[Radar314]

I have an appointment to replace the both front door ambient lighting strips. They have the hot spots and look different from the nice smooth color of the rear door lighting.
Here is my question: Is there a possibility that there could be damage to the door panels due to prying them off? Could there be damage to the front window tint application?
The hot spots are not real objectionable. Am I being foolish trying to get something to be perfect that will end up causing other problems?

[arciga18]

I would be more concerned with the lead time for the replacement parts.

They are going to replace the entire door panel. No other way to do it

[Radar314]

They had ordered the parts weeks ago and they are now here. I thought it was just the light tube and/or the controller.

[sinbad4]

Used to be the industry used plastic tabs to hold on panels backed with something not far off from cardboard. Tabs were really only meant to be used 1x - pulling them out significantly weakended them. Panel backing would bend, and permanently flex too.

I had my dash taken apart something like 6 times. The fasteners and materials they use now are much, much better.

I think a good tech that knows the locations for the securing points and has proper tools could take these panels off now 20x without measurable impact on panel integrity or squeaking / rattling. I suspect 50 years of having people complain about dash squeaks and rattles have made the industry find better solutions.

That said, I'd rather it happen only when required. ;-)

[Radar314]

The hot spots got brighter over time. I dropped off the car today. I’ll post the results. The hot spots did start to bug me. It has been an amazing SUV.

[Seartrip]

New owner, first post. This topic made me finally jump in.

I had the same problem with hot spots/inconsistent lighting on my X4's front passenger door. It was like that from the day I got it, but because the factory stereo was so disappointing I had an amplifier installed with new speakers in the doors. This caused a problem when I went in to have the ambient lighting looked at, because now the dealer said it was because I had the doors panels off and my installer damaged the lighting. Finger pointing was going nowhere, so I had them fix it on my dime. They warrantied the LED module, but needed a new plastic trim tube that disperses the light.

Took a while to get parts, then when it went in for repair the shop said they needed special screws to install the LED module, as the factory has them plastic riveted/welded into the door. Of course they didn't have the screws, so another day delay.

During the course of all this, the door lock rods were sticking an not going up and down easily. I'm told the reassembly of that can be tricky, and between my stereo installer and the dealer I dealt with doors that wouldn't lock or unlock randomly. You'd lock the car with the remote, and it was really unlocked and anyone could go into my car and set off the alarm. Or, people would try to get into my car and the door would refuse to unlock and it had to be opened from the inside.

That was pretty easy to sort out, just annoying. But when it was all said and done, the ambient lighting repair didn't look much better than it was originally, and it's actually dimmer than it was originally. It's noticeable if you're looking for it. I had heard of others having the same outcome, and I took the chance and didn't fare much better. So all in all, if I could do it all over again I'd live with it and not deal with the time and hassle. I wish it was correct, but it's not that bad to live with. Others may feel differently.

As for the door panels not fitting tightly, mine were off several times and everything went back to together nice and tight. No issues so far. I just don't think BMW has a handle on the ambient lighting issue yet.

Good luck.

[Dandle]

The light bars are only plastic welded to the back of the door so they will cut them off and melt/weld new strip on. The light isn't all the way along the door but just a light source at one end that connects to an optical conductor. It will be the conductor they will replace.

As for how good the job will be will totally depend on the technician that replaces them and how much he actually cares about what hes doing. I've had some shockingly bad work out of BMW in the past but its not all the same.

[lo_cheng]

I got my passager side done 2 weeks ago.
I read the work order, it said the drill out the pastic welding, put in new light strip and apply eproxy (Nice name of glue??)
The out come is better then before, still not 100% compare to Driver side, but a big improvement.

[JoeyO]

These posts are making wonder if I should re-considering ordering the ambient lighting feature ($250). Are these problems flukes or are the problems widespread among X3 owners with the ambient lighting?

[Radar314]

Got back X3 today. Both driver and passenger ambient light strips work fine. Job was done quickly and professionally. It is a great dealership to do business with, both buying and service. The light strips look like the day I picked up the vehicle. Nice!

[Redbaron1973]

Originally Posted by Radar314

Got back X3 today. Both driver and passenger ambient light strips work fine. Job was done quickly and professionally. It is a great dealership to do business with, both buying and service. The light strips look like the day I picked up the vehicle. Nice!

Good news.

[zentral-pa]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

These posts are making wonder if I should re-considering ordering the ambient lighting feature ($250). Are these problems flukes or are the problems widespread among X3 owners with the ambient lighting?

I am surprised this problem is still occurring, I had drivers side ambient light replaced August 2018 (hot spot issue). The replacement part was also faulty so the dealer had the car for an additional 2 days. Also the rear lighting colors were incorrect (upper and lower were reversed compared to the other doors when white was chosen) - this was a wiring issue from the SC factory. X3 x30i (April 18 build). We do enjoy the ambient lighting (bronze and green are favs).

[BimmerZealot]

Thanks to this thread I now notice our passenger door also has the "hot spot" issue and of course once you see, you can not un-see. Will mention this to the SA when we do our first service at the dealership. Hopefully we won't end up with a dimmer strip like someone else mentioned.

I am curious though how hotspots can develop if it's not a strip of LEDs but rather a fiber optic style light bar like the angel eyes in the headlights. Seems in this case replacing the light diffuser bar would be the fix not the module; but, regardless will expect them to fix it and fix it right, TBD...

[Radar314]

Relevant part of work order below.

[Jcbmally]

Noticed tonight my near side door ambient light strip has the hot spots as well as the off side rear. Car booked in on 26th Nov for replacements/repair and have said they need it for 2 to 3 days.

[Zero71]

My car has dimmer lighting on the passenger door than then rest of the car. Silly thing to be bothered about, and yet it does. I'm thinking about getting them to look at it when it goes in for the RIS next month, but worried it'll end up worse, given some have multiple hot spots. Maybe I should just live with it.

[Redbaron1973]

Mine is inconsistent, but im not sure i want my car pulled to bits..

[Bavich]

I had the same problem. 3 out 4 doors has been replaced.

[jlin101]

I had mine replaced-while it fixed the hot/dim spot issue, the one of the door's light now doesn't reach the end of the door, not to mention they damaged/cut the door pull handle, which the service manager "graciously mentioned they would replace even though they weren't obligated to."

[bimmermongrel]

It seems ludicrous that these parts aren't individually replaceable when we've SEEN that the tube can come out to be polished. Is there not even a Chinese knockoff yet?

[Leem40i]

So, to start out there is a service bulleting on this so everyone shouldn't be reinventing the wheel on this.
Second, if the dealership damages anything during the install they replace it. This isn't something that should even have to be negotiated.
The biggest thing is anytime your vehicle is in for service, even if its just an oil change, pop the hood and inspect the work they did. Look at your interior and make sure there is no dirt or oil stains on the leather. Do a walk around and look for any dents or scrapes.
Trust me, it's easier to do this than to bring the car back. Once you take it off the lot they will say it was good when we gave it back to you.

I attached the bulletin

[bimmermongrel]

Any idea how to identify the parts by door? I need the assembly (diode in the purple housing and the plastic optical strip) for the passenger side (US) front, top strip. I've completely pulled my door apart before to replace the decor trim, I know what it takes to get to it.