Hi guys I’m new here having just purchased my first ever bmw.

I have the lights in the exterior handles but they don’t work. Anyone else have this issue ??

Hi Paul

Welcome to the Forum

As your car is basically new have you had a conversation with your BMW Dealer ?

Normally the door lights are as tough as old boots, my X5 2009 vintage has them and they all still work (that's jinxed them)

Dave

Hi Dave. I’ve been on to my dealer and they can’t confirm if they do or don’t have them. I’ve seen plenty with them with a lower spec than mine so I’m disappointed really. No glovebox light either. £50k and only half the bits are there.

Morning Paul

If you know someone who has INPA/ISTA just plug in and the program will let you know what equipment the car was built with (list and codes) your dealer could do it but it sounds like yours falls into the "can't be bothered to help a customer" category

You could also use a BMW Vin Decoder several online to pull up the same information

I must say I thought pretty much all top of the range Beemers had them so worth a search

Dave

Just had a reply from BMW uk

Hello Paul

Thanks for contacting the BMW Customer Information Team regarding the lights on the door handles and glovebox. I understand how frustrating this is.

I’ve checked your vehicle’s factory specification against the VIN you provided. The exterior door handle lighting and glovebox illumination are not part of the standard equipment on your M135 (F70) build.

The illuminated door handles only operate when the car is ordered with the Welcome Light/Ambient Lighting package, which was not specified on your vehicle. Likewise, BMW no longer fits glovebox lights as standard on this model.

If you would like further confirmation or to discuss retrofit options, we recommend contacting your BMW Centre directly.

You can find the nearest BMW Centre here.

In the meantime, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know.

Kind regards

Minko

BMW
United Kingdom
Min Ko
Customer Information Consultant
BMW Customer Support
Summit ONE
Summit Avenue, Farnborough
Hampshire, GU14 0FB

Tel: +44 (0)1252 920317
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.bmw.co.uk

Can anyone explain to me what they are talking about when saying about welcome lighting and ambient please

Hi Paul

First check yourself using a BMW Vin decoder (if you haven't already) I work on the old "in God we Trust everyone else we check on principle 😅

There are LED light sources in each door light is fed to the door handle by a Fibre Optic cable, when the car is unlocked the area below the handle is illuminated they call them Welcome lights. Inside the car there are Ambient door lights above the door pockets and in some cases speaker lights

If your car was built without them you will probably find a Dealer sucking their teeth and explaining what a difficult job it is £££££

If they are important to you I would find a good BMW Specialist (there is a Register) and talk to them

The real question would be if the wiring/power source is there if it is then it should be a fairly straight forward retro fit and coding process

Dave

BMW have said I need to subscribe to digital premium apparently which I have free until February 🙈🙈

Hi Paul

So I would guess it is all there, I hope this isn't like VW with the ID3 where you have to pay a subscription to keep things like Heated Seats or Heated Steering wheels working !!

Keep us up to speed please

Dave