cybertronicify

Hello everyone, anyone have an idea on how to light up the hood ornament on the S430? I have tried to build a ring light but it shines too bright, and shines directly into the passenger/drivers eyes. I want a way that doesnt look too bad.

tusabes

Small led mounted at the base behind it, shining forward

usafguy69

If you want to do it the right way buy a new or used one that came as an option for the 2014+ models, it will look the best.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-OEM-Mercedes-Benz-CLA-GLA-Class-C117-X156-LED-Illuminated-Star-/261452983172?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cdfcfeb84&vxp=mtr

tusabes

He is talking about lighting the chrome ornament on top of the hood , not a grille star

dbldpr

He is looking for the hood star to light up. Not the grill star. And I do not believe the grill star was an option for the 2014 model year at least on the w212 class e 350.

ibeforreal

Seems to me that a lit up hood ornament might not be legal at least here in the US. The grill ornament is one thing but I just can't see driving down the road at night staring at a light on the hood. Seems like it would be a distraction.

tusabes

As long as it's. Not blue or red it should be legal

You can mount a wired led like this but you'll have to run a wire down through the grille to a power wire

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-leds

But I'd use a battery powered led
Something like this mounted to the base of the ornament

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321486162823?redirect=mobile

cybertronicify

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I was after the hood ornament on my 2003 S430, not the illuminated grill star. But this is how i did it... (see pics)

Used 3 SMD led's wired in series with a resistor on the other end, connected with headphone wire which is feed through the ornament itself. Going all the way down to the fuse box where i then tapped into a switched 12v power source. Keep in mind that the voltage changes between 11v-14v so i added a 9v regulator and a resistor.

Don't worry the led's aren't blue, my camera didn't adjust to the white light.

usafguy69

Nice, can you post more pictures of it illuminated?

cybertronicify

Sure!

tusabes

Awesome!! Is that waterproof though ?

cybertronicify

Yepp it is waterproof since only the led is exposed, but the glue i used might not be, ill have to figure something out. But for now that glue holds nice and strong.

tusabes

Im thinking of getting this one as the resistor is soldered in and it's prewired and waterproof

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-superflux

ibeforreal

Looks nice. The things we do for our babies.

420_ibs

This is something I came up with