OBC Illumination - photo transistor

[DavidPorter]

According to the owner's manual, the little square at the upper right corner of the face of the OBC is a photo transistor to adjust the brightness of the bulbs to suit ambient light. On my 525iT the bulbs burn bright all the time, and they don't last long (weeks?). Is this transistor replaceable, by me or by an electrical engineer friend? Is there something else wrong? A new OBC is over $800, which is more than 10% of the value of the car . . .

[shogun]

There are 2 different kinds of bulbs. See details here:
http://www.e32fixes.com/results.asp?method=show_fix&fixid=4

[Randell]

im not sure about that, doesn't that little square come up as a red light when there's a warning, like if you go over the speed limit set or something?

my bulbs burn out quick too, i took them out and the tip of the glass bulbs look chrome, like they were burning hot... it's crap cause bmw charge $8 each so i'm not gonna bother getting any more... or are these standard bulbs i can get from an electronics store for 15 cents?

the display seemed to glow a bit too bright when i last had working bulbs in there too...

[Randell]

There are 2 different kinds of bulbs. See details here:
http://www.e32fixes.com/results.asp?method=show_fix&fixid=4

thanks for that link shogun, the dealer sold me those green bulbs, the ones i replaced were just like the black ones... i wondered why they were so different... only lasted about 2 weeks! I'll have to see if i can get some of the original ones again

[DavidPorter]

That was it. Thanks.

Black PN 62 11 1 368 299
Green PN 65 81 1 374 495