Making the Angel Rings Light Up

Making the Angel Rings Light Up

In order to make it light up like the true 'Angel Eye', we had to retract the light as it goes through the rod by making multiple cuts (scratches) along the rod, using a Dremel or RotorMatic tool. Each cut/groove allows the light to 'escape' the ring. Each cut is about 2 ~ 3mm appart and 1mm deep. Don't make the cuts too close to one another. This will make your ring look like a continuous band of light. In our opinion, the rings look better and more sophisticated with the cuts evenly spaced out.

It will take about 2 minutes to make the cuts using a dremel tool. If you dont have a dremel tool, you can use a small saw or a butter knife, but it will take you longer. A Dremel tool set will cost about $30 USD. It has many uses, such as cutting, sanding, carving, buffing, etc. Good tool to have for hobbies. You can also buy the new RotorMatic tool set for only $19.99. It works the same way as the dremmel.

Hint: To get the cuts to look perfect, you can do the cuts ahead of time before making a circular ring out of it. You only need to make the cuts along 1 of the 6 sided rod. Doing 2 or more sides will make your ring look dimmer, because most of the light has escaped before it reaches the other end of the rod. Also, let the cutted side be the back side. When you turn it over to the front, the cuts will be multiplied by the hex shape which acts like mirrors, and they are brighter to compared to the back. The light appears to be refracted inward.

Light is being refracted as it hits surface

Create the cuts with a dremel tool

Cuts along the back-side of the rod

On the front side, cuts multiplied by hex shape.

Full view of angel eye rod

Angel eye with some foreground light

Closeup of light being refracted through cuts

Cuts 2 sides vs. 1 side.

LED Light For the Angel Eyes

We suggest you use LED light for your Angel Eyes. Unlike halogen bulbs, LED bulbs are very efficient, last very long (no filament to burn out), and produce very little heat. The LED bulb along with the resistor use less than 1watt of power, compare to a 35 watt halogen bulb used in the real BMW Angel Eyes. LED bulbs are bright too even though they are only 1 mcd. If you ever pointed a keychain with LED light toward your eyes, you would know what we mean. Besides, the purpose of Angel Eyes is for look and style, not to light up the road.

LED bulbs are used in street signal lights, jumbo television, car alarm indicator etc., for their efficiency and reliability. They are bright in the day too. Hence, they are now being use in tail-lights and stop-lights, as found on new Mercedes S Class, Infiniti G35 and other luxury cars. One distinctive feature of LED bulbs is that they come on/off instantly. Next time when you follow an S430 or a G35, you will notice that as the driver steps on or realeses the brake, the stop-light comes on and off instantly. It doesn't dim in and out light halogen lights.

LED light comes in many different colors, red, blue, orange, yellow, green, and white. Red is really nice and will definitely make your car stand out, but we used white LED in compliance with state laws. They even come in multi-blinking colors too, and we think cops probably love them. They'll be happy to turn on their version of multi-blinking light!

They cost about $4 to $5 each at your local Radio Shack store. Note that LED bulbs are not like halogen bulbs where you can just connect positive and negative wires for them to light up. You must use a resistor. The purpose of the resistor is to limit/resist high current going through the LED bulbs. LED bulbs require only a small amount of current to light up. Hence the efficiency. Resistors should cost about $1 for a set of 5. Very Cheap!

Resistors have different resistance which is measured in OHM's. To get the correct resistance for your LED lights use the following format.

When you buy the LED bulb it will tell you the voltage and amp used. In our case we have a 12V car battery and a 3.6V LED with 20mA (or .02A). So, we used a resistor of 420 ohms [(12V - 3.6V)/.02A]

You can use a lower ohms resistor, eg 220 ohms, to light up your LED. In fact, it will make your LED brighter because a low resistance allows more current to go through the bulb. We have been doing this for over 5 months now and still have not had a problem.

A white LED bulb, positive is the longer terminal.

A 1100 vs. a 2000 mcd LED bulbs. mcd (milli-candela) measures brightness.

220ohms resistor. Restrict current going through a bulb.

Resistor connected to positive lead, which is the longer one.