Progressive Brake lights?

[TexasZed4MC]

As we all know our cars are small, and most of us at times have looked in the rearview mirror and wonder if the car/truck closing really see us and is going to stop. A friend of mine works at the Porsche Dealership in Dallas, and after seeing the new 911 tail lights I had a thought. Is there a way to make the tail lights flash a few times before going solid. I know its possible with the 3rd brake light. NO I DON"T want the car to be a Porsche and NO don't want LED tails. Just a question guys. More of a safety feature in my opinion.
Any ideas?

[Kgolf31]

I know for a fact there is an aftermarket module (similar to the motorcycle modules) that can flicker the lights each time the brakes are applied, but with halogen based tail lights, it's not going to work very well IMO.

[Rated M Roadster]

We have progressive tail lights already. Under hard braking, extra brake lights come on.

[nekky]

Originally Posted by Rated M Roadster

We have progressive tail lights already. Under hard braking, extra brake lights come on.

Geez I gotta drive this thing harder.. didn't even know that

[Incompatible]

Originally Posted by nekky

Geez I gotta drive this thing harder.. didn't even know that

Related link for your reading pleasure:
http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=734733

[TexasZed4MC]

True we do Rated M. I KNOW I can stop I just want the drivers that pay far less attention(didn't say "idiots") to driving to see I am hitting my brakes reguardless of how hard I hit them. Clear as mud huh?

[nekky]

Thanks man.

[Incompatible]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

I know for a fact there is an aftermarket module (similar to the motorcycle modules) that can flicker the lights each time the brakes are applied, but with halogen based tail lights, it's not going to work very well IMO.

All that I've run across work on an LED system. I am a believer in being as visible as possible with the brake lights, I think that a flashing center light would be an improvement as long as the original intensity can be maintained.

[SD ///M4]

At a recent autocross I saw a Mini who's third brake light would flash every time he braked for a turn. He said that he used this device: http://www.mini-madness.com/browsepr...ht-Pulsar.html.

The nice thing about this design is that it only flashes four times before staying lit as a regular third brake light so it won't become annoying to someone stopped behind you at a light.

[Incompatible]

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

At a recent autocross I saw a Mini who's third brake light would flash every time he braked for a turn. He said that he used this device: http://www.mini-madness.com/browsepr...ht-Pulsar.html.

The nice thing about this design is that it only flashes four times before staying lit as a regular third brake light so it won't become annoying to someone stopped behind you at a light.

I like it! Email to company sent, will report back on reply.

[elerner61]

Very interested in this!

[kcdedric]

http://www.billswebspace.com/bmwmc.htm

Look about halfway down the page.

[RADRACR]

Originally Posted by Rated M Roadster

We have progressive tail lights already. Under hard braking, extra brake lights come on.

Owned the car for over 4 years and YESTERDAY was the first time I knew this existed when I was behind another Z4MC at Laguna Seca. I thought it was some kind of mod. Thanks for the info.

[strokeoluck]

I could have sworn I read about this feature in the manual. Tried to get it to work while backed up to a glass retail storefront at night, when I could clearly see my tail lights in the rearview mirror. Car was running and in neutral with my foot on the brake. I pressed lightly on the brake pedal, then jammed it all the way down. There was never a difference in the brake lights.

Anyway, would love to see a video clip of the brakes after this is installed.

[XMetal]

Simply stabbing on the brakes while standing still or moving slowly will NOT activate the adaptive light. I believed the only way to get the extra "adaptive lighting" to come on is to brake hard enough to activate ABS.

This video shows how your adaptive brake light will look like when activated:

[marksdesigns]

just done this mod - bought the little gizmo from Fleabay - cost £20, had to chop it inbetween the third brake light and the power wire. pretty easy.

now when i brake the 3rd brake light flashes 6 times or something then goes to full solid red. the left and right main rear lights remain the same.
The unit takes 10sec to reset - then it will flash next time you depress the pedal.

if you press before it has reset the its like normal - full solid red brake light.

will film it and get onto YouTube asap.

[XMetal]

Does anyone know of a "plug&play" flash module, that is, without any wires splicing?

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Simply stabbing on the brakes while standing still or moving slowly will NOT activate the adaptive light. I believed the only way to get the extra "adaptive lighting" to come on is to brake hard enough to activate ABS.

ABS does not need to be activated to turn on the "oh shit" adaptive braking light, it's activated once a particular g-force threshold is exceeded. My wife's '11 335is Coupe has this feature which I learned out by reading the manual. I was pleased to find out that my Z4 M Roadster also has this. We notice this at autocrosses all the time, particularly when there's a longer straight followed by a hard right or left turn. As the driver approaches the turn and applies the brakes, the regular brake lights come on. As they continue to brake harder, the adaptive brake light comes on.

On the E9x the additional light for the adaptive brake system also serves double duty as a rear fog light on Euro spec models. You can buy a euro-spec headlight switch for an E9x for about $100, which has an operational second fog light switch instead of a blank, swap it with the stock headlight switch, and this will enable rear fog lights on the car. While this is possible on a Z4, for some reason the headlight switch also contains an electronic module used to store various information. The euro headlight switch costs several hundred dollars and is much more difficult to swap because of the additional electronic module.

Incidentally, a rear fog light is very effective and they are quite common in Europe. We picked up my wife's 335is at BMW Welt and on our first full driving day after pick up we drove the Autobahn to Salzburg on a rainy, overcast, foggy day. We noticed several cars that had their rear fog lights turned on and they really were much more noticeable as we approached them from behind. Better lighting and enhanced lighting means more visibility!

[strokeoluck]

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

He said that he used this device: http://www.mini-madness.com/browsepr...ht-Pulsar.html

Bump. Has anyone else installed this? Is it easy to do? Can we order the one noted in this link, which appears to be for a Mini?

[strokeoluck]

Originally Posted by XMetal

This video shows how your adaptive brake light will look like when activated:

Way off topic here...but is it acceptable to follow that closely on tracks?! I've never tracked so I don't know. But if you we're on my tail like that I think I'd just let you pass, I'd be so nervous you were going to run into me!

[J-Thurm]

How is that youtube video coming along? I'm thinking of doing these tail-lights/third brake light as well.

[strokeoluck]

Bump again. Was just behind an SUV the other day that had this feature - where the third brake light flashed ~5 times before staying solid red. Really curious to see a video and nail down the part information.