I wanted to add some sort of daytime running lights to my new 2012 R56. The 2012 has Xenon lamps, but I didn't want to run them full-time as DRLs, so I looked all over for some sort of LED DRLs, having admired some other car manufactures who incorporate them into their front grills. Even some Kia's have cool-looking LED DRLs!

I didn't find much I liked, so I came up with my own. I bought a weatherproof LED strip from SuperBrightLeds.com, used silcone sealant to attach it to the lower grill piece (which easily pops out to work on), and wired it into the R4 fuse under the hood using a piggy-back adapter so it turns on and off on its own. It's effective, pretty inexpensive (about $30 for the LED strip), easy to do, and looks pretty cool.

Check out the attached pic and tell me what you think.

 

Very creative! Looks good ..

 

Thats a long light strip. What about putting two separate pieces right below the head lights on the bumper between the hood and the bumper. Good job though.

 

I like it, may copy that .............

 

Good job...I like it too...But I'm a little addicted to lights

 

cool but looks like a ricer car.

 

Reminds me of the old Ford Taurus or whatever Mercury had for a while (Sable?)... it had a light bar in the centre where the radiator vent would usually be.

IMO it looks cheap and cheesy but it's your car. But I also don't like the look of a lot of new cars with the LED strips everywhere.

 

I love it and the idea, but how does it turn on and off?

Kudos!

 

I found a fuse under the hood in the fusebox assembly that turned on and off on its own. I used a simple piggy-back fuse to tap off that circuit. The lights come on when I unlock the car, open a door, etc. They go off on their own, but at varying delay intervals, but they always do go off. They'll turn off after as little as 20 seconds if it's just an open door that's turned them on, but may take 10 minutes or more if the car has been driven for a while. No idea why, but I figure as long as they turn off, who cares? It's better than having to screw around with a manual switch.

 

Hey abrayshaw... which fuse did you piggyback under the hood in the fusebox?? thanks.

 

Check out www.v-leds.com .
I prefer the look of one or two single lights as opposed to a strip.
(not that yours looks bad and you did do an excellent job on it).