Summer Time DIY mods
 

hey gang,
so i got my wife a new Q5 premium plus and i wished i had a new audi A6 but that's not going to happen. instead i decided to spruce things up with my 06 A6. i made my own LED lights and blinker system. i know some people only like the OEM LED S6 lights and frown on anything else but i just wasn't ready to spend $400-$600 on lights. instead i made my own custom LEDs. i know they're not as awesome as the OEM S6 version but i like how mine turned out and not to mention it feels good to be able to make something custom on your own.

also i bought some glossy black high heat engine paint and painted the engine covers to give it a fresher spruced up look. i will spruce up the rest of the engine soon and will post pictures. maybe this can inspire some of you to not be afraid to take apart and paint your cars. =]


I ordered a set of lights very similar to these and i cut off the curved end.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...03535-10-1.jpg

i then used a razor blade and popped the clear cover from the housing. and i installed some yellow LED strips on the bottom for the blinker (sort of like the porsche cayenne except not as fancy).

it actually took me awhile to make the yellow strip fit and i had to shave it down with the razor to make it as thin as possible.

i put the cover back on carefully to the housing and i used a bathroom tub and tile clear silicone to waterproof the unit. i also sprayed the LED covers with krylon fusion clear coat to give it a little bit of UV and weather protection.

to help freshen up the face of the A6 i painted the license plate grill cover and the fog light grills (krylon fusion gloss black 3 coats). i attached the lights to the fog light grill with 3 small #4 or #6 screws.... i forget. it came out looking like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...edseparate.jpg

i then attempted to stay "legal" and spliced the LED wires to the parking lights. i figure that way i can turn them on and off from inside of the car. my only setback is if the head lights turn on then the LEDs will turn on as well (which is not a problem with me since these are not blinding bright like the real S6 lights).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...DSoldering.jpg

for the left and right blinkers i spliced it into the side markers. i did this by taking off 2 screws from under each front wheel well and pulling down the fender cover. it was very dusty by the way. i ran my blinker wires inside of the fender well down to the front. i put a piece of cardboard when i was soldering just in case i got some on the car's paint. after soldering the wires i taped up and popped the lights back in.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...rSoldering.jpg

here is the finished look after i cleaned up the wires and installed the fog grill back into place.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...leddaytime.jpg

here is the LEDs in the evening time.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...dnighttime.jpg

here are the blinkers inside of the LED housing unit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...owblinkers.jpg

and for the engine covers i took off the throttle body cover, the front cover and the cover that goes in between the wiper blades and the engine. i used the same high heat gloss engine paint. i plan to paint the middle section of the engine a hammered gray color. nothing far from the original color. just something fresh and clean looking but slightly unique from OEM.

just a heads up.... high heat engine paint is not easy to wash off of your hands so maybe wearing gloves would be a good idea. it took me like 2 days to get the last bits of it off. =]

i didn't paint the bottom piece yet because i wanted to show the difference with before and after painting.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...rpaintprep.jpg

both painted and dried. i later glued the Audi rings back on with an industrial construction glue.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ntedcovers.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...versengine.jpg

i know the new covers with the dirty engine bay looks weird but i promise to freshen up the engine bay some more gang. anyway, i hope this inspires you to be creative with your cars should they need a little bit of a face lift to keep up with the newer prettier Audis. i'll post more pictures later. thanks gang.

-Van

Nice work.

Great job Van !

Thanks for posting the pictures as well.

That looks fantastic!

I may do that myself. Where did you get the LEDs? Also the intake cover should pop off like the front and rear covers. I may do that too with a red intake cover.

dammm that looks like a damm good job!
keep it up..

thanks guys! i appreciate it.

phil, i found these on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150835844823...84.m1423.l2649

this set seems to already have blinkers installed. i wish i had seen this set first before i put in my own blinkers. this would've saved me some time. hahaha oh well. this seems to be an incredibly cheap price. again, this is no where near as nice as the OEM S6 lights but they are still nice to have and also they look like they belong on the car. =]

i think painting the engine covers will make the engine bay stand out more and also make me feel like i have a ''newer'' car. heh heh. give it a shot and post your face lift pics. i would love to get new ideas from others as well.

-Van

those LED strips fit nicely, i like it!

I have to admit I'm usually quick to dismiss a DIY LED job, but you did fantastic work! Very clean install, almost looks like a stock setup

thanks man. yeah i'm kinda the same way with DIY. i feel if you do it yourself try to go all the way and make it as professional as possible. i try to minimize the tacky or the ricey look as much as possible. sometimes my work can be less than professional but i try to not go there when working on project ideas. =]

i want to put on a wider exhaust rear valance so that i can twin dual pipe it as my next project but it's hard to find a rear valance that allows that.

getting the S6 valence will allow you to do that...
 

going to cost a couple hundred for the valence though