DRL's, LED tails and meshed grills fitted

[Gary H]

Just thought I'd share my latest mod - been meaning to get these on for ages, but finally got round to it.
I wanted to mesh in my grills for a long time - and considering I had new rads fitted in September, I was amazed at the amount of crud that accumulated back there!
I also wanted a stock look, not to showy - the same reason I went for a 5000K HID kit (albeit a 50W one!) so it didn't scream 'Litronics wannabe'

Anyway, it was a relatively straight forward job - I bought a set of Non S grills (black, rather than the 'titanium' finish) some aluminium mesh and cut to shape and fixed with cable ties. I got them at a good price - so much so that I reckon what I get for my old grills will cover the cost of these, the mesh and the lights!

Really pleased with the result:





I fitted a relay which switches the lights off when your main (dipped) beam comes on and automatically switch off when you go back to parking lights or switch off, as you can see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JUpbk8jaqc


Oh - nearly forgot: smoked LED tails with matching smoked brake light:

[yimmy149]

Looks nice, can you post a close-up of the DRL module? Or link to the product?

-james

[Gary H]

NP:

http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/led-automatic-daytime-running-lights-wiring-kit-leddrl-4665-p.asp

[Lil bastard]

Looks nice, but you're kidding yourself if you think you've eliminated having to clean the radiators on a regular basis. While they'll keep birds and things out, there'll still be enough debris getting through to warrant cleaning them on the same schedule as before believe me.

I do like the looks of the mesh, but I bet you've covered nearly a third of the opening and will likely run higher temps esp. in traffic or on hot days. That's always been the main concern for me.

Cheers!

[rick3000]

I like your LED running lights. I did something similar myself last summer and really like the way it looks. But I have held off on the mesh for the reasons stated, they can cause higher operating temps.

[23109VC]

those LED lighs looks NICE! can you write up how you did it????

now that you know how to do the wiring/lights, you need to do an LED in your door handle ! another guy here did that and tha tlooks slick too!

where did you get th elights? cost? how hard was this to do?

[Anim]

Like the smoked tail lights, very dapper !

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

eliminated having to clean the radiators on a regular basis.

I haven't cleaned my radiators yet, what's the schedule for doing it? is it easy for a DIY muppet to accomplish? :-)

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by Anim

Like the smoked tail lights, very dapper !



I haven't cleaned my radiators yet, what's the schedule for doing it? is it easy for a DIY muppet to accomplish? :-)

You should clean them every couple years. The radiator and the condenser are sandwiched together and lots of debris collects there. The pic below shows one of my radiators (actually it's the condenser - there was much more crap behind it in front of the actual radiator) after just 2 years of just sunny, summer driving - maybe 3k mi. total.

The procedure involves removing the bumper cover and separating the condenser and radiator, then a brush and vacuum or compressed air to force the debris out from behind. Takes about 90 minutes - less once you've done it before.

Cheers!

[Anim]

urgh nasty. Thanks for the tips

[newtothegame]

Hi, i have just fitted outer mesh grills in my front bumper but am unsure if i should do the center scoop in my 3.2 S as earlier posts have mentioned over heating, anyone know if this is the case of not ?????????