Obviously the STR's 05+ do not have foglights, which has always been a great disappointment for me. Given the fact that the "new thing" is having strips of LEDs, either around headlights or somewhere on the front bumper, there are many aftermarkets coming out.

I think they look great, and want to of run a strip on the bottom edge of each foglight cutout (possibly on the top). They adhere with 3M automotive tape and have a 180 degree light projection so doesnt matter what angle you place the strip on.

The problem comes with wiring, yes you can tie into the front side running lights but that means the LEDs will only be on when your lights are on which defeats the purpose.

Is there a DRL fuse or another way to tie these in to have them stay on when vehicle is on?

Something along the lines of these:

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Audi-Style-...trip_sku59.htm

http://8007610235.ecrater.com/p/8336...drls-headlamps

 

Joe, I don't know if this is relevant but check out this thread https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ght=angel+eyes

goto post #8

 

Ya I have seen that thread but thanks for posting. It looks like those are LEDs, but not the strips i am looking at. The strips can be used inside the headlight housing as well, but I want to run them in the "missing" foglight cutout as DRLs.

 

How about sumthin like these Bull? This is a post i made onto the Audi forum I use and these are fitted to my A6

Well guys, got the DRL's fitted today
These are the ones I fitted link
Really reasonable at the price I thought and they seem exactly the same as the ones on the Autobulbs website as far as I could see.

Anyhow, I started by removing the fog light housings and offering them up into position. They even followed the curvature of the housing PERFECTLY
I marked the hole positions and drilled the holes to suit.
Note; on the drivers side I had to cut away a hole for the light to fit into. I didn't have this hassle on the passenger side as thats where the intercooler is, so only a pain on the drivers side
It all went well and I got them all bolted up into position and they looked pretty cool I thought...took around an hour and a half I'd say.
Then off to my friendly sparky....He took around 2 hours to complete the wiring and wired them into an ignition feed which means they're on always.
Anyway, I think they look pretty stock from a distance and good even pretty close up....Its only on closer inspection you can see they are aftermarket I'd say, but obviously I'm biased
Cost of lights £45 approx, cost of sparky £30....total cost £75

Please judge for yourself in the following pic fest.....I tried to take from as many different angles, close up and at a distance to give you an idea of how they look. Hope you like....








As I said Bull, I'm not a sparky ( auto electrician ) but it looked fairly simple I guess for anyone with some know how in this field. They were wired up to an ignition feed and also to the battery, so they're always on when the ignition is turned on.
They can however, be wired so that they are only on in daylight and once your lights are switched on they switch off - personal preference I guess.


These are gonna be law in European countries by 2011

 

Thanks for the info Jim, they look great on your ride!

It seems as though your LEDs are in a flat housing, not sure if thats the best route to go with the SType. These ones I'm looking at seem to be just pliable strips so you can wrap them around corners etc with no bulk and are supposedly weather proof. Also, you can cut these to size. I would tuck them inside, close to my foglight inserts, and I am assuming that since the strip is black, you really wouldnt even be able to tell they were there.

Yours:


Ones Im looking at

 

Yeah I saw them Bull, I'm sure they'd work on a similar basis with regard to wiring. They're not overly expensive either and with the 3M tape connection, if you don't like them they'll be easy to remove too

Don't forget if you do it, please do a write up for the forum c/w pics / supplier and a how to install.....waiting patiently

 

I will definately do a full write up, one of my employees friends did this with his Maxima, and is a hard core DIYer. So first, is figuring out who and how to get these wired in so they end up being DRLs without causing any electrical gremlin problems.

Tied into the ignition is probably the most viable option, however, it seems as though I have a switch for foglights preinstalled. I can press the button and the foglight indicator turns on in the dash cluster but obviously nothing happens since I dont have them. I want to furthur explore if this is a possible solution. Me + electrical = disaster. So I would probably pay him cheap (12 pack) to assist me in getting this done.

 

I could be wrong Bull and hopefully someone who actually knows about electrics will chime in, but if, you wire them to your foglight switch wouldn't you have to manually turn them on?
My sparky had a real hard time finding an ignition feed on my A6 but once found BAM wired in with another feed to the battery terminal for power and that was that.
Anyhow, I'll leave you to it and look forward to reading about your progress

 

I recall reading in the manual that the Fog Light switch in my '06 STR actually turns on the REAR fog lights when pressed? I don't have front, so this made sense as to why there was a switch. I'll have to look for it as a reference...

 

cacloss, and on my 2004 STR there are two switches: for each of front & rear fogs
(not things I'd wire into)

 

I definately have a seperate rear fog switch, but I guess it makes the most sense just to tie into the ignition if I want them on all the time. Was just thinking it may be a good option to be able to turn them off if I am in stalker mode

 

I agree. It would be helpful to have the option to turn them off. I believe most of the Audi's, etc. have them switched.

I looked into this a short time ago for my car. I came to the conclusion that the small sealed units, with reflectors behind the LEDs, seemed to give a brighter and cleaner looking result. The ones I looked at on strips like the ones you pictured also seemed more susceptible to the elements. I found a number of them on eBay in varying lengths from 4" to 12". You also have the option of a single line of LEDs or dual to increase the intensity. Based on my measurements, the 6" would fit nicely in the top edge of that opening.

Here is a link to the ones I bought to try out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audi-...ts_Accessories

I ended up purchasing them, but haven't had a chance to try them out.

 

That seems like a legit company, they have a website, and have run across them during my research. The only problem I have is that I have mesh grill inserts, so I dont have those slats running vertical (if I remember correctly) to squeeze one of those sealed units between, OR are you talking about mounting it to the top of the bumper cover itself in front of those slats?

I really wish I could handle these different units, test out the brightness, and put up against my car to see what would work out the best. I am ready to pull the trigger, spoke to a friend who works at Boston Audio and Sound and he will tie them into the ignition or make a switch for me, whichever I prefer. I just dont know. I think I am leaning towards the really slimline ones that I pictured (supposedly waterproof). Yesterday my buddy bought a set for his Cayenne, the leds are side angled and are VERY bright. I almost think they are borderline too bright, and I suspect will be just as bright during daylight hrs as the Audi factorys etc.

Given the fact I dont want to take the inserts out, I'd like to just place these wedged up against the black border of the inserts on the bottom of the foglight cutout. The top would look cleaner, but I would also want them pushed back to the inserts and i dont know if that will completely block the lights or not. Ahhh descisions.

Let me know how that goes when you install (with pics ;-) and exactly where you plan on mounting them.

 

Installed them today, each strip comes with 3m backing tape, completely unnoticible unless they are on. I opted to use high quality 3M automotive tape (same stuff we use on badges) so they would be more durable. The tape that comes on there is too thin and not tacky enough. The LED's are encapsulated in hard silicone and are waterproof. They are white but give off a "pure white" apprearance, matches the factory HID's pretty well.

Tied it into the ignition and also put a toggle switch underneath the steering column in a hole I found, just in case I need to turn them off. So basically they come on automatically when I start the car for day time running lights, but if I am parked or just want to turn them off, I left myself that option. They are bright during the day and have yet to see them at dusk or at night, but I am assuming they will look pretty damn nice. I opted to put them over the fog light cutouts for more of a factory look. Almost went all the way to where the middle grill starts, but nixed that idea. Sorry for the pics, camera phone, they look ALOT better in person but you get the idea. They are subtle enough to be factory (if noone knew), but there are enough on there to make a big difference.

 

Can you get a close up of one of them to see the fit in the bumper?

 

You can cut the strips to the length you want, however, it has to be in 3's. So you could cut at 3,6,9,12 leds etc. They are tucked under the lip pushed to the very edge, you cannot see them when they are off unless you are bending down looking for them. In pictures they almost look like they are pushed outwards from the bumper, but in person when lit they are nicely tucked under and flush with the lines.

 

Wow,

That actually came out looking a lot nicer and cleaner than I thought it would.

Is there ignition switched + 12v under the hood? Or did you run your wires from inside the cabin.

you have a link to those strips? How long are they before you cut them down?


George

 

Wow! They do look nice. I like to look a lot!

 

Nice add on ,it looks like a factory kit

 

There looks to be less brightness around the middle of the right hand one. Dirt or what?