[Arshad07]

Just bought a used X5 G05 and noticed at night some of the ambient lights are not working including footwells.








The center console's lights doesnt work, footwells both passenger and driver and a few others.

What can I do apart from paying £200 to do a check up at BMW and then additional fees to fix it? (can they even fix it)

[paulrr]

The ambient lights are wired in series, it's likely one light that is out/unplugged/damaged that is causing all the lights after it not to work.

You can pay to access the BMW TIS system online and pull the wiring diagram and it should give you the order and help you pin point which is the last working light/first broken light in the series (unless someone here knows off hand).

Then you could focus your troubleshooting most likely on that light.

That's my best guess, this was my issue when I had a similar problem, it was as simple as one light having been unplugged on the backrest of a front seat that was then causing the dash and a bunch of footwells to go out since they were next in the series.

It could be something else entirely though, I guess you never know with the electronics. It's worth seeing if there's a code or anything being thrown. I've read some other ambient lighting threads here where reflashing some stuff helped.

[-Vanguard-]

My door pocket light broke, and they replaced it. Took like 1 hour.

[MaKSiNG]

I also have the same.
Both front footwells don’t work.
Centre console either side of gear stick ambient lights don’t work.
Neither do the ones in all 4 of my doors, including door pocket and inner handle lights.

[MaKSiNG]

Originally Posted by -Vanguard-

My door pocket light broke, and they replaced it. Took like 1 hour.

How did you identify it to be the door pocket light at fault?
And what else did it knock out as a result?

[-Vanguard-]

Originally Posted by MaKSiNG

How did you identify it to be the door pocket light at fault?
And what else did it knock out as a result?

I noticed my door pocket wouldnt light up at night lol.

All my other lights were fine.

The took the door panel off and replaced the LED module that shines into the fiber.

[MaKSiNG]

Originally Posted by -Vanguard-

I noticed my door pocket wouldnt light up at night lol.

All my other lights were fine.

The took the door panel off and replaced the LED module that shines into the fiber.

That makes sense!

It’s was just that someone above posted about them being wired in series like a Christmas tree and that if one light drops all the ones wired after it also stop working.

Sounds like this was not the case with yours, right? Nothing else was affected.

[paulrr]

Originally Posted by MaKSiNG

That makes sense!

It’s was just that someone above posted about them being wired in series like a Christmas tree and that if one light drops all the ones wired after it also stop working.

Sounds like this was not the case with yours, right? Nothing else was affected.

Yes, that was me .... if you have multiple lights out it's most certainly what I am describing. There are other threads documenting this that I had found in my research and it's also in BMW's repair instructions for ambient lighting in TIS, that is one of their first troubleshooting steps is to trace to which is the first light in the series causing the problem.

I can 100% verify this, unplugging the light for example on the rear seat back of the front passenger seat causes the rear driver side footwell to go out, the entire dash to go out, and a bunch of other lights after it in the series.

[MaKSiNG]

Sorry if this is a basic question
So how does this work?

I go through the list from top to bottom and I need to identify the first light that is out? All lights further down the list from there should also be out.

Resolving the fault for the first light in the list that is out, would then also allow the remaining lights in the list to illuminate (assuming there isn't another fault further down the list)?

Now I just need to be able to identify the lights from their descriptions

[Strikesinatra]

I have the same exact ambient lights out as you do and dont know what is wrong and what to do

[MaKSiNG]

I was thinking about this last night, and I think I need another X5 where I know all ambient lights work to compare side by side.
I don't really know where I am looking for some of these lights in order to identify them.

[Strikesinatra]

I have seen the diagram with the lights working in a chain but all the lights that are out are not in order with the chain the drivers footwell is at the beginning the doors are towards the end and the lights that are working are scattered throughout the whole chain

[MaKSiNG]

Originally Posted by Strikesinatra

I have seen the diagram with the lights working in a chain but all the lights that are out are not in order with the chain the drivers footwell is at the beginning the doors are towards the end and the lights that are working are scattered throughout the whole chain

Yes agreed!
That would be my assessment of how I read it too.

Hence, my question if I am looking at the diagram and the list of lights wrong

[Strikesinatra]

Im just as confused as you are im going to start a new thread maybe theres someone who knows more

[Chipmunk2k3]

Strikesinatra MaKSiNG I was just as confused until I found this. The list is not in order….. it identifies items in this diagram.

[Chipmunk2k3]

Recently picked up a 2020 X5 40i. I noticed center console, front footwell and all 4 door were not working. Sky lounge, seat backs and dash work fine. Following the diagram I was able to identify that my issue was in the driver door.

I don’t have an advanced diagnostic system so I did the troubleshooting the old fashioned way. I unplugged as much as I could, turned on ambient lights and worked my way through the diagram until I found the led module that caused the circuit to break. It was the module that lights the grab handle pocket in the middle of the drivers door.

While trying to decipher the part number on the module, I noticed a powdery green spot that looked like corrosion in the seam of the module. I opened up the module and saw a build up of corrosion on the tiny circuit board . Cleaned it off with a q tip and alcohol. Went back out, plugged it in and ……WooHoo all ambient lights are now working.

[BlackKnightM50i]

Originally Posted by MaKSiNG

I also have the same.
Both front footwells don’t work.
Centre console either side of gear stick ambient lights don’t work.
Neither do the ones in all 4 of my doors, including door pocket and inner handle lights.

Yesterday I picked up a 2022 X5 M50i. Before I bought it, I noticed the lights weren’t working in the doors, and now I realize the ambient light doesn’t work in the center console, down the sides of the shifter, or in the footwells in the front. It does, however work on the dash and the Sky lounge And the backs of the front seats. Looking at the order of the lights in series, I’m gonna check the fuses to start. I’ll post if it works. Has anyone else found a solution?

[Chipmunk2k3]

The goal is to find the led module or connector that is causing the short circuit.

I Disconnected all 4 of the door connectors. Then with the system on I connected the doors in order as per the diagram. When lights go out you’ve identified the problem door.

In my case, both passenger doors lit up when I connected them. As soon as I connected driver door the pass. side doors went dark.

According to the diagram there are two lines coming from the BDC. Bus 1 powers doors etc. bus 2 powers dash, sky lounge etc.

[Chipmunk2k3]

To troubleshoot the door, I followed the same basic principle. disconnected all led modules in the door.
Reconnected in this order yellow, red, blue, green.

In my case the first two came on, then the system went dark when I connected the module circled in blue. Repaired that module, reinstalled… problem solved.

[Strikesinatra]

Is what you have circled in the picture the location of the door connector

[Chipmunk2k3]

Originally Posted by Strikesinatra

Is what you have circled in the picture the location of the door connector

Yes. There’s a tab at the top. Pull up to separate.

[Strikesinatra]

I pulled the drivers door connector off and immediately the passenger doors lit up but no center console or footwells so im thinking they probably wont come on until i change the module thats faulty so my problem is in the drivers door im going to grab a module from bmw before i pull the panel off being that i know im going to need 1 anyways
Thanks man you gave the most descriptive solution i have came across