2010+ Number Plate LED's - Sorted

[Silky-S3]

Hi guys,

As you may know the bulb warning system on the 2010+ cars is much more sensitive to LEDs, as such normal LED number plate bulbs (even with resistors) put a bulb out message on the DIS. However some guys over in the USA have fixed this issue by using a LED load equalizer - see here for the details: Fourtitude.com - DIY - The $17 LED License Plate Fix

So I bought all the required parts from the same place as in the link (came to about £23, and the shipping from the USA only took 5 days) and got on with it. The outcome is I have great LED lights and no errors on the DIS or in VCDS logs. I've been driving around for a week with them in and no issues at all. The LEDs just look so much better, just need to do my fogs now and I'm all LED'ed up!

Just a few tips for anyone doing this:

• The equalizer gets hot, crazy hot so make sure you mount it away from anything
• The wire to the lights is thiner then the equalizer wire, so make sure you really push down on the connectors so it bridges both wires, at first I dint do this, and got errors.
• Go easy on the screw for the bulb holders, its hard to get to them with the angle and they are as soft as anything, don't round them off!
• The hardest bit is refitting the boot panel, best way is top on first then slide it over the boot lock.

Here's some pics:

Any questions let me know

 

[Chappy]

Looks good mate!
Will I have problems on my MY09 car do you think?

 

[Silky-S3]

Looks good mate!
Will I have problems on my MY09 car do you think?

With standard LED's? Not sure really only way to know is to try. If they do you can always do what Ive done above.

 

[NHN]

So they put a resistance circuit with heatsink across the wires, yeah I can imagine it gets very hot, my only concern would be, do the wires get hot at all?

 

[Silky-S3]

So they put a resistance circuit with heatsink across the wires, yeah I can imagine it gets very hot, my only concern would be, do the wires get hot at all?

Yer, that was my concern. However I drove round for 4 hours a few days ago with the lights on and the boot panel off, and the wire only gets slightly warm to the touch.

 

[Cruiser89]

Awesome. Maybe its worth adding a bigger heatsink or do something to protect anything catching fire?

 

[Paullie]

Great job, Silky! I have all the bits for this mod too, but haven't given it a go yet. Your post has just given me the much needed kick up the backside to get the job done, lol. Thanks for all the tips! x

 

[Silky-S3]

Awesome. Maybe its worth adding a bigger heatsink or do something to protect anything catching fire?

Really don't think its needed mate, the guy over in the US ran the setup for 3+ years on A4 with no issues.

 

[NHN]

and the wire only gets slightly warm to the touch.

Maybe its worth adding a bigger heatsink or do something to protect anything catching fire?

Heatsink isnt the main issue mate, its the wire gauge so it doesnt get warm/hot & no fire, if at all possible, also location of heatsink making sure its secured properly so it doesnt full of onto something that can burn easily.

 

[Pauljamescaton]

to you for doing this, I bailed on this as I thought it was too risky for a novice like me

 

[Jambo26]

Do you know if I use the Audi plate LEDs with the load resisters will I achieve the same results as I get errors with or without coding. Also do I need 2 resisters or 1?

Cheers

Jamie