BMW E46 3 Series DIY

This DIY is for people who want to get rid of the yellow corner / parking lights on the front of their E46 BMW, without risking blowing their LCM, AND without buying LED corners, AND without buying a euro switch. Also gives the option of turning them back on with the flip of a switch… just in case cops give you problems!!

HOW IT WORKS:

The BMW E46 corner / parking lights run on a dual voltage system. 6 volts for the corner / parking lights and 12 volts for the turn signal. This DIY creates a circuit which allows three options for the lighting. Under the 6 volt load it will connect a resistor to the circuit in place of the light to prevent the light from coming on and yet prevent a bulb out warning. Under the 12 volt load it will connect the light allowing the turn signal to function properly. And finally with the switch OFF it will connect the light to function normally as BMW intended in our various countries. This method connects the corner / parking light to its intended power source whereas other mods connect to the side light power source which may create problems with the LCM and later repair bills.

PARTS:

• 1x – DPDT switch
• 5x – 2 meter, 14/19 gauge wire / 1x 3m wire
• 1x – Project Box
• 2x – 6 Ohm, 50 Watt Resistor
• 2x – SPDT, 40 Amp, 12 Volt Auto Relay
• 2x – 1 KOhm Resistor
• 2x – 3 Amp DIODE

THE BASIC CIRCUIT:

This is the circuit for ONE side of the car only!! so you would just double it for the other side. Since I placed both sides in one box this meant that they could share the ground wire and a switch. the switch in the circuit for the one side is a SPDT whereas if you are doing both in one box you would use a DPDT.

Essentially the TRIGGER will be connected to the side light. The INPUT will be connected to the positive cable running to the corner / parking light. The OUTPUT will be connected to the cable still connected to the corner / parking light. And the GROUND will be connected to the cars ground. A diagram of the connections is provided below.

My finished product is shown below. I fit both circuits in one box hooked up to one switch to control the normal and light delete modes.

I placed the corner delete box in the empty space of the engine bay and attached it with two sided permanent tape. The pics below show the positioning and completed with all cables attached.

NOTE: I found that the resistors and therefore the box got extremely hot while in operation and risked damaging the relays so I relocated the resistors outside the box. This means that the black box could be even smaller than it is now!.. see below pic!

The result is a Corner / Parking Light delete Mod without downsizing to LED’s, blowing LCM’s or worrying about your province/state’s traffic laws!

BEFORE

AFTER