LED Dash

[mattyb240]

Hi, im replacing the whole of my speedo unit, and came across an article on led's.
I'm wanting to swap the original bulbs in the back of it for led's.

although i am not sure if they look any good?ive seen pics where the light from them is not spread evenly?

Does anybody have any pics of it fitted on to an e30?and what is the best colour Red/Blue/White?

Thanks!

[1an]

maxfields dads m3 has blue LED's in the dash and in my opinion in looks awful.

[Speedtouch]

White LEDs make quite a nice swop for the bulbs (with a current limiting resistor in series), only snag is they don't really react much (if at all) with the lamp dimmer.

[mattyb240]

What do you mean by react much? and thanks for the3 info 1an

[Speedtouch]

I mean you turn the dimmer down and unlike with bulbs, the LEDs tend to stay at much the same brightness.

[mattyb240]

Ah thanks 320iSE! Well i am still unsure, but ive seen some on other cars that look really good and others that look poor,dont know if it depends on the led they have bought or what but unfortunately haven seen one on an e30 to judge

[J_Mac]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Blue-speedo-dials ... dZViewItem

Just a idea of what you describe?

[Speedtouch]

Everything sold by that company glows blue - "for the ultimate street look!!!!!"

[march109]

Woth an extra 3BHP having a blue LED dash too you know!

You can make them yourself, just need leds and resistors, there are plenty of kits on ebay if your handy with a soldering iron.

Be carefull when choosing the colour orange suits the dash very well, blue however does not.

[FlappySocks]

What is it with blue LEDs everywhere now? I am sick of manufactures of goods putting high-intensity blue LEDs all over consumer goods. Most LEDs used to be red...red has become rather retro.

[Speedtouch]

Agreed, it's a cold colour, and rather intense on the eyes. I'm planning to have a go at building this digital dash display (see June/July 2006). http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/projects2006.html
Got the PIC microcontroller programmed up and ready to be plugged in...

[mattyb240]

Well frankly i decided against it all together, i bought a blue led to test out on the analogue clock and was disapointed. And everyone is right orange does suit the dash very well.

Perhaps as i'm a lighting student i get carried away lol

[e30_singh]

Everything sold by that company glows blue - "for the ultimate street look!!!!!"

LMAO!!

[dodgem]

The original bulbs are white are they not? So surely you'll get an orange dash by using white LEDs?...

My advice would be to

a) experiment with resistor values - you should be able to get the dim function to work with the right resistor. The only reason that it doesn't work on another dash is that LEDs reach a certain brightness and remain there even with more current through them. So you need to set the max brightness at the point where more current makes no difference - ie. choose the correct resistor.

b) use an LED with a large diffusion value. The tighter the diffusion (smaller angle), the more directional the emitted light will be and the poorer the final look. Large diffususion angle will spread the light more from the LED and reduce the effect of a bright centre and dark edges.

This is kind of assuming you want an original look without bulbs that eventually blow (the only reason i would do this mod). tbh though, the bulbs don't exactly go often so i personally wouldn't bother

[mattyb240]

Well my main motivation was so it would be ever lasting kinda thing.

I'm well aware of the diffusion issues etc but even if you dont get an led with a frost effect all you need is some sand paper and rough it up to disperse the light or even a blob of glue on the top or a marker pen will do it (not to the same effect).

The led i tried out on the analogue clock worked fine with the dimming i had no issues with it at all. As it was not a DIY job it was purpose built.

I did want the original look, but had a moment where i did think blue would be better (god only knows) but to be honest you can't beat a tungsten glow

[goosiegander]

how do you remove the orange plastic parts that diffuse the white bulb light?

[mattyb240]

They just slide out? Or they did on the one I was messing with at least lol?

Not got round to doing this yet as I haven't got an excuse to take the speedo out.