S6 LED S-Line Installation - Umnitza Aries LEDs

[nnnick]

UPDATE: This thread is kind of a work in progress. I'm figuring things as I go along and tweaking things - Page 2 I've figured out brackets and working on fitting the OEM S6 Fog grilles. The pics below don't have the best fitment as I was still figuring out how to mount them best - which is explained on Page two with some really cheap, easy brackets that made a world of a difference. The grills below are temporary as well as I'm working on either modding the s-line grill or using the OEM S6 grills to work better.

I bought the S6 LED replicas from Umnitza as advertised in this Group Buy Thread: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=305493 for $250. For that price, I figured it would be worth the shot and this thread is to document the install and end result. More info about the product here: http://www.umnitza.com/umnitza-aries...ht-p-5652.html

The skinny: you definitely have to cut into the bumper to install these. The majority of the cutting is done behind the fog light grilles that won't be noticeable, but you end up hacking out all of the fog light support/infrastructure so there is no turning back once you've installed. You definitely need a Dremel, a strong stomach, several hours (we spent about 5 I'd say?), and some resourcefulness for this one. Special thanks to Lunamar who helped with the install, I definitely couldn't have done this myself.

We still need to tweak a few things, especially on the passenger side, but it's fitting pretty good now I think. They will never fit 100% perfect because the curvature is slightly different between the bumper and the LED, and they are a little too long, but I'd say its close enough not to be noticeable unless you are REALLY looking hard.

I need to custom fab some grilles, I think I'm going to buy some RS4 mesh for the fog grilles then buy an RS4 grille for the main grille as well. Anyone selling either give me a PM

In the end, it's not a mod for everyone. I'm sure some people will love it, others not so much, and I'm cool with that. There is definitely other ways to install it, and any ideas you might have I'm open to. I'll be taking my bumper off again in a few weekends once my bi-xenon ecodes come in, so I plan on making minor tweaks then once everything is settled in.

On with the pics:







DISCLAIMER: Do this at your own risk. It involves cutting and other modifications that cannot be undone! Also, this isn't necessarily the best or only way to do this, and I'd love to hear your ideas on better ways to mount them!

Step 1: Pull off the bumper: http://audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=234131

Step 2: Remove fog light grilles & fog lights:


Step 3: It's Dremel time! Start slow and take your time...cut away the fog light support first but you'll see that you have to go into the bumper on both ends because they're a little too long. The very end of the led (part closest to the wheels) will still go further behind the bumper. You also have to cut notches since there are bumps on top of the LEDs, as well as cut into the rubber air intakes for the SMIC. It's too bad these LEDs aren't a little thinner, they go far back into the car and probably don't need to.

Pictures of our cuts - the good part is once you've done one side, the second side goes quicker (and comes out better, haha).

You can see most of the cuts in this picture. You have to go into the bumper a little bit but the majority of the cutting is behind where the fog light grille used to be. The two random notches are to accommodate the LED, which has corresponding notches at the same place.


Close up of the far edge (closest to the wheels/end of the bumper)


Close up of the notches to accommodate the bumps on top of the LED bar:


Close up of corner nearest the middle of the bumper, I don't think we were fully done as the corners are a lot cleaner than that, but this gives you an idea of about how far you need to cut into the actual bumper itself:



Step 4: Once you've slowly grinded away some additional space for the LEDs, it's time to prepare the wiring. There are a ton of ways to do this...we took a simple route that is nice because it utilize the fog light wiring and could be controlled from in the cabin with the OEM switch. Doing it this way means they don't work like true DRLs and I have to turn them on, but no biggie. We also made the wiring work so that you could easily disconnect the wiring when you need to take the bumper off - anyone who has modded their B7 knows how damn frequent you have to take it off, so this was very important in my mind.

Here's how we did it:

Step 4.1: Take the bulb out and keep the base, you'll be using this later:



Step 4.2: Splice the wires from the LEDs and put metal connectors on it so they can plug in to the base of the former halogen fog light you had:


Step 4.3: Be sure to have the positive align with positive and neg with neg, and connect the base of the former h11 bulb with the led wiring:


You now have your very own harness that can be easily disconnected from the stock wiring when you take your bumper off... The blue wires can be connected to your turn signal which will cause the LEDs to turn off when you have a turn signal on (just like the S6 and S5 do) - I haven't installed it in this picture and we just capped it off, but I may wire that up at a later date. The kit has plenty of wire in there, we cut off several feet, so I'm pretty sure it would reach without problem.

Step 5: Now that wiring is good to go, back to test fitting and mounting. Go ahead and mount them up with double sided tape. You're getting close but there is still some cutting to go, so don't worry about them being mounted up 100% perfect if you're using double-sided tape - it's best to wait until the bumper is back on the car. Right now you have them on just so you can tell how much more room you need to make behind the bumper...


Step 6: Test fit the bumper to the car, you don't need to bolt anything just so put it on the bumper support and snap the bumper around the headlight and fender so its held in place. You'll see the LEDs get pushed out because you still need to make more room behind the bumper to accommodate them, they are a little too deep.

First remove the two tabs from behind the LEDS - in this picture you'll see the wiring good to go and Lunamar is pointing at two tabs in the back of the LEDs you have to break off (after you do this, they aren't returnable, so be sure you have tested the lights first to make sure they work!).



Step 7: Cut way part of the rubber air intake going to the SMIC. You'll probably need to do several rounds of partly putting the bumper on, seeing what is causing the LEDs to poke out and not fit properly, cut away a little, then test fit again, and again... You can see below how much we had to cut out of the intake:



Step 8: Once you've got one side done - go to the next side and repeat. It will go much easier once you get what you need to cut and where. It will probably look better too. My drivers side went second and looks better - I think we still need to do some minor cutting on the passenger side to take care of a small gap.

Step 9: Put the bumper back on and do the final mounting with double sided tape. Once the bumper is firmly back on it is easier to line them up. We also decided to cut the fog light grilles in half and put them in place - this is temporary, I'll make something custom sooner or later, but for now, it looks better than having nothing...


Here you can see that the end of the LED is still tucked behind the bumper a little bit - they're a tad too long but not bad, and I think this still looks fine (others may disagree):


Another close up of fit:


This is my passenger side, which still needs some work as I said. We cut a little too much into the bumper at the end of the LED nearest the wheel, but its not very noticeable unless you are really looking for it (esp. given how low my car is). There is a slight gap so in the middle of the LED bar so I'm guessing we need to dremel away a little more space so it can fit higher up and sit flush like the drivers side:


Again, not perfect but not bad on the passenger side (the first side we tried)...should be better once we get back in there and Dremel a little more space:



And now, the rest of the photos - mostly of the drivers side since its a better example of how they can look:



Here is one without the grilles, in case you're curious how it would look (kinda wierd/awkward, IMO):


Another with the LEDs off:



We vag'd the car so the fogs are independent of headlights and can be turned on with DRLs. I've already ordered LED DRLs and will be installing them when I do the bi-xenon e-code swap.


(they aren't that blue in person, I just couldn't get a decent photo given my point and shoot canon camera and lack of photography skills)

I look forward to your criticism (good, bad, or room for improvement) - I know this isn't a mod for everyone but I like it and that's whats important. I am curious if anyone has ideas on how to mount them better/more permanently, I bought some brackets but didn't use them because I didn't want to drill into the LED and risk condensation problems down the road.

Check out all of the pics (including some not posted here) on my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickros...7622178142952/ and add me as a contact if you're also a flickr user!

[clumpymold]

Looks great lit up but WOW, that is a LOT of work for some small LED strips. Wouldn't it be SO much easier to just create LED strips that FIT properly?

[bagher]

looks good, losing the foglights kind of sucks though. I think the headlight leds look better

[nnnick]

Looks great lit up but WOW, that is a LOT of work for some small LED strips. Wouldn't it be SO much easier to just create LED strips that FIT properly?

lol, when you put it like that!

It was a lot of work and def. easier ways to do this, but that's also part of the fun. I wanted to do something different...and sometimes those small LED strips can look a little bit "ricey." I like that this was basically an OEM part.

looks good, losing the foglights kind of sucks though. I think the headlight leds look better

Yeah, that would be an easier route as well - and Fly's LED strips do look...fly . I wanted to try something new and I never use my fogs (not a ton of that in Arizona, lol), so I tried something different!

[lunamarA4]

looks good, losing the foglights kind of sucks though. I think the headlight leds look better

u loose the fogs but these are freaking bright compared to OEM fogs

[lunamarA4]

Nick we might hace to rethink the double sided tape and try fabricate some brackets/or clips to keep them attached more snugly to the bumper....lets talk about it later today when u swing by

[ElCapitan464]

wow really impressed with the write up, if i payed u would u do it to my car i dont trust my self with any saw

[inertia]

Looks great and good job on the write-up!

[umnitza]

Good write up.
Can you let me know if you thought about using the 3 guides built into the unit with those brackets we talked about? Did those work? Or was the idea scrapped?

[tgt]

Excellent work, and kudos for doing this/writing it up (the idea of a DIY or documentation for S6 LED's has been discussed for YEARS on the forum).

Definately one of the options for LED's that I've considered. Having done the DIY USP on my old B6, I'm less worried about cutting into that front bumper. Thanks again...I will follow this closely as well.

-tgt

btw, LOVE this shot:

[enigma1406]

Good write up.
Can you let me know if you thought about using the 3 guides built into the unit with those brackets we talked about? Did those work? Or was the idea scrapped?

That's how I had mine mounted, so that is a good idea in case you're wondering. Had them on the car for more than a year.

[ngng]

A for effort, C for execution. The fit looks poor, the grills look wacky.

I'm interested to see how these lights compare to the OEM part, or hold up over time to moisture.

[nnnick]

Good write up.
Can you let me know if you thought about using the 3 guides built into the unit with those brackets we talked about? Did those work? Or was the idea scrapped?

I don't really remember that, can you jog my memory? What brackets are you referring to?

A for effort, C for execution. The fit looks poor, the grills look wacky.

I'm interested to see how these lights compare to the OEM part, or hold up over time to moisture.

Yeah, it still needs some work, and the grilles are going to go...its just that for the time being, having those grilles cut in half looks better than nothing at all. It looks a lot better in person than in pictures, IMO.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

[clumpymold]

I also just noticed you've got the DRLs and the parking lights on when these LED strips are lit. I think it'd look MUCH better if those were off. Those ugly amber-looking lights kill the look of the LEDs. I would consider turning them off. Just a thought.

[ngng]

i would have moved the side of the housing back more so it sits more flush. also, that custom plug you made has gotta go...that thing is GHETTO.

[DarkNite]

Yeah, it still needs some work, and the grilles are going to go...its just that for the time being, having those grilles cut in half looks better than nothing at all. It looks a lot better in person than in pictures, IMO.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

Those LED's are looking really good, but I'm a Fog man. You should consider getting mesh grills for where the fogs used to be and cut them to fit underneath the LED's, then it will look even better.

[rusty91]

looks good, and i think that if you put mesh grills in that it would look a lot better.

[nnnick]

looks good, and i think that if you put mesh grills in that it would look a lot better.

I definitely agree. They look better in person than in the pics though. I need to source some mesh - the RS4 fog light grilles still have round cut outs for the fogs which won't look right. Anyone know the best place to buy something that will match RS4 mesh?

[djvice]

nnick...looks great! I'd like to see them in person. Are you going to EvOMs "First Thursday" this week?

[AudiWxGuy]

In the past I haven't been a fan of the S6 LED's on the A4. However, you did a great job and the car looks stellar! Now...put some LED angle eyes to match the bumper LED's, or do you think that may be too much? If not, I think the chormium angel eyes + the bumer LED's will be a great combo!

[halooney]

That looks amazing, man. Can't wait to see the finished product with the new grills installed.

[nnnick]

nnick...looks great! I'd like to see them in person. Are you going to EvOMs "First Thursday" this week?

Yeah I'll be there - see you then!

In the past I haven't been a fan of the S6 LED's on the A4. However, you did a great job and the car looks stellar! Now...put some LED angle eyes to match the bumper LED's, or do you think that may be too much? If not, I think the chormium angel eyes + LED's will be a great combo!

Thanks! I'm going to go OEM bi-xenon e-code housings (currently just have stock halogens) but I'm doing the LED city light mod so I think that should compliment it well. I didn't think about the halos but that could look decent - I'll be cracking open the housing to do the CC mod so maybe I should think about it

That looks amazing, man. Can't wait to see the finished product with the new grills installed.

Thanks. I was talking with some people at a local VAG meet tonight and got some ideas for fog light grilles...going to have to do more research to figure out what will work best

[nnnick]

here is one more for fun, you can see lunamar's b6 avant in the background...one of the sickest cars I've ever seen.

We were just test fitting these wheels that lunamar has for sale in the classifieds to see how much brake clearance room there is...I have to say I like how they look on the light silver metallic.

[clumpymold]

^ rims look nice but, for some reason, those LEDs sorta stick out. The color, that is. Makes it look non-stock here.

[eskimopunk]

Sorry, really really don't like the look of them. Never have, never will. Ruined a super clean car imo. Something about the S6 led's just doesn't flow with the rest of the car.

But (lol) real nice DIY and a lot of work put in

[nnnick]

^ rims look nice but, for some reason, those LEDs sorta stick out. The color, that is. Makes it look non-stock here.

I'm glad you're giving me honest feedback...I'm still fine-tuning these so it will help me integrate them better in the end. I tried to snap pictures that showed off all of the good and bad of these LEDs so people knew what they were getting in to....

As for the ugly amber in the DRLs and turn signals - both are being swapped out. Going to do LED DRLs and chromium turn signals.

As far as the color goes, it is a little on the blue side, but not as bad as the camera makes it look. Compared to my 6000k xenons, they are much whiter. I have a crappy Canon SD1000 point and click that isn't doing justice to the light output, combined with a below average ability to take good pictures...haha. They aren't ricer blue but they are probably more blue than the OEM units from what I've been told.

[lunamarA4]

wow really impressed with the write up, if i payed u would u do it to my car i dont trust my self with any saw

sure just come out to AZ

[nnnick]

sure just come out to AZ

his install would go much quicker / smoother now that we have practice under our belt

[lunamarA4]

........ - I'll be cracking open the housing to do the CC mod so maybe I should think about it

Hey Nick if I understood u correctly u r getting the housings from germany...right???

if so no need to worry about cracking open the housing....the umber piece is only on US cars......but then again I'm a B6 guy...so not sure 100%

[clumpymold]

I'm glad you're giving me honest feedback...I'm still fine-tuning these so it will help me integrate them better in the end. I tried to snap pictures that showed off all of the good and bad of these LEDs so people knew what they were getting in to....

As for the ugly amber in the DRLs and turn signals - both are being swapped out. Going to do LED DRLs and chromium turn signals.

As far as the color goes, it is a little on the blue side, but not as bad as the camera makes it look. Compared to my 6000k xenons, they are much whiter. I have a crappy Canon SD1000 point and click that isn't doing justice to the light output, combined with a below average ability to take good pictures...haha. They aren't ricer blue but they are probably more blue than the OEM units from what I've been told.

Oh, I was referring to the last picture with the last post. The LED covers (or the strip itself) just looks really clean/blue compared to your stock headlights.

Can you do LED DRLs without triggering an error code? I'd just turn them off (I actually did that with mine). Your parking lights can also be turned off. Just have them blink when you turn.

It's good to know that you can take criticism well though. Some people on here get so upset when others express their own opinion. Everyone will have their opinions and you can't expect everyone to agree, you know? I definitely appreciate the time and effort you have put into this mod. Umnitza was lucky to have you be their "test mule".

[slimmj0k3r]

me likey, those look pretty good.

[10MPG]

It's pretty dang good for DIY so to you sir

You should refer to Enigma's old thread and make the existing grille section work for the OEM look.

To hold the light in place, if you can fabricate couple of U shaped strips, it should be able to hold it in place nicely. However, that does require screwing into the body of the light housing itself. Just make sure you seal it up good afterwards or moisture can get in easily.

[nnnick]

It's pretty dang good for DIY so to you sir

You should refer to Enigma's old thread and make the existing grille section work for the OEM look.

To hold the light in place, if you can fabricate couple of U shaped strips, it should be able to hold it in place nicely. However, that does require screwing into the body of the light housing itself. Just make sure you seal it up good afterwards or moisture can get in easily.

I looked through his thread some but I need to read it more closely - I noticed he did some custom fiberglass work though, not sure if that is above my head or not. I'm also looking in to buying DTM fog light grilles and getting them to work, the mesh weave on those are pretty close to the RS4 honeycomb.

For the bracket there are 3 notches you can see in this pic:


I think I should be able to do a u-shaped bracket over the notches and mount it that way perhaps. I need to tinker with this more, the good part is that I can pull them off easily and go into Home Depot and see what kind of brackets would fit and take it from there.

10MPG yours look awesome btw, your shop did a great job - I read through your thread as well. Your fog grilles came out perfect.

Thanks for the comments and ideas!

[Phantom08]

If you end up getting the RS4 mesh grilles, I think you should mount the LEDs on the bottom instead of where they are now. That way you would have what would appear to be fog lights and I think they would flow better with the lines of the car. Just my 2 cents.

[lunamarA4]

If you end up getting the RS4 mesh grilles, I think you should mount the LEDs on the bottom instead of where they are now. That way you would have what would appear to be fog lights and I think they would flow better with the lines of the car. Just my 2 cents.

too late for that we had to cut into the bumper toward the mid grill so that would leave a 1cm cut our\t

[nnnick]

Okay, here are my updates so far.

For mounting, I'm going to follow Enigma's lead and do this:

$700 is on the high end I'd say...depends on how the shop installs it. I paid less but I bought the S6 LEDs and switch myself. The hardest part, by far, is modding the grille to fit.

Here's what I sent to the guy that bought my bumper. The four circled pieces are what were used to attach the S6 LEDs. The two brackets really didn't do much other than keep the LEDs lined up...the clips are what held it in place.

Then, the grille helped support the bottom of the LED and there was a screw that held the grille in place along with a tab or extension that you can see on the left side of this picture.

Attaching the S6 LED like this is definitely not the hard part. Cutting the bumper so it fits properly and then molding the grille are the hard parts.

and for the grille I think I'm going to try to locate some OEM S6 fog light grilles and get them to work. I went to a local dealership and measured the grilles, they are maybe a half inch wider and half inch to too tall but I'm pretty sure I can get them to work, probably without cutting.

I see that someone else did this with their install (sent you a PM) so I'll keep looking into this:

New mods :)
S-line bumper, S6 LEDs, S6 Carbon Brakets and Rieger front lip.

You can buy a OEM S6 brakets or a carbon edition:
www.car4style.de

[nnnick]

Okay I've talked to a few more folks (thanks everyone for your help) and here is more info on the fog grilles...it looks like both Engima and 10MPG have modified their stock s-line grilles to work with some bondo...I think I hacked away too much of my grilles and didn't keep the top part so it might be too late for me to do this, but I thought I'd paste this in as a reference for others:

The fog grille i'm using is custom made by using the stock S-Line grille - following the the rough steps as seen here http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149652

Technically it's not fiberglass but using bondo. The general idea is:

1. cut the grille in 2 pieces and trim off excess
2. bondo up the hole where the original fog resides in
3. sand paper away until smooth
4. spray with matte black paint
5. secure onto light/body using either/combination of 3m exterior double side tape & velcro since you wont really have any clips left

Not too overly difficult, but it is time consuming.

We decided to mod the stock fog grille to fit in with the LED array to keep a slightly more OEM look so it doesn't look like it's just stuck on.

Here are the in progress shots:


The only visual parts that are cut are the fog light holders. You can see that the outside is recessed behind the bumper but the inside sits flush with no need to cut a notch.


Both sides on.


The grille in progress

[slimmj0k3r]

^^ my shop followed those pics when they did my LEDs its pretty straight forward, came out great! fitment isnt spot on 100% but will be working on that sometime this winter.

[eskimopunk]

Do you guys not know how to take images out of quotes!? holy shit lol.

I think it looks better on a black car.

[Hockenheim]

unless the bracket is done right the mod looks like crap.