BMW G30 Ambient Light Coding: Unleashing a Spectrum of Possibilities

BMW G30 Ambient Light Coding: Unleashing a Spectrum of Possibilities
Photo by Philipp Katzenberger / Unsplash

Ever played with colors on a computer screen? Then you've likely encountered the RGB code, a triad representing Red, Green, and Blue values. Each value varies between 0 to 255, depicting the shade's intensity.

For instance:

  • Red: (255,0,0)
  • Green: (0,255,0)
  • Blue: (0,0,255) ...and so on.

The Hexadecimal Alternative to RGB: For those fond of compact codes, RGB also comes in a hexadecimal format, where each color gets a two-digit hex representation.

This means:

  • Red becomes #FF0000
  • Green transforms to #00FF00 ...you get the gist.

Ambient Lighting Customization in BMW

Feeling fancy and want your BMW's interior to match your mood?

Dive into the world of ambient lighting customization. With RGB or hex codes, you can personalize your BMW's lighting to almost any shade under the sun.

However, a note of caution: Depending on your BMW's model (e.g., G30, G20) and its software version, the customization process might vary.

Steps to Change Ambient Lighting in the G30

Here's a step-by-step guide specifically for the G30 model:

Locating Ambient Light Settings

Accessing the BDC Control Module: Begin by accessing your car's BDC control module. This is essentially the brain behind many of your BMW's features, including ambient lighting.

Understanding the BDC Layout: Within the BDC module, you'll discover various settings and configurations. For our purposes, we're primarily interested in the BDC_BODY3 section.

Key Values & Definitions:

360A / LIC_LCI_COLOR_LIBRARY_DATA: This is your primary color library. Every color that can be displayed as ambient lighting in your BMW is listed here, each with a specific HEX CODE and a corresponding number. For example, WHITE is represented as 90 E9 90 and has the number 00.

360D / LIC_LCI_COLOR_PROFILES_DATA: This section allows you to mix and match, combining colors from the library into unique profiles. For instance, a BRONZE/WHITE combination would be represented as 01/00.

How to Customize Color and Combination

Selecting Your Desired Color: Identify the color you wish to change.

Let's continue with the example of BRONZE. Its HEX code is D7 6E 14. If you're looking to swap this out for RED, you'll need the HEX code for red, which is FF 00 00.

Editing the Values: Navigate to the appropriate section in the 360A list where BRONZE is defined. Carefully replace the D7 6E 14 values with FF 00 00. This action will effectively change all instances of BRONZE to RED in your ambient lighting settings.

Customizing Color Combinations: Beyond individual colors, BMW allows you to craft color combinations. Within the 360D section, you can mix and match colors from the 360A library. For example, if you've changed BRONZE to RED as mentioned above and wish to create a RED/BLUE combination, locate the PURPLE/WHITE combination (represented as 05, 00) and change it to 01, 03 (representing RED/BLUE).

Finalizing Your Changes: After making these edits, it's crucial to save and FDL code your changes. This step ensures that your BMW recognizes and applies the new ambient lighting configurations.

Testing

Once you've FDL coded your edits, it's a good practice to test the ambient lighting. Turn on your car, navigate to the ambient lighting settings, and ensure your desired colors and combinations are displaying correctly. If there are any issues, revisit the BDC control module to check for errors in your edits.


RGB to Hex Basic Color Table

For quick reference, here's a handy table:

ColorRGBHex
Black(0,0,0)#000000
White(255,255,255)#FFFFFF
Red(255,0,0)#FF0000
Lime(0,255,0)#00FF00
Blue(0,0,255)#0000FF
Yellow(255,255,0)#FFFF00
Cyan(0,255,255)#00FFFF
Magenta(255,0,255)#FF00FF
Silver(192,192,192)#C0C0C0
Gray(128,128,128)#808080
Maroon(128,0,0)#800000
Olive(128,128,0)#808000
Green(0,128,0)#008000
Purple(128,0,128)#800080
Teal(0,128,128)#008080
Navy(0,0,128)#000080
Pink(255,192,203)#FFC0CB
Brown(165,42,42)#A52A2A
Beige(245,245,220)#F5F5DC
Turquoise(64,224,208)#40E0D0
Gold(255,215,0)#FFD700
Lavender(230,230,250)#E6E6FA
Coral(255,127,80)#FF7F50
Indigo(75,0,130)#4B0082
Khaki(240,230,140)#F0E68C

BMW M Color Table:

ColorRGBHex
M Blue(0,120,215)#0078D7
M Red(213,43,30)#D52B1E
M Purple(159,29,77)#9F1D4D

Experiment, enjoy, and drive in style!

I'll soon expand on how to illuminate other BMW models.

Until then, keep glowing.