R1200R OEM LED Tail light

[Tr250Tom]

I see the parts fiche for our bikes now includes an LED tail light straight from BMW. I ordered one from Max BMW on a whim, to start the riding season off with a frivolous farkle.

Has anyone installed one? I ordered the SAE, not the ECE. Are either of these clear?

Cheers, Tom

PS I'm referring to the main tail light, not the "Aux" taillight that has already been discussed.

[Talon Six]

I have the same taillight on order (the SAE version). Haven't seen it yet, but a review of the taillight is covered pretty thoroughly here http://www.i-bmw.com/showthread.php?t=21815. I checked the parts fiche and the part numbers for the K1200S and the R1200R LED taillights are identical. Looks like the ECE version is clear from the review (the reviewer had the ECE version).

[cwrose]

You guys will have to let us know how the installation goes and what the end result looks like. I'm curious as to the outcome and ease of installation.

[Tr250Tom]

T6, thanks for the link. I hope our install is smoother than that...

CWRose, I'll post up some pix when I get the part installed. On the other thread, someone claimed there were 7 of these in stock in the world, and zero in North America, so it might be a while.

Cheers, Tom

[Rolando33]

That looks pretty sweet on the K12S (one i-bmw). Please post if you receive it, and how long it took to get. Does anyone know how good the BMW LED turn signals are?? Kind of steep in price, but if they look the part.....

[websterize]

Does anyone know how good the BMW LED turn signals are??

I switched out the stock turn signals for the LEDs. I like them. Very conspicuous in daylight. The LEDs don't stick out as far as the incandescent turn signals, and they are plug-in-play only on newer R1200Rs (2008 and later as I recall.) There is a retrofit wiring kit so that they will work with all model years.

[Tr250Tom]

I got my LED tail light and harness plug. I'll post some pix after the weekend.

Good news: it fits perfectly, and was a 30-minute install. The tails are very bright, and look nice.

Bad news: it triggers a "LAMP" warning in the lcd panel. I'll have to find the appropriate resistors and put them in. Anyone know a source? (see next post!)

Cheers, Tom

[Tr250Tom]

OK, here's what I know about using the BMW LED tail light on an R1200R:

1. The US/DOT tail light is part #63 21 7 713 302. The one that ends with "301" is ECE-spec, and has a license plate light built in. Otherwise, they look the same. They take different harness plugs, however.

2. The DOT lights need plug #61 12 7 702 078.

3. You don't need anything else. The same single screw holds the new assembly in place, and you don't need any resistors or adaptors to make the CAN-BUS accept the new light.

4. You do not need to mess with the pins in the harness plug.

5. Install takes 30 minutes max. There are 3 wires to connect (ground, running light, and brake light), and the color codes of the wires are the same as the ones to the conventional tail light.

6. After install, the running light and brake light will work correctly, but you will probably have a "LAMP" warning on the LCD and a yellow triangle warning light illuminated. You have to take the bike to a BMW dealer for the CAN-BUS to be "introduced" to the LED light module. After that, it works perfectly, no warnings or unusual behavior.

7. This is the same part used on the K1300S. On our bikes, all of the LED's illuminate in tail light mode. They just get brighter in brake light mode.

8. I don't know if a computer "firmware" update is required for 2007 bikes or not. I got one while I was there, but the techs seemed to think it wasn't necessary.

Pictures in the next post.

Cheers, Tom

[Tr250Tom]

Running light only:

Brake light:

The brake light is much brighter than the running light, but my camera adjusted to the brightness and the pictures do not accurately reflect the relative brightness.

[websterize]

Added the LED tail light to the farkle list thanks to your report. Much obliged.

[websterize]

So I found some money under a sofa cushion and ordered the LED tail light and plug.

4. You do not need to mess with the pins in the harness plug.

Tom, can you elaborate on this step of the installation? Did you unplug the incandescent harness plug and plug in the LED one?

[Tr250Tom]

Web,

On another site, there's some information about installing this light in a K1200S. There's an elaborate scheme for fooling the CAN-BUS by swapping two pins in a connector that goes to the tail section. This does not apply to our bikes.

When you remove the bulb holder from your original tail light, there will be three wires from your bike's wiring harness connected to it with spade terminals. Your new LED harness will have three wires with the same colors leading to a plug that goes into the LED tail. The three wires on the new LED harness will have crimp connectors already installed, not spade terminals.

I just cut the spade terminals off the bike harness and crimped the new wires on. The new wires come with heat-shrinkable sleeves, and I thought this would make the most weather-tight connection. Another way would be to solder or crimp male spade terminals to the new harness. Then you can just plug the new LED harness into the female spade terminals that are already present on your bike's harness, and not make any permanent alterations.

I just wanted to point out that there's information on the other site regarding "swapping pins" for the running light and the license plate light that I would not recommend following. The CAN-BUS can work with the new light and not generate a lamp fault warning (after being "introduced" to it at the dealership) without altering the pinout in any harness connectors.

Cheers, Tom

[Talon Six]

I installed mine today and got the same "LAMP" fault mentioned here on my 2009 R12R. Off to the dealership tomorrow...

[websterize]

I installed the LED tail light tonight and am getting a LAMP error. I'll take it in for a software refresh this weekend.

Curiously, the LEDs in the tail light only light when I apply the brake levers (with ignition on). They are dark, otherwise. I used Posi-tite connectors, and all appears in order.

Ted or Talon: Was your tail light running mode dark before the software refresh?

[Talon Six]

Bill: mine runs as a 'running light' with the LEDs at about 50% when the brakes aren't applied; it's not dark. Sounds like you may have a problem.

[websterize]

The problem was my P3 lights tapped into the tail light wiring. It was the red/grey wire. With the ignition on, I could have the P3s on or the LED tail lights at 50 percent, but not both. I moved the P3's Posi-Tap to the green switched wire that feeds the dealer-computer port, and the P3s and LED tail light illuminate simultaneously. I still have the LAMP error on the LCD, but only the dealer can fix that. Thanks for the quick reply, Matt. And a belated welcome home.

[websterize]

Dealership wants $100 to clear the low-voltage LAMP error on the BMW computer.

"Could take up to an hour."

Bollocks.

[websterize]

Would the GS-911 clear the LAMP error? If so, and you're in the D.C. area, lunch is on me.

[Tr250Tom]

I think they charged me half an hour to rectify the lamp fault AND update the firmware...but I was also buying a battery from them.

You went to Bob's? Did you ask for Darryl?

Cheers, Tom

[websterize]

Tom, I spoke with Darryl today at Bob's. He knew about the Lamp fault with the LED tail light but had to ask how long it took to fix. I'll mention that your update took about a half hour when I visit. Thanks.