Hi guys, I just thought I would make a thread showing my LED DRLs since I'm not sure if anyone else has done a mod like this.

So my previous car (an 06 Civic) had daytime running lights and I liked how they made my car more visible to other drivers. When I got my TL about a month and a half ago, I kind of missed having DRLs, so I though about adding them to my car.

Obviously there were already few explored options for adding DRLs to the 04-06 TL. One was to use the fog lights as DRLs using a DRL module, but I never really liked the way that looked. The other was to swap in 07-08 headlights, but that seemed a bit complex and expensive.

So I decided to go a different route and get a set of these universal Hella dayline LED DRLs:



Basically these are high quality OEM style LED DRLs that use high current LEDs pointing upward into seashell shaped reflectors (they're pretty much identical to some of the new Mercedes DRLs). They even dim when the parking lights are on just like OEM LED DRLs.

So anyways, here's how it turned out (ignore the bug splats ):






Installation was pretty simple. I just took off the bumper, removed the black lower grille pieces and cut a hole in them to fit the lights. Since the DRL housings are made of ABS plastic, I was able to glue them into the back lower grille pieces using two part epoxy. It might sound ghetto, but the lights are actually held in very securely.

As for wiring, it's pretty simple as well. I used the relay that came with the lights. I just ran a wire from the relay to the positive battery terminal to power the lights and tapped the well known green windshield wiper motor wiper for the key on position power to trip the relay causing the lights to only turn on when the key is in the on position. The DRLs also had a "parking light sense" wire that dims the DRLs when the parking lights/headlights are on. I simply tapped that wire into the parking light power wire (orange IIRC) on the driver's side parking light/turn signal connector. The DRLs now dim with the headlights, ad as an added bonus, they flash (in dim mode) with the parking lights when you lock/unlock the car.

Night pics (these aren't the best, I used a 2-3 second exposure time, which is why the lights look so glaring):

On full brightness (parking lights off) at night


Dimmed with the parking lights





Thanks for looking.

 

Nicely done.

 

Thanks

 

I'm not a fan of aftermarket LED lights but that looks really clean.

 

 

I never like LED DRL on cars that dont come with them but you pulled it off nicely. Looks very clean.

 

Looks great. If I was to do that, I'll put those LED DRL towards the center more and leave the outside where your LED DRL are right now for fog lights. Just my two cents.

 

^Ewwwwwwww. Please OP don't do such horibble thing to your car.

I love the LEDs, very creative and looks very clean

 

Thanks for sharing. I have some SuperBrights on my car but they are a tad dim by day- I like these Hella's. Very clean!

 

Wow those look like they belong! As others have said... First setup I've seen that I actually like

 

That was a nice mod! Great job Splew!

 

Not bad.

 

Looks like it could've came factory, imo.

 

Splew, nicely done-very clean.

 

Splew, where did you get these lights? I just did a google and the best site I found was: http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Hella-LEDay..._ddl_sku78.htm for $76. Some sites had these or possibly another type of Hella light for $250.

 

clean.. i like

 

Thanks for all the positive replies guys.


I got mine from here.

$250 is about as cheap as the genuine Hella units come as far as I know. The ones you saw on ijdmtoy for $70 were probably knockoffs.

 

I LIKE. I used to have a set of those but it was a knock of Hella Style DRL LED. Brightness on both the Hella and the knock of is the same. I think hella is dim able when you have your parking light or headlamp on. The knock off was full brightness regardless day or night. But ya, I got my like $100 and was awesome. Looks nicely done!

 

damn that looks clean!

 

Very nice, clean, and OEM-ish look! Adding too many lights down there would make it appear too busy a la 4G TL.

 

I love it!

 

Thanks guys!

 

Thanks- I wound up ordering these lights for $75- hopefully the part number is the same:

LED_DDL_SKU78
Xenon White Hella LEDayLine Style 10-LED High Power LED Daytime Running Light (DRL) Lamps

This would be quite the deal if these are the same as yours- they look it from the pictures anyway.

 

Are these the ones you got? http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Hella-LEDay..._ddl_sku78.htm

If so, they're definitely knockoffs. If you look closely, they don't have the Hella branding mark in the lower reflector piece. They lack any DOT or ECE markings on the lens (meaning these might not actually be road legal). The final giveaway is the title "Hella LEDayLine Style 10-LED High Power LED Daytime Running Light".

The lights look quite similar to mine, but I was able to spot a few design differences. The shape of the lights is nearly flat and rectangular, whereas the Hella lights have much more of a curved trapezoidal shape (this is the main reason I chose the Hellas, since the curved lights conform to the curved shape of the lower grilles).
They also have only two wires going into the lights instead of three like the Hellas, so that means no dimming feature, so these might be a bit glaring at night.

You can see the differences pretty easily in these two pics.

Hella "style" DRLs


Genuine Hella DRLs



Granted, I'm not saying those lights are garbage or anything just that they're not the same ones I got.

Anyways good luck with the lights, it will be interesting to see how they look when you get them.

 

Nice, but what would one have to do in order to make them automatically turn off when I turn the headlights on? All those lights on at the same time start to look gaudy.
.
.

 

Great look. I'm not a big fan of the white LED strips in the headlight, I like this look better. Especially if your car is stock, it makes it look OEM.

I didn't know Hella made these till now. I'm a big fan of their products that have been around awhile. It will definitely show over time in the quality of materials. The knockoffs definitely will have inferior plastic parts and won't shine as nicely.

I'd do it, but I have CCFL angel-eyes, HID DRLs and HID lower fogs, doesn't really go with the look.

 

That could be done, it's kind of hard to explain though.

You could use another 5 terminal relay in addition to the one used to switch the lights on when the key is on. You could tap into your HID ballast power connector for relay power (energizing the relay) and connect your positive wire for your DRLs to the connector on the relay that has power in the non-energized position. That way when you turn on the low beams, the relay will be energized and it's switch will flip, cutting power to the DRLs.

I know that might sound confusing. I'll try and make a diagram.

 

I started my with these Super Thin LED Strips - yes I know...cheesy







Then these - Slim LED DRL







Then I got these (Hella Style) yes I know...it look out of place.....forgive me.



Now on my 2012 TL

SlimLine LED

 

^yeah, I've seen those LED strips on cars before. You can barely see them in the daytime.

The last set on the 4g TL looks pretty good though.

 

Actually these are pretty bright for its size. I had it spray tinted smoke the blend in my car but if it wasn't tinted, you can see it from a distance. I put it on my GF car and looks pretty bright.

 

Yeah, I don't doubt those are bright, with 7 1-watt chip style LEDs per light. I was referring to the flexy strip style LEDs in the very first pic when I was talking about the ones you can barely see in the daytime.

 

Flexible one is good if you built it inside your headlamp housing. I seen someone in here did that and looks very OEMish. It's only cosmetic look not very funcitional

 

Looks good Splew

i'm interested in seeing how these turn out.

 

^^^^+1

 

Thanks.

 

My lights just shipped so I'll try to install this weekend if they come in time. I have the dim strips now so it should be pretty straightforward with the wiring since I have it now.

Thanks Splew- I figured that I wound up getting the knock offs after studying the web site more. Since I never saw the original it was hard to know real from knockoff. The 'style' keyword along with the price made me suspicious. I think these lights will be tons better than what I have and I'll post pictures when they get installed.

My current setup is this:


The new lights will be an upgrade- I will use 3M tape and caulk instead of epoxy in case I don't like them.

 

^Hey, you have a WDP too.

 

^yep - same year as you too. This has been my best car and I still love it after 5+ years. Hopefully, I'll get those lights by Friday- they shipped out of LA on Tuesday via USPS.

 

Well done OP !!!

those are bright as fawk....

PS: dont get carried away and put more lights

 

Haha thanks, and BTW they are bright, but they aren't really as glaring as they appear in the pics. That's just due to the long shutter time. It turns out that photographing lights in almost pitch dark isn't easy.

Also, don't worry, I won't be adding any more lights. I don't want my car to look like this, lol: