I have noticed that when using vag-com to enable the leaving/coming home lights that there is a DRL oprtion. i'm not sure what it does though if anything
Legal side:
To be legal the bubs themselves (the leds) or the unit to be installed have a [ c e mark ] then they are fine for use on motor vehicles. This means you comply with Europen Directives.
The light must be or a white light.
Installation:
Easiest way would be to wire them into the side light circuit, therefore eliminating the need to feed wire into the cabin and fitting a switch.
But of course being on a parallel circuit with the sidelights means you'd have your 501 bulbs in the main headlight unit on too.
When you say 'fit LEDs' do you mean an led strip (like the audi R8)? If so i'm not sure where you'd mount them? Maybe under the fog light on the mesh I think i've seen a car that's done that.
Pretty simple installation wise, really just a choice of where to mount them and how many.
You shouldn't need resistors because the 501 sidelight bulbs will draw enough wattage not to trigger the canbus system
To be legal the bubs themselves (the leds) or the unit to be installed have a [ c e mark ] then they are fine for use on motor vehicles. This means you comply with Europen Directives.
The light must be or a white light.
Installation:
Easiest way would be to wire them into the side light circuit, therefore eliminating the need to feed wire into the cabin and fitting a switch.
But of course being on a parallel circuit with the sidelights means you'd have your 501 bulbs in the main headlight unit on too.
When you say 'fit LEDs' do you mean an led strip (like the audi R8)? If so i'm not sure where you'd mount them? Maybe under the fog light on the mesh I think i've seen a car that's done that.
Pretty simple installation wise, really just a choice of where to mount them and how many.
You shouldn't need resistors because the 501 sidelight bulbs will draw enough wattage not to trigger the canbus system
There should be a law against them, always remind me of a council house with Xmas decorations still up in may....
If you want daytime running lights, why are we talking switches and connecting them to side lights or headlights? surely this means they ould be simply side lights.
Daytime lights would be on whenever the ignition is on, regardless of whether side or headlights are switched on or not.
As said above, technically they need to have a CE mark. but int he real world this isnt a major issue if they are fitted well and securely.
Other than that the only thing i can think of legality wise is:
1 that you have the correct colour, (ie white lights, not blue and definately not red)
2 you fit them in pairs. ( you can have as many lights as you like on a car as long as they are even in number).
3 there is likely some maximum wattage that applies, - but being LEDs this is not going to be an issue. (otherwise they become headlights and other rules such as alignment and minimum height from the road surface come into play).
Daytime lights would be on whenever the ignition is on, regardless of whether side or headlights are switched on or not.
As said above, technically they need to have a CE mark. but int he real world this isnt a major issue if they are fitted well and securely.
Other than that the only thing i can think of legality wise is:
1 that you have the correct colour, (ie white lights, not blue and definately not red)
2 you fit them in pairs. ( you can have as many lights as you like on a car as long as they are even in number).
3 there is likely some maximum wattage that applies, - but being LEDs this is not going to be an issue. (otherwise they become headlights and other rules such as alignment and minimum height from the road surface come into play).
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Its the opposite im afriad. EU law (if not already) stipulates that new cars must have daytime running lights.
I certainly don't!
I hope you're being sarcastic here. Otherwise this thread is starting to sound like a bit of a whinge-fest.
If anybody bothered to read the research, daylight running lights reduce accidents in general and pedestrian injuries in particular. I wholeheartedly support the compulsory use of daytime running lights and honestly believe they should be mandatory ASAP. Arguing otherwise is like saying we shouldn't bother with seatbelts anymore because they crease your nice shirt...
What we, as the consumer, should be doing is pressuring the manufacturers to impliment them in a tasteful and aesthetically pleasing way. To my mind Renault have done a good job on the new Megane RS250 coupe...
As for the legality - they are just permanent sidelights and must therefore comply with the same rules - (min / max height & brightness) and some general vehicle lighting rules, such as LEDs cannot directly forward face - they must be through a lens or reflector.
I ride a bike too and am a fan of people using their lights whenever they add to your likelihood of being noticed by others, so -on a bike- they are more or less essential. When you are in slow stop start traffic in a queue cars do not need to show lights and compulsory DTRs are just a way of preventing idiots from driving without thought- so I suppose they are necessary. But I find the look of many of them hideous and very much so in the case of the current Audi range who are only a waving santa short of a council estate-pure crud in fact.
Rather a bit of a whinge than a preach anyday....
So if I think running lights look awful I must like running people over?
Fair enough if they are going to be a requirement on new vehicles in 2 years time that's fine, but that doesn't mean that an old vauxhall corsa looks ok with tinsel lights added to the front!
Badly fitted poor quality hid's and led's added to cars are dangerous and tacky.
How's that for a whinge and a preach...
think it was volvo with the 3rd brake light also..
Its is a good thing to have daylight running LEDs, like some have said though its no excuse for them looking naff.
What is intersting is how easy it is to drive a leon for example with no lights on, as the dash illuminates whether you have lights on or not. This is something that has become common and something that should be changed.
Its is a good thing to have daylight running LEDs, like some have said though its no excuse for them looking naff.
What is intersting is how easy it is to drive a leon for example with no lights on, as the dash illuminates whether you have lights on or not. This is something that has become common and something that should be changed.
How very constructive...
I do agree that poorly fitted HIDs and LEDs are dangerous - whether or not they are tacky (i personaly think so) is down to the taste of the individual.
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Funny how everone's going mad over an idea that Volvo had with the 2 series.
That's because daytime running lights have been a legal requirement there for a long time. All cars sold there had to have the sidelights on permanently. The rest of Europe are playing catch up.
No aesthetic problems just having the standard sidelights on permanently - unless the car was ugly to start off with that is
Audi have just taken a styling route which some love and some hate - just like any piece of styling. Same ithe BMW and the Angel eyes. If you don't like it, don't buy it!
^^^^On the 2 series Volvo it wasn't just sidelights on all the time. They had 5w sidelights/parking lights too, the bulbs in the DRL's were 21w the same as an indicator bulb, I know this because I owned a 265 estate for a while.
As you say everone is now attempting to catch up with a 2 series Volvo.
As you say everone is now attempting to catch up with a 2 series Volvo.
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You're absolutely 100% right! The really uninteresting thing is that in 1989 VLR (incorporating 2005 amendment) there is actually no strict requirement on bulb wattage, and there is actually little difference in light output between a 5W halogen sidelight and 21W tungsten.
As for daylight running lights i believe they are supposed to produce between 400 and 1200 candelas which is a pretty wide range, and would be something like 5-15W from a dispersed halogen bulb!!
The point is, manufacturers can comply with the legislation just by having the standard sidelights on permanently, and this is what most are doing.
LED bulbs are more energy efficient than Halogen so are being favoured, and since they lend themselves to array installations eyebrow designs like Audi have come to the fore. Other manufacturers have chosen to install the lights around the fog light area.
Unless they are factory & use the White LEDs , they look shyte.
It's like the none s-line audis that have just normal yellowish drls, it's says to me "I couldn't afford anything than base spec"
I posted a few links to the official info on this & what's what, use the search option
It's like the none s-line audis that have just normal yellowish drls, it's says to me "I couldn't afford anything than base spec"
I posted a few links to the official info on this & what's what, use the search option
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