Night Vision with Dynamic Light (Spotlight) Retrofit (Option P5A3A)

[Variante Alta]

Hey folks - I've been considering and researching this interesting option for my F15 35d M Sport for a few months. The car has the Adaptive LEDs and LED fogs and I've coded the VLD and Anti-Dazzle high beams (which are awesome - there a good threads here for this mod if you're interested) but I am really intrigued with the Dynamic Spotlight option which, among other things, requires removal of the LED fogs (which I rarely use) replacing them with the Autoliv Selective Illumination lights (63 11 7 419 129 and 63 11 7 419 130). These never came to North America sadly as traffic laws here forbid such technology (same with VLD and Anti-Dazzle meaning they were de-coded at the factory to dumb them down) so you generally have to look overseas for purchase options (eBay worked for me).

Various BMW parts websites show some detail regarding the Control Unit part numbers depending upon the options. There are two main options - Night Vision with Pedestrian Recognition (ie. no spotlights) and Night Vision with person recognition and BMW Night Vision with Dynamic Light (with spotlights). This option seems to have only seen production in 2013 - there is no doubt a story around this but I have so far ended up empty handed attempting to sort that out. In any case, there are a bunch of Part No. for the control units over the years (generally 2013 to 2018) and a couple specific to the Dynamic Light option. As with many auto part numbers, they are often interchangeable but not always.

Among the issues I have not been able to determine is what, if any, different wiring is required for the spotlights to work as they must be able to 'talk' to the Night Vision control unit to know where to shine the spotlights - do the LED fogs have a CAN wire connection as well which would carry the code? None of the European BMW parts sites I've looked through have any data about an alternate wiring harness being required for the P5A3A option.

With respect to coding - I've found in the BDC_BODY sub-coding the option for Targeted Illumination (Gezieltes Anleuchten) which is good but haven't come across what else might be required (ie. changing LED fog lights to inactiv?).

All this to say that if anyone here has further information about this mod and/or has completed it at some point, I (and others) would be very grateful for your help and guidance. I will continue to post as I work my way through it and find stuff out but please post your experience.

[volc]

I have added Night Vision with Dynamic Spotlights to my X5. You need to add CAN wires to Spotlights. You take it from main headlamps connectors.
I was buying used parts and in such case NV module and NV camera MUST come from the same car. Both are VIN matched and you can't change it. You would need a VIN fooling device between NV module and navigation head unit.
All together NV is a great mod and I am using it a lot. It is though a huge bummer that BMW is not allowing to show NV camera output on main clusters.

[Variante Alta]

Originally Posted by volc

I have added Night Vision with Dynamic Spotlights to my X5. You need to add CAN wires to Spotlights. You take it from main headlamps connectors.
I was buying used parts and in such case NV module and NV camera MUST come from the same car. Both are VIN matched and you can't change it. You would need a VIN fooling device between NV module and navigation head unit.
All together NV is a great mod and I am using it a lot. It is though a huge bummer that BMW is not allowing to show NV camera output on main clusters.

Thank you for this info - very helpful. A couple questions - do.you need a specific part number for the control module (my X5 already has night vision) or will my existing NV3 Control Module work with coding? Do the connectors for the existing LED fogs also connect to the NV spotlights or do I need different connectors? I understand about adding the CAN wires for information so they know where to spot...that makes sense - is a whole new harness section required (I suppose this is my question).

Also, do you recall any coding you did other than the Gezieltes Anleuchten in BDC_BODY?

Many thanks again for your help!

[volc]

Oh sorry, I have misunderstood your first post. I thought you do not have NV in your car.

I will look into my notes to check which new wires are needed, but definitely you need new plugs.

As far as I recall I've just added new equipment code to the list and let ESYS do the coding automatically for all modules.

I can't tell if there is a difference between NV module with vs without Spotlights. I would expect that no, but it is only my guess.

If you already have NV that to be honest I am not sure if I would add Spotlights. I am using it only outside cities. In the city it blinds pedestrians walking on sidewalk. For animals you anyhow are being warned on dials/HUD, so spotlights are just a nice add on.

[volc]

I have checked my notes - GZAR and GZAL (spotlights) need 4 wires: 1. Ground, 2. Positive from fuse F43, 3. K-CAN3 H and 4. K-CAN3 L.

K-CAN3 you can take from headlights. F43 I was taking from the passenger footwell area. Probably you could use any other positive cable.

Looks like not too complicated.

[Mramos1985]

Originally Posted by Variante Alta

Hey folks - I've been considering and researching this interesting option for my F15 35d M Sport for a few months. The car has the Adaptive LEDs and LED fogs and I've coded the VLD and Anti-Dazzle high beams (which are awesome - there a good threads here for this mod if you're interested) but I am really intrigued with the Dynamic Spotlight option which, among other things, requires removal of the LED fogs (which I rarely use) replacing them with the Autoliv Selective Illumination lights (63 11 7 419 129 and 63 11 7 419 130). These never came to North America sadly as traffic laws here forbid such technology (same with VLD and Anti-Dazzle meaning they were de-coded at the factory to dumb them down) so you generally have to look overseas for purchase options (eBay worked for me).

Various BMW parts websites show some detail regarding the Control Unit part numbers depending upon the options. There are two main options - Night Vision with Pedestrian Recognition (ie. no spotlights) and Night Vision with person recognition and BMW Night Vision with Dynamic Light (with spotlights). This option seems to have only seen production in 2013 - there is no doubt a story around this but I have so far ended up empty handed attempting to sort that out. In any case, there are a bunch of Part No. for the control units over the years (generally 2013 to 2018) and a couple specific to the Dynamic Light option. As with many auto part numbers, they are often interchangeable but not always.

Among the issues I have not been able to determine is what, if any, different wiring is required for the spotlights to work as they must be able to 'talk' to the Night Vision control unit to know where to shine the spotlights - do the LED fogs have a CAN wire connection as well which would carry the code? None of the European BMW parts sites I've looked through have any data about an alternate wiring harness being required for the P5A3A option.

With respect to coding - I've found in the BDC_BODY sub-coding the option for Targeted Illumination (Gezieltes Anleuchten) which is good but haven't come across what else might be required (ie. changing LED fog lights to inactiv?).

All this to say that if anyone here has further information about this mod and/or has completed it at some point, I (and others) would be very grateful for your help and guidance. I will continue to post as I work my way through it and find stuff out but please post your experience.

Interestig!!More interesting!!Thx for share

[Variante Alta]

Originally Posted by volc

I have checked my notes - GZAR and GZAL (spotlights) need 4 wires: 1. Ground, 2. Positive from fuse F43, 3. K-CAN3 H and 4. K-CAN3 L.

K-CAN3 you can take from headlights. F43 I was taking from the passenger footwell area. Probably you could use any other positive cable.

Looks like not too complicated.

This is very helpful - thank you again. There are connectors listed for the Spotlights so I'll get a couple of them from BMW.

I understand from your comments that you've been unhappy with them in the city with pedestrians, blinding them which I agree is unpleasant. Seems to me a couple videos I've seen show the spots only illuminating the bottom half of a person so that didn't happen. I wonder if this is a coding issue. Do.you recall what you coded when you installed the system?

Thanks again.

[Xolinlevh]

Ok so dumb question (sorry) what does this mod DO? What does the spotlight lights do?

[RED_Y_]

Originally Posted by Xolinlevh

Ok so dumb question (sorry) what does this mod DO? What does the spotlight lights do?

Check this video out:

[Xolinlevh]

Originally Posted by RED_Y_

Check this video out:

oh interesting. Thank you

[Variante Alta]

Hi folks - I've been slowly plugging away at getting things together to attempt this retrofit ( yup, taking my time). Here are some wiring diagram and connection things I retrieved from ISTA. I found this very helpful to nail down the connections at the spotlights. If anyone else has had any luck competing this retrofit, please share. I've found that the plastic OEM connectors for the spotlights are no longer produced - I've been unable to find replacements anywhere so will McGyver them with metal connectors and electrical potting to stabilize the connections.

[volc]

I have simply bought a pair of used NV spotlights already with plugs

[Variante Alta]

Update: I finally got some time at home to wire up the spotlights and sort out with the wiring diagrams how to connect them to the car. As I didn't have the original spotlight wiring harness connectors, I had to jury rig the connections to the lights in a very tight spot (the connector is micro so very small). In the end I had to open up the lights and connect to the wiring directly as I was getting shorting issues in both lights (ugh). This isn't ideal but better than nothing. The wiring to the car is fairly straightforward once I eliminated the shorts .

I changed the coding using the FA Edit function from 5A1 (LED fogs) to 5A3 (Spotlights w/night vision). This has worked partly. I now have control of the spotlights through the testing procedures in ISTA and they both illuminate when I start the aiming function for GZA (Spotlights or Gezieltes Anleuchten). As I'm in the garage, I have not been able to get in front of the car far enough away to test the NV camera control of the spots but I'm pretty sure I'd know if that wasn't going to work (untested and unproven but hopeful). My issue is that the left spotlight isn't coded to the car - when I look at the information in ISTA, there is no CAFD for GZA 46 (the left spotlight) but there is for GZAR 47( the right side spotlight). See attached for a couple pics from ISTA and e-SYS). Someone I'm sure can assist me with this but it's a little beyond my coding capabilities (Shawn Sheridan maybe?). Any assistance to sort this little issue would be awesome.

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by Variante Alta

My issue is that the left spotlight isn't coded to the car - when I look at the information in ISTA, there is no CAFD for GZA 46 (the left spotlight) but there is for GZAR 47( the right side spotlight). See attached for a couple pics from ISTA and e-SYS). Someone I'm sure can assist me with this but it's a little beyond my coding capabilities (Shawn Sheridan maybe?). Any assistance to sort this little issue would be awesome.

I replied to your PM.

[Variante Alta]

A further update. Shawn was a great help as always with my coding issue. I now have no error codes and everything is wired up correctly. The spots' low level LEDs are on when the headlights illuminate as they should and the spotlight LEDs illuminate fully in ISTA adjustment mode. I've still been unable in the ISTA demo mode to trigger them when I walked in front of the car but haven't tried this since last week. I was correcting some unrelated coding stuff yesterday and came across by accident a setting in the iDrive for the spotlighting of pedestrians - I had no idea this setting existed (and it was set to 'Off' by default). Now to test it again - hopefully I'm close to having this fully functional.

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by Variante Alta

A further update. Shawn was a great help as always with my coding issue. I now have no error codes and everything is wired up correctly. The spots' low level LEDs are on when the headlights illuminate as they should and the spotlight LEDs illuminate fully in ISTA adjustment mode. I've still been unable in the ISTA demo mode to trigger them when I walked in front of the car but haven't tried this since last week. I was correcting some unrelated coding stuff yesterday and came across by accident a setting in the iDrive for the spotlighting of pedestrians - I had no idea this setting existed (and it was set to 'Off' by default). Now to test it again - hopefully I'm close to having this fully functional.

[Variante Alta]

Success!! I tried out Demo Mode in ISTA and everything works as described! Whew! I'll try to upload the quick video I took - the fluttering of the spotlights is only on the video and not in person (common light frequency thing I believe ). I'll post a few more docs for those hoping to accomplish this mod in the next few days. Appreciate all the help along the way.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KmDBU5r5kRP67FKV8

[Chilled]

hey is it possible to get a list of all the p/n that is needed.

This would make for a good how to.

[Variante Alta]

Originally Posted by Chilled

hey is it possible to get a list of all the p/n that is needed.

This would make for a good how to.

Absolutely - I will include Part Numbers in my final write up on the mod, some further diagrams and literature and a few more photos.

[Variante Alta]

Here are the Part Numbers I needed for this modification. Keep in mind I already had factory Night Vision - if that's not your situation then you'll need to get the parts and wiring harness from a wrecked X5 or X6 for all the Night Vision components too (VOLC, a very helpful user who posted above successfully installed everything including Targeted Illumination). Note: BMW lists a few Part Numbers for NiVi control units - some seem to be specifically for Targeted Illumination, most don't mention it - only referencing Pedestrian Recognition. I was concerned that I might need a night vision control unit that was intended for Targeted Illumination but this seems not to be the case for my car - it works fine (the Night Vision system provides the needed signals to the Spotlights). Night Vision parts (if you need them too) are not included in this list or write up. Further, I have the Adaptive LED headlights (not HIDs) - if you don't have LEDs then you'll need to find the K_CAN3 signals somewhere else (I tapped into the convenient K_CAN3 wires at the left LED headlight).

Targeted Illumination Lights - GZAL 63117419129 (left) & GZAR 63117419130 (right) - I purchased new ones as they are VIN matched according to BMW
Plug Connector at Lights - 2 x 61137724406 (I could not find these until too late, having them would make the job way easier - I may have a couple sets to sell)
8 x 61139230107 bushing contacts to insert into the plug connectors (if you get them) - any BMW dealer can get these for you
Ring connector for GND connection (I used the very obvious GND post in the engine bay)
2 Posi-tap connectors for the K_CAN3 connections at the left LED headlight
Add-a-Fuse for power connection in the passenger footwell (Fuse Panel) - requires a 5 amp mini fuse
Some automotive wiring (I used twisted pairs for the K_CAN3 runs that I scavenged from a spare Audi TTS wiring harness I have), power, ground

You must remove the front bumper cover at least enough to access the LED fogs for removal and installation of the Spotlights (they use the same two screws to secure them so it's an easy switch out). The connectors are setup as follows: Pin 1 = Ground; Pin 2 = 12v from Fuse 43 (or add-a-fuse); Pin 3 = K_CAN3_H; Pin 4 = K_CAN_L. You can connect the KCAN3 (high and low) at the LED headlight connector - look for Pins 9 (H, blue wire on my car) and 10 (L, brown/yellow wire on my car). If you look inside the connector after you remove it from the headlight you will see the PIN numbers embossed to help identify the correct ones. See the wiring diagram below. In reviewing the ISTA wiring diagrams, it is clear that the left and right GZA connections can all be 'piggybacked' so I created a single wiring harness with common connections for GND, 12v, CAN_H and CAN_L which goes to both spotlights.

Coding for the GZAs on my car was done by FA adding 5A3 and removing 5A1 (LED Fog lights). Here is a good walk-through on FA coding. https://f48.bimmerpost.com/forums/at...8;d=1457058241. I think there was one step missing in terms of saving the revised FA that is obvious as you can't continue in E-sys until you do it. Don't forget to code the BDC_BODY ECU after doing the FA coding otherwise it won't take effect (I have an early 2015 F15 so your ECUs may be different). I coded a couple other ECUs to be safe after FA coding as the literature from BMW mentions a number of ECUs that are needed for the whole system to work - they included NiVi, KAFAS or FLA camera, ZGM, ICM, FRM - my car doesn't have all of these so I coded the ones I had - again, yours may be different. I also had to inject CAFD into the GZAL using E-sys as it wasn't there initially (see post above, thanks Shawn).

I found that ISTA was invaluable in ensuring that everything was coded properly - there are various places where you can download ISTA - please search them out and get familiar with using it before you proceed with this mod. ISTA allows you to test the Targeted Illumination lights under the 'Service Plan' function, Body, Lighting, Anti-dazzle / GZA. You can simply turn them on (Option 2 after you click the top right action link) to check that they're working or you can place them in Demo Mode so they'll follow you when you walk across about 50' in front of the car (Option 3). Please check the iDrive under Settings, Intelligent Safety, Pedestrian Warning to make sure Targeted Illumination is On (see Post above). This page also reminds you that it only works with the headlight switch in the Auto position.

If you can get the Spotlight OEM connectors it makes this job so much easier than what I did (opening up the lights making direct wiring connections - that was a pain in the neck and wasted a ton of my time). The connections to the car are easy if you follow these instructions and the wiring diagrams attached and above. Coding can be a tricky part depending on your experience and comfort with E-sys and ISTA - using both is critical for success in my opinion. Enjoy!

[volc]

Congratulations! When you'll get some experience with them please post your thoughts. For my usage they lit up pedestrians quite well, but they can get irritated sometimes For animals they are not efficient enough, most probably European roads are to narrow and curvy, whereas I am driving a bit too fast for them to be able to react.

[Chester Cheng]

Subs for this