Kellermann Prototype controller for Bullet Tail Lights

[Slotheadslim]

At the beginning of January I got in contact with the lighting company Kellermann, https://www.kellermann-online.com/en . I was interested in their Bullet light options for replacing the tail lights on my US spec R18 Custom. This is an abbreviated story of what happened and the prototype I’ve been testing. I only received permission now (September) to talk about it. I’m also asking for your feedback because Kellerman is trying to gauge an interest for this product in the US market.

First, I know a number of people here wanted to install Kellermann’s Bullet series lights on their R18. I looked at posts from others outside of the US who made it work. When Kellermann contacted me back after a second inquiry about how to install them for a US spec R18, they shared 2 configurations they were considering. They asked me to try one of the two since they didn’t have a US spec R18.

The first configuration they offered was to replace the entire rear tail light wiring. It would involve cutting the rear tail light wiring and the other end of the cable would plug into the connector near our seats. I didn’t want this option for me because I wanted the change to be reversible (no cutting wires in the OEM wiring harness).

The second option, which I chose, was to use a controller that would mount in or near the tail section and wire into the existing tail light. This approach would meet my goals without cutting the wiring to the tail light and it would wire into the bullets.

Initially I was sent these Bullets:





They have a yellow center when flashing, red circle when running and they turn completely red for hazards and braking. My job was to find a suitable location for the controller, check the mounting of the bullets, see how new lighting base plates fit that were also prototypes, try the wiring and make sure everything worked correctly.

We spent many weeks seeing if there was some way to get these lights to work. The major problem was getting the lights to fire independently using the normal on and off combinations needed. BMW in their wisdom has a different tail light CANBUS configuration for European spec lights vs US lights. We were unsuccessful with these lights and any workarounds that we tried.

Plan B was a simpler configuration. The same Bullet light is offered in a combination that lights the ring red when the bike is on and the center section will glow brightly in red when hazards or brakes are on. When the bike is off the lights have no color and reflect. To have this configuration required a new controller and new lights. Had I been in Germany the process would have been much quicker. Kellermann built a new prototype and sent me a set of new Bullets that only had red. This configuration worked great! I’ve showed a few people and the response was very positive. The install was completed in June and I’ve been riding around with them ever since with no problems.

Kellermann is proceeding with the first option to offer a wiring harness from under the seat to the rear tail section. It isn’t clear to me if this option will be offered in the US.

Kellermann hasn’t decided if the second option I’m describing and tested is something they want to offer. This is a controller unit for their Bullets that would be US compatible. It may be compatible with other US BMW models if they offer it.

Please see the attached pictures and let me know if you’d like more details. I can post more about how the install went, pictures and data.

Are you interested! If you are please post it here so I can share the feedback with Kellermann.

Best,

Tom

 

[Alex-B]

AFAIK they make the OEM accessory lights so you wouldn’t think the wiring would be such an issue considering they’re plug and play.

 

[Slotheadslim]

AFAIK they make the OEM accessory lights so you wouldn’t think the wiring would be such an issue considering they’re plug and play.

A few things. Like many other aspects of our bikes, the rear lights are monitored by computer using CAN bus:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus

If a connector in the tail light is unplugged or a light is disconnected you’ll get a warning in the instrument cluster. These aftermarket lights by themselves aren’t directly compatible with our bikes. Some people have used other aftermarket lights successfully by matching impedances using resistors. The prototype Kellermann controller unit plugs directly into the connectors of our bikes to provide the necessary impedances so that the bike doesn’t generate any error codes. It also interprets the signals from the CAN bus (which are pulses of electricity using certain waveforms) coming from the bike to operate these lights. The pulses of electricity generated for the lights of European R18s are programmed differently than the US model because the lights differ from each other (Euro lights have yellow in the lens and US lights are all red). The US Kellermann lights I’m using here have have 3 connections but the original set I tried (the Euro spec ones) had 4. It was quite the learning experience. On the surface lights look they should be easy but they are complicated too.

Here are a few more pictures:

The first is a view of mounting the lights from below. When I tried it myself initially it was difficult but with additional guidance, the steps to replace the OEM lights was straight forward. The design requires new mounting plates at the base of the lights which were supplied with the parts from Kellermann.


Since these lights and the controller don’t tie into the rear brake light they require a separate power supply. The solution was to run the supplied power wire from the controller under the right section of the rear fender and attach it with a fuse and circular connector to the bike’s jumper terminal.



The first control unit I tested, which acts as the interface between the motorcycle and the lights, looks like this below. The unit I’m using for the US lights is slightly larger and also fits in the tail section.:



The most difficult part of the install for me was fitting the control unit into the tail section. The unit itself is a little thick. To make it easier to fit, I trimmed some of the plastic pieces from the inside of the cover of the tail section to thin it out for providing more room in the cavity:



For the current prototype control unit with the cover installed it looks like this below. There is a little bit of a gap around the cover but I’ve been running the bike for 2 months with it installed including in wet weather and I’ve had no problems. I hope that if Kellerman decides to offer this option commercially that they make the control unit thinner. It would make the install easier.

 

[Alex-B]

These are the OEM accessory lights I mentioned which come with a plug and play wiring kit. The micro ones are definitely Kellerman Atto and the larger ones appear to the be the same as you are trying to fit which is why I didn’t think they’d have an issue making them work.

I understand CANBUS errors from making changes, but it makes no sense to me that US lights have a different number of wires to EU ones when the only difference is colour. (I’m aware this is the same with HD too). I think if you change both front and rear to LED, BMW need to code the bike to tell it the resistance has altered. They look great though

Interesting project nonetheless, hope you

 

[Slotheadslim]

These are the OEM accessory lights I mentioned which come with a plug and play wiring kit. The micro ones are definitely Kellerman Atto and the larger ones appear to the be the same as you are trying to fit which is why I didn’t think they’d have an issue making them work.

I understand CANBUS errors from making changes, but it makes no sense to me that US lights have a different number of wires to EU ones when the only difference is colour. (I’m aware this is the same with HD too). I think if you change both front and rear to LED, BMW need to code the bike to tell it the resistance has altered. They look great though

Interesting project nonetheless, hope you

Hi Alex,

I don’t have any details on other plug and play wiring kits. I’ve seen some lighting for front directionals offered in Germany that I haven’t seen BMW offer in the US. The person I contact at Kellermann did confirm they supply Bullet lights as an accessory to BMW but the bases aren’t supplied by them.

The difference for the Bullets isn’t only red vs yellow color. There are 3 wires in the US Bullet lights (the red ring is normally on, the red center light turns on for braking and hazards and the ground wire is needed). Two lights (the ring and red center light) activate similar to the US OEM tail lights. When flashing the ring light stays lit and the red center turns on and off.

The European lights have the red ring normally on for general illumination, the red center light turns on for braking, the yellow light in the center flashes for directionals and hazards and there is the ground wire. Unlike the US lights there are three independent signals plus ground. Unfortunately the CAN bus for the US R18 doesn’t appear to provide 3 independent signals which is why the first controller didn’t work and we had to move to the Bullet version with two lights. Some might say you could tie into the brake light to power the ring light but the idea of the control unit is to avoid the need to cut into the wiring harness.

For a good demonstration on how the European Bullet lights work please take a look at this video

. The US Bullets work the same but the yellow light is replaced by a red light for both directionals and hazards.

 

[e66]

I bought the same Kellermann Bullet lights with the four wires. Do you know if there is a solution from Kellerman?

 

[Slotheadslim]

Unfortunately my contact at Kellermann left the company so I can't easily ask someone. There were two solutions they were working on, the one I describe above with a control box in the tail unit and one replacing the rear wiring harness. For the US model we got the control unit to work with the lights that are only red and are only sold for the US. The lights with the yellow lenses built in will only work with models outside of the US such as in the EU. If you bought ones with the yellow lenses you'll want to return them because the CANBUS configuration of the US models won't support their use.

I looked on their website for a while after your message was sent to see if they offered either option and I don't see them. I suggest you send an email to their tech support group. They should let you know. I'm sorry but I don't have any other advice. Once my contact left they haven't reached out to me.

 

[e66]

Unfortunately my contact at Kellermann left the company so I can't easily ask someone. There were two solutions they were working on, the one I describe above with a control box in the tail unit and one replacing the rear wiring harness. For the US model we got the control unit to work with the lights that are only red and are only sold for the US. The lights with the yellow lenses built in will only work with models outside of the US such as in the EU. If you bought ones with the yellow lenses you'll want to return them because the CANBUS configuration of the US models won't support their use.

I looked on their website for a while after your message was sent to see if they offered either option and I don't see them. I suggest you send an email to their tech support group. They should let you know. I'm sorry but I don't have any other advice. Once my contact left they haven't reached out to me.

Thank you for the reply! I purchased a Wunderlich harness and will let you know what I find out.

 

[MilwDave]

This is the wire harness I received from LMC with my bobber fender kit.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn’t turn into an electrical FUBAR project.

 

[e66]

I got all the lighting working with the WUNDERLICH harness (similar to your harness) and the lights work great. My friend and I pulled all new wires from the lights back to the plug and soldered all connections.

If you have any questions, let me know.

 

[MilwDave]

I got all the lighting working with the WUNDERLICH harness (similar to your harness) and the lights work great. My friend and I pulled all new wires from the lights back to the plug and soldered all connections.

If you have any questions, let me know.

I installed the harness I was supplied by LMC. Hans said he personally tested it on their test bike and the Kellerman Integrel lights function perfectly. Unfortunately the Euro bikes must be wired differently than our U.S. market R18s.
The red lights do not illuminate and the amber portion is illuminating during all three functions, running, brake and turn indicators.
I need to get the red to handle the brake and running functions and have the amber remain functioning as the turn indicators.

 

[e66]

I ran into the same problem With the PWM CANbus lights. The euro lights use more wires due to the amber lights. Similar to the US factory lights, I used only a ground and the red light wire. The US models send 5VDC for running, 12 VDC for brake and for turn just alternate voltage to blinks the lights. I used the Wunderlich wire diagram, and again, it shows for the euro bikes, but it you connect ground and the left and right indicators (two wires) to the appropriate red tail lights, it will work.

Here is what I did:

1 - connect to the red light on left taillight
2 - connect to the grounds on both taillights
5 - connect to the red light on right taillight
6 - license plate light
7 - license plate ground

All other leads just cap (not used). I sealed with shrink tube.

TIP: I cut all terminals and soldered to prevent any resistance. The only plug I used was the main adaptor plug to the bike.

 

[MilwDave]

I ran into the same problem With the PWM CANbus lights. The euro lights use more wires due to the amber lights. Similar to the US factory lights, I used only a ground and the red light wire. The US models send 5VDC for running, 12 VDC for brake and for turn just alternate voltage to blinks the lights. I used the Wunderlich wire diagram, and again, it shows for the euro bikes, but it you connect ground and the left and right indicators (two wires) to the appropriate red tail lights, it will work.

Here is what I did:

1 - connect to the red light on left taillight
2 - connect to the grounds on both taillights
5 - connect to the red light on right taillight
6 - license plate light
7 - license plate ground

All other leads just cap (not used). I sealed with shrink tube.

TIP: I cut all terminals and soldered to prevent any resistance. The only plug I used was the main adaptor plug to the bike.elect

Thanks, I’m going to dive into this today.
I’m very good at mechanical work but only average when it comes to electrical skills.

 

[MilwDave]

I got all three functions to work by swapping the two wires that power the amber and red lights in the harness provided by LMC.
I didn’t terminate any of the other wires that lead to the five wire Atto red/amber Integral lights.
The Atto lights are very, very bright. Almost laser-like. My only thought is that the three wire red Atto lights may be brighter since the red covers the entire surface area of the LED?

 

[avi]

I ran into the same problem With the PWM CANbus lights. The euro lights use more wires due to the amber lights. Similar to the US factory lights, I used only a ground and the red light wire. The US models send 5VDC for running, 12 VDC for brake and for turn just alternate voltage to blinks the lights. I used the Wunderlich wire diagram, and again, it shows for the euro bikes, but it you connect ground and the left and right indicators (two wires) to the appropriate red tail lights, it will work.

Here is what I did:

1 - connect to the red light on left taillight
2 - connect to the grounds on both taillights
5 - connect to the red light on right taillight
6 - license plate light
7 - license plate ground

All other leads just cap (not used). I sealed with shrink tube.

TIP: I cut all terminals and soldered to prevent any resistance. The only plug I used was the main adaptor plug to the bike.

Thank you for this! I'm expecting to run into some issues as well. I've purchased a bobber conversion kit from FCR Original (France) for the R18 (US). The new rear lights are mini bates lights and are designed to work with from what I can tell, a 10 ohm resistor. I've attached a pic and wiring instructions. Each light has 3 wires. Red, black and brown.

I don't want to cut my OEM wires have nce looking at the WunderlichI Harness. It seems like this harness is expecting separate wires for the rear and brake lights but looks like the new lights have just one wire for both. Also, if this harness has a resistor do I need to use the one that came with the lights?

 

[e66]

You will only need two wires (ground and light) for the lights unless you tie both leads together to power both bulbs at the same time. The US models send 5VDC for running, 12 VDC for brake and for turn just alternate voltage to blinks the lights. I don’t think you will need the resistor If using the Wunderlich harness.

 

[avi]

You will only need two wires (ground and light) for the lights unless you tie both leads together to power both bulbs at the same time. The US models send 5VDC for running, 12 VDC for brake and for turn just alternate voltage to blinks the lights. I don’t think you will need the resistor If using the Wunderlich harness.

Thank you! I’ll keep this in mind.

 

[MilwDave]

I have the Kellerman Atto lights that have both amber and red LEDs for the Euro configuration. They have (5) wires coming off of each side.
As stated in a previous posting above I was supplied with a Kellerman adapter from LMC. When I had the rewire them for the U.S. configuration using only the red function of the Attos I found current going to (2) wires each plus the ground wire. So I would check on the (2) wire lights before doing your finish installation.

 

[avi]

I have the Kellerman Atto lights that have both amber and red LEDs for the Euro configuration. They have (5) wires coming off of each side.
As stated in a previous posting above I was supplied with a Kellerman adapter from LMC. When I had the rewire them for the U.S. configuration using only the red function of the Attos I found current going to (2) wires each plus the ground wire. So I would check on the (2) wire lights before doing your finish installation.

If this was for me, thank you! My lights from FCR Original (France) seem a lot simpler. Only 3 wires for each light with a resistor provided separately. See pics.

 

[MilwDave]

If this was for me, thank you! My lights from FCR Original (France) seem a lot simpler. Only 3 wires for each light with a resistor provided separately. See pics.

I think you need the three wires.
I did not have a resistor but I don’t know what was actually in the Kellerman adapter that LMC used for my wiring harness.

https://www.kellermann-online.com/en/i.bos-el1/123.941