LED front lights any final conclusions?

[Rick_RS4]

ok i have read and read and read on the led saga,

i have bought some 501 led canbus sidelights these work great no errors, i have some canbus led 382 for the DRLs but these throw up a dipped beam failure, i dont really want to put resistors in, but if thats the only solution then i will, i have read that you need 50w 10R resistors,

next are the fog lights as i have the 'come home' function on and dont like yellow light

so i thought we could compose a list of lights that work and where we bought them from etc to help with the numerous posts and questions

THESE WORK
http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/WHITE_CAN ... ight_bulbs

THESE DONT
http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/Canbus%20 ... egory_id=0

NOT TRIED THESE YET (waiting for resistors as not canbus)
http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/LED_Fogli ... ight_bulbs

[Norre]

Welcome to the LED jungle
I bought these http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/WHITE_CAN ... ight_bulbs
from ebay yesterday. I have tried 3 types of lamps, and no one works without resistors yet. Waiting for my ebay order, hopefully they will work.

As for the DRL's i have bought lamps from ebay ad severeal other places, no one worked without resistor.

I xenon converted my fogs, 6000k. Looks awesome!

I also made a order on ebay for error free license plate bulbs, cause the ones i bought here in sweden did not work. The package said for cars with canbus such as audi, bmw, porsche etc. But that text didn't help

[Rick_RS4]

will be good to see your results, have you used a resistor? if so which one? on my link it says These will fit
- Audi, VW, Seat, Skoda etc NON-LED DRL lights does this mean they dont work or they dont fit the newer led drls?

[PetrolDave]

I helped a member on here get LED DRL's working a couple of years back, we had to fit resistors.

The other thing to bear in mind is that LED bulbs are polarity sensitive but incandescent bulbs are not, so:
- if an LED bulb flashes that's almost certainly the bulb failure warning system working.
- if an LED bulb doesn't light up at all, check the polarity - and don't assume that the left and right bulb holders will be wired the same way round, I've heard of many instances where they're different.

[Rick_RS4]

I helped a member on here get LED DRL's working a couple of years back, we had to fit resistors.

The other thing to bear in mind is that LED bulbs are polarity sensitive but incandescent bulbs are not, so:
- if an LED bulb flashes that's almost certainly the bulb failure warning system working.
- if an LED bulb doesn't light up at all, check the polarity - and don't assume that the left and right bulb holders will be wired the same way round, I've heard of many instances where they're different.

do you think then that my 382 drl bulbs might work correctly if i turn them round, they were lit before but the light on the display was on to , could turning the drl bulb round make a correct circuit?

my next problem is the fog lights, they are 24 led ones so i would say 1w per led

55w normal - 24w led = 31w resistor but im unsure which one to buy

[PetrolDave]

do you think then that my 382 drl bulbs might work correctly if i turn them round, they were lit before but the light on the display was on to , could turning the drl bulb round make a correct circuit?

If the LED bulbs lit up, then it's the bulb failure warning kicking in - if they didn't light up then it's worth trying them the other way round (when the bulb failure warning will probably kick in and they'll flash).

my next problem is the fog lights, they are 24 led ones so i would say 1w per led

55w normal - 24w led = 31w resistor but im unsure which one to buy

You need a resistor that makes the combination of the bulb and the resistor draw not much less current than the normal bulb would.

1W per LED is very unlikely, I suspect they will draw much less than that (I have some 3W LED bulbs at home that produce more light than a 50W halogen bulb).

So first check how much current the LED bulbs actually take (measure it with a multimeter).
A 55W bulb will draw about 4.5 amps from 12V so you'll need a resistor to make up most of the difference. Let's say the LED draws 0.5 amp, so you'll need a resistor that draws 4 amps from 12 volts, i.e. 3 ohms (R=V/I).

[Rick_RS4]

do you think then that my 382 drl bulbs might work correctly if i turn them round, they were lit before but the light on the display was on to , could turning the drl bulb round make a correct circuit?

If the LED bulbs lit up, then it's the bulb failure warning kicking in - if they didn't light up then it's worth trying them the other way round (when the bulb failure warning will probably kick in and they'll flash).

my next problem is the fog lights, they are 24 led ones so i would say 1w per led

55w normal - 24w led = 31w resistor but im unsure which one to buy

You need a resistor that makes the combination of the bulb and the resistor draw not much less current than the normal bulb would.

1W per LED is very unlikely, I suspect they will draw much less than that (I have some 3W LED bulbs at home that produce more light than a 50W halogen bulb).

So first check how much current the LED bulbs actually take (measure it with a multimeter).
A 55W bulb will draw about 4.5 amps from 12V so you'll need a resistor to make up most of the difference. Let's say the LED draws 0.5 amp, so you'll need a resistor that draws 4 amps from 12 volts, i.e. 3 ohms (R=V/I).

right, you have just confirmed what i have just read, im going to order a couple of these

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/sear ... &R=0136200

and see how i go,

thanks for the help

[Norre]

do you think then that my 382 drl bulbs might work correctly if i turn them round, they were lit before but the light on the display was on to , could turning the drl bulb round make a correct circuit?

If the LED bulbs lit up, then it's the bulb failure warning kicking in - if they didn't light up then it's worth trying them the other way round (when the bulb failure warning will probably kick in and they'll flash).

my next problem is the fog lights, they are 24 led ones so i would say 1w per led

55w normal - 24w led = 31w resistor but im unsure which one to buy

You need a resistor that makes the combination of the bulb and the resistor draw not much less current than the normal bulb would.

1W per LED is very unlikely, I suspect they will draw much less than that (I have some 3W LED bulbs at home that produce more light than a 50W halogen bulb).

So first check how much current the LED bulbs actually take (measure it with a multimeter).
A 55W bulb will draw about 4.5 amps from 12V so you'll need a resistor to make up most of the difference. Let's say the LED draws 0.5 amp, so you'll need a resistor that draws 4 amps from 12 volts, i.e. 3 ohms (R=V/I).

right, you have just confirmed what i have just read, im going to order a couple of these

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/sear ... &R=0136200

and see how i go,

thanks for the help

I have those resistors, they get really really hot! Think about that when you mount them, i didn't the first time, almost cost me a new headlamp...

[Rick_RS4]

those are for the fog lights so will be mounted behind the fog on a metal plate or behind the bumper on the chassis, for the drls im going to use a 50w 24r or if that doesnt work a 10r, from what i have read,

thanks for the heads up though

[Norre]

I have tried out ALOT of bulbs for license plate light, DRL:s, and parking light.
Here are my results.

Don't work:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... MEWNX%3AIT (litt up but warning)

Works:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... MEWNX%3AIT (warning for about 2 sec, then gone)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/V-LEDS-T ... 336351f76e (with resistor)

Xenon HID on fog lights works, get a canbus kit to be sure.

Next bulb i will test for parking lights are these;
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B7_RS4--V ... /ES252273/ (built in resistor).

[Rick_RS4]

the 501 bulbs i use above work like the ones you are going to buy from ecs

[Rick_RS4]

ok so little update i fitted the resistors to the DRL lights, and they look awesome (if i do say so myself) much better than yellow light.

iv not checked how hot they get yet will try that out tomorrow after a run. iv read these are cool running so will be fine to mount inside the headlight unit,

sidelights
http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/WHITE%20C ... egory_id=0
(no resistor required)


DRL

http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/Canbus%20 ... egory_id=0
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/sear ... 4r&x=0&y=0



Dipped + Sides (nothing required)



Dipped + Sides + Fogs

http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/LED_Fogli ... ight_bulbs
(not done resistors yet for these)