Tail Light Retrofit- AMBER turn signal

One thing I've always hated about my 3 was how they use the Brake light as the turn signal. I'm a big believer in a dedicated color(amber) for turn signal. Unfortunately a lot of manufactures are going away from that in favor for the brake/turn combo. Maybe it's cost savings.IDK, but I am out to change that.

I started looking into just purchasing the European model 3 Tail lights which have an amber turn signal factory(its required by law over seas to have a orange signal). The problem I ran into was the US spec cars are programmed to use the brake AS the turn signal. Which means than even if I got a European lamp, i would still need to find a way to change the computer system to flash a dedicated output for the turn signal.

So I purchased a set of stock tail lights and cut them apart. While inside I painted the chrome black which gave i a much cleaner look. Then I retrofitted a 3" Diode dynamics HD amber LED strip where the OEM reverse was. For the reverse, I retrofitted a 3" white LED strip right next to it(inner). The wiring was a bit tricky as I had to tap off the 3rd brake light for dedicated "BRAKE" then the front camera side markers for a dedicated "TURN" signal. Overall worked pretty well!

In the trunk, pass side there's a harness. Blue wire is 3rd brake light which is where I tapped off.

Running the turn wires through the trunk boot. fun stuff

here's a video showing the functions. They might look dim, but its out in direct sunlight. I assure you they are bright
Also you may notice they are hyperflashing because the car isn't seeing any load(i disconnected the stock brake/turn wire) I left them as is, but if it get annoying I will throw a resistor in there.

Also Decided to do blackout headlight, and AMBER DRL mod

 

[Zane Liu]

i did it on my 2023 M3 RWD
Pretty much plug and play (direct replacement)
Works as MY after coding

Did you do the coding yourself?

 

[3rror]

Did you do the coding yourself?

In case it helps anyone curious, and even though this I didn’t OEM swap, my wife’s June 22 build M3 (AMD/Lithium 12v) worked no issues swapping to aftermarket tail lights, but my 22 January (Intel/Led Acid) build M3 has the issue with amber and brake lights turning on at the same time after swapping.

 

[Rohhee]

i did it on my 2023 M3 RWD
Pretty much plug and play (direct replacement)
Works as MY after coding

Can you explain the process? Just ask my service center to update my taillights to the Global option?

 

[bobw]

Thanks guys. To me it's more of a safety thing. Having a dedicated brighter/visible color is reassuring..especially with all the airhead drivers out there. Also, installed the F1 rain light back there which should get their attention too. I really wanted the internals blacked out(I HATE chrome) so while I was in there it wasn't much work to throw some LEDS in. I have done many retrofits and like tinkering, the wiring in the car was the most time consuming part. Now it's different than all the other 3's I'm starting to see on the road.

I think it’s a trade-off. If the front turn signal is amber and the rear is red, then it’s more obvious which direction the car is going.

 

[E90alex]

I think it’s a trade-off. If the front turn signal is amber and the rear is red, then it’s more obvious which direction the car is going.

What? That’s not the reason for having different colored signals. If you have a problem telling which way a car is going then you might not have good enough vision to be driving.

 

[akipal]

Can you explain the process? Just ask my service center to update my taillights to the Global option?

Service center won't do it for you.
you have to find some with service tool and knowledge to do it.
there was a guy here in this forum who helped mine coded

 

[bobw]

What? That’s not the reason for having different colored signals. If you have a problem telling which way a car is going then you might not have good enough vision to be driving.

Aircraft and ship lights are coded for just that reason.

Airplane Lights: What Each Light Does (Red/Green, Strobe, Beacon) - Pilot Institute

This article will explain about all the different lights you may encounter on an airplane and their purpose.

pilotinstitute.com

 

[3sr+buyer]

Aircraft and ship lights are coded for just that reason.

Airplane Lights: What Each Light Does (Red/Green, Strobe, Beacon) - Pilot Institute

This article will explain about all the different lights you may encounter on an airplane and their purpose.

pilotinstitute.com

For land vehicles, there are already color coded lights that are not the turn signals. At night (when you cannot see the vehicle that well), a white light indicates a vehicle coming toward you, while a red light indicates a vehicle moving away from you. If you see both white and red lights, exercise caution, since that could be either an emergency vehicle responding to a call (often, some of the lights are flashing to further distinguish it, and a siren may be used as well), or a vehicle in reverse (with more limited driver visibility to where the vehicle is going).

 

[gabrielchow]

Service center won't do it for you.
you have to find some with service tool and knowledge to do it.
there was a guy here in this forum who helped mine coded

Mind if you give me some guidance on who can code it?

 

[bibena]

Her car was straight plug and play and works, my car did not and lights up the amber and brake at the same time.

I saw that. That's quite interesting. So everything works normally on hers ... Did you replace the trunk-mounted lights as well?

 

[Recce93]

I saw that. That's quite interesting. So everything works normally on hers ... Did you replace the trunk-mounted lights as well?

Interesting indeed. Might have to pull the trigger and give some alpharex lights a try, if they would have a decent sale

 

[bibena]

Correct. The adapter harness “fixes” that so the blinker blinks by itself. The red tail lights do not blink with the amber indicator. I swapped the inner too because the newer lights are something like 18 watts vs 4 and are significantly brighter. If you don’t swap the inners work but seem dim to the new outside lights. That may or may not bug you. It bugged me so I swapped both.

How difficult was it to swap the wiring for the inners?

Also, little confused on something: the inners used to have a 3 pin harness then changed to 4 pin?

 

[bibena]

You don’t need a 3 pin to 4 pin adapter or wiring harness. All you need to do is swap the plugs which is quite simple.

Purchase 2 of the following from a vendor of your choice:

1. TE Connectivity 1-1456426-1

Then swap out the plugs keeping the pins in their respective pin number locations. All you need is a precision flat head screwdriver to pop off the lock and then push the pins out of the old one. Took me less than 5 minutes to swap them out. You can keep the old 3 pin connector if you plan on swapping back sometime later but not needed if you don’t. Cost me about $11 which half of it was for shipping alone.

This is for the inner lamps, right?

 

[patriot0331]

This is for the inner lamps, right?

Yes. That’s correct.

 

[bibena]

Yes. That’s correct.

So I assume the connector pin not being used is rear fogs?

 

[patriot0331]

So I assume the connector pin not being used is rear fogs?

Not sure

 

[E90alex]

So I assume the connector pin not being used is rear fogs?

Correct

 

[E90alex]

I saw that. That's quite interesting. So everything works normally on hers ... Did you replace the trunk-mounted lights as well?

Hmm he seems to have deleted the post. Maybe it wasn’t true after all? I don’t see how it would be just plug and play with proper function since the tail lights are “dumb” and have no way of telling the computer a different version is installed and it needs change the configuration.

 

[3rror]

Hmm he seems to have deleted the post. Maybe it wasn’t true after all? I don’t see how it would be just plug and play with proper function since the tail lights are “dumb” and have no way of telling the computer a different version is installed and it needs change the configuration.

I didn't delete my post, TMC did because I guess I mentioned someone that I didn't know I should not have. Anyway, as I was trying to share, my wife's Model 3 worked correctly when I plugged in aftermarket tail lights with the turn signal being separated from the brake light. I obviously don't think it's because the computer, but I made a point in mentioning that because we both have the same model year (2022) and her car is the newer variant that includes the better computer and battery. I'm not sure if it's that her tail lights on her version had amber lights built in (like the new Y) and mine did not because I didn't really take that note of detail before I made the swap to the aftermarket tail light. I just know hers immediately worked correctly with an aftermarket tail light and mine did not. I'm not suggesting anyone go out and just change the tail, but just sharing my experience in case anything may be useful to others.

 

[E90alex]

I didn't delete my post, TMC did because I guess I mentioned someone that I didn't know I should not have. Anyway, as I was trying to share, my wife's Model 3 worked correctly when I plugged in aftermarket tail lights with the turn signal being separated from the brake light. I obviously don't think it's because the computer, but I made a point in mentioning that because we both have the same model year (2022) and her car is the newer variant that includes the better computer and battery. I'm not sure if it's that her tail lights on her version had amber lights built in (like the new Y) and mine did not because I didn't really take that note of detail before I made the swap to the aftermarket tail light. I just know hers immediately worked correctly with an aftermarket tail light and mine did not. I'm not suggesting anyone go out and just change the tail, but just sharing my experience in case anything may be useful to others.

Ohh ok you’re talking about aftermarket tail lights. I’m still waiting to make a harness to install my Model Y tail lights on my July 2022 built car but maybe I’ll just try it without any harness one day and see what it does.