Heilmer didn't get into it, but the research I came across about how the human eye processes light lends a lot of credence to 605 nanometers being the ideal wavelength for night driving. Trademark and a conscious ergonomic decision ever since. BMW discovered this in the 1970s, and it's been both an aesthetic The eye doesn't tire as quickly trying to read gauges illuminated with red-orange light, he said.
#1970 mustang instaled steteo now no dashlights driver#
The color was chosen to allow the driver to clearly see the instrument cluster, but also to be able to adjust to the darkness outside the vehicle quickly after looking up. Heilmer told me that BMW's characteristic orange-red hue is generated by light at a wavelength of 605 nanometers. So it's appropriate that I'm speaking to Heilmer about the X4's dashboard. Designworks is a design shop wholly owned by BMW in LA, and it was intimately involved with the entire process that resulted in BMW's X family of SUVs. But I'd never really fact-checked my assumptions.Īfter some mostly unhelpful internet research, I reached out to BMW and was put in touch with President of BMW Designworks Oliver Heilmer. I thought red light was the best color to preserve night vision – hence the submarine association – felt blue was the worst, and had a profound ambivalence about green. But why white, and why orange-red? I'll admit I subscribed to some amateur theories about night vision. I like this: the white is crisp and clear during the day, and at night the orange-red looks purposeful – like the inside of a submarine conning tower or a spy plane. X4's automatic headlights kicked on and the gauges switched from primarily white illumination to the classicĬolor. I was thinking about this because I had just driven her car, and left the dash lights too low. After all, messing with the dimmer is just another type of distraction. Mazda, and sets it to a moderate level (but brighter than I like it) so she can see in all conditions, including at dusk. I driveĪn older Toyota pickup with soft green gauge illumination, and I'll jockey my dimmer so it's barely bright enough to see clearly when I glance down. As I was driving the hunch-rumped, growlyīMW X4 M40i recently, I was thinking about a long-standing but low-intensity domestic disagreement in my house.