Best "low beam" out HID solution?

[Russell]

Bit of Background.

I have just installed ddmtuning's 4500k, 55w, 9006 HID lights in my 95 e34. Got the low beam error. Tried the Bulb out warning (BOW) plug in device from ddemtuning and they did not work. I think they were resistors. This problem bugs me and I want it fixed.

I have searched the various e34 forums and have yet to find the definitive and complete DIY to resolve the low beam warning many e34s get when installing HID lights. There have been suggestions of resistor, capacitors and relays and so on.

None have been really complete enough especially those that say “just plug in a capacitor” Well, what type of capacitor and what type and where do I connect the capacitor. Do I need it for each low beam? You get the idea.

The most complete DIY HID bulb out solution I have found is the e34 M5 write up by Dave McLaren and Garrick Louie. It uses a relay to work with the high beam to fool the LKM. This I may try.

Does anyone else know of any solutions? TIA

[shogun]

If you would tell us the DETAILS about the LKM installed, then I might have an answer.

In case of part numbers
LKM-B　 　ECE　 　６１．３５－８３５０３７５　
LKM-L　 　ECE　 　６１．３５－８３５０３７６　
LKM-B　 　ECE　 　６１．３５－８３５６０１７　
LKM-B　 　ECE　 　６１．３５－１３７９３７２　
LKM-L　 J 　６１．３５－１３７９３７４　
LKM-L　 　ECE　 　６１．３５－１３９０３５６　

http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040911/index.shtml

http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040911/LKM376.pdf

or


Resistor: http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20020126/index.shtml

Use google for the translation from Japanese to English if necessary, the pics and the drawings are basically enough for someone who knows a bit about electronics.

[Bo525i]

I could never get Dave McLarens relay solution to work on my car, so what I did was: went to the scrapyard, got hold of 2 side blinkers, mounted them in parallel !

Best part, if you use white blinkers and mount them nicely, you get 2 new engine bay lights! I just hid them under the lampcovers..

Lowbeam warning is history, and the 5w bulb is real easy to change should it blow! :)

[Russell]

Is this what you need? I appreciate any assistance possible.

[Russell]

I could never get Dave McLarens relay solution to work on my car, so what I did was: went to the scrapyard, got hold of 2 side blinkers, mounted them in parallel !

Best part, if you use white blinkers and mount them nicely, you get 2 new engine bay lights! I just hid them under the lampcovers..

Lowbeam warning is history, and the 5w bulb is real easy to change should it blow! :)
Very interesting, Wish I had a scrap yard with BMWs locally. Even so, any 90s era BMW should have side marker lights that should work. Question- how would this be different than a "resistor" solution which would be like the failed BOWs I tried from ddmtuning? Thanks again

[shogun]

Thanks Russel.
Loewe and then in USA-L Version. That I have unfortunately never had a chance to lay hands on and open it, as in Japan we only have EURO and/or J-specification LKMs.

But I posted on the German 7 Forum some time ago a tip from the German E34 Forum for the Loewe in EURO verion (which has 4 relais isntead of 3 in US version: low beam, high beam, front fog lights, rear fog lights).
See the red arrow which points to a red dot on a line, cut this line and the alarm will be interrupted. But you will also get no warning when the low beams are really not working.
http://www.7-forum.com/forum/24/beseitigung-check-control-warnung-xenon-84243.html

[Bo525i]

how would this be different than a "resistor" solution which would be like the failed BOWs I tried from ddmtuning?

No difference actually as the filament in the bulb acts as the resistor.. And you can basically use any bulb in any kind of socket.. One guy in germany soldered in a 1.4w bulb in parallell to the same effect and covered it in shrinkwrap!

[bmwrp8]

I could never get Dave McLarens relay solution to work on my car, so what I did was: went to the scrapyard, got hold of 2 side blinkers, mounted them in parallel !

Best part, if you use white blinkers and mount them nicely, you get 2 new engine bay lights! I just hid them under the lampcovers..

Lowbeam warning is history, and the 5w bulb is real easy to change should it blow! :)

hmm.. would this work in my "f/fog light" warning issue as well? it started also when i installed 3000k hid's in fogs

[Russell]

No difference actually as the filament in the bulb acts as the resistor.. And you can basically use any bulb in any kind of socket.. One guy in germany soldered in a 1.4w bulb in parallell to the same effect and covered it in shrinkwrap!

That means your technique may not work for me. Even so, I may give it a shot with some bulbs I have lying around. who knows? :)

[Russell]

Thanks Russel.
Loewe and then in USA-L Version. That I have unfortunately never had a chance to lay hands on and open it, as in Japan we only have EURO and/or J-specification LKMs.

But I posted on the German 7 Forum some time ago a tip from the German E34 Forum for the Loewe in EURO verion (which has 4 relais isntead of 3 in US version: low beam, high beam, front fog lights, rear fog lights).
See the red arrow which points to a red dot on a line, cut this line and the alarm will be interrupted. But you will also get no warning when the low beams are really not working.
http://www.7-forum.com/forum/24/beseitigung-check-control-warnung-xenon-84243.html
Thanks,
Now that seems brave! Hate to ruin an LKM. However, you should be able to repair a solder cut if it does not work.

BTW, I have attempted to pull my LKM. However it does not want to seem to come out.

[shogun]

LKM comes out if you pull hard enough. Just straight up and a bit of wiggling helps. Maybe youu remove before the CMM so that you have a better grip on it.

[Bo525i]

That means your technique may not work for me

Why shouldn´t it, you´re basically restoring the filament that the LKM is looking for, it doesn´t care where it is, as long as it can find one.. ;)

[Bo525i]

hmm.. would this work in my "f/fog light" warning issue as well? it started also when i installed 3000k hid's in fogs

Probably, yes!
Again the LKM looks for the "resitance" in the filament and is dumb on its own, its not able to distinquish a bulb mounted in parallel.. It just wants that particular "resitance/current draw" to be there a.f.a.i.k.!

[Russell]

soldered two sets of the 5w bulbs to wires and temporarly connected them as you suggested. Seemed to work. no warning with engine running/off and lights on or off. I will shrink wrap wires/bulb and use wire taps and go from there. This may be the solution. If really works, i may hunt up side makers so I do not have to resolder bulbs in when they fail. I used Sylvania exta long life bulbs.

Thank you. Whatever ddm sent me as the warning eliminator did not work. I will send them back.

[Russell]

It seems to work- Yea!

[Bo525i]

Glad it worked out for you! :)

[attack eagle]

nice shogun, that is the first lkm-L hack i have seen.

unfortunately every single brand of lkm is different internally


edit: never mind--- that was another lkm-B hack...

lkm-L are different

[shogun]

it actually does not matter which LKM, B or L, country version and make Hella, Loewe etc.
Basic fact is the pinout is always the same as well as the pin count. Some pins might not be connected because of the version, but from the pinout you can work your way back to the internals, no matter how they look inside, as long as you know which pin is for what.
Here is the complete LKM and CCM pinout I made for info
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/425247/

[attack eagle]

sure, no one said the pinout was different.
they are all interchangeable so the external pinouts are all the same...

but have you ever tried to trace out a surface mount technology double sided board? I traced the ground for the foglight relay all the way around the board (and on both sides of the board too) to the highbeam circuit, which I'm going to guess is how it shuts them off for US models. that took about a 30 minutes. After 4 hours, I gave up on figuring out the low beam resistor comparison circuit. everything was sodding continuous when metered and the circuit split and branched so damn much on both sides of the board it gave me a migrane.

Those internal differences between two boards and single board,between normal components thru board, and surface mount components, between loewe and D and hella add up REAL QUICK when you are trying to say 'this is how you do it' because every single one of them acts differently and is laid out differently internally.
lkm-l hella (maybe loewe too) checks the lights when you start the car and when you use the lights.
lkm-l D only checks when circuit is in use. so do the lkm-Bs.

that loewe-B says just cut one trace to disable the LBF warning, the hella-b requires cutting some traces, and running some jumpers, and lifting a couple of resistors.

every single unit is going to be different... but the B's seem to have been hacked already by our german and japanese amigos... me, I can not figure out the D lkm-L for the life of me...
I just want to figure out how to STOP the lkm's trigger from reaching the CCM at this point. looks like under 4v on pin 4 = no message... we'll see how that goes when I get time to mess with it, and discover if I even need to.

[Qube]

Get a proper set with low beam error support... or just wire a resistor pack in parallel.

For example:
http://superlumination.com/images/leds/load_equalizer.jpg

[bmwrp8]

Get a proper set with low beam error support... or just wire a resistor pack in parallel.

For example:
http://superlumination.com/images/leds/load_equalizer.jpg

i had one of those before but that thing REAAALLLYYYY gets HOTT

[Tiger]

Geez... just make the simple relay circuit and clip it onto your low beam power wire by the headlight. Mine still work flawless after 7+ years

[Russell]

Geez... just make the simple relay circuit and clip it onto your low beam power wire by the headlight. Mine still work flawless after 7+ years

Good idea. However, I have yet to see a really complete set of instructions on the relay technique. No offense, but "simple" to you may not be so simple to many of us. :)

[Tiger]

Yah, I know... you really need to know how to wire it up. I made a bunch to lot of people back in 2001-2 when a bunch of us converted to HID. I could dig up the schematic if needed.

[Russell]

I would like it. Thanks!

Not sure ddmtuning will really offer a solution. Perhaps others need a good solution as well. I see a lot of issues on the various boards with HIDs and bulb out warnings.

[russiankid]

I am doing research right now to solder in a capacitor or diode instead of a bulb or relay. I will post if I come up with anything.

[Jr ///M5]

Here's the relay fix like Tiger was talking about. You'll need to study it a bit so you'll be familiar with the procedure. It's really easier than you think.

http://www.bbesound.com/bmw/hidinstall/

I used it on my '91 M5 and it worked fine. The McCullogh kit I used on my M540i Sport didn't throw a low beam error.

Hope this helps,
JR

[Qube]

Really though, you should trade it out for a set that negates the warning :)

[Russell]

OK, which brand should I buy that will not have the bulb out problem? Or do you mean trade with ddmtuning for another version. This may be what I do. That said, why trade out if the problem is fixed? Even if the fix is a kludge. :)

BTW, with my fix, no wires were cut Everything can be returned to stock in 30 minutes.
Note: I may make a version that is more elegant-sockets for bulbs in a sealed box. I also see no reason for fuses or relays on this sort of parallel circuit as each headlight is fused and why would you need a relay as you are not triggering anything.

[Tiger]

Not quite...

[bmwrp8]

OK, which brand should I buy that will not have the bulb out problem? Or do you mean trade with ddmtuning for another version. This may be what I do. That said, why trade out if the problem is fixed? Even if the fix is a kludge. :)

BTW, with my fix, no wires were cut Everything can be returned to stock in 30 minutes.
Note: I may make a version that is more elegant-sockets for bulbs in a sealed box. I also see no reason for fuses or relays on this sort of parallel circuit as each headlight is fused and why would you need a relay as you are not triggering anything.

I used xenonworx http://www.xenonworx.com/ HID 5000k in my low beam and it did not have the "dip beam" warning in my obc. Or you could go for Phillips., while my fogs 3000k hid I used VTX HID but I had the "f/fog" warning in the obc so I used this:
warning gone. bought it here in the philippines around $20