Audi DRL led faliure rate

[DennisTheMenace]

Today on my razz up the country and back , Ive seen 3 gAudis 2 A4's and an A5 all with a few of the LED's gone in the lights. i know white Led's dont last too long esp if you try making them very bright , so what happens when one fails , new light cluster as they are SMD's or has Audi made each led removable ?

[LuS1fer]

Funnily enough, having been blinded by a number of Audi LEDs recently, I did wonder why they had to have so many and why 1 or 2 wouldn't suffice - it would certainly be a bonus if you could remove some of them.

[anonymous-user]

Some of the Audi DRL's are non LED! LED's tend to have a very long life!

[Deerfoot]

MonkeyMatt said:

Some of the Audi DRL's are non LED! LED's tend to have a very long life!

The A5 that was behind me on the A303 this evening had LEDs, one of which had expired.

[B'stard Child]

You sure they were Audi...........

Hopefully the chavs will copy this feature too

[shalmaneser]

Having worked with high output LEDs extensively I reckon that the chances are that there may be a bonding issue with the Audi DRLs. Once the bond goes the LEDs overheat and fail as they are no longer attached to a decent heatsink.

The amount I've seen running around with an LED or two out is way above the standard failure rate for high flux LEDs of the type Audi are using.

I'd like to know how they're bonding them to the heatsink, would be very interesting.

[pilchardthecat]

Poetic justice, that is.

[MitchT]

Just get some rope light from the garden centre. Chop it into foot long sections and, wahey! A life-long supply of replacements!

[LuS1fer]

shalmaneser said:

Having worked with high output LEDs extensively I reckon that the chances are that there may be a bonding issue with the Audi DRLs. Once the bond goes the LEDs overheat and fail as they are no longer attached to a decent heatsink.

The amount I've seen running around with an LED or two out is way above the standard failure rate for high flux LEDs of the type Audi are using.

I'd like to know how they're bonding them to the heatsink, would be very interesting.

I use a small toffee hammer....

[Wayne King]

LuS1fer said:

Funnily enough, having been blinded by a number of Audi LEDs recently, I did wonder why they had to have so many and why 1 or 2 wouldn't suffice - it would certainly be a bonus if you could remove some of them.

Really?

Edited by Wayne King on Monday 22 February 22:21

[raf_gti]

Wayne King said:

LuS1fer said:

Funnily enough, having been blinded by a number of Audi LEDs recently, I did wonder why they had to have so many and why 1 or 2 wouldn't suffice - it would certainly be a bonus if you could remove some of them.

Really?

Edited by Wayne King on Monday 22 February 22:21

I would say really

On several occasions, certainly as the light is fading I've found that the DRLs are incredibly harsh on the eye.

[DennisTheMenace]

MonkeyMatt said:

Some of the Audi DRL's are non LED! LED's tend to have a very long life!

I'ts pretty easy to spot the difference between the filament bulbed units and the led's , whaite led's are basicaly a blue/uv diode with yellow phosphor and (as ive found out in the 5) not that long lasting!


luS1fer the reason for the extra doseage of LED's is that they dont produce a halo of light like a filament bulb and are quite directional .

[LuS1fer]

DennisTheMenace said:

MonkeyMatt said:

Some of the Audi DRL's are non LED! LED's tend to have a very long life!

I'ts pretty easy to spot the difference between the filament bulbed units and the led's , whaite led's are basicaly a blue/uv diode with yellow phosphor and (as ive found out in the 5) not that long lasting!


luS1fer the reason for the extra doseage of LED's is that they dont produce a halo of light like a filament bulb and are quite directional .

In theory, yes, in practice, way too many, way too bright. I'm sure 2 or 3 would be more than adequate.

[Roo]

And all technically illegal anyway. If you took a new Audi for an IVA test it would fail as the DRL's don't go out when you turn the headlights on.

[BlueSmoke]

Roo said:

And all technically illegal anyway. If you took a new Audi for an IVA test it would fail as the DRL's don't go out when you turn the headlights on.

You want to put one on a debt repayment scheme?

[bazking69]

Just wait until cars are out of warranty and the owners have to start paying out of their own pocket for whole headlamp units....

[matc]

Roo said:

And all technically illegal anyway. If you took a new Audi for an IVA test it would fail as the DRL's don't go out when you turn the headlights on.

Don't they get around this by reducing in intesity by 90% when the main headlights are on?

[A4069]

give credit where it's due though. audi salesmen/women have convinced loads of people that these lights look cool on their 'sophisticated' audis.

unbelieveable.

[Streetrod]

With all due respect folks but why so anti Audi on these lights? Spend more than ten mins on any major road and count the number of Landrovers, Mercedes, Saabs, Porsche's, Astons etc; the list goes on that all have LED DRL's. Why is none of this vitriol directed at any of these makes?

And let’s not forget that from 2011 they will be mandatory on all new cars

[HellDiver]

A4069 said:

give credit where it's due though. audi salesmen/women have convinced loads of people that these lights look cool on their 'sophisticated' audis.

unbelieveable.

You do know it's got nothing to do with the salemen, right? It's another stupid European rule that says all new models from 2010/11 must have DLRs. That's why they're on Audis, they're on Mk6 Golfs, they're on Insignias...