Those 9-5 tail lights look pretty sweet. The only LED lights I've ever seen that don't look like they belong on Civic. Honestly, I think they're pretty classy looking.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking....I was hoping one of them may see this thread. I'm really curious how much they would cost, so that maybe down the road I can get some.
The lights seem to be based on the present 5 series on the reds due to the "bars".
Definately a mod i'd want to do even on a stock, Colours' got to be right though. What about an estate version??
With Some work and the right supplies it would be a fun DIY . This will be my winter project. It doesn't look like they covered the old light housing either, it's just in front of it. I just got my 3d printer working and this would be a great first project.
First of all I'm VERY interested in this project. Pretty sure you're gonna have to soften the glue that holds the housings together with a heat gun or in the oven to get the thing apart to do this. The trick isn't getting it apart, it's getting all the glue cleaned up and getting them back together neatly.
I've replaced my backup lights and number plate bulbs with LEDs (just bulb swaps) and their are no issues so I'm guessing as long as you use LEDs rated for 12v operation you should be ok. The brake lights you can switch out as well, but their have been complaints that they don't illuminate as quickly as the normal filament bulb. I wasn't willing to gamble with that As far as the turn signals, you will definitely need resistors inline to trick the system into not thinking a turn signal is out and blinking double-fast. The resistors get HOT so they need to be situated in a place well-ventilated and perhaps insulated somehow.
Everything above applies to bulb swapping with ready-made LED bulbs that fit the stock housing, but I image that you will run into the same issues with this project since the ready-made bulbs are just a cluster anyway. Good luck and keep us posted!!
Try the lexus, acura, and audi forums...honestly there are a lot more of those cars running around and a LOT more modding going on over there than here. I get a lot of ideas from those guys. Some are good, some tacky; pick and choose. They have whole sub-forums just dedicated to lighting for example. One popular mod they do is to use CCFL tubes as replacements for the license plate bulbs. The tubes are super durable and honestly the bars in the brake lights in those photos from Russia look more like CCFL tubes than leds; you can get them in all colors; the computer modder guys use them inside of clear computer cases as well so you can check those sites and get them on the cheap. Some even already run on 12v so they work well in auto applications. Stack a few up and there's your "bar-style" brake lighting...
they only come in 10 inch and 4 inch. they are also rigid, so they wont bend and you have to use a transformer that you can buy on this site. i've used them once on the inside of my friends car to light up the foot well. worked alright. oh and the oven trick works. i did that to my fog lights.
they only come in 10 inch and 4 inch. they are also rigid, so they wont bend and you have to use a transformer that you can buy on this site. i've used them once on the inside of my friends car to light up the foot well. worked alright. oh and the oven trick works. i did that to my fog lights.
Was there glue everywhere and was the process difficult of cleaning and re-gluing the seam together so it looked factory? Some guy on garaget.org took his Xenons apart and painted the inside matte black and I would really like to do this. I DON'T want to ruin those expensive lights though...
ouch! $200 / corner assembly and $60 / hatch light assembly = $520 just to prototype these. Wow. Alternatively you can give http://www.goldwingsaab.com a ring and they will almost for sure have these parts used at a substantial savings...I've used them a bunch in the past...
ebay the prices are high enough for post-facelift lights I might as well buy them new. I glanced at the classifieds and only noticed pre-facelift cars in there, but if you see a post-facelift shout out
Yes the one-off look really smart, but could a similar effect be done by the following?
Taking the rear lights apart then using a 2/3mm thick colour coded red for instance piece of perspex. Drill the perspex to create an led look???? I know there may be a light bleed from the undrilled areas.
Just a thought, I use 2 407 SW estates for work. Without looking the rear lights look led but I think they are bulbs, with a cover over the top to give the look?
Might be clear tubes with red lights that illuminate them.
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