LED-style taillights

The Dark Prince · Post by **The Dark Prince** » November 14th, 2005, 6:46 pm

Hi yall,

I was wondering.. Lately i've been seeing those LED-style taillights on the new Volkswagen Golf. Is a similar taillight unit available for the MX-3? If so, where could i find more info on it..

Greetz,

The Dark Prince

Teal_93 · Post by **Teal_93** » November 14th, 2005, 7:47 pm

nope none are available. I believe the angle of the bulb in our tailights are wrong for led bulbs. They could be custom made if someone were good at wiring electrical stuff...

The Dark Prince · Post by **The Dark Prince** » November 15th, 2005, 9:39 am

Such a shame.. It would look awesome on the MX-3. Aren't there any other taillight units for the MX-3, besides the black and chrome Altezza's? If so, pics please...

Teal_93 · Post by **Teal_93** » November 15th, 2005, 3:55 pm

there is the black, chrome, stock & carbon fiber look, but they are hard to find.

Vanished · Post by **Vanished** » November 15th, 2005, 6:52 pm

ebay, 100 bucks

Andrew_Pakula · Post by **Andrew_Pakula** » November 18th, 2005, 11:42 am

So is the LED-style taillight thing like the new Fad going around?

deltakao · Post by **deltakao** » December 11th, 2005, 10:11 pm

hey there, I think I might try and make some over the next few weeks between semesters. anyone know where I can get the bases?

rmcg5 · Post by **rmcg5** » December 29th, 2005, 6:00 pm

there is a company that makes led replacement bulbs the kinda pop out when you install them.... like a * pattern.... I read about them in a sema review... hailed as "the next big thing"...... but I have yet to hear anything about them since....

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » December 30th, 2005, 1:14 am

You cannot repalce a stock bulb with a LED bulb (the kind that uses the same pop-in base as stock, but has several LEDs attached). It will not porduce the same lighting and it much more dim than stock from what I've seen. Now if this was at SEMA this year then maybe they have found a different way of doing things, but I've seen soime LED replacement bulbs before and they look like crap.

You can gut a stock tail lamp and install LEDs and find a way to give them the proper power. A quick search of Google should provide all the info and parts you would need.

rsroadkilla · Post by **rsroadkilla** » December 30th, 2005, 7:01 am

i've got a set of stock tail lights laying around in my gfarage somewhere. im gunna have a go at making a set of led's!
Just gotta work out how to do it now!

Any of the body gods got any advice?

Josh · Post by **Josh** » December 30th, 2005, 11:21 pm

i have actually started on a set. i wont have them done for quite some time as i have alot of other little projectes to finnish first. but its costing me over 200 bucks in LED's alone. Im soldering everything myself.

the real cheep way to do it is use your stock lights pull the lenses and retro fit some 4" round truck led's in them. would be real easy, and totally legal. but they run about 50 bucks a set. so you would still be running about 150 to 200 bucks. the bonus would be you would never have to change a bulb again, and they would be direct wire in. no plug to corode.

i looked into masproducing my own LED tail lights, but it would cost me about 2 to 3 tousand to get everything up and rolling. and i would have to buy like 500 to 1000 boards to get populated, a stencle, it is just a big hassle, and no one is going to pay 500 bucks for a set anyways. so i decided to just make my own. i will probably have them done some time in summer.

rsroadkilla · Post by **rsroadkilla** » December 31st, 2005, 6:30 am

i've justr emailed a company in the uk asking what would be the most suitable led's and i've told them what they will be used for!
Still not completly sure on how im gong to do it, but i;ve got a rough idea. Just got to try and work it put as i go along i guess!

Grants · Post by **Grants** » December 31st, 2005, 7:05 am

but its costing me over 200 bucks in LED's alone

What you guys smoking?

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » December 31st, 2005, 10:58 am

He is buying prefabbed tail lamps and then retrofitting them into his stocks. I can see a company charging 50 bucks each side fora set of tails.

You can buy a simple round LED set that is general purpose for alot cheaper. Then all you have to do is find a way to mount them into your lamp housing and wire them in using a connector. You could even cut one of the bulb holders out and use it's connector (the part that plugs into the body harness) and soldier it into the LED pig tail. LEDs use such a small amount amps that it would be fine to run one set of LEDs from the same plug that the one bulb ran off of before.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » January 1st, 2006, 6:54 pm

Grants wrote:
but its costing me over 200 bucks in LED's alone

What you guys smoking?

no im buying specific led bulbs, they are very high intensity and of good quality. i have searched for months to find exactly what im looking for. and if you want quality you have to pay for it. other wise you will be terring down your custom fabed setup to replace a burned out bulb. you dont want a cheep bulb from China. i am hand fabricating my setup, im populating the pcb's myself. as i cant find the perfect setup for what i want so i have to make it myself.

and for good quality Truck LED's they run about 50 dollars a SET. so 50 bucks for 1 pair. and in the MX you have 4 brake lights so thats two sets thats 100 bucks. pluss your turn signals and you can pick up a 2" round led marker set and they run around 30 bucks so all in all you are paying out 150 with taxes and shipping, and maybe more depending on where you buy them. and if you want to do you backup lights too thats another 30 bucks or so, so 200 is far fetched.

you want good quality stuff, not cheepO CRAP. if your going to do it, you might as well do it rite the first time. so for 200 bucks you can build yourself a fairly nice set using your stock tail lights. to me proper almost fail safe lighting is well worth the money!