LED idea

[Majikal]

Alright, so dont kill me for this, lol.

I have a 91 318i sittin in my garage awaiting new brake lines and what nots, but Im not going to fix it for a while, annnnd Im kinda of a modaholic. So I had some amber LED's laying around and Im placing them subtly around the cabin for a little bit of ambient lighting.
Now, the amber LED's are good, but I also have a couple of white super-LED's that I wanted to do somethin with. So I was thinking about where I can put this and have them be useful, because these things are f'in BRIGHT... then I thought, "well, theres no real dome/map light in the car... why not just put em in the overhead and switch em to shine down and light up the cabin when I need it!?"

What do you guys think? A white LED on either side of the overhead (where the little diag. computer thing is), aimed at either front seat and one of the three switches I put in the center console will control it like a dome light.

If anybodys curious as to what LED's im using and switches, etc. I get them from my friends at www.oznium.com

[DarkWing6]

Why not replace the lights in the side overhead lights with the white LEDs? I know it would take a little wiring, but brightening those up to make them useful would be cool.

[jajou318]

Or get a maplight mirror and tweaking with that :P

[Majikal]

I thought about replacing the side mounted lights with the LED's, it wouldnt be hard to wire as there's already a pos/neg wire in that location for the existing light... but even still, it doesn't shine too much in the front, it's more directed to the back (I dont know if 2 doors and 4 doors are angled differently, but mines 4 door).
And an OEM maplight costs money, whereas I already have these LED's laying around, and even if I didnt, there only like 2 dollars.
Although a maplight retrofitted with LED's would be nice and bright.

[Wiglaf]

do, then post pics :)
I'm planning on a total led conversion including the dash and some ambients in the footwells, door handles, and ignition area.
I'm still trying to decide between white or amber for that.. for maplights i think i'll get the mirror with lights. the vert doesn't leave much other option.. it's idea of a dome light is pretty worthless.

[Mr Deagle]

i would only be impressed if you used voltage regulators to control the voltage instead of resistors to bring the voltage down

[StereoInstaller1]

Why not add LEDs to the stock mirror?

WTF, it would not be that tough, and it would be cool as shit.

Underdash lighting is nice, too.

I want to put LEDs in my door handles so people will stop funbling to find them.

Luke

[Majikal]

i would only be impressed if you used voltage regulators to control the voltage instead of resistors to bring the voltage down

I would but I have the prewired LED's with resistors already soldered on. Eh, they do the trick :D

I've already got three switches wired up in the e-brake console to a point where they look relatively stealth and factory. Also put two LED's to point towards the e-brake so when the consoles back in the car, it will light up the little inlay where the e-brake lies. The first switch will control the LED's, the second will control the white LED dome light thing I was saying, and the third is undecided, probably some flooring lights later down the road. Here's a little teaser. :p



and this pic shows the light pattern of the LED and the color for the most part, the light is against my "autograph" wall, lol, the beam is about 8 in diameter for reference.

[Majikal]

Why not add LEDs to the stock mirror?

WTF, it would not be that tough, and it would be cool as shit.

I hadn't even thought of that! Ill take a look at it later today to see if there is room in the housing. The wiring would be tough to hide though.

Underdash lighting is nice, too.

I want to put LEDs in my door handles so people will stop funbling to find them.

Luke

Yeah I plan on putting them in the door pulls, where they are in the e-brake console, and under the radio bezel in the little coin tray thing above the ash tray. Later down the road, I'll wire some amber cold cathodes under the dash.

[PiercedE30]

Put them in your cluster where normal bulbs will be. Then you don't have to worry about having to replace one of the bulbs if/when they go out.

[Majikal]

Put them in your cluster where normal bulbs will be. Then you don't have to worry about having to replace one of the bulbs if/when they go out.

good idea, it will also ensure that all the lights in the car will match! :p I knew you guys would have some good ideas! Anybody know how many bulbs are in the cluster? I have like 5 ambers left, I could do that.

[NC325iC]

there are 2 that light up the main guages and then theres a bunch that are there for the lights (check engine, check, abs etc)

[Wiglaf]

nothing wrong with using resistors to dorp the voltage.. although i was considering making a pwm regulator for the dimmer control. you get a lot more of a linear range than with a resistive style and it isn't too difficult to hack one together.
i almost considered putting blue or an adjustable RGB array for the two cluster lights but since it's internally tinted amber I don't think the blues and greens would look any good. when I get it pulled apart then I'll see how it looks just for kicks.

[Majikal]

i almost considered putting blue or an adjustable RGB array for the two cluster lights but since it's internally tinted amber I don't think the blues and greens would look any good. when I get it pulled apart then I'll see how it looks just for kicks.

make sure u post ur findings, im interested in that as well, not for my car but maybe as a mass producing kinda thing I could sell.

[Aerton]

Post some pics