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How do I wire Angel Eyes without a relay?

35K views 23 replies 4 participants last post by  BimmerE39 
#1 ·
OK, so I got this set of CCFL Angel Eyes as a gift (4 rings + 4 clips + 2 inverters), but NO relay, NO fuse...

All the DIY threads on this topic that I've found thus far show how to connect the rings using a relay...but what about if you don't have a relay? On the inverter it says (-) to ground and (+) power from DRL, so how exactly do I do that...open the ECU box and tap the (+) into the red/white + yellow stripe wire?...if yes, would that also dim my Angel Eyes to 30% power, as per the DRL?

Any help with wiring these without a relay would be greatly appreciated.
Thx
 
#2 ·
I chose not to wire mine to the DRL becuase they turn off when the headlights are on. I don't know why you'd want your angel eye on in the day and off at night.

I wired mine to the red accessory wire in the ECU (I also didn't have a relay). I like this because my angel eye's are always on when the car is on...and they even stay on for 5-10 seconds after the car is off, which I think is kinda cool.

Some people don't like the idea of not being able to turn the AE off so they wire them into the fog lights so you can manually turn the AE's on when you turn on the fogs.

Here's the DIY that I followed. However, my inverters wouldn't fit into the same spot that this guy did so I had to mount them somewhere else.

DIY: Fucy626 CCFL Angel Eye Kit installation - BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3 | E92 M3)
 
#3 ·
I wired mine to the red accessory wire in the ECU (I also didn't have a relay). I like this because my angel eye's are always on when the car is on...and they even stay on for 5-10 seconds after the car is off, which I think is kinda cool.

DIY: Fucy626 CCFL Angel Eye Kit installation - BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3 | E92 M3)
I love this idea !!!...just have the following questions:

The pic with the ECU box shows just one set of wires going in

1. Did you connect the (-) AE wire to the same chassis screw?
2. Did you tap both AE (+) wires (L+R) to the same red aux wire in ECU? Did you just cut the red aux wire and used a 4-way connector (2 for L+R AE and 2 for ECU aux wire)?

Thx
 
#9 · (Edited)
I did an install with Umnitza's DRL harness not too long ago. I know you're asking without a relay but for $40 with shipping I think it's worth it.

There's a thread on here in the DIY section and I put a video on YouTube. It's pretty easy.
Click Here To View Thread



However, they were originally wired to my parking lights.
 
#10 ·
Thx for the video, very useful, even though I don't have a relay...

I was wondering: If I want to introduce an extra fuse on the (+) wire between the battery and inverter, what fuse should I use? My AE specs says it accepts 5A, while the inverter 0.85A...so, what amp value am I looking at? (I looked for a 10A glass fuse as per yammahamma, but all I could find were the following fuses: 2,4,8,15,25 & 30A)
 
#13 ·
Hi, I managed to install my CCFL AE and also used a blade fuse...but I measured the current and all 4 rings together pull 1.4A, so I went with a 3A fuse and works great...the specs say 850mA/inverter, but I noticed that they actually pull a bit less (700mA each), which is good...just thought you should know...cheers !
 
#15 ·
Bimmer 39,

I see you don't have any inverters for the A/E's,you just wire in to the new harness is this correct ? , also do you have the web site for the harness as we are unable to get these here in the UK.

Also I see on the picture of the harness there's only one cable to the passengers side I presume this is +, so do you have to find a separate ground?

Mine are set up to the parking lights with an inverter on each side so is it possible to undertake what you have done with the harness.

Cheers,

Marti.
 
#16 ·
My AE's do not need an inverter. The Umnitza Predator Orion V2's have 60LED's per ring and unlike CCFL they only require a 12volt input. My old CCFL's had power inverters though.

The harness acts as a relay. Instead of trying to explain how everything works, I'll just throw together a quick video as I have to work on something with the harness anyways. It'll probably be up in a few hours.
 
#17 ·
Grea stuff, thank you very much, could you give me the web site of where you got the A/E's and harness from as I know we dont have them here in the UK.
 
#20 · (Edited)
This ones for you marti5, and it's even in HD!

I just did some thinking and I remember CA Automotive carries Umnitza products and they're right there in the UK so no worries on international shipping. I did a search by car and found that they have the Predator Orion V2's for the E38. They also have the harness as well. One thing I want to touch base on the harness is that it is designed with the E46 in mind, however it is easy to modify to allow it to work with other BMW models. It just takes some time and forethought. I'm still working on mine as we speak.

Click Here
to view AE's on CA Automotive
Click Here to view harness on CA Automotive



Best of luck and let me know what you think. Any questions send me a PM. :thumbs
 
#21 · (Edited)
Angel Eyes Update:

Since my AE install last week (no relay, direct draw from ECU), I've been doing a bit of thinking and the fact that my AE draw a total of 1.42 Amps from the ECU, made me feel uncomfortable...so I decided to use a relay to ensure the 1.42 Amps get sucked from the battery and not ECU...so I went and spent $5 for a dual 87 relay and wired as per attached diagram:

I left the trigger hooked up to the LCU's red wire and redirected the + terminals to 87. When active, the trigger now pulls only 110 mA from the LCU, while the AE pull the total of 1.42 A direct from the battery (710 mA per each inverter). I didn't find a matching socket, so I hardwired directly and isolated the pins.

Total effort to rewire: 1 hr

I also downsized to a 2A blade fuse (I'd rather replace the fuse than the inverters), took her for a drive and so far, so good. I'll see how the fuse holds... if it blows, I'll bump it up to 3A (I've used 3A fuse over the past week and it never blew)...

I feel much better now, knowing that I'm pulling 15 x less Amps from the LCU.

Again, I had no issues with my previous configuration, I just wanted to minimize the risk of potentially blowing up the LCU...will see how the relay behaves and will report back if I encounter any issues. Cheers !
 

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#23 · (Edited)
Yes, my AE kit came without a relay/harness, so I decided to built it myself...the advantage was that I didn't have to wait for the order to arrive, I could leverage off of my existing 20 gauge wires and also mask & loom them accordingly...$6.50 in total ($5 for the relay + $1.50 for the connectors).

My next project: replace signals w/LED bulbs....but I opened another thread here on this topic
 
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