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850 / S70 & V70 '96-'99 / C70 '97-'05 General Forum for the 850 and P80-platform 70-series models |
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DRL sidelight LED mod questionsViews : 2605 Replies : 20Users Viewing This Thread : |
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May 12th, 2013, 20:29 | #1 |
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DRL sidelight LED mod questions
Hi all,
I've been thinking about doing the DRL sidelight LED upgrade since I bought my C70, but I wanted to ask a couple of questions to those that have already done it first. What is the light intensity like with the sidelights only running with LED bulbs compared to the factory set up of headlights and sidelights both on but with normal bulbs? I would imagine the LED set up is not as bright, but are they still effective as DRL's? The other question is if I do this then when I am driving at night I will have the normal headlight bulb and the sidelight LED bulb both on which will presumably throw out quote a lot of light, is the indicator still visible ok at night with this set up or does it get masked? Can you get round this by fitting bright indicator LED bulbs as well? And lastly, where do people buy the LED bulbs from? I would probably buy through here as they have a good reputation: http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/501...=car&end=front, but does anyone have any experience of these bulbs or a recommendation? Colour temperature wise I'm thinking 5000K so it's white rather than having a yellow or blue tinge to it. They do not list indicator bulbs though so would that be an ebay job? I'm not really into the whole modding to change the look of my car thing, the only reason I want to do this is because I think it is much safer to drive with lights on but I don't want to make my headlights go dim from having them on all the time, so what I would like to end up with is something that looks standard with just using the sidelight LED's. If I end up with extra light output at night but still with indicators that are highly visible then this would be a bonus but certainly not a necessity.
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1999 V70 TDi (auto) 2002 C70 T5 GT Convertible (manual) 2008 XC90 D5 Executive (auto) |
May 12th, 2013, 20:35 | #2 |
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And something else I meant to ask but forgot! Am I right in thinking there is no bulb failure warning system that will come on when fitting LED bulbs?
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1999 V70 TDi (auto) 2002 C70 T5 GT Convertible (manual) 2008 XC90 D5 Executive (auto) |
May 12th, 2013, 21:02 | #3 |
☭Nick☭
Last Online: Jun 22nd, 2014 23:30
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Very easy on an 850 due to the separate corner lights and the fact they have the bayonet fitting, which enables a bigger more powerful LED unit.
I wouldn't worry about the indicators as your new LEDs are unlikely to outshine the existing 21w repeaters. As long as you get a bulb with "canbus" in the title/description, they have a built-in resistor and you'll have no trouble with your bulb failure system. I have LEDs all round, and my front ones are particularly effective due to them using "cree" LEDs, so look for those if you can - they're brighter than "smd" LEDs.
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1998 Volvo S70 CD 2.5T 20 valve (B5254T) Community First Responder transport & Daily Driver previously...1994 Volvo 854 SE 2.0 20 valve "L411XCC" & 1999 Volvo S40 2.0T SE "T283LTW" |
May 12th, 2013, 21:09 | #4 |
☭Nick☭
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1998 Volvo S70 CD 2.5T 20 valve (B5254T) Community First Responder transport & Daily Driver previously...1994 Volvo 854 SE 2.0 20 valve "L411XCC" & 1999 Volvo S40 2.0T SE "T283LTW" |
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May 12th, 2013, 21:29 | #5 |
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That's great, thank you. So are they better than the 360 degree versions? I thought the 360 degree ones would be better as the light is emitted all around the bulb and is projected forward by the reflector in the light housing. Or is that simply not the case and the forward facing bulbs are better?
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1999 V70 TDi (auto) 2002 C70 T5 GT Convertible (manual) 2008 XC90 D5 Executive (auto) |
May 12th, 2013, 21:37 | #6 |
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I use standard 501 20smb LEDs in mine before fitting the projectors and the flashing LEDs for indicators.
Sidelights won't set off the bulb warning If you fit led indicators you will need a load resister / balancer to stop the fast flash and the bulb warning. |
May 12th, 2013, 23:56 | #7 | |
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Quote:
I was reading a post earlier for an S40 where 27.5mm bulbs where touching the inside of the lens, are the 70 series housings bigger?
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1999 V70 TDi (auto) 2002 C70 T5 GT Convertible (manual) 2008 XC90 D5 Executive (auto) |
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May 13th, 2013, 08:51 | #8 | |
☭Nick☭
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Quote:
As i said earlier, you are unlikely to need to uprate your indicators. The "360" style ones with lots of little smds are a bit brighter than filament bulbs, but not by a huge amount - they're better for tail lamps etc. Most of the light from the side-facing smds will be lost within the massive headlight housing and lens. The lens is flat anyway, so the side-facing smds won't benefit other road users either. The cree LEDs give you the noticeable brightness you want, more akin to modern DRLs.
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1998 Volvo S70 CD 2.5T 20 valve (B5254T) Community First Responder transport & Daily Driver previously...1994 Volvo 854 SE 2.0 20 valve "L411XCC" & 1999 Volvo S40 2.0T SE "T283LTW" |
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