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LED Light Bar

Discuss your latest mods or ideas, and anything to do with the BMW X5 (E53).
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Rick G
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LED Light Bar

Post by Rick G » Thu Aug 09, 2018 2:13 am

Does anybody here know of problems with fitting an LED light bar to an X5 E53.
I ask because both my E36 and E32 would lose all the settings from the DME when I switched the lights on. Due to massive EMR from the LEDs. The engine would stumble then very quickly re learn the parameters and within 4-5 seconds be running OK again but each time I switched to high beam it would happen which made for a very frustrating time driving at night.
2004 X5 4.4l
If every thing seems to be under control then you aint goin fast enough.  Mario Andretti

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Alan Gunn
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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by Alan Gunn » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:12 am

Did you use a relay with power direct from the battery (or even the jump point).
That would be the way i would go with just the switch from the headlight.

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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by Rick G » Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:06 am

I think you may have miss-understood what I was asking Alan.
When I had my E36 I put some LED spot lights across the front mainly because the great big furry grasshoppers here are by the 1000s and when I turned to Hi Beam which bought the spotlights on the DME just dropped it's bundle as if the battery had been disconnected then reconnected and it had to learn all it's parameters again. Each time I went to Hi beam the same thing happened every time even driving at 100kph. The same thing happened to the E32. Even having a relay and switch, which I always have, makes no difference because the EMR is still there when the light goes on. I have found that the Mercedes are also the same except that it can actually kill the Engine Control Unit permanently.
I noticed a few days ago that a pair of LED bulbs for Hi beam on an X5 were advertised on fleabay as Error free and I was told that the Error free LEDs was what is required, however I have seen recently that Error Free can mean just that the bulb has a resistor across to make it look like a normal incandescent bulb to the computer and it wont bring up a fault code.
I am wondering if anybody has run across this with an X5 or has the factory figured out yet that they need to do something like shield the DME from that high level of EMR. I could put a tin foil hat on it but that removes the cooling aspect which is needed.
Australia is in drought and all the Kangaroos are heading to the East but cant get past the eastern escarpment of the coastal range so are gathering in the 1000s. There has been three killed on the road outside my place in the last week. 
Image
A week ago I counted 10 dead roos in a 1km stretch of road. That is why I want good lights and I am going to put a bullbar on the X5 as well.
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If every thing seems to be under control then you aint goin fast enough.  Mario Andretti

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X5Sport
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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by X5Sport » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:18 pm

Are you talking about an Electromagnetic Pulse - EMP?  If so then there is something very wrong with the lamps and their control circuitry. 

LED lamp controllers should not produce anything like a big enough EMP to upset the on board electrics unless poorly designed, and certainly not enough to cause a back EMF type pulse that knocks out the vehicle electrics.

I can only suggest that all power and ground is directly taken all the way to the battery.  You might need a ferrite choke in the +ve line and a large capacitor to dump any surge to deck.  Better still get something that has been properly tested and that doesn’t cause a voltage spike!

Make sure you have a high quality automotive relay in the High Beam line with a good quality contact to vehicle Earth.
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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by Rick G » Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:09 am

Thanks for the reply, a Pulse does make more sense than radiation.
I have several times tried to talk with the sellers of these lightbars with a view to finding who makes them then go to them and maybe get some answers and I just get blank stares and and an I don't know who makes them or even imports them. Getting to talk to the manufacturers of these products can often bring easy and quick solutions but getting to them is the difficult thing.
Most people I have talked to in the industry, selling 4x4 parts and accessories, just have no idea what I am talking about and I have had some tell me that I don't know what I am talking about and it must be a fault situation.
I will try the capacitor, I have some 50mF and with a 6 ohm resistor that should snuff out any spikes.
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If every thing seems to be under control then you aint goin fast enough.  Mario Andretti

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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by X5Sport » Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:33 pm

Just make sure that they can handle the current load!  If the light bar draws 50W then use a 60W resistor, and it will get hot!

It could be that it’s the on board BMW Lighting Control Module (LCM) doesn’t like a relay in circuit and the switching is causing a volt drop that reboots it.

It almost sounds as if a transistorised switch might be better?  Uses very little current so should not cause a drop or react to an odd pulse feeding back from the electronics in the LED bar.

I can see why you need it though  :o  I would imagine hitting a roo at any kind of speed will give you both a bad day!
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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by Rick G » Sat Aug 11, 2018 1:15 am

I wrote my E36 off on a roo and they do make a mess, they just come out of nowhere. They are so bad around here that I wont ride my bike at night or even early morning or late afternoon.
My theory with roos is that the more light there is out to the side the less likely they are to jump out in front of you. If your Hi beam only shines out to the front then when they are dazzled by the lights the only place they can see to go is where the light is so having good light out to the side will make it less likely they will jump in front of you. I have had lights in that configuration on quite a few cars and never hit a roo with those cars.
I have been talking with a few people here about the problem and none had heard of the problem but one got back to me late yesterday and said that he came across an auto electrician who puts a ferrite ring with as many turns as possible right before the wires enter the case and will only use one brand of light bar and that stops the problem with the BMWs but not the Mercedes Benz. The Mercs are used here for camper vans and motor-homes which makes for a lot of discontented owners who have to fit QI lights.
I will try the ferrite loop when time comes but I have to fix the oil leak first.
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If every thing seems to be under control then you aint goin fast enough.  Mario Andretti

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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by X5Sport » Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:52 am

I’ve used ferrite rings for solving impulse energy for radio interference issues (spark interference from gas boilers affecting MW/LW broadcasts) so this could work.  Keep the turns close together and make sure the entry and exit turns are next to each other.  Probably worth taping them for a couple of inches to keep them parallel.
Last edited by X5Sport on Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by Rick G » Tue May 28, 2019 11:25 am

Thought I had better revisit this thread and give some more info. I was talking to a guy in Toowoomba today (170k North of home and the closest major city) he has an X5 that is almost identical to mine and had a large 3 row LED lightbar across the front. I asked about it and if it caused the problems I had with the E36. Turned out he has quite a bit of experience in the auto electrical game and did know of the problem with BMW and Benz and said he had no problem with the X5 or the E38 update he has but also has a E32 V12 and does have that problem with it. Once I found he had a V12 and seeing I just got one we spent almost an Hour talking BMW much to the disgust of both wives who ended up talking men and their expensive toys.

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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by X5Sport » Tue May 28, 2019 12:00 pm

The girls just don’t understand these things do they....,. :lol:




Unless you have a petrolhead for a wife :roll:
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Re: LED Light Bar

Post by Rick G » Tue May 28, 2019 2:02 pm

No they don't understand but I will say that mine also rides a motorbike and we have done many thousands of miles together so I am luckier than many.

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