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Door Handles with LED's?


bhavin85

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Hi Guys,

 

I painted my door handles matt black this weekend as I was bored and didnt have much else to do! I did however notice today that I actually missed abit :bang: so im going to have to take them off again next weekend and spray the insides again! which will mean ill have atleast another 2 screws stuck down the bottom of my door :lol:

 

Anyways now that they are matt black they are almost impossible to find in the dark...a lady friend couldnt figure out how to open the door (nothing to do with the fact that shes blonde ofcourse B) ) so that got me thinking about getting some LED's for the door handles...ive got another spare set sitting my garage which I dont mind drilling into but any suggestions on how to do it? or even if it has been done before?

 

I was thinking id run them off the interior lights, which turn on when the door opens so when i unlock the car the LED's turn on! I know Huskey has done a few LED's mods so im gonna drop him a pm shortly but any advice would be appreciated :thumbs:

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did you laquer ontop of the matte black paint?

 

never used matte finish beifre, but i have some spare handles that are waiting for me to do the same to them

 

I think the clue is in the question rich :lol:

 

Its not a laquer.. but you can get a matt clear coat. Not many places do it. Its worth doing if you do though...

 

bhav, looking forward to seeing the results :)

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Ive used the prism flexible strips before for similar lighting on exterior, they are not the brightest but it makes them suitable for subtle applications like this where you are not after in-your-face effect.

 

Very hard wearing tho. Had some on car for 3 years and were still fine when i sold it. :thumbs:

 

Alternativly you could just carry a big magnetic arrow for when transporting blonds.... :doh:

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yep this is up at top of my to do list, untill i get the dome lights repaired though i cant get it done :thumbdown: as that activates the LED's. I thought about SMD but didnt see the advantages as you'd get more light and a better spread from 3mm. depends on how you want to fit them i suppose. when i get the dome lights fixed i'll sort this, good luck with yours :thumbs:

 

and... im not bitter for you getting there first :starwars::p

 

 

a word of warning though. There is NO protection on the dome light circuit that you'll be tapping, running to the BCM. if you short it or overload it, it will bugger the BCM itself which is very costly :headhurt: i recommend changing your dome light bulbs to LED's to keep the current draw to a minimum on this circuit :thumbs:

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yep this is up at top of my to do list, untill i get the dome lights repaired though i cant get it done :thumbdown: as that activates the LED's. I thought about SMD but didnt see the advantages as you'd get more light and a better spread from 3mm. depends on how you want to fit them i suppose. when i get the dome lights fixed i'll sort this, good luck with yours :thumbs:

 

and... im not bitter for you getting there first :starwars::p

 

 

a word of warning though. There is NO protection on the dome light circuit that you'll be tapping, running to the BCM. if you short it or overload it, it will bugger the BCM itself which is very costly :headhurt: i recommend changing your dome light bulbs to LED's to keep the current draw to a minimum on this circuit :thumbs:

 

 

Have you done the wing mirrors yet?? :p

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yep this is up at top of my to do list, untill i get the dome lights repaired though i cant get it done :thumbdown: as that activates the LED's. I thought about SMD but didnt see the advantages as you'd get more light and a better spread from 3mm. depends on how you want to fit them i suppose. when i get the dome lights fixed i'll sort this, good luck with yours :thumbs:

 

and... im not bitter for you getting there first :starwars::p

 

 

a word of warning though. There is NO protection on the dome light circuit that you'll be tapping, running to the BCM. if you short it or overload it, it will bugger the BCM itself which is very costly :headhurt: i recommend changing your dome light bulbs to LED's to keep the current draw to a minimum on this circuit :thumbs:

 

 

Have you done the wing mirrors yet?? :p

 

no i'm too busy doing everybody else's mods :p :P

 

but... i have planned it all out!

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a word of warning though. There is NO protection on the dome light circuit that you'll be tapping, running to the BCM. if you short it or overload it, it will bugger the BCM itself which is very costly :headhurt: i recommend changing your dome light bulbs to LED's to keep the current draw to a minimum on this circuit :thumbs:

I echo this, make sure you get the polarity right and dont short it. It is a permenent live on one feed and selective earth on the other. Dont be fooled into thinking it is selective live. I beleive if you test it using LEDs you should be safe as they only work when in correct polarity, but dont quote me on that. My dome light went and took out the BCM, fortunately the warrenty took the hit, to the tune of £500+ for the BCM and £150 for the dome light :headhurt:

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a word of warning though. There is NO protection on the dome light circuit that you'll be tapping, running to the BCM. if you short it or overload it, it will bugger the BCM itself which is very costly :headhurt: i recommend changing your dome light bulbs to LED's to keep the current draw to a minimum on this circuit :thumbs:

I echo this, make sure you get the polarity right and dont short it. It is a permenent live on one feed and selective earth on the other. Dont be fooled into thinking it is selective live. I beleive if you test it using LEDs you should be safe as they only work when in correct polarity, but dont quote me on that. My dome light went and took out the BCM, fortunately the warrenty took the hit, to the tune of £500+ for the BCM and £150 for the dome light :headhurt:

 

my warranty is also taking said hit :surrender: personally i am going to wire it via a relay to run an entirely new circuit, that way i can play safe as theres a number of things that will run from it :thumbs: remember kids, always use protection ;)

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:o thats for the warning husky, I didnt realise it would be an issue...im not so sure I want to be a smart ass and try this now :scare:

 

So let me get this right there is no fuse between the Dome right and the BCM? Surely I could just put an inline fuse between the Dome Light and the BCM that way, if it draws too much current (?) it would blow the fuse and not my BCM?

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