DRL LED lights modification to mk2 pre face lift

[firemike]

I have a mk2 vrs limited edition and i wondered if anyone had fitted daytime running lights LED's to their cars,

I think they look really smart but dont want to make my car look tacky,

thought about getting some off ebay and fitting them to the outer sides of the front lower grill,

any suggestions would be appreciated,

Thank you in advance

[silver1011]

It is very difficult to retrofit LED DRL's to any car without them looking tacky.

The aftermarket DRL's are pretty much 'one size fits all' which can make it difficult to make them look OEM.

Also with LED's being very directional you have to align them perfectly. Most retrofits I've seen out on the road look poor as one side often looks less bright than the other and therefore tacky / chav like. The OEM DRL's on the vRS still look the same brightness even when not viewed straight on.

Quite often they aren't the right colour (i.e. all of the OEM DRL's from the likes of Audi, Skoda, Mondeo, Citroen etc. are all the same colour) or they aren't bright enough and just look wrong.

Personally I would get someone to activate the front fogs as DRL's (using VCDS) and then swap them out for the LED ones used on the Scout and Fabia vRS (straight swap).

[firemike]

That sounds interesting so i just change the fog light bulbs for LED bulbs and get it programed to work when i am driving,

What happens at night? do they stay on? what if its foggy can i still use them as fogs?

Sorry for sounding so thick!

[jrw]

It is very difficult to retrofit LED DRL's to any car without them looking tacky.

The aftermarket DRL's are pretty much 'one size fits all' which can make it difficult to make them look OEM.

Also with LED's being very directional you have to align them perfectly. Most retrofits I've seen out on the road look poor as one side often looks less bright than the other and therefore tacky / chav like. The OEM DRL's on the vRS still look the same brightness even when not viewed straight on.

.

No they don't......If you bend down and look at them so they are level with your eye level, they blind you!

Example here:

Its difficult to photograph lights on but it gives you the idea.....They are ridiculously bright at certain angles, which is why i presume i get flashed occasionally by people thinking they are fogs.

I agree that i haven't seen any aftermarket ones that don't look tacky and OEM is the way forward for any modification

I think putting DRL's in fogs is a bad idea ala Fabia VRS or Volvo as it just gives the fog light brigade an excuse to put theirs on even more and making the police more reluctant to pull cars over for the risk of looking stupid if they are actually DRL's and not fogs.

[vRS_Pagey]

I've managed to retro fit DRL's and imo they look more OE than not -

But then I'm obviously biased! :p

[jrw]

Don't forget that you need to disable the front sidelight bulbs if you use these, or they need to be deactivated when the lights are on.

[vRS_Pagey]

Don't forget that you need to disable the front sidelight bulbs if you use these, or they need to be deactivated when the lights are on.

Mine have a live, negative and control wire, which when connected correctly achieve just that!

[silver1011]

If you bend down and look at them so they are level with your eye level, they blind you!

No they don't, a DRL that blinds you kind of defeats the object.

That sounds interesting so i just change the fog light bulbs for LED bulbs and get it programed to work when i am driving,

What happens at night? do they stay on? what if its foggy can i still use them as fogs?

Not the bulbs, the entire fog light assembly, its a straight swap.

Using VCDS you can activate the DRL function on your Octavia to use either dipped headlights or the front fog lights. If you choose to keep the standard fog lights you can reduce their brightness also using VCDS but this isn't strictly legal.

You would be better swapping out the units and keeping the brightness at 100%.

When you turn your lights on (side or dipped) the DRL's automatically go out anyway which means you can then manually turn the fog lights back on when its foggy although as they'll be the LED DRL's they won't be anywhere near as effective in fog!

These are what you need (available on eBay and SuperSkoda)...

Don't worry about people mistaking them for fogs, as they become more common the less intelligent amongst us will soon work it out!

Edited 2 April, 2012 by silver1011

[firemike]

vRS_Pagey thanks for that, they look awsome,

can you tell me which ones and where you purchased from and how you did it please?

[john_walker74]

I think silver1011 was talking about poorly fitted DRLs not being the same 'brightness' when viewed head on i.e. the left one is less 'bright' than the right or vice versa. I think retro fitted ones tend to look poor and very chavvy, but those ones above don't look too bad, but perhaps they could do with being further out from the centre like on the FL, but you can't due to the fogs.

[vRS_Pagey]

vRS_Pagey thanks for that, they look awsome,

can you tell me which ones and where you purchased from and how you did it please?

Thanks mate, these are the ones that I had fitted, although as a word of warning they are now in the bin as there was a problem with the gasket so they let in water! I have been assured by the seller that the design has been improved so I have ordered some more, but just to be on the safe side I have a roll of self amalgamating tape to wrap around the body of the light, something else I did was wrap them in subtle tint Lamin-X film so when they are off you struggle to see them against the black grille insert.

Fitting takes a bit of work, you basically need to modify the grille inserts either side of the lower main grille. They are only 5-6 quid from the stealers if anything goes wrong so no hardship! If you want to get some, let me know via PM and I will send you some pictures of the modifications on the grille and wiring info etc.

Below is a picture of a set of grilles I modded a bit further to open up the lower portion for a CAI pipe, I also colour coded them. They are now matte black though.

[firemike]

silver1011,

Thanks for your advice, but I think after seeing vRS_Pagey's lights fitted and working I will go down that route,

Regards,

Mike

[jrw]

No they don't, a DRL that blinds you kind of defeats the object.

wow, even after showing you photos, you are still arguing....as you don't even have them i am not sure how you would know unless you randomly bend down in front of cars and get eye level with the DRL's.

They do dazzle people if they hit eye level such as if you are coming towards someone on the brow of a hill.....There simply isn't an arguement....go to a Skoda dealer and look for yourself.

[silver1011]

I don't have DRL's so I can't comment?

How often do you crouch down in front of cars then?

I'm guessing doing 30,000 miles a year I pass as many cars with DRL's than you.

If you are blinded by DRL's I suggest you may have a problem with your eyes.

[jrw]

I don't have DRL's so I can't comment?

How often do you crouch down in front of cars then?

I'm guessing doing 30,000 miles a year I pass as many cars with DRL's than you.

If you are blinded by DRL's I suggest you may have a problem with your eyes.

hills, bumps in roads, dips, speed humps.. Need I go on Mr Pedantic?

My eyes are fine thanks, just had a new prescription.

[silver1011]

Christ knows how you cope with dipped headlights at night then.

[jrw]

Christ knows how you cope with dipped headlights at night then.

Did I mention it was as problem? Did i say i couldn't cope? I was in fact, just stating facts.

You said they look the same brightness when not viewed from straight on which simply isn't true. Just correcting your post but once again turn it into an argument, even after posting photos to the contrary.

"The OEM DRL's on the vRS still look the same brightness even when not viewed straight on."

Edited 2 April, 2012 by jrw

[silver1011]

You didn't read post #10 then. Again you believe what you want to believe and nothing else.

[jrw]

You didn't read post #10 then. Again you believe what you want to believe and nothing else.

Again, i will quote you:

"The OEM DRL's on the vRS still look the same brightness even when not viewed straight on."

No mention of poorly fitted aftermarket ones here.....This is what i was referring too so once again you believing what you want with your self righteousness.

At least i present my arguements with facts (ie photos of "viewed straight on" vs not).

[silver1011]

No, John Walker understood my point and very kindly did a better job of explaining it than me, I suspect you did too but as you enjoy following me around picking holes in everything I say you couldn't resist having a pop.

[jrw]

No, John Walker understood my point and very kindly did a better job of explaining it than me, I suspect you did too but as you enjoy following me around picking holes in everything I say you couldn't resist having a pop.

No, simply quoting what you had put. It made perfect sense......You made the valid point that it is difficult to align chav DRL's both at the same angle and then stated that the OEM ones look the same brightness from different angles....I read this as if you were viewing at eye level you were saying that they would look the same as if you were standing up and looking at them.

BTW, i don't follow you. It is an Octavia II forum, i have an Octavia II and lots of people post in the same threads.......I could say that it is the other way round picking holes in all my posts to spark an arguement....I could go back and prove it to you but really CBA.

I simply replied, agreeing with you that they look tacky and corrected the fact that OEM's vary wildly at different angles......although both vary brightness in unison.

Edited 2 April, 2012 by jrw

[Evil Miyagi]

Ladies, ladies... Is there any need for all this tension? Life's to short

[silver1011]

I've ignored his jibes and little digs many times before, tonight I took exception.

Given our history JRW it would have been far easier for you to ignore my post in its entirety but you chose not to.

I actively avoid conflict, I get the impression you seek it out.

[Anddenton]

Ladies, ladies... Is there any need for all this tension? Life's to short

Better than watching East Enders though.

[jrw]

I've ignored his jibes and little digs many times before, tonight I took exception.

Given our history JRW it would have been far easier for you to ignore my post in its entirety but you chose not to.

I actively avoid conflict, I get the impression you seek it out.

Seems the other way round. I was simply making a reply to a couple of comments and giving my reply to the OP, but you seem to pick my replies all the time.................One way to cure this:

Ignored