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  #1  
Old 01-11-2013, 08:08 PM
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Any MARS taillight info from down under??

Hey guys, Just looking for some input on the mars performance led tails for the e53....any info regarding fit, quality, light intensity or problems is appreciated. Since they're based outta Aussie-land I figured some of you might be running them, and/or might have a thing or two to say about them. I know they're pretty big with the 3-series crowd, who had mostly positive things to say....but I'm wondering if the consensus would be the same for the e53.

Im after the Mars tails in particular because they don't have the faux celis bars found on the fleabay lights. Again, any info or pics is much appreciated before I go dump $400 on a set of lights blindly.

Thanks,
S.
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Old 01-26-2013, 09:07 PM
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I've been using the mars clear red led tail lights for almost a year now on a 2004 4.4i:

• I get the check tail lights message on every cold start, but only occasional on a restart.

• Flickering stop/tail leds , this flickering goes away after a couple of minutes. I couldn't see any resistors on the wiring with my lights.

• The stop light led are really really bright - quite useful at night as the reversing lights are quite ordinary.

• Only the stop/tails are led, the indicators use your standard bulb.
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Old 01-26-2013, 09:54 PM
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what is the difference between the aus version of tail and the chinese/taiwanese versions? i did not see the country of manufacture on their website?

visually, they seemed to be the same, probably operationally are the same - just a local importer of the lights in the Aussie land...

Besides, on the facelifted models, there is a BDF signal (Brake Distribution Force) that will make the lights strobe with the PMW (Pulse Modulated Wave). in addition to the cold monitoring, that can be turned off via NCS programming... There is an LED tail light option in the LCM programming, but I am not sure what it does...


ask them about country of manufacture...
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Old 01-26-2013, 11:12 PM
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According to the box, their made in Taiwan.

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Old 01-26-2013, 11:15 PM
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Its more the design than anything. They use 4 rows of LEDS's and ditch the faux celis bars. Makes them look cleaner and more OEM than the Ebay counterparts.

EDIT: The MARS lights may be manufactured elsewhere, but MARS themselves are based out of Australia. I'm not concerned with the flickering/bulb out warnings as those are easily remedied via coding.

danielsan: With regards to the actual functioning of the tail lights (how they light up) im hoping you could clear things up a bit for me.....Using the factory tail assembly for reference, there are 3 bulbs. Starting with the bottom we have stop light & tail lamp, middle is the tail lamp (and on 04+ will also light up as a brake light under heavy braking; adaptive brake lights), and top as you pointed out is the turn signal. Does the bottom and middle "section" on the MARS lights function the same way or do they always light up together (ie bottom and middle function as a single brake light). Thanks for the reply btw!
I emailed MARS a while ago but have yet to receive a response.....
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Old 01-26-2013, 11:20 PM
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Brand could be Eagle Eyes?

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Old 01-26-2013, 11:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danielsan View Post
Brand could be Eagle Eyes?
Hard to tell by the box...what do the actual lights like?

T, heres a comparison of the ebay vs mars lights, look closely at the bottom section and you'll see what Im talking about.:

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Old 01-27-2013, 01:28 AM
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Just went and checked for you:

bottom and middle for tail lights
bottom for brake lights

on a side note discovered my middle left isn't working hence the warning message and possibly the cause of the pulsing too.

Last edited by danielsan; 01-27-2013 at 01:37 AM.
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Old 01-27-2013, 01:39 AM
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Thank you!!! Going to finally order a set this week!
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Old 01-27-2013, 01:55 AM
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that was a reason i just sold mine back on the ebay - besides the looks, which purely subjective, the lights stopped working, one section of LEDs at a time... bought it for about $250 or so, sold it as was for about $70... being at an APO, is much harder to make returns, or warranty claims, etc.. and the looks - half of the San Jose was driving riced up hyundays and kias with lights like that, i just did not want to dilute the marque... went back to the original...
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