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Lighted front emblem mod

22K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  Robert.Mauro 
#1 ·
So, I’m sick and had a few days at home guzzling DayQuil and NyQuil. Been working on this for a little while but didn’t really get any traction on it until this week. I ended up buying two things for this mod - the front subaru badge (I believe Robert posted the part number elsewhere in a different thread) and I ended up buying a second front grille off eBay. I wanted to have a spare grille to work on and also for a replacement just in case I messed something up. Oh and I also bought a subaru lighted LED emblem off of amazon / eBay too.

I cannot recommend this mod to others unless you’re really in to DIY. It’s not an easy or cheap mod.

I started with the separate bought subaru front badge. This thing is huge and comes basically with the entire backside plastered with 3M super adhesive double sided foam tape. You have to peel that off before you can do anything. Then I followed another DIY thread and lightly sanded the backside of the emblem around the edges of the stars till you could see light through them. It doesn’t take much sanding actually.

The stock front emblem is also attached with the 3M foam tape to the front grille. It’s a royal pain in the ass to try to get off. In the end, I simply dremeled the entire thing off (needed to do it anyway). I reused the dremeled (and pretty ruined) front emblem on the backside of the grille to serve as a mounting plate for the LEDs.

Resealed everything back up with some black silicone. Wired it into a switched add a fuse in the engine fuse box. So now it lights up whenever the car is on. I can take a few more pics later but I need to sleep now. Being sick sucks.

Oh and if anyone wants a second spare front grille, lemme know LOL
-C
 

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#6 ·
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=25950

For the most part, in most states, anything but white to yellow is 100% illegal on the front of a car. Blue is especially bad.

In this case, it is brighter then .005 candela per square inch and is more blue then white in color.

The ticket will start at 150ish and they will make you remove it.

You can have it on your car until you get the ticket if you never turn it on while driving or on a public street/space.

Or your typical 3 watt led is about 300 lux. You need to get it down to less then 8 lux. Glow in the dark paint is at max 5 lux.

The point? You can not see it until all other light is out.
 
#10 ·
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=25950

For the most part, in most states, anything but white to yellow is 100% illegal on the front of a car. Blue is especially bad.

In this case, it is brighter then .005 candela per square inch and is more blue then white in color.

The ticket will start at 150ish and they will make you remove it.

You can have it on your car until you get the ticket if you never turn it on while driving or on a public street/space.

Or your typical 3 watt led is about 300 lux. You need to get it down to less then 8 lux. Glow in the dark paint is at max 5 lux.

The point? You can not see it until all other light is out.

Or you can just make it a white light.
 
#9 ·
I'm not really worried about the legal issue either.
I see plenty of Mercedes with the lighted tri-tip arrowhead and this is probably just about as bright as those.
The lighting is also nowhere near as bright as the stock DRLs and those have to be street legal, right (plus they're on all the time by default)?
Shrug... I'll let you know if I get stopped for a ticket.
 
#13 ·
Pics post.
OEM grille - secured in place by 6 metal tapered screws (red arrows) and 4 plastic clips (yellow circles)

Close up of the backside of the ORM front emblem. The red dotted line shows what you need to dremel off. You can also see what I assume are the plastic mounting posts for the touring model front camera (meaning likely this version of the mod cannot be done in the Touring).

View of backside of the front grille. You can see the dremeled and reused front emblem. I used two small brass screws to help retain the front emblem in place.

Led light panel - hopefully speaks for itself.
 

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#16 ·
By the way, if any local SoCal peeps are interested, I have a spare front grille and emblem and might be able to help another member do the same mod.
Would have to order another front spare emblem (part number 93013XC000 ; about $65) and the white LED plate (about $30, usually comes about a month later from China)...

Anyway, PM me if interested.
-C
 
#17 ·
By the way, if any local SoCal peeps are interested, I have a spare front grille and emblem and might be able to help another member do the same mod.
Would have to order another front spare emblem (part number 93013XC000 ; about $65) and the white LED plate (about $30, usually comes about a month later from China)...

Anyway, PM me if interested.
-C
I'm interested. I never got around to making mine, and have other projects to do. I do have 3 emblems lying around.
 
#19 ·
I'm happy for the OP but truthfully, I'd have paid extra for a logo-free Ascent. Sorry to offend the Subaru-philes, but the logo is the worst in the industry. Only Kia's comes close in its badness. If the grill and tailgate trim weren't formed around the logo, I'd have removed them a minute after the keys were handed to me.

On a more helpful note, when removing trim held by 3m tape, after warming with a hair dryer, use dental floss to "saw" under the trim. No risk of breaking anything or damaging underlying paint.
 
#20 ·
@HeyChris lol, yep, only ones I've seen that are available for the Ascent (because ours are much bigger than the rest).

@Titanrx8 lol, totally understandable. I love the debadged look. But, I'm kinda fond of the Subaru logo.
 
#21 ·
I don't mind the lighted logo, but after paying $40k+ for the Ascent ( don't even ask about the loaded GLS I had before the Subie), I feel like the manufacturer ( any manufacturer- not picking on Subaru) should be paying us to advertise for them.
I bring this up because the glowing Merc emblem is an extra cost dealer/OE option on most of their cars. Interestingly, you'll tend to see it mostly on the nose of their lowest cost models. Salesman at the MB dealership, who I was friends with, used to joke you could buy the safety package for only a little more than the glowing star on the entry level cars, but the younger people like to show off.
 
#23 ·
It's pretty much the only thing that stopped me from finishing my mod. I own three emblems, ready and waiting to do this, but I never could find an LED plate I was happy with.
 
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