ok so I've seen a couple people building LED tails for the 2G tl and I really like the way some of them have been coming out. I want to try and make my own tail lights but I'm going to take some design ideas from the E60 bmw's. What I need to figure out is the kind of output I'll need from the LED's, the voltages from the car when the lights are on and also when the brake is applied, and if anyone knows how I could wire the whole thing to the existing harness. If you have any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear it. Thanks

 

Maybe Premium can help. Try talking to him.

 

take a digital multimeter & pull the tails. use it to check the voltages & resistance needed....shouldn't be that hard. here's one for the low: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...FQHonAodRQ4AdQ

as far as wiring is concerned, head to a local pull-a-part & cut off the stock harness, use this to wire your custom tails so they will be a plug & play type fit, no hacking of your cars actually chassis harness....

 

My problem is I'm away at school and my car is home so I can't check until I'm on spring break. I was hoping someone would already know the voltages but if I have to wait I guess that's that. Also, after I cut off the stock harness what exactly am I using to create a plug and play type situation? Thanks for your help!

 

Also, I'm using these bmw tails as a kind of design idea



Here's my sketch for what I want my tail light to look like



For the plastic tubes, I plan on using plastic rods that are made to rotate and open or close the shutters on window blinds. I could just drill a small hole in each end and put LEDs in. I found these ones online but I'm worried about them being too thick.



Does anyone know if they sell plain CCFL tubing that is used to make angel eyes? I looked all over and couldn't find any.

Let me know what you guys think of this design, and feel free to give any suggestions! Thanks!

 

excuse my momentary ignorance, you'll need the plug off the taillight side not the chassis. I'll see if I can find some time tomorrow in between the Daytona coverage to check those voltages, it shouldn't be too hard. Do you have a haynes manual or similar to look at wiring diagrams?

those bmw tails do look very good, i'm interested in knowing what exact material they use for the tubes. maybe your pap might have a busted one you could get for the low or ebay or something?

 

I would really appreciate if you checked those voltages... And i do have a haynes manual at home that i could have my brother mail to me. As far as what's used in the bmw tails, i have no clue cause i just took that picture off the internet. I would imagine its just some kind of plastic or something. I originally wanter to use ccfl tubing for it but i cant seem to find it online.

 

Maybe just find some clear plastic tubes and put an led in each open end then cover the back half of it w Mylar or something reflective??

 

Thats kind of the idea with those plastic tubes i was talking about before. I just gotta make sure theyre strong enough to be heated and shaped to fit the contour of the tail light housing. I like your idea about the reflective backing. Ill definitely be looking into that thanks!

 

Good luck with this project. I hope it turns out well. I like LED lights for the brightness and quickness that they turn on, however I don't like the individual dotted LED look. If it could be a solid line of light it would look amazing.

 

I've always felt the same way. I'd much rather have a clean install and end result than one that's easy but doesn't look good.