MichaelC
Well-Known Member
Since nearly every other light on the SE is LED, the incandescent bulbs in the scuttles seemed a bit...outdated/out of place. To remedy this, I bought and installed some dynamic LED indicators:
Most people who get these opt for the smoked version. Since I'm keeping the chrome trim and doorhandles, the clear version seemed more consistent to my eye. Also, they appear stock to the casual observer (while they're off).
It seems there are several brands/retailers for these, but I suspect they're either all using the same design or outsourced manufacturer because they look identical. Some considerations to be aware of:
You can find some vendors who sell these with different scuttle inserts, but I chose the ones without inserts so I could transfer the stock SE inserts from the original units. You could also buy them with inserts and swap in your stock SE inserts if you prefer.
Installation was pretty easy, taking less than an hour start to finish (fumbling with Bimmercode seemed like nearly half that time). There are many Youtube videos showing how to swap the scuttle indicators and their inserts. I wasn't keen to try any of the prying methods, so used the "remove the access panel" method as shown here (with the "old style" dynamic LED blinkers):
Most people who get these opt for the smoked version. Since I'm keeping the chrome trim and doorhandles, the clear version seemed more consistent to my eye. Also, they appear stock to the casual observer (while they're off).
It seems there are several brands/retailers for these, but I suspect they're either all using the same design or outsourced manufacturer because they look identical. Some considerations to be aware of:
- Some advertise plug-n-play compatibility and cost a bit more.
- The ones I bought require using Bimmercode to re-code the controller to know they are LED (avoids fault messages and hyper-blinking like a bulb is out).
- Note: Bimmercode will identify these lights as "turn signals mirror lamp", NOT "sidemarkers lamp" (which are already coded as LEDs). This confused me for a bit.
- The ones I bought require using Bimmercode to re-code the controller to know they are LED (avoids fault messages and hyper-blinking like a bulb is out).
- There is an "old style" and a "new style".
- The ones I bought are the "new style", which I prefer.
- The "old style" does not follow the trailing contour of the scuttle (converges to a point instead) and illuminates rear-to-front.
You can find some vendors who sell these with different scuttle inserts, but I chose the ones without inserts so I could transfer the stock SE inserts from the original units. You could also buy them with inserts and swap in your stock SE inserts if you prefer.
Installation was pretty easy, taking less than an hour start to finish (fumbling with Bimmercode seemed like nearly half that time). There are many Youtube videos showing how to swap the scuttle indicators and their inserts. I wasn't keen to try any of the prying methods, so used the "remove the access panel" method as shown here (with the "old style" dynamic LED blinkers):
