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