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2016 G63, installed some facelift style LED lights to smarten up the rear end a little, felt the older style lights were really old fashioned (just my taste), but Im getting bulb out type error messages now. The lights come with a resistor pack that is meant to overcome the difference is current, they're plugged in. I left the G for 10 mins to shut down before I unplugged anything but still getting the messages, will disconnecting the battery to shut down that ECU be enough to make the G forget that I swapped the lights, anyone have this and overcome it?
Everything works 100% on the lights, brake lights and indicators work fine with no error messages so no issues there, other than the error message that I'd get if I had a bulb out when the lights are illuminated so maybe the resistors arent suitable for a 2016?
Thinking about it what i thought was resistors is for the indicators, they sweep like the Audi’s these days so assume needed some sort of ECU to make work.
From memory of the install there’s no resistors for the main LED illumination so thats the issue, lower current.
Anyone know what resistors I will need and if they can be bought with the male and female spade connectors attached to make it plug and play?
No, the ones I got look like the 2019 car, the indicator sweeps rather than flashes, pretty nice actually so just need to figure out the resistors required to cancel out the error when i turn the lights on
Original lights had 3 bulbs, general illumination, braking and signal indicator, I was a little surprised actually
How can i establish what size resistors i will need, I see lots of options for headlight swap to LED, signal indicators to LED, licence plate to LED and so on so Ive no idea what to get
Original lights had 3 bulbs, general illumination, braking and signal indicator, I was a little surprised actually
How can i establish what size resistors i will need, I see lots of options for headlight swap to LED, signal indicators to LED, licence plate to LED and so on so Ive no idea what to get
Thanks
It's a simple calculation. Resistance = Voltage squared divided by Wattage (R=V*V/W). For Voltage, use 12.8 volts. For Wattage, look up the wattage for the bulb in question (I don't know if the UK has different bulb specs than the US) and subtract the wattage of the LED replacement lamp. If you don't have this, use 3 watts as a good approximation. Take this answer and round down to the nearest standard 5% resistance value (you can find a table of these on the net). To calculate the power dissipation rating required for the resistor, use the standard resistance value you selected from step one, and calculate W = V*V/R. Use 13.8 for the Voltage here. Round up to the nearest standard value (resistors usually come in 1-5, 10, 25, & 50 watt ratings).
Last edited by Floobydust; 06-09-2020 at 04:23 PM.
Reason: Fixed some typos, omissions
Yikes, now I know why I get my tech guys to do the calculation work at my office LOL
Thanks for this explanation though, will try and figure it out, Ive no idea what the wattage of the replacement LED lamps are though so will have to use 3 as you suggested
No other error than main illumination, brake, indicator etc work fine with no errors, error only comes when i turn the lights on
Though I'm in the US, I installed the same 2019+ rear lights on my 2017 G63 and it was all plug and play. They resistors are all within the light housing so that they don't error out. I wonder if one of the resistors on one of the sides is just not soldered correctly?
It would be a pain in the ***, but I would keep one LED tail light installed and switch the other side back to the factory light....then you can see if both are giving you an error, or is it just one of them. Hopefully it will be just one of them, then you could open up and see if you you can't see anything like a resistor not soldered correctly etc.....
On mine, when the headlights are on or off, the brightness of the circle LED in the rear is the same. The only time it gets brighter is if you press the brakes. So its really weird that turning on the headlights would trigger a fault because at least on mine, there is not difference with just the parking lights on (forget what you guys call that over there!!) vs the headlights on as well!
If all else fails, they do make inline resistors specifically for canbus.....
Sorry I mean the only time i get the error is turning the lights on to drive at night, the the main light is illuminated on the new LED lights.
I tested to see if they worked when only the left side was fitted and got the error but maybe i should have only turned the G on with both sides fitted perhaps?
I bet you just solved your own problem!!! Heard of weirder things, but would definitely try installing both at the same time and seeing if you still get an error.
How could I do that now the error has triggered, will disconnecting the battery under the centre console sort it by turning the ECU off, what about a fuse relay pull?
How could I do that now the error has triggered, will disconnecting the battery under the centre console sort it by turning the ECU off, what about a fuse relay pull?
Thanks
If you are just getting a "light is out" error message, it will go away when its fixed. So with the old bulbs, if the bulb goes out you getting the message, but then if you replace the bulb, the error message would go away. It should just work the same way.
Did you move put the old tail light back on and you are still getting the message? What is the actual picture/message you are getting?
No not tried old lights back in to see if it goes away, yet. The lights I got are different i dont think they have a resistor linked to the wire that connects to the main lights wire on the car, from memory.
Heres the error message just as if bulb has popped
Yeah, those messages will go away once you have everything settled. On the link I sent you, one of the pics is the back of the right with the different electrical boards...I know one is for the sequential signal lights.... I'd still try connecting up both to see if the messages go away.
I'd think if these are made for the W463, then the canbus things would be something that they would solve for!
The lights i got are part of a full conversion kit including 2019 style bumpers and the rear bumper in that kit doesn’t have fog and reverse light in it just like the 2019 so theres a plug on each light to connect cables for those lights to illuminate in these new LED units, Ive not got that bumper so the plug is not used, supplying seller said it wont matter and to be honest Ive not got any message off reverse so assume its simply the bulb to LED swap
Heres the back of mine, ignore the 2 red blocks to the left in the packaging. On the wiring diagram the green and white wires are to bring reverse and fogs into the light from the bumper, Ive not used these.
The wire with the white connector connects what i assume is the decoder for the sweeping signal indicator, its not attached to the light grey wire which is the illumination wire for the car so cant be providing any resistance for LED wattage
Outside of the 2 additional hookups of the fog/reverse lights, it looks like a pretty standard hookup. Light gray should go to the tail light (inner most bulb on OEM tail light), the Red wire should go to the brake light (middle light on OEM), and then the yellow should go to the signal light (outer most). and the black is the ground.......only thing funky is the module for the sequential signal, assume thats some other small casing you'll need to attached somewhere!!
The fact that you are getting both a left and right tail light error tells me that it is unlikely that there is a soldering/component defect in the new lights. You should find out from the manufacturer if these are supposed have built-in loading resistors (from the picture you posted, there isn't much provision for heat sinking). If they do, I would swap the original lights back into the truck and see if the error clears to rule any anything wrong with the front SAM. If all is well, while the new ones are out, you should to find out/measure the built in resistance and compare it with the calculated value - the one supplied with the new lights may be incorrect, especially if UK lamp specs differ from ROW lamp specs. Indeed, by measuring the resistance between the black and the light gray wires with a digital ohmmeter, you can confirm that a load resistor is present, and if so, what value it is. If you don't have one, maybe you could borrow one from a friend.
And, of course, if they don't, you will need to supply your own resistor.
The red colour blocks are the manufacturers idea for heat sink, its basically a block half filled with sand and wires coming off to attach to each connection, really rough and ready design and when I complained the seller said it shouldn't be required, maybe thinking LED will run less wattage, do you think it will be, can always add it in if so or alternatively get something better, would it be necessary on the main illumination wire to reduce heat when the lights are “ON”.
06-08-2020, 10:13 AM
