blh_wakeboard
Member
- :
- 2008 MS3
This is kind of a double post, I figured I'd put it in the right area so others could see it. This is my first time doing a how to so if got questions ask away.
If you do end up putting these on your car please post pics of the end result. I'd love to see how it looks on other MS3s
Here is what you'll need
the two 9.5" white LED strips and 2 9.5" amber/orange LED for signals if you want em
Epoxy, got mine from wal-mart, goes clear when curing
sandpaper
box cutter
electrical tape/shrink tape/soldering iron
I started out buying two 9.5 inch white LED strips from the site listed above(http://www.oznium.com/led-flex-strips). They come with about 4ft of wire and that is all you need. I was lazy and didn't use a solder iron like I should but rather spliced and used electrical tape. It has held up since last summer and doesn't show any deterioration so far. But once you get them you will want to sand the area on the LEDs that will be on the bottom, and the area that you will be epoxying it to on the sill of the fog light so that it will bond better.
You will want to remove the the intercooler intake scoops from your bumper/grill of your car for this install
I know this photo shows it all finished but that is because i'm doing this "how to" post install. What you would do next is cut a 1/4" slit on the top and bottom of the inside of you fog light sill as shown. Once you have done that feed the wire from the LED strip through the hole. you may want to tape the wire to a short piece of hanger type wire so you can grab it after feeding it through.
Once you feed it through it will come straight into your front lower grill area. You will want to reach down through where your intercooler scoops were and grab the wire and pull it up. You will also want to tuck it back in on the side so that when it is taught it will be hidden. Before pulling it taught you will want to epoxy the light in. practice getting it formed and place a little before applying the epoxy. You will want to hold it in its place for a bit till the epoxy sets.
Once that is done you will want to pull the wire up taught and tuck it behind all the plastic parts you can such as shown above
Now to wire it to the parking light you will want to unbolt the main headlamp from the hard plastic crash/frame guard and from the frame itself. depending on your hand size you will probably also want to unbolt the fuse box so you can move it a bit out of the way. you will reach back in and twist and pop out the parking light. You'll want to test to see which wire is the main line and which is the parking light wire and which is the signal wire. for the white LEDs you will wire into the main line and the parking wire. LEDs will only work if the + and - are correctly wired fyi. once you figure that out you can just splice in and tape em up. Put the bulb in and your set. For the signal LED strip its the same just wire it into the main line and the signal line. You can see where I placed it below. Also 9.5" is a bit too long for a horizontal signal strip. you will want to cut the last three LEDs off the strip. Do not worry as it will still work just fine...
One other thing, I chose to black out my foglamp with vinyl. If you do the same or even if you use a clear bra type tint or most tints, do not turn on the foglamp as it will melt the material or shrink it and melt it to the lamp itself. Seen it done on other cars, didn't look good. I just never turn mine on, who needs em when you got the LEDs?
Oh and doing the left side is a bit easier than the right, you just dont have the PITA fuse box in the way.... but it's pretty much just repeat what you did on the right....
If you do end up putting these on your car please post pics of the end result. I'd love to see how it looks on other MS3s
Here is what you'll need
the two 9.5" white LED strips and 2 9.5" amber/orange LED for signals if you want em
Epoxy, got mine from wal-mart, goes clear when curing
sandpaper
box cutter
electrical tape/shrink tape/soldering iron
I started out buying two 9.5 inch white LED strips from the site listed above(http://www.oznium.com/led-flex-strips). They come with about 4ft of wire and that is all you need. I was lazy and didn't use a solder iron like I should but rather spliced and used electrical tape. It has held up since last summer and doesn't show any deterioration so far. But once you get them you will want to sand the area on the LEDs that will be on the bottom, and the area that you will be epoxying it to on the sill of the fog light so that it will bond better.
You will want to remove the the intercooler intake scoops from your bumper/grill of your car for this install
I know this photo shows it all finished but that is because i'm doing this "how to" post install. What you would do next is cut a 1/4" slit on the top and bottom of the inside of you fog light sill as shown. Once you have done that feed the wire from the LED strip through the hole. you may want to tape the wire to a short piece of hanger type wire so you can grab it after feeding it through.
Once you feed it through it will come straight into your front lower grill area. You will want to reach down through where your intercooler scoops were and grab the wire and pull it up. You will also want to tuck it back in on the side so that when it is taught it will be hidden. Before pulling it taught you will want to epoxy the light in. practice getting it formed and place a little before applying the epoxy. You will want to hold it in its place for a bit till the epoxy sets.
Once that is done you will want to pull the wire up taught and tuck it behind all the plastic parts you can such as shown above
Now to wire it to the parking light you will want to unbolt the main headlamp from the hard plastic crash/frame guard and from the frame itself. depending on your hand size you will probably also want to unbolt the fuse box so you can move it a bit out of the way. you will reach back in and twist and pop out the parking light. You'll want to test to see which wire is the main line and which is the parking light wire and which is the signal wire. for the white LEDs you will wire into the main line and the parking wire. LEDs will only work if the + and - are correctly wired fyi. once you figure that out you can just splice in and tape em up. Put the bulb in and your set. For the signal LED strip its the same just wire it into the main line and the signal line. You can see where I placed it below. Also 9.5" is a bit too long for a horizontal signal strip. you will want to cut the last three LEDs off the strip. Do not worry as it will still work just fine...
One other thing, I chose to black out my foglamp with vinyl. If you do the same or even if you use a clear bra type tint or most tints, do not turn on the foglamp as it will melt the material or shrink it and melt it to the lamp itself. Seen it done on other cars, didn't look good. I just never turn mine on, who needs em when you got the LEDs?
Oh and doing the left side is a bit easier than the right, you just dont have the PITA fuse box in the way.... but it's pretty much just repeat what you did on the right....
