[GREENPUS]

Last Saturday I picked up my new X6 from the dealer and drove it around for a couple of days. No tint on the front windows and noticed no dimming. Wednesday I brought it back to the dealer and asked them to tint the front driver and passenger windows to match the back windows. Picked up the X6 last night and can't see the dash Too dim lol.
I may need one of these gizmo's

[GREENPUS]

Originally Posted by LexxM3

Who doesn't love a reason, however stretched, for a fun project :-). But I say "stretched" because either of a) always keep it on, or b) use a manual switch seem like simpler solutions. This isn't criticism, just an observation. I wanted to do motor control and invented a ridiculous window curtains tieback (tieback arm automatically pivots up and down as curtains open or close to hold back curtains and make an attractive stylized open curtain shape) project and assigned the requirements to my wife's demands to justify it ... so I am one to talk ...

I like reducing my carbon footprint. Where's the option for 5v solar panels?

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by GREENPUS

Last Saturday I picked up my new X6 from the dealer and drove it around for a couple of days. No tint on the front windows and noticed no dimming. Wednesday I brought it back to the dealer and asked them to tint the front driver and passenger windows to match the back windows. Picked up the X6 last night and can't see the dash Too dim lol.
I may need one of these gizmo's

Haha sounds good.

[Alan l.]

Originally Posted by chrisnack

Whether it helps or not, here is the location of the sensor on the display.

How does the bezel around the digital cluster come out? does it just pull out starting from the bottom?

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

How does the bezel around the digital cluster come out? does it just pull out starting from the bottom?

More or less, the trick is that the mounting tabs are attached to the $1600 display. So you really don’t want to break those. The worst one is right above the steering wheel I broke that one.

All that being said there is no need to remove it for my stuff. I designed a tab that slides between it and the screen to hold the mount.

[nZtiZia]

dude, i can't wait!

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

dude, i can't wait!

Waiting on China at this point, lol

Just waiting for the latest batch of boards to be built.

[chrisnack]

Alright, latest revision of the board came in and at least initial programming looks to be good! I need to get the unit in my car swapped and then I can assemble the rest of the boards I have.

Here's a comparison of the size of the latest revision, green board is the last one and the blue board is the newest one. Also you can see the OLED screen I added for testing. Purely so i can see what is going on without needing a computer hooked up. The OLED is just under 1" to give you an idea of the size.

[Mynoles1]

As I've said before, really incredible. Cannot wait to see the final version.

One question. If I understand this whole process correctly, there is a light that will shine on the sensor. What is the life expectancy of it and what happens if/when it goes out?? Easily replaced?

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by Mynoles1

As I've said before, really incredible. Cannot wait to see the final version.

One question. If I understand this whole process correctly, there is a light that will shine on the sensor. What is the life expectancy of it and what happens if/when it goes out?? Easily replaced?

Yup, it’s just a LED. I would imagine it would outlast the vehicle. That being said I designed everything to be easily swappable. Sensor and LED harnesses just plug in.

[leightos]

BTW - found a temp workaround. Kinda silly really, but ....
I attached an air-vent phone holder to the vents to the left of the dash - turned on the flashlight on my phone - voilà
I am using on cloudy days or at dusk only on 15-20 min drives. Other than driving down the battery on your phone... no real drawbacks.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by leightos

BTW - found a temp workaround. Kinda silly really, but ....
I attached an air-vent phone holder to the vents to the left of the dash - turned on the flashlight on my phone - voilà
I am using on cloudy days or at dusk only on 15-20 min drives. Other than driving down the battery on your phone... no real drawbacks.

Be careful removing the phone holder. I think two members posted their broken vents from holders, phone and fragrance I think.

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by leightos

BTW - found a temp workaround. Kinda silly really, but ....
I attached an air-vent phone holder to the vents to the left of the dash - turned on the flashlight on my phone - voilà
I am using on cloudy days or at dusk only on 15-20 min drives. Other than driving down the battery on your phone... no real drawbacks.

Lol, that’s one way to sort of address it.

No glare on screen from the flashlight?

[leightos]

Originally Posted by chrisnack

Lol, that’s one way to sort of address it.

No glare on screen from the flashlight?

No, not really. Plus, it only takes a little light - as you know more than most - to brighten the screen.

And thanks to TurtleBoy good tip

[chrisnack]

True doesn’t take much, it’s too sensitive which is part of the issue.

[Superman750]

Tinted my new X6 and it can be a bit dim, especially when it is cloudy out and I have sunglasses on. I'm looking forward to seeing this in action.

Do you have to remove any trim to get this installed? I'm looking for it to be as simple as possible in terms of wiring and installation. Wiring is always a big concern for me because if something goes wrong, the dealer isn't going to be the one paying for it.

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by Superman750

Do you have to remove any trim to get this installed?

https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=27478331

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by Superman750

Tinted my new X6 and it can be a bit dim, especially when it is cloudy out and I have sunglasses on. I'm looking forward to seeing this in action.

Do you have to remove any trim to get this installed? I'm looking for it to be as simple as possible in terms of wiring and installation. Wiring is always a big concern for me because if something goes wrong, the dealer isn't going to be the one paying for it.

You, totally get it. Only wiring is the power/ground, which is a mirror tap. The circuit board is fused and draws less than 1amp in total (way less actually), so can't see it causing any issues/concerns.

As for trim, you don't have to really remove anything if you don't want to, just depends on how clean of a install you want.

I've been scrambling the last 2 weeks to get our house ready to list. I have to be out all weekend for showings, so i'm taking the boards and all my tools and will be assembling the boards I have and getting the mounts and cases together. So... hopefully by end of weekend I should have some boards ready to go!

[chrisnack]

3 boards build, programmed and tested! Working on the new case design since the board is smaller, had to make a new case.

[nZtiZia]

shotgun!

[GJK]

I found a temporary solution that worked for me right now. Purchased a small LED light this may sound odd but got on Amazon. It is a small astronaut on a flexible mount the flex is about 10” long. The little guy is mounted on the right side of the dash lip with Velcro and used a longer USB cable to connect to the flex cable and ran to the back cigarette lighter but using a adapter for that with USB ports to plug the cable into. Works excellent. Need to plug and unplug each time you start the car and leave the car so it does not affect the battery life in the car. Trying to take pictures to attach but not working well. . Let me know if you need any info or if the pics did not take I will retake with my phone not iPad next time.

[GJK]

Found a temp solution using a small LED light to mount on lip of dash display on right side. Their are two on the light sensors left side and right side. I chose the right so I could run a usb extension cable to plug in back console. Works great. Just need to plug in and unplug when leaving car.