[S65B40]

A buddy of mine and I decided to go with a cost effective way to make the cluster white and stay lit without turning on the headlights. We simply just replaced the LED bulbs on the backside of the circuit board, and the result came out very satisfying. Check out the video below to see how it plays out.

Update 12/29:

After going through with my buddy again I finally figured out why my cluster can stay lit the whole time. He connected one of the terminals on the bulbs to the power source that's used to power on the onboard computer, thus making the cluster lit the whole time.

[SeanWRT]

Looks great! Modern yet classic.

I'm assuming the info in the middle bottom section is still orange like the gear indicator shows P in orange now? I would be even better if all of them turn into white.

[bmwv]

Nice! Why do they stay lit?

[S65B40]

Originally Posted by SeanWRT

Looks great! Modern yet classic.

I'm assuming the info in the middle bottom section is still orange like the gear indicator shows P in orange now? I would be even better if all of them turn into white.

The LCD section turns orange only when you turn on the headlights, but I believe it can be coded to stay white the whole time.

[S65B40]

Originally Posted by bmwv

Nice! Why do they stay lit?

After switching out the leds they stay lit all the time when you power on, off when you shut the power off, with no codings necessary.

[S65B40]

Update 12/29:

After going through with my buddy again I finally figured out why my cluster can stay lit the whole time. He connected one of the terminals on the bulbs to the power source that's used to power on the onboard computer, thus making the cluster lit the whole time.

[ddk632]

This is neat!
Do you have any info on the types of LEDs needed for this? Would appreciate info and/or a linky

[krizze]

Originally Posted by S65B40

A buddy of mine and I decided to go with a cost effective way to make the cluster white and stay lit without turning on the headlights. We simply just replaced the LED bulbs on the backside of the circuit board, and the result came out very satisfying. Check out the video below to see how it plays out.

Update 12/29:

After going through with my buddy again I finally figured out why my cluster can stay lit the whole time. He connected one of the terminals on the bulbs to the power source that's used to power on the onboard computer, thus making the cluster lit the whole time.

Any chance of a DYI step by step? Or a video?

[mike@x-ph.com]

Nice

[R0ME0]

Originally Posted by krizze

Any chance of a DYI step by step? Or a video?

I second that

[chris719]

Originally Posted by R0ME0

I second that

Such a tease .

If I buy a pre-LCI M2 I will take it apart and let you guys know. If someone had pics of the PCB I could give some recommendations maybe. You're going to want to look for (probably) an orange/yellow cased tantalum capacitor and probe the positive terminal to find a non-switched voltage. I don't know what they run the LEDs off normally, probably something low like 3.3V or 5V. I also don't know if they drive them with a fancy IC via PWM or just a resistor in series with a switched voltage.

Sounds like the OP just changed the LED supply to a voltage that always on and is not switched when the cluster illuminates. I'd probably try something more elegant but that works as long as the supply you tap can handle that additional current draw. Seems like it can or it probably would have been an issue.

Will probably need a decent soldering iron, magnification, hook-up wire, and a scalpel or x-acto knife.