Want Brighter Gauges? Upgrade Your Cluster Lights,

[Wolfman]

Diego/e30_dad is the only way to go for this

[potshot]

The only thing worse than DIY posts with broken image links is necroposting.

[Jaxx_]

sorry, but this looks horrible. a wide angle led bulb replacement would have been best and probably wouldn't cause those horrible hot spots, either. you should have retained use of the factory light pipe design.

[15Michaeljoseph]

quite right sensei thanks


--Mike

[meanEG]

I am planning on taking the stuff apart this weekend. It will turn out good. I used this technique before with hiding a 3rd brake light. Be patient young grasshopper

[15Michaeljoseph]

Did you get around to it yet? next week is my last week of school and I'm hoping to start on this i just dont want to waste money on the tint if it comes out shoddy


--Mike

[meanEG]

I want to see so.e as well. I am finishing up my last week of school. I have to pull the dash and replace the heater box gasket. When take out the cluster I will tint it. I really want to get the car done. I have just been waiting to tag it because I was going to be gone. I didn't want to pay insurance on it when I wasn't going to be around to drive it for

[15Michaeljoseph]

Bump
me want to see progress ;)


--Mike

[meanEG]

i got the tint in the mail over the weekend. i awill tint them soon. i need to take it apart and try to diagnose my odometer anyway. more to follow

[15Michaeljoseph]

So did you ever tint them to make them a little bit more dim? if so, pics?

[meanEG]

Uh... flux like that is made for soldering copper tubing, not wires. You want flux core solder, which is meant for soldering wires. Flux like you used is completely unnecessary and can cause corrosion down the line.

I knew it was not the correct flux, but it did what it was supposed to do. I do use flux core solder, but this soldered a lot easier. I updated the ad concerning zinc chloride flux.

This mod is not for everyone. It is not ricey either. Just tint the led lightly and all is good. I did not like the led bulb. The output was not sufficient.

[330SMG]

why not just buy LED bulbs

Nice write up but it would be simpler and less ricer with the correct LED bulbs that go into the sockets . you remove the orange filter and it is a lot brighter without ghetto look.

[AndrewBird]

Uh... flux like that is made for soldering copper tubing, not wires. You want flux core solder, which is meant for soldering wires. Flux like you used is completely unnecessary and can cause corrosion down the line.

[meanEG]

i am going to have to tint. i needed to address a bad printed circuit board. it looked awesome when turned down. i didnt like LED bulbs, there was still a void on the outer sides. I will get an extra dimmer and wire it in so i can run the rest of the dash on 12v and the cluster at minimum. that will fix the problem. the cluster looks great when the dimmer is turned down all the way. But yes, i agree, it is way too bright when it is up all the way.

[jw 325ic]

Sorry dude that looks terrible. Do you want to see the gauges or light up the void area around them?

Agreed. While i admire your hard work and creativity, it just seems like too much light. The newer cars get the brighter lights but an e30 will only achieve such levels with LEDs. Even with new standard bulbs the brightness is enough for me. But kudos to you, if you like it, then even more kudos.