DIY LED daytime running lights

[vf2ss]

Anyone have close up pics of there led strips mounted with out them on so I can see what they look like installed ?

Here's mine. Pic shows mounting the strip on the bumper directly under the parking light, flush with the front end.

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledparking/ledstrip.jpg" border="0"/>

If you install it the way Norm did by flipping it upside down and adhering it to the bottom of the parking light, my guess is that you would barely (if at all) see what you can hardly see with my installation. However, if I did it again, I would probably try it NormRD's way. Either way, the strips are .1" tall.

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledparking/placement.png" border="0"/>

 

[NormRD]

Exactly like pics explained above.

Since mine are mounted to the underside of the light housing (there is a recessed area that it fits into) you can not see them at all when they are off...looks stock/oem.

 

[slamstrom]

vf2ss and NormRD,
Where did you buy your LEDs? I like to see a pic of the LED stripe prior to installation. Thanks.

 

[NormRD]

vf2ss and NormRD,
Where did you buy your LEDs? I like to see a pic of the LED stripe prior to installation. Thanks.

Same as vf2ss original post in this tread, they are the side emmitting LED's from oznium.com

http://www.oznium.com/side-emitting-led-strip

 

[vf2ss]

You can also get similar ones on ebay and several other online LED suppliers, just search the net for "side emitting led" (but recall apkarian's earlier advice about quality & longevity).

Here a pic pulled from from the net for reference...

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledparking/1.jpg" border="0"/>

 

[Rob4092xx]

So you actually take the light fixture out, attach then to the bottom of the light fixture and then reinstall the light fixture back into the bumper.

Here's mine. Pic shows mounting the strip on the bumper directly under the parking light, flush with the front end.

If you install it the way Norm did by flipping it upside down and adhering it to the bottom of the parking light, my guess is that you would barely (if at all) see what you can hardly see with my installation. However, if I did it again, I would probably try it NormRD's way. Either way, the strips are .1" tall.

 

[vf2ss]

So you actually take the light fixture out, attach then to the bottom of the light fixture and then reinstall the light fixture back into the bumper.

Yes, that is one way and probably the best way of doing it, so far. However, in the picture you quoted, that is not how I did mine. I had marked the outline of the parking light onto the front bumper with a wax pencil, removed the parking light, cleaned the bumper surface, installed the strip along my guide, connected to existing power source (oem parking light socket is now disconnected but still in the housing), then reinstalled the parking light.

I think NormRD's method avoids extra steps, has less room for error and I'll also mention that once you take the parking light housing out, it will be very easy for you to figure out what you want to do.

BTW- LED strip needs to be 14" from end to end on the bottom if you want to do the whole thing. 12" on the top if you want to try that as an experiment. I had thought about this as well but opted for bottom placement.

 

[nis350]

Yes, that is one way and probably the best way of doing it, so far. However, in the picture you quoted, that is not how I did mine. I had marked the outline of the parking light onto the front bumper with a wax pencil, removed the parking light, cleaned the bumper surface, installed the strip along my guide, connected to existing power source (oem parking light socket is now disconnected but still in the housing), then reinstalled the parking light.

I think NormRD's method avoids extra steps, has less room for error and I'll also mention that once you take the parking light housing out, it will be very easy for you to figure out what you want to do.

BTW- LED strip needs to be 14" from end to end on the bottom if you want to do the whole thing. 12" on the top if you want to try that as an experiment. I had thought about this as well but opted for bottom placement.

So there is enough room for the LED under the parking light housing? I would imagine that it is a very tight fit? Any issue reinstalling the housing?

What is the easiest way to tap the power source?

Thx...

 

[vf2ss]

Yes. Take a look at your parking lights closely, you'll see there is a gap both above and below the housing anyways. That's what gave me the idea in the first place. You could even say in the end it's a better fit than oem since now the gap is gone. There were no issues sliding them back in due to this extra space. No forcing whatsoever.

For power, unplug the female from the male socket that goes to the existing parking light bulb and use that. The best way to tap into power...see post #14...the easiest?...like NormRD said, just crimp on some connectors to the LED wires and plug directly into the factory plug.

 

[NormRD]

In my install the 12" ones were about right, as the recessed area on the housing closes up towards the ends. A 14" wouldn't fit in my install.

Leave the bulb/connector for the parking light in housing, remove female connector and just plug wires into it. I put 2 small metal connectors and then just taped it up.

Removing the housings are easy...just 1 screw from the bottom (just like you would if you needed to change the bulb)

 

[Rob4092xx]

I purchased a set of parking light bulbs off Ebay that had nine LEDs in it. I put these in the parking lights and they now match the 6000k LEDs. I don't want to lose these by disconnecting them since they now match the HIDs and turn on when the HIDs are on.

For this reason, I am going to wire my LED strips into a fuse in the fuse box that is powered when the car is running. This way, the LED strip lights will always be on when the car is running....no fuss having to turn the parking lights on and off.

In my install the 12" ones were about right, as the recessed area on the housing closes up towards the ends. A 14" wouldn't fit in my install.

Leave the bulb/connector for the parking light in housing, remove female connector and just plug wires into it. I put 2 small metal connectors and then just taped it up.

Removing the housings are easy...just 1 screw from the bottom (just like you would if you needed to change the bulb)

 

[nis350]

In my install the 12" ones were about right, as the recessed area on the housing closes up towards the ends. A 14" wouldn't fit in my install.

Leave the bulb/connector for the parking light in housing, remove female connector and just plug wires into it. I put 2 small metal connectors and then just taped it up.

Removing the housings are easy...just 1 screw from the bottom (just like you would if you needed to change the bulb)

In regard to the LED strip, do you have the wire portion of the LED toward the center or the fender side of the car? Thx...

 

[NormRD]

In regard to the LED strip, do you have the wire portion of the LED toward the center or the fender side of the car? Thx...

Both...since they are side emmitting led's and they are on one side of the strip and the double sided tape is on one side you have to align them a certain way...however there is plenty of room back there and just keep it out of the way of the 1 screw and you will be fine. Install took about 30-45 mins including installing the connectors on the wires.

 

[slamstrom]

Got mine installed this weekend. Just crimped on some connectors and plugged directly into the factory plug.

I didn't want to tape them to the bumper so attached them to the bottom side of the parking light assembly. Now hidden so doesn't look added on, actually looks like they are part of the light assembly.

Here are some pics.

Can you post a pic at a 45 degree angle? I like to see how far the LED wrap around the parking light housing since you mentioned that the housing closes up toward the ends. Thanks.

 

[NormRD]

Can you post a pic at a 45 degree angle? I like to see how far the LED wrap around the parking light housing since you mentioned that the housing closes up toward the ends. Thanks.

Here is the best pic i have at this time...

basically measure 12" from most inside part of housing.

 

[PhiAlpha44]

I'm glad some pics were posted of the Yellow (or Imola) with the white LED's.
I kind of thought that amber lights might look better on my car than white, and I think that pic confirms my thoughts.... for some reason I don't think the white lights on yellow / orange look quite right.

 

[vf2ss]

Can you post a pic at a 45 degree angle? I like to see how far the LED wrap around the parking light housing since you mentioned that the housing closes up toward the ends. Thanks.

Here is the best pic i have at this time...

basically measure 12" from most inside part of housing.

You know, it's been awhile since I did this mod and I'm wondering now if the reason I was able to fit 14" and span the entire bottom of the parking light is because I mounted on the bumper instead of the housing.

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledparking/IMG_0886.JPG" border="0"/>

 

[vf2ss]

Note in the pic, there is an LED for every 1 inch...hence 14 leds. If you want to mount the bumper to do 14, you can buy the 24" (or anything over 14" for that matter if you get it from somewhere else). You are able to cut them down to size at every 3rd led because of the way they're wired to shorten them. I cut down to 15" (must be divisible by 3) and so there is one led that you cannot see hidden in the bumper.

 

[nis350]

Note in the pic, there is an LED for every 1 inch...hence 14 leds. If you want to mount the bumper to do 14, you can buy the 24" (or anything over 14" for that matter if you get it from somewhere else). You are able to cut them down to size at every 3rd led because of the way they're wired to shorten them. I cut down to 15" (must be divisible by 3) and so there is one led that you cannot see hidden in the bumper.

They look quite bright at night... I am wondering if they are bright like the Audi's in the day time? The reason I am asking is because I want to see if they look good installed as day time running light.

Thx...

 

[vf2ss]

They look quite bright at night... I am wondering if they are bright like the Audi's in the day time? The reason I am asking is because I want to see if they look good installed as day time running light.

Thx...

I would say that the camera is making them look brighter than they really are in person with the addition of the halos and glare that a camera lens produces especially the farther back you get. I can see the spaces in between each LED in person from far away but the camera starts to blur it into a single bright blur if you know what I mean.

Take a look here though at the Audi R8 LED strip up close. It has 12 bulbs spaced apart and you can see that the size and particularly the thickness of this LED strip looks to be maybe a 1/4" channel wide vs. the tiny space we have to work with that is less than an eighth of an inch high...i.e. less overall bulb size = less overall light. Don't get me wrong though, they can be seen in the daytime, but to answer your question directly, I would say that they are not as bright as the Audi's during the day in my opinion. I'd be curious to see what NormRD thinks about this with his install because I don't often get to see R8 lights up close to do any real comparison so it's based mainly on my memory. I do see some of the newer Audi's around with this and I'd say their DRL's are pretty noticeable and I don't think mine are that noticeable in full daylight in comparison. Overall I think it's very noticeable at dawn, dusk, night time and when it's overcast, but during a bright sun shiny day...not so much.

I'll try to take a pic or two during the day soon and post from different distances back.

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledparking/audiled.jpg" border="0"/>

 

[NormRD]

I agree, the LED's aren't as big as on an Audi so they aren't as bright/noticable during the day. Check the first pic I posted, it was taken just after sunset so you get a little better idea. At night they are plenty noticable and I mine replacing my front parking lights so it works great.

If you wanted to use them as day time running lights the first very first install inside the air dam probably would be best as you can get larger led stirps.

 

[nis350]

I agree, the LED's aren't as big as on an Audi so they aren't as bright/noticable during the day. Check the first pic I posted, it was taken just after sunset so you get a little better idea. At night they are plenty noticable and I mine replacing my front parking lights so it works great.

If you wanted to use them as day time running lights the first very first install inside the air dam probably would be best as you can get larger led stirps.

That confirmed my doubt about using them as DRL.

Thank you both for sharing this great idea with us all. :wink:

 

[vf2ss]

I received some questions about the connectors. Go to Radio Shack and buy item 64-3131 pkg of 10 for $2.19

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledconnectors/size.JPG" border="0"/>

Get 4 of the male connectors out

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledconnectors/male.JPG" border="0"/>

Trim off the sheath

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledconnectors/cut.JPG" border="0"/>

You will have an exposed Male plug that matches OEM

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledconnectors/expose.JPG" border="0"/>

Crimp on to the end of the LED strip wire

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledconnectors/crimp.JPG" border="0"/>

and plug in directly to the female power feed where the OEM parking lights used to be, the plugs will fit very snug.

<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/ledconnectors/snug.JPG" border="0"/>

 

[Hapa88]

Can you guys tell me which color white you bought?

From the Oznium website, there appears to be 3 different whites: "Cool", "Neutral" and "Warm"
I want to try to match my 6000K 55W HIDs

 

[NormRD]

Go with cool white...i also have 6000k 55w HID's and it is the closest. The rest will look yellow and more like halogen lights color temp