WOW yeah out of the grave!! Hey thanks for replying though. Yeah I still have my car and I've learned to live with it. In fact I put my rear seats back in the car and pretty much leave them up for the most part so I dont even see the flickering anymore. Interesting note about the switch. I know the switch is somewhat the culprit because its the only part of the diagram that I changed for myself to give me the ability to switch between the boot lamp and the LED strips. Like I said in the post before I can flip the switch so just the boot lamp bulb is illuminated and if I stare really close at the bulb at start up even that dims and brightens a few times (flickers) so its either because I added this switch or my car always did it and just never noticed it in the bulb (why would you? LOL) Anyways thanks though for replying back its much appreciated. :thumbsup:

Steve

FWIW - all my LEDs on the car flicker at startup - I just live with it - I stopped noticing about the time this thread last died.

Thanks for bringing back painful memories.:wink:
:lol:

Despite bringing back painful memories, this was one of the most informative threads I have read on car lighting on this site. And I think it should be stickied even though its over 2 years old. Just my opinion.

I intend on adding boot, foot well, and My own custom puddle lights in my '03 MCS. I'll post my results when i finish :)

Yes, this has been quite an informative thread. I actually have the same problem as Vernon regarding the flickering. Only flickers on ignition and not when the headlights are turned on first. The trunk light does not flicker when the doors are opened or remote unlock is used. I didn't use any switch - just used stock lighting fixture and changed the festoon to an led festoon.

I tried resistors in parallel down to 40 Ohms (measured with multimeter) and no luck. :confused:

I can probably live with it, but OCD kinda bothering me. :grin: Any ideas out there?

If you look at Vernon's next to last post (#374), he came to no real resolution because he discovered that even his standard bulbs were flickering. The car must put out a fair amount of current to do that. The only idea that comes to mind is to try inserting a capacitor in the path, in series. It might be enough to absorb the brief flickers, or if the current is too much it might simply turn the sharp flickers into softer pulses.

you can get them locally, if you want to pay a fortune, or, wait a couple of weeks and get a pile of them for the same price...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Vehicle-Elec...=smd+led+strip

i have a few strips of amber installed under my seats and foot wells, i also have a strip of white on my "strut bar" in the engine bay. used a pushbutton switch, and now those turn on when the hood is open, just like a fridge! lol.

My front seat looks identicle to this and I did the rear with single surface mount LEDs (blue as well) and it was a pain, plus its not as bright as yours. What ones did you use for the back?

Also Is that your car on the first page with the LEDs in the engine bay? I got all of my LEDs and hardware from Oznium for the engine and even know where I want them, but here is my problem that I dont see the easy rout to... how do I run the wires to the interior of the car so that the switch is on the inside of the car??? where did you run your wires to and where is your switch for the engine bay??


Ok so I found this late, but could you explain where you wired them into the cabin? I can't find a hole... Im going to put my switch on my knee bolster next to the switch for my interior LEDs.

Also whats your take on this whole extra fuse box? I have been tapping unimportant fuses in my interior box... specifically my clock because it has its own fuse and the amount of LEDs down draw more power than the stock fuse. Is this a bad thing to do?

There are several rubber grommets in the firewall where you can pass wires through. Two of them are described in these retrofit installation instructions:
http://motoringfile.com/howto/Driving_Lights_902.pdf
http://motoringfile.com/howto/Fog%20Lights.PDF

How much are you installing? It takes a lot of LEDs to draw even 1 amp. The spec on the Oznium site says 16.4 feet of their Ribbon LED Strip draws 2 amps. In the worst case, the fuse may blow. Choose a fuse that isn't critical to the car's operation if it were to blow, or else wire your own fused line from the battery.

Ok cool thanks... I have a feeling that this is going to be a pain in the ass and a lot of de-construction to get the wires through :( oh yes that was a typo on my part I meant to say they dont draw more than the stock fuse

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that ebay link doesnt work anymore, can you provide an updated link or a description? Do you think this will fit a R53?

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