Hey guys, as you might know, i have TYC projectors with DDM HID's in them.

well, i absolutely LOVE the look of the TYC housings, but something was missing... i couldn't figure it out for a while, but one day it just hit me like a brick. i so wanted the look of the Audi headlights (specifically the R8) with the strip of LED's at the bottom of the housings.

what really got me going on this was driving next to/in front of an A6 and seeing how awesome the headlights look in the day with the LED "running lights" on. ever since then i had been itching to do it but couldn't find a good enough excuse to take my housings back out again, well upon one cool winter night earlier this week, i put new high beam bulbs in and quickly discovered that my passenger side high beam adjustments did not work properly.. here's my excuse.


well, i'm sure you can figure out that they came out and came apart and yadda yadda..


Let me know what you guys think!

Here's the goodies!

Here's a shot of the testing phase. housing is completely dismantled (followed a combination of instructions i found online for getting them apart)




Here's a pic of the LED strips i used and modified, the original wiring came out the end of the strip, and because of mass production, they wouldn't have been the same on opposite sides of the car, so i used one of the "cut points" and made the wires come straight out the back and in the middle on both strips



Here's a shot of the drivers side housing being baked in the oven with the LED strip in place, melting the glue to re-assemble it.



Housing together, testing the strip on the table using the little display battery box that came in the packaging for the strips.



One of my favorite shots, both housings in the car, using the little battery box to test them both out



Parking lights on



Parking lights and headlights on



One last (closer) shot of just the strips.



So what do you think? i want honest opinions. love it, like it, hate it, whatever.

i used the original 9006 connectors on the housings to connect the strips (since i have HID's i don't need those anymore) and since the DDM ballasts accept the 9006 plug from my car i cut the wires off they came with to go from H1 to 9006 and am going to be using those plugs to plug into the housing connector. makes for a nice clean install and easy removal if needed.

also, the strips still aren't wired into the car's electrical system, weather hasn't permitted that yet (no garage) so i'm taking the time to run through possible methods for wiring them up. any input would be appreciated.

so the current method of choice right now is to wire them into the accessory circuit so they turn on when the ignition is turned on, and stay on during the day as DRL's (like Audi does it) and would also stay on while the headlights are on. so far i like this approach the best because i can have the car running with just the strips on and no other parking lights or headlights.

the only thing i kind of want to mimic that Audi does, when the turn signal on that respective side is turned on in an Audi, the LED strips shut off completely and stay off during the duration the turn signal is blinking and then come back on when the turn signal is no longer being used, but then again i don't want to directly copy the idea from Audi..


so again, any input on wiring methods or ideas is welcome.


Regards,

~Moddage

 

I don't know much about the wiring for the lighting, but I know what I like. Those I like, very much.

 

Thanks! i love them! hopefully the weather clears up and i can wire them in tomorrow..

 

Great minds think alike. I have LED strips i'm putting into my projector headlights as well. It's nice seeing a completed project, I do like it.

when i had angel eye projectors, i designed a circuit that kept them on for a few minutes after the car was off, it looked pretty cool. I may do that again.

For the LED strip, I like the idea of turning them off with the turn signal - that is a simple circuit using a transistor, cap, and relay - basically a delay circuit, and it needs to know the difference between turn signal (flashing) and parking lights (steady). I have a good idea in my head as to how to do it.

i don't have DRL and i'm not interested in them either. So I'm probably going to just wire them with the parking lamps.

 

looks sweet! definitely a great idea

 

Thanks guys! i don't have DRL either, but that's what i'm going to wire them as. i thought about wiring them with the parking lamps as well, but after seeing an Audi with them on during the day, i completely changed my mind. it looks awesome even in daylight.

as for the turn signal circuit. i'm still up in arms about it.. i like it, but i don't want to directly copy the Audi functionality..

i also considered wiring them to blink alternately to the turn signal, but i'm not sure i like that idea either.


I like the idea of a "delay" circuit like you mentioned.. but at the same time, that would take some amount of effort to calculate out the value of everything so that the delay wasn't too long after the turn signal was no longer active.. i got to watch the Audi functionality from no signal, to signaling, and back to no signal.. and the LED strips are instantaneously off and back on as soon as the turn signal circuit is activated and deactivated..

I was seriously thinking.. run the power feed for both strips all the way back into the interior, tie into the fuse box (if possible where the DRL fuse should be) and then tap into the wiring from the turn signal switch in the steering column to use just the "switch" part to activate a relay that would cut power to each strip respectively.... it's a lot of work.. but it would have the instantaneous functionality just like the Audi


i don't know.. lots of options, too hard to decide, for the time being, switched 12V with the ignition

~Moddage

 

I LIKEY just did my hid conversion , wish i did this now

 

Looks awesome!!!! the bottom pic definitely looks like the Audi's on the road today. Looking into halo projectors, and I'm considering replicating your look haha great job!

 

Thanks for all the comments guys.. i've gotten many looks on the street already.. word of advise.. make absolutely SURE you seal them back up if you undertake this... my passenger side housing likes to let water in when you take it through the wash... not too fun... especially when the temps change enough in a day that it fogs up the inside of the lens and then freezes...

i gotta pull that housing out and reseal the entire thing.. i might do both while i'm at it.. the drivers side has been fine since i sealed what i could get at with silicone with just the bumper cover off.. but the passenger side corner where it meets the fender apparently wasn't re-sealed properly.. even with baking the adhesive and squishing it back together and re-baking it..

so to any of you who attempt this or similar mods.. make sure ANY area where the housing sections meet is adequately covered in silicone afterwards for extra insurance... why risk a leak if you can avoid it ? i chose clear silicone because any small amounts of excess that end up in a visible spot isn't really obvious.


anyway, aside from that... people like them.. i got a few comments like "you're stupid" or "you're a ricer kid" from family members harassing me.. but they're just jealous haha.. everyone else loved them.. i've gotten a couple chances to see the reflection of them in the back of a car with a chrome bumper at night and in the day, and they are definitely bright enough to count as a DRL, and look amazing at night with my HID's i'm extremely happy with the result


Happy modding.

~Moddage

 

Thanks For that great post guys, I enjoyed reading the post...