Markus Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Sorry if this has been asked before, did a search but couldn't find anything. What i'd like to know is if anyone has retrofitted the new style LED lights on to an E46 Coupe (3 series or M3) that originally had the standard lights. Is it easy to do? (ie do you need to modify anything connection wise, or just buy the light clusters?) And how much did it cost. Thinking of buying an M3 near the end of the year, and i'd love to have one with the LED lights. But they don't seem to have been introduced till the 53 plates, and i'd save a fair wack if i bought an 01 or 02. Can i just get the LED lights retro fitted, and will the dealer do it? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Dealer will retro fit - they're expensive. Someone has asked this before I'm sure. Don't know the price, just that they were bloody expensive and the labour charge killed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 LED lights look cool - but you can't bloody well see them from in the car can you? That was the conclusion I've come to Cheers Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidicks Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Definitely possible to do, but the lights themselves aren't cheap, and dealer labour charges would be vast. I think you can fit them yourself, but then you get all sorts of error lights on the dash which need sorting by a dealer - again, not cheap. In the end, its probably not worth the hassle.......... Sidicks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus Posted January 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Thanks for all your help. A friend of mine can get BMW parts at trade prices, he told me he could get them for around £300. I guess the fitting and sorting out the errors you mentioned could be costly though. Maybe i'll just get a 53 plate. Or maybe i'll just spend all my time inside the car instead. If i ever manage to afford it. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Mine is an 04 and has them - but I have to say you have to be a bit of a BMW expert to know about them - I'd just pocket the money. The difference is, IMO, negligible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 [ QUOTE ] The difference is, IMO, negligible. [/ QUOTE ] They DO look nice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOK Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 I had them retrofitted to my previous M3 (52 plate) and I was charged £360 fitted at BMW. I was also told the same thing by the mechanic that fitting them elsewhere can result in issues (which in the long run may cost more to put right) If you want to get them I think HTR sells them if Im not mistaken LINK I had mine done at Damon Hill BMW in Warrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus Posted January 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 So it was £360 including VAT and Fitting? That doesn't sound too bad! (compared to paying an extra x number of thousands for a 53 plate) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOK Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 Hi I cant remember if it was inc VAT and I gave all the paperwork to the guy I sold it to so cant even check...but if thats your only reason for moving to a 53 plate I would certainly do that (unless you are not losing money by selling/trading your current one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidicks Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 That almost sounds reasonable !! For some reason I thought it worked out at closer to £1k. Sidicks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 Hmm, me too, I had £700 in mind for the full supply and fit (mind you, I was thinking of dealer supply and fit when I guessed that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjet Posted February 6, 2005 Report Share Posted February 6, 2005 Hi all, not posted here before, but I have an E46 M3 coupe, it's a Jan 2003 car without the LED lights. I'd really like to get the dealer to fit these to my car. I notice that there's also seems to be a change to the light clusters that are on the boot lid either side of the number plate - are these LED as well? Anyone care to check their car? When my car went in for the engine and SMG recalls, they loaned me a 54 plate 330 coupe - and that had the led lights, I quite like them. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulM3 Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 yeah. i've asked about this at a dealer. its £300 for the lights and 1 hours labour to fit. they fit them and have to set them up so ur car know that there there ecu wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3dan Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 Markus: If you really want LED's and you're mildly concerned about cost, find one that's got them already. I've got a 51 plate motor with 'em fitted by the previous owner. They are out there, trust me. My advice; find a £30k car with LED's, low miles, sat nav and wack a private plate on it. So long as it's clean and shiney, it's a brand new, straight out the box example to the untrained eye!! (And if you haven't bought it yet, make sure it has 19's.... It's the only way!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjet Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 I get my car back from the dealer some time today after it's inspection 1 service and the LED lights fitting. They're to charge me about £500 all in (just for the lights and labour etc.) I think - but they've not called me to get payment for it all yet :c( I've also had some stuff switched on or off - like drive away locking and so forth. They called yesterday to say that I was amending 12 items and so they'd have to charge me an extra 1/2 hour labour on top of the labour for the LED lights and the Inspection 1 service :c( A bit cheeky I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazzaF Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Got a quote from my dealer for supply and fit. It also came in at £500....Going to try the local independents and see if they can give me a better deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozza Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 I think that I should clear this up for people. BMW will supply and retrofit the new LED tail lights (cars built since March 2003 have these as standard) to an E46 convertible for £306 + VAT for parts plus one hours labour +VAT. This involves installation of new LED brake/indicator lights, new interior boot lights, new boot lid lenses (mostly red with a small white piece of lens for the reversing light, buld holders are the same as the originals) and a new adaptor cable. The installation also requires updating the OBC to correctly identify the new LED units; this can only be done by a BMW main dealer. You may see genuine BMW LED tail light kits available on some auction sites (ebay included) but they generally do not include interior boot lights, new style fog/reverse lenses and the adaptor cable; these extra bits add up to another £110. Sellers will not tell you this and will leave you with only 1 or 2 of the bits you need for a complete installation. Also, if you get the kit yourself and fit it yourself (takes less than an hour) many BMW dealers will still charge you an hours labour just to update the OBC (10-15 minutes actual work I'm told); this actually adds about another £95 - £115. All in all; if you want the full kit (including the updated fog/reverse lenses) and not have to get earache from your BMW dealer or the bother of fitting it yourself and still be charged the same amount for labour, stump up the £470 and get them to do it all for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayerbloke Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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