K75 BMW OEM Switch

[ejressler]

I am in the process of wiring up some driving lights. Can anyone tell me what the wires are for a BMW OEM dash switch? It is an on or off switch, wires are white, black, and gray. I just need to know which are what etc to hook up the switch. I am intending to have lights come on with Hi beam, and have the switch to turn them off if I don't want them on with the high beam. Thanks, E:dunno

[mieczkow]

I can't answer your question directly about the wiring configuration, but I would urge you to be careful in running multiple lighting through your already-existing headlight wiring from an amperage point of view. In general, as you may be aware, the more stuff you put on a circuit, the hotter the wiring gets, and the hotter it gets the bigger the voltage drop. Most quality driving lights run directly off the battery and are switched by a relay. so I would say (and maybe this is what you intend to do) I would at least run the power to the lights from the battery directly and tap the relay into the headlight switch. I recently installed an "Eastern Beaver" relay system into the headlight itself, just to lessen the voltage drop and reduce the risk of heating the wiring up excessively. The other thing to bear in mind is that if you rely on the switch to be the direct transmitter of power to the lights, the switch itself will get hot and will have a much shortened life. This also is avoided if you do a direct wire routing and utilize a relay to run the lights themselves.

:german

[nh7robmw]

Tom's advice is right on the mark.

Stock BMW headlight wiring is barely sufficient for the stock lighting to begin with; hence many notice an improvement in light output once rewired with a relay setup (even for just the headlight).

You can't go wrong with Eastern Beaver's products; they're well-made and semi-customizable for your application. Jim ships things lightning fast out of Japan, too.

I ordered some Posi-Lock and Posi-Tap connectors recently and they arrived two days after they were shipped from Japan!

[cjack]

I am in the process of wiring up some driving lights. Can anyone tell me what the wires are for a BMW OEM dash switch? It is an on or off switch, wires are white, black, and gray. I just need to know which are what etc to hook up the switch. I am intending to have lights come on with Hi beam, and have the switch to turn them off if I don't want them on with the high beam. Thanks, E:dunno

You will have to use an ohmmeter to check out the switch. Usually the center connection is the pole and the outside two terminals are the throws. Center off, push upper end, connects the center of the switch to the bottom terminal, push bottom and connect to the upper terminal. If there is a spring return from either, then that is a momentary connection.
As mentioned here, wire the lights thru a fuse, then a relay to the lights. Turn on the relay with the switch. Draw power for the switch (the center or common on the switch) from the high beam (white wire) in your case so that if the switch is on, the lights (the relay) will come on when you go to high beam (and off when you go to lo beam).

[PGlaves]

I just wire up one of those. Black and white are through the switch. I forget what gray did but I just clipped it off.

[kentuvman]

I installed CATZ driving lights this Fall.

Hooked up the hot wire to starter relay (need to remove seat and maybe the tank) and lift up the black cover - it is the big plastic square "box" with two poles on it - you should use a voltmeter to make sure it shows 12 volts when you test it.

I followed the ignition wires, from the keyed switch down and back as far as I could - you'll end up near the black cover - there were four wires - I found the hot "switched" wire by using a pin to poke a small hole in the wire and left it there - next I grounded the voltmeter and held the red testing pole on the pin and switched on the ignition - when I saw the meter move as I turned on and off the switch, I knew I had the right wire.

Once you get to this point and the wires are connected, you should be able to test your driving lights to make sure they turn on and off while the ignition switch is turned on and also check that they go off when you switch off.

I bought a rocker switch from Bob's that fits into the "dash" and it works great. I ended up with an extra switch so if you are interested in it, I'd sell it for about what I paid for it. Just pm me.

Good Luck.

p.s. I had my mounts custom made out of aluminum at a welding shop & had them painted black to attach on the forks using the same allen bolt that goes onto the disc brake mechanixm. Another MOA member, Todd makes a nice mounting system out of stainless and is selling at a very reasonable price - let me know if you need his contact info.