Fritas

Awesome, thank you for sharing SaNGRia!!!

I see you mentioned CIC menu. Any idea if there would be any difference doing this with CCC iDrive?

[SaNGRia]

Hey there. Be honest with you i didnt check the part number. But i checked the VIN number of the vehicle before they shipped out to make sure $5AC listed on the VO. Because the previous seller was so sure the mirror they shipped had a FLA and all i got a simple mirror without FLA.

Originally Posted by brettcp

What's the part number for the X6 mirror you used?

[didi1986]

Hi Sangria
I do it retrofit on my e91 335 but can not find fla witht all what i want and buy two to make one full. Do you know this wire red/black from pin 2 what is going on led board for what is it? Because i make all working but that wire stay unused.
Tnx in advance

[SaNGRia]

Originally Posted by didi1986

Hi Sangria
I do it retrofit on my e91 335 but can not find fla witht all what i want and buy two to make one full. Do you know this wire red/black from pin 2 what is going on led board for what is it? Because i make all working but that wire stay unused.
Tnx in advance

Show me picture. I will guide you.

[didi1986]

This from pin 2

[SaNGRia]

Originally Posted by didi1986

This from pin 2

It goes to pin 4 on 10 pin socket!

[didi1986]

Ok, but do you know for what is it. ItÂ’s look like that is for antena amplifier because my remote has short range when I left it unplugged

[SaNGRia]

Originally Posted by didi1986

Ok, but do you know for what is it. ItÂ’s look like that is for antena amplifier because my remote has short range when I left it unplugged

Thats for keyless entry on convertibles. If you dont have a convertible you dont need that!

[The-Traveler]

Congrats on the retrofit. I did this years ago from an X5. I think it's Gen2. Curious if you know of a way to get it to work 100% of the time? Why should I have to enable it manually (automatic feature I mean) when it could function always?

[SaNGRia]

Originally Posted by The-Traveler

Congrats on the retrofit. I did this years ago from an X5. I think it's Gen2. Curious if you know of a way to get it to work 100% of the time? Why should I have to enable it manually (automatic feature I mean) when it could function always?

Thanks, there is no such a thing to activate always on. I even push the auto on my F85 everytime i drive at night.

[The-Traveler]

Thanks

[Takummie]

Thank you very much! I got a 2011 E93 335i and I needed this.
But now I got one more problem that gets things even more complicated. I’m Japanese and my mirror is TOTALLY different from the rest of the world with an ETC system built in it. ETC is a unique system that takes your credit card and lets you drive through toll gates without stop. It also feeds your navigation with real-time traffic information. Yeah you literally stick your credit card in the back of the mirror
Now who’s gonna help me on that

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by SaNGRia

I most probably drove less than 20 nights in 9 years. But i like to have it all, cant help it 🙏🏼

I had high beam assist on my first E92 M3 (2008 MY) but quickly gave up using it, as it was quite slow to dip in the presence of oncoming traffic and also slow to revert to main beam. It also had an annoying tendency to dip when approaching reflective roadsigns (most of them are here).

So I did not spec it on my LCI car (2012 MY).

Are you saying that Gen 2 has overcome these problems?

My inner geek is tempted, if so!

[SaNGRia]

Originally Posted by Tony B

I had high beam assist on my first E92 M3 (2008 MY) but quickly gave up using it, as it was quite slow to dip in the presence of oncoming traffic and also slow to revert to main beam. It also had an annoying tendency to dip when approaching reflective roadsigns (most of them are here).

So I did not spec it on my LCI car (2012 MY).

Are you saying that Gen 2 has overcome these problems?

My inner geek is tempted, if so!

110% percent! Gen2 is like KAFAS camera Very responsive. But the issue is, makes the side mirrors 20% dim all the time and makes them somewhat hot. So i disabled side mirror dim function! Other than that works like a charm.

[SaNGRia]

Originally Posted by Takummie

Thank you very much! I got a 2011 E93 335i and I needed this.
But now I got one more problem that gets things even more complicated. I’m Japanese and my mirror is TOTALLY different from the rest of the world with an ETC system built in it. ETC is a unique system that takes your credit card and lets you drive through toll gates without stop. It also feeds your navigation with real-time traffic information. Yeah you literally stick your credit card in the back of the mirror
Now who’s gonna help me on that

In order to fix that issue, you have to take a part and see where the credit card mechanism connected to. You can easily re use the same mirror cover with credit card by adding this wires to proper places in the new High Beam mirror. Unless, it is built in to the board of the mirror, you can retrofitted.