E30 LED Tail Lights... (Pics & Vid, 56k no)

[Schnitzer318is]

Ok so I've got this ongoing project I've been working on and have been for about a total of 14 hours of cutting, soldering, hot gluing, and wiring. Now I'm in no hurry to finish it because I want it to look completely stock from the trunk with no rats nesting going on... and also want very pleasing results from the LEDs themselves. Here are some pics and a vid of my progress so far. Note, the vid showing the signal light flashing will not do that in the final revision. I have decided to move the strobing portion to the brake light and the areas above and below the reverse light (where euro fog would be). This will only happen by switch of course... lol I wouldn't want to drive around with strobing brake lights going. That might attract alot of unwanted attention. Opinions/suggestions? BTW, I am personally quite pleased with myself on this one. Going to be one sweet ass mod when I am done... if I am ever done :( I will continue to update this thread with media through the conversion process.

These pics are unedited... some were taken with normal exposure and some were taken with exposure turned down (-2 I believe). Obviously the bright ones are normal exposure...















Video

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Beginning-of-LED-Tail-Lights-On-91-318is-E30-BMW_157547.htm

[AndrewBird]

Looks good. I know how much work this kind of project can be. You might try plastic epoxy instead of hot glue on the tail light housings. I don't see hot glue holding up for very long.

Why is the flashing a bit erratic? Will it be smoother/slower once installed in the car?

[Schnitzer318is]

^The turn signal will flash like normal... that flashing is supposed to be semi random like you would see on emergency vehicles. I was playing around with that Sho-Me unit in the beginning of the vid. Pretty cool little gizmo. I'll be using that strobe function on a switch for when I want to look all fast and the furious (sarcasm). No I'll probably use the flashers at shows or to wow the friends at bbq's.

The hot glue is temporary until I get everything just the way I want it. Then JB weld is going over all the hot glue seams. Then it's getting a coat of rubberized weather proofing on the rear of the tail.

[Mtriple]

link to sho-me unit?

[BrandC]

Pretty cool shit, look forward to updates.

[Garageaholic]

Looks great. I'd love to see this installed on the car.

What specs of the LED's are you using? mA, Voltage drop/breakdown, mcd? Where did you get the LED's? Any wiring schematics? Any resistors in series with LED's? Looks great. I can't wait to see the final product.

[BrewCity11]

I love that you're putting the effort into it. Good work.

[Larry e30]

Schnitzer, I admire your love of LEDs, keep up the good work

[Schnitzer318is]

link to sho-me unit?

Link to sho me unit is in this thread:http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=108659.

What specs of the LED's are you using? mA, Voltage drop/breakdown, mcd? Where did you get the LED's? Any wiring schematics? Any resistors in series with LED's? Looks great. I can't wait to see the final product.

All LEDs are available through seller lvekh on ebay. The brake lights are 36 8mm 45,000mcd reds. I am feeding them 1.9v and 20ma each using a string of 4 leds in series and a 330ohm resistor in series as well on the negative side of the string. Same thing goes for the 96 amber LEDs.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'll keep the updates coming.

[Garageaholic]

Just out of curiousity, do the brake lights/tail lights exhibit the same (or close) luminoscity as what is mandated by the DOT?

The only reason I ask is because you said that the brake lights have the same intensity as the turn signals. Will this be true between the brake lights and the taillight?

[Schnitzer318is]

The brake lights are brighter than OEM, the signals are either the same or slightly dimmer than OEM, and the parking lights will be around OEM brightness. The parking lights won't be as bright as the brake lights, like the OEM units. And since these are LEDs, from directly behind, where a driver would be behind you... they are easily seen.

[AlarmedBread]

Nice work man.

[StereoInstaller1]

Holy Crap, batman!

Very nice. I am gonna have to work my ass off to outdo you.

Why not just use a transistorized flasher, like on Chebbys with trailers? You aren't flashing anything but the turns, right?

[Schnitzer318is]

^No I'm going to flash the brake lights, euro fog area, and area above the reverse light eventually. Though I hooked it up on the car and for some reason I get a turn signal output to my LEDs on the Sho-Me even though I intentionally didn't hook up a turn signal input? Everything works fine, except when I turn on the signal, my brake/parking lights blink with the turns. Frustrating. I will probably remove the Sho-Me unit and go your method (Link to a flasher?). And keep the Sho-Me for when I get the all reds so I can have some massive turns/brakes on that mofo.

[AlarmedBread]

So will you be able to write 'E30 FTW' across your tails next week? :)