led side lights

[chunky79]

I'm wondering if we might be able to twist Rupert's arm(s) and persuade him to yank one of his led sidelights out of a cluster for identifying, as he commented to me the other day that he has had a pair in there for several years without issue. They looked the business!

Well, strangely they have worked without issue for years in the RS6, but I forgot to mention I installed another set in another car at the same time and they've both blown. I think it's luck of the draw.

I went through 2 sets in my s4 but a mate of mine has only used 1 set in his vxr in the same time and they are still going strong.
Come to think of it now, think they are the same type as the rs6 side lights. I'll ask him today (if i remember)

[chunky79]

A mate at work has these - http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/501194t10-mi ... -2191.html in his astra vxr and has had no problems with them.
His cousin has used them in his bmw and the problem he's had is the fault code, might try his in mine cause he has taken them out due the constant light on the dash was doing his head in

[tonyS6]

I only have a mere S6 but pretty sure it's the same regarding bulbs at least, so I thought that you might also like to know about these LEDs too:-
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/led-sidelight-bulbs/

I've used this company before for other stuff/ cars, and found their products excellent - also their customer service which is always a good sign. I will definitley be ordering sidelights/foglights and main beam upgrade from them for my recently purchased S6 but will have to speak to the company first after reading about the sidelight issues experienced on this thread. By the way, the link also shows an LED Resister kit too which may sort out the problem that some have experienced. Will come back on this as soon as I have an answer - hopefully over this weekend.

UPDATE:
Finally got round to making the enquiry, ordering and fitting the 501 LED's from HIDS4U - http://www.hids4u.co.uk/can-bus-sidelig ... w-led.html - these sidelights are specifically designed for cars with bulb warning and Canbus systems - whatever they are - so not expecting the failures which have been reported here previously - will report back if they do of course


Pics below show firstly with just the LED and then also with the dipped beam on - extremely pleased with the result complements the xenons beautifully.

Just to advise that when I first fitted them, one didn't seem to work so phoned their Customer Service Dept (who as previously experienced were very helpful) and they asked whether I had tried rotating the bulb 180 degrees. I did this and surprise surprise it worked! Don't know why this makes a diffiernce but worth bearing in mind when fitting these before complaining about faulty goods.

Fitting was slightly awkward even though I have very large hands, but notwhere near the knuckle scraping described on earlier posts - so no excuses not to fit these!

[Shoppinit]

Finally got round to making the enquiry, ordering and fitting the 501 LED's from HIDS4U - http://www.hids4u.co.uk/can-bus-sidelig ... w-led.html - these sidelights are specifically designed for cars with bulb warning and Canbus systems - whatever they are - so not expecting the failures which have been reported here previously - will report back if they do of course

Are they still working? The ones I bought from ultraleds are obviously pants because one's stopped working. Same because they look good.

[bilko1]

I bought these http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/501194t10-an ... -2342.html about a year ago for my B6 A4 and swapped them into my RS6 recently, perfect colour match for the headlights.

[Shoppinit]

I really like the ones I bought ( http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/ultimate-501 ... -1684.html ) because they point forward and look great in the RS6 headlight except I don't think they're reliable.

[Monaro-Azz]

- these sidelights are specifically designed for cars with bulb warning and Canbus systems - whatever they are

Just to advise that when I first fitted them, one didn't seem to work so phoned their Customer Service Dept (who as previously experienced were very helpful) and they asked whether I had tried rotating the bulb 180 degrees. I did this and surprise surprise it worked! Don't know why this makes a diffiernce but worth bearing in mind when fitting these before complaining about faulty goods.

Here's a bit of info for you tonyS6 ,
Bulb warning is a system where your lights system has a constant electrical resistance built in whilst all lights are operable, your BCM knows what this resistance figure is. When a bulb blows it either increases or decreases the resistance in the system and the BCM now knows that a bulb has blown because of the new resistance figure doesn't match the one preset in it & will throw a code/warning light or indicators will flash faster.

CanBus is a system adopted by manufactures to reduce the amount of electrical wires in a vehicle by piggy backing electrical components. They only using 2,3,or 4 wires to send power, earth, & commands to electrical items, the way it works is your ECU or BCM will send a command prefaced by a name e.g. component:24-"command" this command will then go through electrical components which will pass the command on till it gets to component:24 which will then use this command. They say it can save up to a couple of miles worth of wires in modern high-tech cars.

LED's are Polar specific e.g have a polarity, kind of similar to a battery or a magnet so they need to be used in the right polar setting e.g. positive/negative, whereas incandescent lighting doesn't have polarity(origional bulb type).

don't know if this helps?

[Shoppinit]

Good info. Worries me that there isn't a simple bridge on the hids4u bulbs to let you plug them in either way round like you can with the ultraleds ones.

Also, bit more info: RS6 doesn't test the side light bulbs AFAIK.

I put some LEDs sidelights in a B6 S4 and when you turn the ignition on they flash very briefly 3 times in quick succession. This is the control unit testing the resistance and / or continuity. You can't see it with the filament bulbs because the pulse is too fast, but LEDs react extremely quickly.

[tonyS6]

Finally got round to making the enquiry, ordering and fitting the 501 LED's from HIDS4U - http://www.hids4u.co.uk/can-bus-sidelig ... w-led.html - these sidelights are specifically designed for cars with bulb warning and Canbus systems - whatever they are - so not expecting the failures which have been reported here previously - will report back if they do of course

Are they still working? The ones I bought from ultraleds are obviously pants because one's stopped working. Same because they look good.

Yes, all working fine, the only issue was that when I first fitted them one didn't work. However, it turned out that you need to put them in the right way (and there's no way of telling which is the right way although you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right), which is no big deal really and once they're in the right way, then that's it.

[tonyS6]

- these sidelights are specifically designed for cars with bulb warning and Canbus systems - whatever they are

Just to advise that when I first fitted them, one didn't seem to work so phoned their Customer Service Dept (who as previously experienced were very helpful) and they asked whether I had tried rotating the bulb 180 degrees. I did this and surprise surprise it worked! Don't know why this makes a diffiernce but worth bearing in mind when fitting these before complaining about faulty goods.

Here's a bit of info for you tonyS6 ,
Bulb warning is a system where your lights system has a constant electrical resistance built in whilst all lights are operable, your BCM knows what this resistance figure is. When a bulb blows it either increases or decreases the resistance in the system and the BCM now knows that a bulb has blown because of the new resistance figure doesn't match the one preset in it & will throw a code/warning light or indicators will flash faster.

CanBus is a system adopted by manufactures to reduce the amount of electrical wires in a vehicle by piggy backing electrical components. They only using 2,3,or 4 wires to send power, earth, & commands to electrical items, the way it works is your ECU or BCM will send a command prefaced by a name e.g. component:24-"command" this command will then go through electrical components which will pass the command on till it gets to component:24 which will then use this command. They say it can save up to a couple of miles worth of wires in modern high-tech cars.

LED's are Polar specific e.g have a polarity, kind of similar to a battery or a magnet so they need to be used in the right polar setting e.g. positive/negative, whereas incandescent lighting doesn't have polarity(origional bulb type).

don't know if this helps?

Thanks for that info, very informative, and does explain the principles of how it works really well. Cheers

[SteveCuz]

Guys, hoping someone can help me out quickly.

My car is going to MOT tomorrow and my led's have gone again.

I kept the old bulbs but for the lift of me I cannot find them.

Can someone give me a part number or info so I can hopefully go to my local halfords or equivalent and pick up 2 normal bulbs.

Any help?

Thanks

Steve

[Shoppinit]

They are just 501 sidelight bulbs. Halfrauds will have thousands in stock.

[Shoppinit]

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/501-W5 ... Bulbs.html

[SteveCuz]

Cheers, thought so but just checking.

Got 2 for a £1!!

Steve

[Shoppinit]

There's not many parts for an RS6 you can get 2 for a pound