Aftermarket Angel Eyes Malfunctioning

[solo the lad]

pungo I Figured I would start the thread here to help anyone else in the future.

So i'll explain my install first. I began with the LED rings and drivers from Bavgruppe Designs, along with the plug and play kit. The rings are not wired to the headlights connections at all, I've wired them through the engine bay. More specifically, each ring connects to its own driver, except for an LED brow I also have installed, which shares a driver. Then from the driver they connect to what I believe to be a ballast, though I am not sure. It is a square looking box thing, and the rings illuminated with or without this in the system, but I installed it in the system anyways because I figured it was there for a reason. Next the wires run through the engine bay on the right side eventually to a relay switch, and from there to the positive terminal in the Z4, and grounded at the negative terminal on the right wheel well housing. The switch wire for the relay runs into cabin from the right firewall plug, to where I have an inline three prong switch (for more control over the system) attached in the cabin, and then ultimately into a switched fuse slot in the fuse compartment, utilizing a fuse tap apparatus.

After the install, it all worked perfectly. LED's were super bright, always came on immediately when ignition was turned on, and when I used the inline switch in the car, they would always turn on and off immediately with no problems whatsoever. It was bliss. But my world would turn upside down sooner than I would realize. You see, now the LED's will just not turn on sometimes when I turn the ignition on. I'll use the inline switch as well, and nothing. But if I start the car again later, they may turn on and seem to work fine. However, If I interrupt the power with the cabin switch, and turn them back on, they will not turn back on. Occasionally they will, but they will only appear to be very dim. So my solution was that I just would no longer use the cabin switch, since I know LED's are very sensitive to any changes in current. However, that didn't seem to help much. Now most of the time, when I start the car they will just appear to be very very dim, or they won't come on at all. Sometimes while I am driving they will turn off on their own. One thing to note is that both headlights are always equal though, in terms of dimness, or if they are on and off. They malfunction equally which leads me to believe it is not something wrong with the drivers/ ballasts, or rings themselves. And I did not think it would be the relay either, since If the relay had failed, they would not appear to be dim sometimes, but they just would not turn on at all right? So, this is as much info as I have, hopefully you can provide some insight for me, cheers.

[Clearancediver]

Check for error codes with ISTAD to see if the install generated anything.

[solo the lad]

Originally Posted by Clearancediver

Check for error codes with ISTAD to see if the install generated anything.

I have no experience with that, nor the money to buy one just yet. You think it could still be throwing an error code even though its only connected to battery terminals?

[pungo]

• I thought you were going to ask about stock AE, not some unknown plug and play kit you bought, which I know nothing about.
• The driver delivers a specific voltage and current to the LEDs so adding additional LEDs to the driver can cause issues.
• 2 sets of LEDs sharing a single driver is not a good idea unless it was designed to do so.
• LEDs do not use a ballast, those are for Xenon bulbs so if you have a driver plus an unknown "box" maybe that is causing you problem.
• Are you using a voltmeter to verify the drivers are receiving full battery voltage?
• A schematic of your DIY wiring would be helpful in case something doesn't look right.
• Have you contacted the LED kit supplier with your issue?