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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > e92 taillights - "LED technology"



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      12-02-2006, 10:37 PM   #1
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e92 taillights - "LED technology"

The brochure states, "The Coupe's styling is further distinguished by horizontal light-conducting rods with LED technology - a valuable safety feature at night." The actual bulbs appear to be conventional bulbs rather than LEDs. Anybody know what the "LED technology" is?
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      12-02-2006, 10:49 PM   #2
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Look closer.. the E92 is in fact an Led tail light. The brake light however I am not sure about.. but I know the reg parking light is LED
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      12-02-2006, 11:22 PM   #3
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Hmm. When I'm behind a coupe at a stoplight, the brakelights seem to come on and fade off like bulbs. Also, look at the pics in this thread:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...t=37959&page=2

Looks like regular bulbs.
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      12-02-2006, 11:28 PM   #4
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Ah, maybe the taillight portion in the trunk uses LEDs?
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      12-02-2006, 11:29 PM   #5
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The brake lights are regular bulbs.

There are 3 horizontal accent light bars which are powered by LED, on each tail light cluster.
These come on when the headlights are turned on.

Same as on Sedan.


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      12-02-2006, 11:29 PM   #6
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I've seen *one* on the road, and the parking lights were on. Take my word for it, they are LED light conducting rods, and they are cool as ****!!!!
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      12-03-2006, 12:21 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Agni
Same as on Sedan.
I thought the sedan doesnt have any LED?
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      12-03-2006, 05:37 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rrandyy
I thought the sedan doesnt have any LED?
Mine definately does
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      12-03-2006, 05:45 AM   #9
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I too was obsessed with led's before, but when you really think about it, would you pass up a M5 because it doesn't have cool tails like the Passat?
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      12-03-2006, 08:18 AM   #10
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The sedans tail lights are just regular bulbs inside some fiberoptic tubes that transfer the light throughout the lens. It could be the same way with the coupe. All the new cars have the horizontal light bars in the rear now
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      12-03-2006, 08:21 AM   #11
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Maybe I am mistaken, but arent there LED's at the end of the light bars for the coupe? ... similar to the E60 headlight, but there is only one LED at the end of the bar...
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      03-21-2007, 08:22 PM   #12
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The 335 doesnt use Leds. Look at this thread carefully http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...t=37959&page=2
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      03-21-2007, 08:40 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alisoduke View Post
Mine definately does
I'm almost 100% certain the sedan does not have the LED light tubes.
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      03-21-2007, 08:43 PM   #14
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You're right OWNER. Behind the light tubes are conventional light bulb. No LEDs there. Bummer.
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      03-21-2007, 08:53 PM   #15
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no it doesn't
Quote:
Originally Posted by alisoduke View Post
Mine definately does
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      03-21-2007, 09:03 PM   #16
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Have someone get in your car and push the brake pedal... One thing I noticed was the 3rd brake light is LED and it lights up faster than the other's. Its not a slow lag but you can defiantly see the lag of the R and L lights coming on a split second slower than the 3rd...
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      03-22-2007, 01:19 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Owner View Post
The brochure states, "The Coupe's styling is further distinguished by horizontal light-conducting rods with LED technology - a valuable safety feature at night." The actual bulbs appear to be conventional bulbs rather than LEDs. Anybody know what the "LED technology" is?
LED - stands for Light Emitting Diode. It is true that the "LED tech" in the lights actually allows the light to shine faster. i use the word "shine" because in an LED there is no gas to ignite. Hence the split millisecond time it takes to light up the LED - this therefore translates into a much quicker time from when you hit the brake pedal to the brake lights going on.

I believe this is also the reason why you can leave your "park-assist" lights on overnight and not have them drain the battery (I am referring to the park light that can be activated when you are parked by the curb - so you can provide a visual cue for passers-by on say a dark street or a foggy night).

Hope this helps.
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      03-22-2007, 02:20 AM   #18
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Could it be that the LED refers to the coupe's 3rd brake light (the roof one)? I know that the brake lights are still the conventional ones cuz I had 1 bulb replaced as it blew... (only 1 wk after I collected my car)

Cheers!
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      03-22-2007, 02:34 AM   #19
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This has been discussed several times before.

Coupe: LED Rear parking lights and 3rd brake light
Sedan/Touring: 3rd brake light only

Everything else is regular bulbs!
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      03-22-2007, 07:26 AM   #20
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They're waiting for the refresh to change out the lights.
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      03-22-2007, 08:31 AM   #21
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this is one thing I hate, BMW went assbackwards on the taillights. the refreshed E46 got LED taillights, yet they didn't put them on the E90, why? because like you said, they're waiting for the refresh to put them on

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Originally Posted by DUH CAR View Post
They're waiting for the refresh to change out the lights.
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      03-23-2007, 01:20 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SROC3 View Post
LED - stands for Light Emitting Diode. It is true that the "LED tech" in the lights actually allows the light to shine faster. i use the word "shine" because in an LED there is no gas to ignite. Hence the split millisecond time it takes to light up the LED - this therefore translates into a much quicker time from when you hit the brake pedal to the brake lights going on.

I believe this is also the reason why you can leave your "park-assist" lights on overnight and not have them drain the battery (I am referring to the park light that can be activated when you are parked by the curb - so you can provide a visual cue for passers-by on say a dark street or a foggy night).

Hope this helps.
Thanks, but I think you misunderstood my question. There are a bunch of conventional bulbs in the light assembly, but no obvious LEDs from looking at the fiche in the other thread I linked to. I was wondering where the purported LEDs were, not "what are LEDs."

The consensus opinion is that the 3 horizontal "light rods" that are the running tail lights are illuminated by LEDs (though I don't know exactly how many or where), while the remaining lights (brake, indicator, reverse) are conventional bulbs. This appears to be the case for both sedan and coupe.

Your observation about the faster LED illumination time making them well-suited for brake lights is true, but somewhat ironically, the E92 brake lights are conventional filament bulbs that don't have this advantage. I guess having LEDs for running lights has the advantage of lower power consumption. Probably worth 3-4 mph on the top-end.
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