Fitting LED parkers to '03 Z4

[Nacho Zits]

Just seen these on Ebay -
>>>LED BULBS<<<

I know nothing about this type of stuff so do you reckon they are a "direct replacement" as stated in the ad or will I almost certainly get errors with them ?

Cheers guys

I dont see anything there about current compensation so you will most likely get an error.

But if you have a Z4, if i remember rightly, the brake lights plug in sideways so the LEDs will not be facing backwards.

I may be wrong so please check first which direction the bulbs face.

 

[Dr Phibes]

Just seen these on Ebay -
>>>LED BULBS<<<

I know nothing about this type of stuff so do you reckon they are a "direct replacement" as stated in the ad or will I almost certainly get errors with them ?

Cheers guys

I dont see anything there about current compensation so you will most likely get an error.

But if you have a Z4, if i remember rightly, the brake lights plug in sideways so the LEDs will not be facing backwards.

I may be wrong so please check first which direction the bulbs face.

Cheers Nacho

 

[dssence]

Hey I'm from argentina, and basically I want to replace my parkers which are T10 5watts incandescent for T10 LEDS same as you did in your Z4. Now I've been looking different threads on forums saying that replacing incandescent bulbs for leds could blow "Body Control Units" and these units are expensive. Some ppl said to add inline resistors. The T10 bulbs I'm talkinga bout on my car turn on whenever I turn on the instrument panel backlight on my car.. So they might be position lights.
So I ordered some T10 5watts Leds like the ones you've also ordered. My car toyota 86 FT it's same as subaru BRZ or Scion FRS from the US. I don't really know if my dashboard has an indicator which monitors current on the circuit . So If I place these leds as the drive less amps they would trigger some flag or indication.
But question is.. if I place them without inline resistors can I blow the Body control unit ? I did some calculation.

Watts = Volts x amperes ===> T10 leds are 5watts so ===> 5watts/12volts = 0.41 amps being drawn by each T10 LED bulb

Going Ohms law Voltage = R x I (amps) ======> 12 volts / 0.41amps = 29 Ohms resistor , So do I need 29Ohms 5 watts resistors? for each T10 led bulb to be safe?

These are the lights i'm talking about

 

[Nacho Zits]

That's how you bring a thread back from the dead!

Hello DSSENCE and welcome to the forums where we accept even FT86 owners with open arms.

A single LED will never draw more current that an incandescent bulb so there is no chance of you blowing a control unit. One of two things will happen though, either the LED will be too dim or it will be too bright (it may even blow).

If they are too bright, and you will need to put resistors in series with the LEDs. Working out which ones is where you could blow the LCM if you get it wrong. Do the math, work out how much power you need to drop and use your Ohm's law theory to calculate the drop required.

If they are too dim there is bugger all you can do but try a different type of LED.

Good luck!

 

[dssence]

Hey hehe see how I could bring a thread back from the dead it's all google magic.

So listen, I'm kind of worried cause I don't want to blow my control unit. So you say if I fit the T10 led bulbs generic ones I bought they could well be dimmer or too bright, and if they're too bright this would in turn overheat the wiring harness of the circuit and even blow the control unit ? or it would just blow the LED ?

Now going back to the load resistors, help me out a bit here. If I bought these generic cheap T10 led bulbs they say they're rated 5 watts right? but we don't know how many amps they're driving unless I put a digital multimeter in series to check the current they're driving or i'm mistaken ?

so this calculation I did I think it's wrong

Watts = Volts x amperes ===> T10 leds are rated 5 watts "BUT" they aren't driving 5 watts they would be driving less.. it's obvious they're cheap chinese and the manufacturer doesn't say how many amps they drive.

So, is it 5 watts over 12volts ? ===> 5watts/12volts = 0.41 amps being drawn by each T10 LED bulb

Going Ohms law Voltage = R x I (amps) ======> 12 volts / 0.41amps = 29 Ohms resistor , So do I need 29Ohms 5 watts resistors? for each T10 led bulb to be safe?

IT's crucial I get the value correct for the the resistors to be used. Once you've helped me figure this out, resistors should be placed like this ?

TNX!