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      04-03-2017, 02:05 PM   #67
daftsynth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smovva View Post
Here is a little guide I put together to use a different mean Well LDD-500L module that requires no wire cutting or soldering. The module is also a little cheaper than the first one (LDD-500HW) I recommended. Enjoy!
awesome! can this fix the inner and outer tail lights?
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      04-05-2017, 08:43 AM   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smovva View Post
Here is a little guide I put together to use a different mean Well LDD-500L module that requires no wire cutting or soldering. The module is also a little cheaper than the first one (LDD-500HW) I recommended. Enjoy!

Quote:
Originally Posted by smovva View Post
Got tired of re-soldering the chip on the LED tail light of my 2011 X3 F25 3.5i; board gets so hot I think solder is reflowing during normal use!

I delved deeper into what the Valeo board actually is and turns out its just a run of the mill constant current LED driver, except with the added bonus that its poorly engineered and not found anywhere else!!

The board has to handle input voltage of 11-16V and output is 500ma and 4.5V. No mystery at all and you can buy an equivalent for $6! I used the LDD-H Series Mean Well Step-Down Mode CC DC-DC LED Driver LDD-500HW available at www.ledsupply.com and used some scotchlock connectors to tap into existing wiring harness, so I don't have to cut any wires.

Parts: $6 + Shipping
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers...step-down-mode
When you order, select the drop down box for wires and current as 500ma.

Wiring:
RED wire on LDD-500HW taps into Red on the connector going to the Valeo board
Black Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Black from connector going to the Valeo board
Yellow Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Pink from connector going to the Valeo board
Blue Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Gray from connector going to the Valeo board
White Wire on LDD-500HW cut/tape it off; no need for it. Its used for dimming.

Gotchas:
1. Only tricky thing was stuffing the module & wires in so I can put the taillight back into place! Where I put the module initially in the picture didn't work; so I put it at an angle where the Valeo board used to be

2. Scotchlock connector are tricky and if you use them, make sure they are biting into the wires (wires on meanwell are thicker than the valeo board connector).

3. Make sure you DO NOT use both the Valeo board and the meanwell part at the same time!

Super easy fix and works great! Enjoy!

Satish
I think I'm going to do this, thank you!
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      04-06-2017, 09:45 AM   #69
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Just did the soldering of that tiny little chip and all is done/fixed. Really glad to have this forum available to all bimmer owners. First time to use a soldering tool and what could have been a $300 or so plus labor at the dealership, I gained another tool for the fraction of the cost. Thanks everybody!
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      04-12-2017, 01:51 AM   #70
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I noticed yesterday that my nearside tailgate led has gone
I plan to attempt the re-soldering of the chip mentioned in this post this coming weekend, so will see how it goes.
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      04-14-2017, 08:34 AM   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PX3 View Post
I noticed yesterday that my nearside tailgate led has gone
I plan to attempt the re-soldering of the chip mentioned in this post this coming weekend, so will see how it goes.
Well the soldering was a bugger to do, but it's done the job for now 😎👍
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      04-14-2017, 08:36 PM   #72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by daftsynth View Post
awesome! can this fix the inner and outer tail lights?
Yep, all 4 led lamps use the same type of Valeo circuit boards so this fix will apply to all 4 LED lamps (2 on trunk lid, 2 rear on fenders).
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      04-14-2017, 08:40 PM   #73
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PX3 View Post
Well the soldering was a bugger to do, but it's done the job for now 😎👍
"For now" is the key word! The Valeo board is inefficient and gets so hot that the solder will melt again on that part... try the mean well part for a "once and done" fix.
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      04-17-2017, 12:14 AM   #74
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Easter Sunday LED taillight weekend update!
All four OEM LED taiilight assemblies on our 2011 X3 have failed at different times over the past three years. That took eight visits to the dealer, one visit for diagnosis and parts ordering and a second visit in each case for installation. All four OEM LED taillight assemblies were replaced under warranty. Since then the left taiigate LED failed (that's number five) and was replaced under partial warranty but we had to pay a "deductible" for the part. OK with us.
Today, we installed a MeanWell LDD-500HW LED driver in the failed driver-side fender/outboard LED tailiight assembly. That's Valeo LED driver failure number six in our case. We're hoping this doesn't become an Easter Sunday tradition.
The manufacture date on today's replaced failed assembly is 20-08-2014, so there's got to be a lot more bad Valeo LED driver boards in the population. We plan to keep our 2011 X3 35i, now at 91K miles, until it dies so I have a half-dozen MeanWell boards on order.
Thanks again to Smovva his fix.
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      05-12-2017, 07:35 PM   #75
Carlos Hermida
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Today I received from mouser.com those LED drivers LDD-500L suggested by Smovva.
I just installed it for my both inner tail light and finally all it is working again !

Thanks Smovva for this fix !!!
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Last edited by Carlos Hermida; 05-12-2017 at 07:57 PM..
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      05-22-2017, 09:50 PM   #76
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlos Hermida View Post
Today I received from mouser.com those LED drivers LDD-500L suggested by Smovva.
I just installed it for my both inner tail light and finally all it is working again !

Thanks Smovva for this fix !!!
Neat job! Glad it worked for you and thank you for posting the picture!
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      05-26-2017, 05:57 PM   #77
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Thanks so much! Had both the passenger side taillights out and was about to bring it into the dealer before I googled and found this thread. Ordered 4 of the ldd-500L from mouser and received them today. Was able to get both of the passenger side lights fixed!! The only thing I had trouble was was crimping the ends so that they would stay on the LDD-500L. I ended up just glopping hot glue on each of the connectors to keep the wire connected since I couldn't get it tight enough to stay by itself.

Thanks again!!
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      05-29-2017, 06:08 PM   #78
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaybert View Post
Thanks so much! Had both the passenger side taillights out and was about to bring it into the dealer before I googled and found this thread. Ordered 4 of the ldd-500L from mouser and received them today. Was able to get both of the passenger side lights fixed!! The only thing I had trouble was was crimping the ends so that they would stay on the LDD-500L. I ended up just glopping hot glue on each of the connectors to keep the wire connected since I couldn't get it tight enough to stay by itself.

Thanks again!!
Glad it worked! You are right, crimping the plug may not stay a tight fit with vehicle movement and the hot glue should definitely help!
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      07-06-2017, 08:03 PM   #79
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smovva View Post
Glad it worked! You are right, crimping the plug may not stay a tight fit with vehicle movement and the hot glue should definitely help!

One of the crimped leads came loose on my right trunk lid light; buckled down and bought a really nice soldering iron (Weller WESD51 soldering station $100 on amazon) and some Kester 24-6337-0027 Solder Roll core solder ($25 on amazon) to do it right and still came out ahead of buying new lamps from BMW. Of course you could also do what I did with a $10 soldering iron and $2 soldering lead, but you don't get the same satisfaction!!! ;-)
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      08-15-2017, 09:57 PM   #80
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Replacement Valeo board

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VALEO-b00380...1Y6emf&vxp=mtr
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      08-17-2017, 11:10 AM   #81
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Replaced the valeo boards on both the driver side lights a couple weeks ago and they are working great now. But sadly i just noticed that now the passenger side outer one is out. I guess its a good thing i ordered 4 of the meanwell drivers.
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      09-11-2017, 12:16 PM   #82
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so i had my tpms malfunction light on.. I didn't think it was related to the LED tail issue.. I soldered the circuitry to fix the LED issue the first time, it worked and the tpms malfunction disappeared as well.. a day later the led light issue came back and so did the TPMS malfunction alert.. i re-soldered this... it worked again... this time I followed the instructions below and bought the board from ledsupply.. the light is working fine.. but the TPMS malfunction still on.. i don't understand the correlation between the 2.. any ideas?

Quote:
Originally Posted by smovva View Post
Got tired of re-soldering the chip on the LED tail light of my 2011 X3 F25 3.5i; board gets so hot I think solder is reflowing during normal use!

I delved deeper into what the Valeo board actually is and turns out its just a run of the mill constant current LED driver, except with the added bonus that its poorly engineered and not found anywhere else!!

The board has to handle input voltage of 11-16V and output is 500ma and 4.5V. No mystery at all and you can buy an equivalent for $6! I used the LDD-H Series Mean Well Step-Down Mode CC DC-DC LED Driver LDD-500HW available at www.ledsupply.com and used some scotchlock connectors to tap into existing wiring harness, so I don't have to cut any wires.

Parts: $6 + Shipping
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers...step-down-mode
When you order, select the drop down box for wires and current as 500ma.

Wiring:
RED wire on LDD-500HW taps into Red on the connector going to the Valeo board
Black Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Black from connector going to the Valeo board
Yellow Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Pink from connector going to the Valeo board
Blue Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Gray from connector going to the Valeo board
White Wire on LDD-500HW cut/tape it off; no need for it. Its used for dimming.

Gotchas:
1. Only tricky thing was stuffing the module & wires in so I can put the taillight back into place! Where I put the module initially in the picture didn't work; so I put it at an angle where the Valeo board used to be

2. Scotchlock connector are tricky and if you use them, make sure they are biting into the wires (wires on meanwell are thicker than the valeo board connector).

3. Make sure you DO NOT use both the Valeo board and the meanwell part at the same time!

Super easy fix and works great! Enjoy!

Satish

Last edited by jstar41; 09-11-2017 at 12:29 PM..
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      09-16-2017, 03:51 PM   #83
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My other inner tail light went out. Ordered the LDD-500HW and they were out so they offered LDD-500LW and they are smaller but worked just fine.
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      10-05-2017, 12:16 PM   #84
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[IMG][/IMG]

Mine is doing the same thing. Figured out it?s the LED and not the regular bulbs.
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      10-06-2017, 02:00 PM   #85
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Just want to say thanks for this thread! My left inner light went out so I replaced it and then a week later the right inner light went out! Replaced both valeo boards with the Meanwell parts and all is good!

For those of you that are hesitant about doing this, it is an extremely easy DIY. The first time took me about an hour because I was being SUPER particular not to break/mess anything up, but the second one I knocked out in less than a half an hour.
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Last edited by PDM5; 10-06-2017 at 02:06 PM.. Reason: Added photo
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      10-09-2017, 07:02 PM   #86
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X3 led taillights

I have a repair solution if interested that works every time. I recently repaired 3 taillight units very successfully.

Feel free to contact me directly on here.
The Chief
Retired Navy Avionics tech.
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      10-11-2017, 01:53 PM   #87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Chief View Post
I have a repair solution if interested that works every time. I recently repaired 3 taillight units very successfully.

Feel free to contact me directly on here.
The Chief
Retired Navy Avionics tech.
Why don't you post the solution?
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      10-14-2017, 01:15 PM   #88
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PDM5 View Post
Just want to say thanks for this thread! My left inner light went out so I replaced it and then a week later the right inner light went out! Replaced both valeo boards with the Meanwell parts and all is good!

For those of you that are hesitant about doing this, it is an extremely easy DIY. The first time took me about an hour because I was being SUPER particular not to break/mess anything up, but the second one I knocked out in less than a half an hour.
Glad it worked for you and thank you for the picture!
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