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R11RT Instrument lights


Michaelr11

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My 2001 R1100RT instrument lights have burned out. I rarely ride at night but I checked the lighting last night and speedo and tach were both dark. It's not a fuse - all other lights and accessories work.

 

I looked at some past posts and see that either T5 or T1.75 wedge bulb LEDs are recommended. I ordered LED T1.75 buls from ledlight.com.

 

Can anyone with experience changing these bulbs provide some help? Does the dash and upper fairing (headlight) have to be removed to access the bulbs? Can the bulbs be removed and reinstalled with those still in place?

 

 

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You need to remove the windshield and the top inner fairing. That gives you access to remove/work on the instrument panel.

Edited by AviP
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Okay guys - let's try this.

 

Once I have access to the gauges, how do I remove the bulbs with their holders? Do they just pull down - pressure fit, or is there some kind of capture mechanism to be released?

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Okay guys - let's try this.

 

Once I have access to the gauges, how do I remove the bulbs with their holders? Do they just pull down - pressure fit, or is there some kind of capture mechanism to be released?

 

Evening Michael

 

Getting to them is a pain, you can see what you getting into in the attached picture. The tac & speedometer will have to be unbolted & pulled out of their housing as the bulbs are under the housing.

 

FlfHqRl.jpg

 

 

 

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The Tach' and speedo' are both bolted to the housing with those M6 nuts. Over time the gauges tend to bed themselves into the housing bushing and need a fair push to get them out. Be careful.

 

Once the instruments are out of their housings, the bulbs just pull/wiggle out of their housings.

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I've replaced several bulbs in my instruments using the advice shown in this thread. The problem I had was finding the correct bulbs.

Local automoblie parts stores have several bulb types that appear to be correct but are not quite correct and don't fit properly.

BMW sourced bulbs fit correctly.

My bike: 2004 R1150RT.

 

Regards, Ron C.

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Andy wrote:

The Tach' and speedo' are both bolted to the housing with those M6 nuts. Over time the gauges tend to bed themselves into the housing bushing and need a fair push to get them out. Be careful.
Agree with Andy here — I found a little light oil, applied sparingly overnight helped.🤓
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The LED bulbs are in transit. Once they arrive it may be a little while before I take apart the dash. I will post back after the job is done.

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The LED bulbs are in transit. Once they arrive it may be a little while before I take apart the dash. I will post back after the job is done.

 

Afternoon Michaelr11

 

Do not put an LED bulb in the generator warning light socket. The alternator uses the current from the gen light bulb to excite the rotor for initial charging start up. It will still charge with an LED but you will have to revv the heck out of it to get it to start charging.

 

In fact we used to remove the original 1.7 watt gen light bulb & install a lower resistance 3 watt gauge bulb to get them to start charging earlier (they clean up & cold idle better after the alternator comes on line & raises the system voltage so the quicker they start charging the better).

Edited by dirtrider
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The LED bulbs are in transit. Once they arrive it may be a little while before I take apart the dash. I will post back after the job is done.

 

Afternoon Michaelr11

 

Do not put an LED bulb in the generator warning light socket. The alternator uses the current from the gen light bulb to excite the rotor for initial charging start up. It will still charge with an LED but you will have to revv the heck out of it to get it to start charging.

 

In fact we used to remove the original 1.7 watt gen light bulb & install a lower resistance 3 watt gauge bulb to get them to start charging earlier (they clean up & cold idle better after the alternator comes on line & raises the system voltage so the quicker they start charging the better).

 

Thanks DR, but I am only replacing the speedometer and tachometer backlight bulbs. Good info on the alternator lamp.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry to say it, but I bailed out on the instrument bulb change. I got down to having the cluster exposed but access to the two gauges was still very difficult.

 

I removed the windscreen, the dash, and then the upper fairing (headlight). At this point the screws at the bottom of each gauge were still partially obstructed by the windshield motor mechanism and frame. I managed to get both nuts off the bottom of the speedo, but it was still held by the reset cable and probably by wire harness zip ties. At that point felt more likely to damage the speedo or its harness than I was likely to get to the bulbs , so I opted to close things up.

 

Not a complete waste. I did a brake bleed and repaired one of the supports for the RID in the dash. I've still got the LEDs and will tackle this again one day.

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  • 2 years later...
On 10/23/2017 at 9:29 PM, Michaelr11 said:

Sorry to say it, but I bailed out on the instrument bulb change. I got down to having the cluster exposed but access to the two gauges was still very difficult.

 

I removed the windscreen, the dash, and then the upper fairing (headlight). At this point the screws at the bottom of each gauge were still partially obstructed by the windshield motor mechanism and frame. I managed to get both nuts off the bottom of the speedo, but it was still held by the reset cable and probably by wire harness zip ties. At that point felt more likely to damage the speedo or its harness than I was likely to get to the bulbs , so I opted to close things up.

 

Not a complete waste. I did a brake bleed and repaired one of the supports for the RID in the dash. I've still got the LEDs and will tackle this again one day.

I know this is an old post but the back lights for the speedo on my R1100RT went out.  Forgot about it till i was riding home the other day in the dark.  Being a little ocd, this am attempted the job. Holy Shet!   After 2 hours and bloodyed hands figured out how to get the damed spedo pod out.  Next up is putting it all back together, hopefully remembering where everything goes.  What a freaking job for those 2 little bulbs.  

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1 hour ago, MarinPhil said:

I know this is an old post but the back lights for the speedo on my R1100RT went out.  Forgot about it till i was riding home the other day in the dark.  Being a little ocd, this am attempted the job. Holy Shet!   After 2 hours and bloodyed hands figured out how to get the damed spedo pod out.  Next up is putting it all back together, hopefully remembering where everything goes.  What a freaking job for those 2 little bulbs.  

I used LED bulbs so I'll never have to do that job again.

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Yes, i know about led replacement bulb but i just went to my local auto store and got 74 wedge bulbs. They work fine and sufficiently bright.  Getting the speedo pod out was challenging  along with scrapped up and bloody fingers and  hands. Now process of putting all back together. Going slow and taking my time. 

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17 hours ago, MarinPhil said:

Yes, i know about led replacement bulb but i just went to my local auto store and got 74 wedge bulbs. They work fine and sufficiently bright.  Getting the speedo pod out was challenging  along with scrapped up and bloody fingers and  hands. Now process of putting all back together. Going slow and taking my time. 

 

?

I am surprised that if you knew about the LED option, and you are not in a hurry, why go for traditional incandescent  lamps?

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DR:  I replaced all of the instrument panel lights on my 2002 1150RT with LED's a decade ago.  I did not replace the idiot light bulbs.  After having had two 1200RT's, I've just gone back to a 2004 1150RT.  In January when the snow is deep, I plan to do my usual spline inspection and lube, plus make some of the same changes to the bike I had done on my 2002 RT.   I plan to replace the instrument panel lights with LED's while I have the bike in pieces.  Would it be OK to swap one of the 3W bulbs from one of the other idiot lights and put it in the generator light and replace the other idiot lights with LED's?  Are any of the other idiot lights 3W?

 

Al

 

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3 minutes ago, awagnon said:

DR:  I replaced all of the instrument panel lights on my 2002 1150RT with LED's a decade ago.  I did not replace the idiot light bulbs.  After having had two 1200RT's, I've just gone back to a 2004 1150RT.  In January when the snow is deep, I plan to do my usual spline inspection and lube, plus make some of the same changes to the bike I had done on my 2002 RT.   I plan to replace the instrument panel lights with LED's while I have the bike in pieces.  Would it be OK to swap one of the 3W bulbs from one of the other idiot lights and put it in the generator light and replace the other idiot lights with LED's?  Are any of the other idiot lights 3W?

 

Al

 

 

Evening Al

 

They should all be 3w "except" the factory generator-light bulb, & there is a BMW service bulletin to replace that with a 3w when needing to replace. 

 

You sure can use one of the other 3w bulbs for the generator light  but due to the difficulty in getting in there it might be in your best long term interest to install a new 3w instead of one with lots of hours already on it. 

 

 

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On 12/19/2019 at 3:25 PM, dirtrider said:

You sure can use one of the other 3w bulbs for the generator light  but due to the difficulty in getting in there it might be in your best long term interest to install a new 3w instead of one with lots of hours already on it.

 

Thanks, DR.  Very good point about installing a new bulb considering the trouble of replacing it.  I'll probably have to order it.  Seems like the BMW dealers stock less and less replacement parts.  Understandable.

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