I recently installed a pair of flexible LED light strips along the bottom edge of my headlights. Ever since Audi began to add the LED strips to their headlights, I really liked the look. It gives a very subtle yet distinct look to the headlights. They are clear and bright enough that during the day they could be used as DRLs.

I will get some daytime photos soon so that you can see what they look like. I have them wired into the parking light harness. I removed the parking light bulbs which are the small bulbs mounted above the large headlight reflector.

 

looks good sid, i would like to see em in the day time, im sure they look sweet but i dont know if i like that there on the outside of the headlight housing, but it might be ok, good job

 

I thought a lot about my possible mounting options before making my decision.

Considering the amount of work involved with mounting the strips inside, mounting it on the outside is not only easy, but actually more practical in the long run. There isn't a good flat surface at the edge of the headlight to mount the stip correctly on the inside.

I would have also had to create a hole for the wiring and that could have resulted in interior condensation.

The strip has a thick clear coating and is rated for exterior use.

 

where did you get those strips. i really like this.

 

Good start! Try mounting it under the hood instead and use side emitting LEDs. It looks just a little bit too obvious you stuck on some $20 light strips from Autozone to your headlights and you dont want people to realize that.

This is my most recent setup:



I see the camera picked up all the road salt on my head lights.





There is really no angle that you can see the individual LEDs from.



Even bright enough to be seen with headlights on.



Hood Up





Close up with the location its stuck to. About an inch from the edge of the hood. I used some additional contact adhesive just to make sure it stays on for good.



I have them wired up as my parking lights for now but I could attach them to another switched circuit I have set up as well. I perfer having the colored LED lights on a seperate circuit though so they can be disabled while driving.

so:

LED White Parking Light strip - Parking light switch (just turn on the parking lights to drive with them on)
Colored lower grill, engine bay, and multiple interior LED lights - Dome light and Override circuit.
The other nice thing is that strips blink when you use the keyless entry / security system.

 

Prior pic in better lighting condition from back when I had blue strips instead of the new, slightly more street legal white strips. Also have removed the ricey blue upper grill light since then.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...m-strikes.html

 

Very nice led set up!

 

Hmm, another DRL option. The ones flanking the hood look nice, and would work well for alerting other cars you're there.

 

The side-firing LEDs are pretty nice for stealth, but I think the whole idea with the Audi ones was that you could SEE the individual LEDs. I guess being Audi and commanding all that badge cachet, they could get away with using "cheapo" LEDs you could count with your eyes.

Just my opinion. Both setups actually look good to me - functional as well for DRL country.

Lyon_Nightroad's side-firing ones remind me of the front park lights on the Hyundai Santa Fe. I always liked that indirectly lit curve under its headlights when it lights up at night.

 

Yes, that was too harsh of me. It really does look fine. I think the only reason I said it that way was because of a coworker who said to me "wow, that actually looks pretty good, like it's oem, you see too many of these guys driving Suburbans with the LEDs just stuck on to the headlights" I think that's the only big thing that keeps me from leaving LEDs exposed. I would recommend, if you don't mind spending a few more bucks, getting the side emitting ones and putting them between your bumper and headlight. The best look would come from popping the lens and drilling in holes for individual LEDs and fitting them into the housing. That way the LEDs would have a wider viewing angle and look great. However, I currently do not have the cajones for that.

 

I thought about mounting an LED light strip at an angle like yours. But in my opinion it's way too steep of an angle. Flat across the bottom, or maybe even a slight kink up at the ends looks a lot better to me.

And yeah they are some cheapo $20 Autozone specials, but they are bright, water-proof, flexible and affordable. So what if someone like you and myself can figure out quickly that this set-up was very inexpensive?!? I'm not trying to cover it up, or act like I am something I'm not, or that I have something I really don't.

I simply mounted them it what to me was the most logical, easiest, cleanest, and eye-catching manner possible.

Now if I were to obtain a used set of NHB headlights, I would take my time and pull them apart and mount individually wired LEDS in the pattern that would best suite the housing. But to tell the truth, I still wouldn't mount them at such a steep angle as yours.

Now if there were some way to mount the strip about half-way between flat on the bottom and angled at the top, then I think that would look pretty sinister, like a pair of eyebrows in a permanent pissed off look. But that would bisect the main reflector and that would look bo-bo.

 

.

Here's a basket of kittens. To apologize for being rude

 

Not bad. .......

 

All righty, noted. Apologies if you took offense.

The "end kink" arrangement idea would certainly make it look a little more Audi-like. The ones on the A4 and R8 have this no?

 

Hate to tell you this guys, but as a certified Audi tech - nothing short of an OE-level LED strip part can match the light output of the stuff that goes into the headlights of the current models. All the highline versions have the LED strip (its kind of a brand identifier, even though a lot of people are ripping it off) but they are highlight focused LED arrays with their own microprocessors and each LED has projector around it to make the light uniform. A lot of VW/Audi guys buy the S6 OE LED light bars and wire them up. Kind of expensive ($300-450), but they work great and produce a good amount of light.

So in my opinion, its kinda tacky to mount the generic LED strips.

 

I might do this on my gf's audi tt