I installed a strip of LEDs in the boot in place of the OEM white light for better illumination, but when I have the car actually running, I can see that they're flickering on and off back there. I seem to recall someone mentioning that if you use an LED back there that you need to add something to the circuit to prevent this, but I'm not finding the thread that I origonally saw that info in. Can someone tell me why this is happeming, how to prevent it and tell me if the flickering will damage the LEDs?

Thanks!

 

It's just going bad...I have full LED replacement in my Mini and only the license plate festoon's keep dying after a few months...they start to flicker....no option but to keep replacing them... Have to keep an eye on them or the cops will notice them for you...

 

Doubt that's it, but it COULD be... what I installed is a whole strip of LEDs (like 25 of them, prewired) and they only flicker when the engine is running. They light fine when the boot is opened. I know that I read that the voltage is wonky in the back and needs some sort of help via an add-on device (a voltage regulator, maybe?) If so, maybe thast's why yours went bad?

 

LED require only small amount of electricity to power it, i assume that little amount of electricity is going through the circuit. cause mine flickers when i unlock my car, or with the interior doom light on (my led is for the license plate). hope that helps

 

How did you correct it (or did you just not bother)? Because I have a cabrio, I can't see the flicker at all unless I get out of the car and peer at the cracks around my cargo compartment sheild, but I'm worried the flickering might shorten the life of the LEDs or something.

 

I just instaled two LED strips from www.oznuim.com which are just great. I too noticed that under certain circumstances the LED flickered. I had taken the stock bulb out and when I put the bulb back in along with the LEDs, the LEDs stopped flickering. I didn't measure the resistance of the bulb, but if you don't want the stock bulb burning at the same time, just install a resistor that is equal to the bulb and the flickering should stop.

YD

 

Imagox - I have this same problem with my boot light in my 04 MCS even before I installed the LED's the stock light flickered. I thought maybe the stock bulb was going, but the 2 superflux LED's I installed flicker too. Did you ever find a solution? Weather the stock bulb is in or out, it still flickers.

 

You need to install a resistor in parallel with the light strip to approximate the current draw. Since LEDs need much less power than regular lamps, any 'leaking' current the comes from the BC module (which controls all the interior lighting, and almost all exterior) will make the lights flicker. The circuitry that drives the lamps has as part of it a system that is able to detect burned out bulbs. While this is only put into use for the turn signal lamps, since all the other outputs are similar, they all pass the slight current to 'test' the bulbs. An incandescent bulb presents a very low resistance when off, and with a slight current applied. An LED appears as a near oppen to the low test current, but will tend to flicker or light dimly.

 

Wow, OLD thread revived :-)

 

However, he said "even before I installed the LED's the stock light flickered". This seems like a pretty unusual problem.

 

Here is another strange thing.... when the rest of the lights start to dim, the boot light goes right off. It doesn't dim like the others.

Also, just noticed when in the car, after the interior lights have dimmed to off, if I put my key in and turn it to the first position, the LED's connected to the Boot light blink on at about 1/2 brightness for the first 5 seconds. None of my other LED's that are hooked up to the Dome Light and front seat foot well lights blink.

Anyone know if the Boot light is not tied in with the Dome and Foot Well lights? Maybe it's on a separate circuit with the system that detects the burnt out taillights and that's why it is the only light that blinks?

Also the LED's I am using are pre-wired with a resistor:
Oznium's SuperFlux LED's

 

This is a comment I did not understand. When you open a door or turn on your dome light, does your boot light also turn on? It does not in my cabrio. I would be surprised if it wasn't the same on a hardtop but maybe I'm wrong. On my cabrio, the boot light turns on only when the tailgate is opened, and turns off immediately when the tailgate is closed.

I think you need to concentrate on how your stock boot light behaves (without the LEDs), because something is amiss if your stock light flickers. If your stock light is already not working as expected, there is no predicting what the LEDs would do.

The boot light does not dim, and according to the wiring diagram in the Haynes manual it is indeed on an separate circuit from the footwell/dome lights. Here is how I think it is supposed to work. The tailgate presses on a switch when it is closed. The BC1 computer reads the switch to determine whether the tailgate is open or closed. If the tailgate is open, the BC1 turns on the boot light. If the ignition is also on, the BC1 turns on the bonnet/tailgate warning light on the dash.

 

On my 04 MCS...the Boot Light turns on when you unlock the doors with the key remote, open any of the doors or push the Dome light button to turn on the interior lights manually. I could have sworn my boot light fades on and off like the rest of the interior lights....but I'll double check it.

I agree that I need to figure out the stock boot light behavior before putting the LED's back on. If I can't figure out the Stock Boot Light issue, then I may just run the LED's from the dome light.

 

My viewpoint is from the perspective of a cabrio, so it would be helpful if somebody else with a hardtop could verify how it works on their car.

On my cabrio:
Open the tailgate, the boot light and dome/footwells turn on.
Open or unlock the doors: dome/footwells turn on, boot light does not.
In other words, the boot light only comes on when the tailgate is open; and it is a simple on/off (no dimming)

 

Found a new MCS Vert 2007 that the stock boot light flickers as well. In fact, I was showing the owner what mine was doing and then he went over to start his car and his Angel Eyes in the front are blinking with the same pattern as his boot light....He is going to bring it to the dealer and ask them about it since he is still in warranty. A second 03 Mini with Angels Eyes didn't have this issue. Hopefully the dealership can shed some light on this issue.

 

Funny....i just tried putting in a set of HIDs and they worked fine with the engine off but when i turned it on they started flashing like strobe lights. . Guess the voltage sux everywhere on these cars.

 

Do the lights only blink for about 5 seconds and stop or was it continuous as long as the engine was on?

 

solder a 1k resistor inline with the led lights. it will absorb that extra juice and the lights will stop blinking.

 

A 1k resistor at how many watts?