Anybody do LED DRLs on their X-Type?
#1
Anybody do LED DRLs on their X-Type?
I'm not talking about the cheap LED strips on ebay, but something like this:
http://www.tmtuning.com/HOME/catalog...t_product=2450
It would look totally stock. I'm sure you could find a small groove to put it in, maybe like the new mercedes leds.
http://www.tmtuning.com/HOME/catalog...t_product=2450
It would look totally stock. I'm sure you could find a small groove to put it in, maybe like the new mercedes leds.
Last edited by King of Canada; 05-19-2010 at 04:33 PM. Reason: typo
#3
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Glasgow, Scotland UK
Posts: 47,302
Received 9,011 Likes
on
4,114 Posts
King, they look great and very OEM looking...nice find
Yep they're reasonably expensive compared to the cheap ebay strips, but a lot less than std OEM costs for same.
Dunno if anyone here has fitted them but I'd say they look great and I'm guessing wouldn't be too hard to install.
If you do decide to go for it....We'll be lookin to you for the write up c/w before, during and after pics
#4
I figure the install should be a breeze. Should be able to splice directly into the existing DRLs in Canada, or easily wire to a switch or to park lights.
#5
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Glasgow, Scotland UK
Posts: 47,302
Received 9,011 Likes
on
4,114 Posts
#6
#7
Last edited by King of Canada; 05-20-2010 at 05:12 AM. Reason: typo
Trending Topics
#8
#9
#10
#11
I've got a great idea that will take some modification. I'll have to look into it further to see if it's possible. Can anybody confirm what is behind the silver trim on the bumper in the below pic? I'm thinking that if there is some space, you could modify the trim (professionally of course) to embed the LEDs in my previous link. You wouldn't notice them when off if you did the black lights on a black car with the black trim.
Last edited by King of Canada; 05-20-2010 at 10:43 AM.
#12
I love how people talk about all the mods they want to do to their car but they dont even know what's behind their front bumper... If you pull off the bumper blade there is nothing but a hole- plenty of room to run all the wiring you could ever want.
I thought about doing something like this for a hot minute- possibly installing individual leds in the front bumper blades but in the end I just dont think a horizontal line of lights is going to blend in with the rounded off curves of the X's exterior.
I thought about doing something like this for a hot minute- possibly installing individual leds in the front bumper blades but in the end I just dont think a horizontal line of lights is going to blend in with the rounded off curves of the X's exterior.
Last edited by ufoz8mycow; 05-20-2010 at 12:37 PM.
#13
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Great Mills, MD
Posts: 14,444
Likes: 0
Received 3,923 Likes
on
3,223 Posts
Seeing this thread, this gives me an idea. If you wanted to do something like this and get away for around $30, this is what I am proposing:
You would need to get on E-bay and purchase around eighteen 10MM 285K MCD LEDs (this will give you 9 bulbs per side). From there, you can take the splitter in the lower opening and shave off a little bit on the under side of the splitter (only need to remove the curled edge). From there, you can mount the LEDs to the underside of the splitter (epoxy). Due to the relatively small size of the 10MM LEDs, the impact on the front of the car will be minimal. But, with each LED being essentially the equivolent of a 5W bulb, you would have 45W of standard lighting coming out each side of the car.
If you wanted to play and modify the LEDs some, you could make them into a bar that would be about 55MM wide by 10MM tall. The big trick with this is getting a good glue to joint the numerous LEDs together. In my playing, I have found that Testors Liquid Cement will bind the LEDs together and should not break under the stress of road vibrations. Then all you would need to do is get some 0.5 watt 100 ohm resistors to add in series with the LEDs (groups of 3 LEDs per resistor). Then wiring them up would be as simple as connecting the power for these to terminal #5 of the DIP lights. That way, when you turn on the DIP (low beam) lights), the LEDs would turn off.
If you are worried about having a white line in the splitter, this can be corrected simply by putting some flat black paint on the sides and back of the LEDs. This will make the LEDs become much darker and should cause them to blend in with the rest of the car. If you have painted your splitter like I have, you simply coat the LEDs in clear adhesion promoter and then paint the sides/back of the LEDs in your body color.
If you need any other ideas, let me know. I am always looking for something new and different to come up with.
You would need to get on E-bay and purchase around eighteen 10MM 285K MCD LEDs (this will give you 9 bulbs per side). From there, you can take the splitter in the lower opening and shave off a little bit on the under side of the splitter (only need to remove the curled edge). From there, you can mount the LEDs to the underside of the splitter (epoxy). Due to the relatively small size of the 10MM LEDs, the impact on the front of the car will be minimal. But, with each LED being essentially the equivolent of a 5W bulb, you would have 45W of standard lighting coming out each side of the car.
If you wanted to play and modify the LEDs some, you could make them into a bar that would be about 55MM wide by 10MM tall. The big trick with this is getting a good glue to joint the numerous LEDs together. In my playing, I have found that Testors Liquid Cement will bind the LEDs together and should not break under the stress of road vibrations. Then all you would need to do is get some 0.5 watt 100 ohm resistors to add in series with the LEDs (groups of 3 LEDs per resistor). Then wiring them up would be as simple as connecting the power for these to terminal #5 of the DIP lights. That way, when you turn on the DIP (low beam) lights), the LEDs would turn off.
If you are worried about having a white line in the splitter, this can be corrected simply by putting some flat black paint on the sides and back of the LEDs. This will make the LEDs become much darker and should cause them to blend in with the rest of the car. If you have painted your splitter like I have, you simply coat the LEDs in clear adhesion promoter and then paint the sides/back of the LEDs in your body color.
If you need any other ideas, let me know. I am always looking for something new and different to come up with.
#15
I think that anything that looks like it was stuck on the car will look bad. That's kind of a general rule of thumb. IF you can make it look stock, I think it will suit the style of the car. I think that modding the blades would be amazing. Do you have to remove the bumper cover to take them off?
Last edited by King of Canada; 05-21-2010 at 07:03 AM.
#16
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Great Mills, MD
Posts: 14,444
Likes: 0
Received 3,923 Likes
on
3,223 Posts
King, I looked at my car last night, installing this would require minimal disassembly of the car. The splitter in the front can be pulled from the car without any tools. You simply need to undo a few friction clips.
As for mounting the LEDs, you probably don't even have to remove the splitter as there are numerous places that you can stick the LEDs on the underside of the splitter to keep them out of sight when walking up to the car, yet plenty visiable when driving down the road. The idea that I have at the moment would involve mounting the lights to the car using double sided tape. That will be more than strong enough to hold the LEDs as they will end up weighing next to nothing. Then wiring them up should be really easy other than finding a connector to fit into the #5 pin location for the DIP lights.
I am thinking this weekend I am going to take a little bit of time and make up a set for grins and see what they look like. I have most of the stuff I need already other than a little bit of 2 part resin to reinforce the LED structure to help aide in survivability. Doing the initial calculations, the LEDs are only going to pull 2.1 watts each (0.15 amps). That is next to nothing on the car. NOt bad for getting the equivolent of a 40 watt standard bulb worth of light out of them. The long leg of this will be building a little jig so I can modify the LEDs I have to make them a bit more compact and have a surface to join them together with. So, keep an eye out.
As for mounting the LEDs, you probably don't even have to remove the splitter as there are numerous places that you can stick the LEDs on the underside of the splitter to keep them out of sight when walking up to the car, yet plenty visiable when driving down the road. The idea that I have at the moment would involve mounting the lights to the car using double sided tape. That will be more than strong enough to hold the LEDs as they will end up weighing next to nothing. Then wiring them up should be really easy other than finding a connector to fit into the #5 pin location for the DIP lights.
I am thinking this weekend I am going to take a little bit of time and make up a set for grins and see what they look like. I have most of the stuff I need already other than a little bit of 2 part resin to reinforce the LED structure to help aide in survivability. Doing the initial calculations, the LEDs are only going to pull 2.1 watts each (0.15 amps). That is next to nothing on the car. NOt bad for getting the equivolent of a 40 watt standard bulb worth of light out of them. The long leg of this will be building a little jig so I can modify the LEDs I have to make them a bit more compact and have a surface to join them together with. So, keep an eye out.
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
These are a lot cheaper, and the site has many options...
http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Audi-A5-R8-...trip_sku59.htm
These could work pretty easily I think.
http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Audi-A5-R8-...trip_sku59.htm
These could work pretty easily I think.
#19
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Great Mills, MD
Posts: 14,444
Likes: 0
Received 3,923 Likes
on
3,223 Posts
Zero, look at the reviews. I would question the quality of the product. Granted, sounds like they also need a bit more light emission from the LEDs. As for mounting them, I could see that product working on the under side of the splitter with the aide of some double sided tape. Make the whole underside of the splitter light up as one big line. I don't see it working too well being wrapped around the headlights and there are no other gaps in the front end that those would fit into.
#20
Guest
Posts: n/a
Didnt read the reviews but I guessed the quality would be price relevant :-)
They seem to have a few options. Again I havent spent much time looking at them all but maybe someone will and come up with a clever idea. I like the thought of DRLs on my X type.
I found the site looking for HIDs but there HIDs look kinda funny... ?
They seem to have a few options. Again I havent spent much time looking at them all but maybe someone will and come up with a clever idea. I like the thought of DRLs on my X type.
I found the site looking for HIDs but there HIDs look kinda funny... ?