[ilikebmws]

Originally Posted by Rhdlife

I received my set but haven’t installed them yet, will try this weekend and post up some pics. Anyone know how to remove the factory boards from the heat sink? I don’t want to ruin the factory boards if I want to go back to stock. Any advice would be appreciated. I’m sure some will say just don’t bother

The way my dad and I did it, was we got the modules including the boards out of the car. We used a heat gun and some careful prying to get the boards off of the module. I’m sure there’s a better, safer way of removing them but that’s how we did it

[Rhdlife]

Originally Posted by ilikebmws

The way my dad and I did it, was we got the modules including the boards out of the car. We used a heat gun and some careful prying to get the boards off of the module. I’m sure there’s a better, safer way of removing them but that’s how we did it

I appreciate you, I did try to pry but seems as though I’m going to break something and don’t want to destroy the factory boards

[MisPWR]

After 3 weeks of installation, my left headlamp failed all of a sudden. Errors on errors. Turn signals work, high beams work. DRL’s work with headlamp knob is on manually, not auto, but no functioning low beam..
I’ve seen many others start running into errors these past couple weeks.
Going to revert it back to OEM, and wait until there is a 100% error free board.
I will gladly install them again since they look exceptional on Toronto Red 🤌

[gapband]

Originally Posted by MisPWR

After 3 weeks of installation, my left headlamp failed all of a sudden. Errors on errors. Turn signals work, high beams work. DRL’s work with headlamp knob is on manually, not auto, but no functioning low beam..
I’ve seen many others start running into errors these past couple weeks.
Going to revert it back to OEM, and wait until there is a 100% error free board.
I will gladly install them again since they look exceptional on Toronto Red 🤌

They do look good! But yeah I'm in the same boat. Went back to OEM a few days ago and will wait it out.

[///M-Life]

How many people have installed functional boards without any errors? Where is everyone getting their boards from?

[VinnyA320]

A few comments as I am still installing mine. First, the boards I got from ALI do not have a metal type backing on the back side where the thermal glue goes between the board and heat sink. Mine have pre attached thin double sided tape. I still used a good amount of thermal glue as well. Also, on the inner DRLs, I attatched the boards to the heat sink and let the glue set before installing everything and hooking up the cables. This IS NOT possible on the outers unless you pull the whole headlight assembly out is my guess. I think what most are doing is attaching the baord to the cable and then trying to attach it to the heat sink given the tight space we have to work with. If the board does not seat correctly I can obviously see why these baords are failing on top of possible production issues. Im not even sure if the OEM boards will be fine at this point if I have to reinstall them at some point. I think the correct way to install them is to unfortunately take the whole front bumper off and pull each headlight assembly off, pull the heat sinks and correctly apply thermal glue, let it set, and then attach the cables before screwing them back in. This install was way more involved than I thought and the thought of having these fail and redoing this really blows. Enjoy.

[gapband]

Originally Posted by VinnyA320

A few comments as I am still installing mine. First, the boards I got from ALI do not have a metal type backing on the back side where the thermal glue goes between the board and heat sink. Mine have pre attached thin double sided tape. I still used a good amount of thermal glue as well. Also, on the inner DRLs, I attatched the boards to the heat sink and let the glue set before installing everything and hooking up the cables. This IS NOT possible on the outers unless you pull the whole headlight assembly out is my guess. I think what most are doing is attaching the baord to the cable and then trying to attach it to the heat sink given the tight space we have to work with. If the board does not seat correctly I can obviously see why these baords are failing on top of possible production issues. Im not even sure if the OEM boards will be fine at this point if I have to reinstall them at some point. I think the correct way to install them is to unfortunately take the whole front bumper off and pull each headlight assembly off, pull the heat sinks and correctly apply thermal glue, let it set, and then attach the cables before screwing them back in. This install was way more involved than I thought and the thought of having these fail and redoing this really blows. Enjoy.

I would venture to say that it is possible to do this without pulling the whole headlight assembly because I've done this many times now. I've observed no issues with the board not adhering to the heatsink.

You'll be able to reinstall the OEM if needed and you'll likely be much quicker after your first time. No issues with reinstalling these boards either.

[Rhdlife]

Ok so I installed my inners and they look good with no errors yet. I did have an issue where one of the tabs was broken so then they sent another kit. The outers I received in the new kit are different because they have metal backing and the connection is raised from the board which may help for issues people had with connecting or maybe the connection pulling it from the heat sink and thermal paste.

First pic is my car with inners installed.
Second is original OEM DRL boards.
Third is inner CSL Yellow DRL from first kit.
Fourth is outter CSL Yellow DRL from first kit.
Fifth is backing of first kit received.
Sixth is outter CSL Yellow DRL from the new kit I received and you can see the difference.
Seventh is the metal backing of new replacement and I’m not sure anyone else had these yet.
I will install outers and see what happens.

[gapband]

Originally Posted by Rhdlife

Ok so I installed my inners and they look good with no errors yet. I did have an issue where one of the tabs was broken so then they sent another kit. The outers I received in the new kit are different because they have metal backing and the connection is raised from the board which may help for issues people had with connecting or maybe the connection pulling it from the heat sink and thermal paste.

First pic is my car with inners installed.
Second is original OEM DRL boards.
Third is inner CSL Yellow DRL from first kit.
Fourth is outter CSL Yellow DRL from first kit.
Fifth is backing of first kit received.
Sixth is outter CSL Yellow DRL from the new kit I received and you can see the difference.
Seventh is the metal backing of new replacement and I’m not sure anyone else had these yet.
I will install outers and see what happens.

Woah! Haven't seen those new ones yet. Hopefully it's a legit version and works without hiccups!

[Rhdlife]

Originally Posted by gapband

Woah! Haven't seen those new ones yet. Hopefully it's a legit version and works without hiccups!

Yea I’m hoping so too, icedriver sent them via FedEx because that’s what I originally ordered and I sent them a picture of the broken tab and they sent a new kit which is great because I have extras now.

[///M-Life]

Finally got around to installing the outer DRLs this past Saturday. Happy to report I’m error free thus far. I don’t have the metal backing boards. I also purchased from ice driver.

[Thtshowiroll47]

I just went back to the original drl because like others, after a week or so I started experiencing to many errors and it was driving me crazy. I ordered modules from two different places and experienced the same errors from both sets of DRL’s.

[VinnyA320]

I have had mine installed for a few days now. No errors so far. Ordered from oiomotors on ali. Boards look different from what others are showing from icedriver so we shall see. As some have mentioned, they most likely are all made from a single source but if the boards are stamped differently that may mean either a different facility or run. We shall see. I wish i took a pic of mu boards before installing. Man they look good on my TR X3MC though!

[gapband]

Originally Posted by Thtshowiroll47

I just went back to the original drl because like others, after a week or so I started experiencing to many errors and it was driving me crazy. I ordered modules from two different places and experienced the same errors from both sets of DRL’s.

Oh wow so you issues with the bay optiks too?

Originally Posted by VinnyA320

I have had mine installed for a few days now. No errors so far. Ordered from oiomotors on ali. Boards look different from what others are showing from icedriver so we shall see. As some have mentioned, they most likely are all made from a single source but if the boards are stamped differently that may mean either a different facility or run. We shall see. I wish i took a pic of mu boards before installing. Man they look good on my TR X3MC though!

Are your boards similar to the metal-backed ones from https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...hp?p=30088502?

[95wildtt]

Does anyone have a photo of an OE board, and/or an AM board that no longer works?
Would be good to see the design differences.

These are crazy simple passive board with just a few resistors, caps and LEDs.
Just wondering if these AM boards are driving the LEDs too hard, to make them as bright as possible, or one of the resistors is undersized and burning up...
It looks like they have added some metal on the back to try to better dissipate the heat into the heatsink, but the FR4 board material is a good thermal insulator, so not likely it will help at all.

There isn't any active circuitry (CAN Controller, etc) that would cause any type of errors, so I suspect if the resistors or LEDs are damaged, it would cause an error in the control unit as it would show low/high current draw for the module.
Then either the AM board is cooked, or the controller shuts it down.

[Thtshowiroll47]

Originally Posted by 95wildtt

Does anyone have a photo of an OE board, and/or an AM board that no longer works?
Would be good to see the design differences.

These are crazy simple passive board with just a few resistors, caps and LEDs.
Just wondering if these AM boards are driving the LEDs too hard, to make them as bright as possible, or one of the resistors is undersized and burning up...
It looks like they have added some metal on the back to try to better dissipate the heat into the heatsink, but the FR4 board material is a good thermal insulator, so not likely it will help at all.

There isn't any active circuitry (CAN Controller, etc) that would cause any type of errors, so I suspect if the resistors or LEDs are damaged, it would cause an error in the control unit as it would show low/high current draw for the module.
Then either the AM board is cooked, or the controller shuts it down.

Here’s a picture of the OEM modules. These are the ones that go in the wheel well.

[VinnyA320]

Originally Posted by gapband

Are your boards similar to the metal-backed ones from https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...hp?p=30088502?

They are different. Different branding on the board. Most of the circuitry looks to be the same on every brand ive seen. Whatever factory mine came from it did say "v1" somewhere in the lettering so not sure if its totally different. The lettering is totally different than the icedriver and bayoptiks boards ive seen on here. Could just be a different run of them as well.

[95wildtt]

Originally Posted by Thtshowiroll47

Here’s a picture of the OEM modules. These are the ones that go in the wheel well.

Thanks...

Chinese knock-offs are usually close, but often overlook the details

These are obviously the LCI outside boards with the turn signals, as you can see the two different color LEDs (Blue circle).
I believe that the orange LEDs are the turn signals and the yellow ones are either White (OE) or Yellow (AM) for the DRLs.

The only big difference I can see between the AM and the OE boards are the 4 additional capacitors (Red Circle) on the voltage lines, which are not there on the AM (Yellow Circle).
These may be taking out some transients that could be causing issues on the AM boards.
You can bet that BMW would not have the caps on the boards if they were not needed.

Can't know what resistors or LEDs both are using, so again, maybe the AM are using cheaper LEDs and over-driving them to get them brighter.
LEDs are not all created equal and have different power requirements/brightness curves.
You can see the orange color in the LEDs on the OE board are larger and most likely a larger die and higher power/performance.
Likely the White LEDs (look yellow when off) are also much brighter and higher power as well.

Brighter = More $$s, although probably only a few per board.
These are crazy simple boards, so most likely they copied the design, and used cheaper LEDs without changing resistor values, and cut corners on the caps that are fractions of a penny.
Cost of one of these is likely in the $10 range

The big black 0 ohm resistors (Green Circle) on the AM boards probably allow them to use one circuit board for both the LCI and pre-LCI boards and populate the Turn Signal LEDs on one and not the other... just a guess.

Unfortunately, since the LEDs are SMT chips, it would be pretty much impossible to remove and replace these given the location next to each other.

Anyone have a dead AM board?
Would be curious if any of the resistors or LEDs look burned at all.
Probably takes about a week for LEDs to die if they are over-driven.

[///M-Life]

Unsure how long this will stay like this. 🤞

[Ev0lutionx]

For those that have done this, do the stock boards come off easily? Did you pry them off? Do you need to drill the rivets holding them in?

I just don’t want to damage the stock boards in case I revert back to the OEM look.

I would like to buy the stock LED modules and modify those, but need (4) of them for MY22 and they are like $140 each.

[MisPWR]

Originally Posted by Ev0lutionx

For those that have done this, do the stock boards come off easily? Did you pry them off? Do you need to drill the rivets holding them in?

I just don’t want to damage the stock boards in case I revert back to the OEM look.

I would like to buy the stock LED modules and modify those, but need (4) of them for MY22 and they are like $140 each.

Super easy, just use a pry tool or flat head screw driver and they pop right off. OEM boards have a dab of thermal paste. You can’t damage them unless you use brute force. My yellow DRL’s went bad but I used thermal adhesive, came off no prob but was super sticky. I put the OEM board back on no problem.

[///M-Life]

Update.

Inner DRL installed 4/5/23.
Outer DRL installed 4/29/23.

No errors so far. Hoping I just got lucky at this point. 😵‍💫