LEDs conversion on dash lights
03-17-2015, 09:59 AM
#31
Drifting
Thread Starter
No, have never seen that. Looks great what he did, and nice write up.
I need to figure out the switches on the CCU, console warning light (the one that lights up red), fog, and defrost now.
I may just splice a resistor right to the power going to the light.
I need to figure out the switches on the CCU, console warning light (the one that lights up red), fog, and defrost now.
I may just splice a resistor right to the power going to the light.
03-19-2015, 12:54 AM
#32
edit - I just ordered my bulbs per your list plus 4 more white bulbs. Hope they are what you'll tell me worked in the dome and glove box. This will be the first project of the year, along with fixing the odometer gears since I'll be in there.
Last edited by user 783003; 03-19-2015 at 01:07 AM. Reason: impatience, and only $8 more
04-12-2015, 05:49 PM
#36
Racer
I received my bulbs and put them in...or tried to. It was so hit or miss whether they would fit or not. I should have ordered several spares. I know about fitting them but some were so poorly made they just couldn't be made to fit. And I crushed at least a few trying to press the issue. I'm not even sure I like the way they look. I hate the thought of something so poorly made being installed in my car. Are there better options out there? You can see the lights on the tach are not yet done(I ran out) and the ones at the top right of the speedo didn't make contact and don't light up. The warning and blinker lights are very nice and bright.
04-13-2015, 09:49 AM
#37
I received my bulbs and put them in...or tried to. It was so hit or miss whether they would fit or not. I should have ordered several spares. I know about fitting them but some were so poorly made they just couldn't be made to fit. And I crushed at least a few trying to press the issue. I'm not even sure I like the way they look. I hate the thought of something so poorly made being installed in my car. Are there better options out there? You can see the lights on the tach are not yet done(I ran out) and the ones at the top right of the speedo didn't make contact and don't light up. The warning and blinker lights are very nice and bright.
I had the same issue with some of the lights not coming on. I finally started tweaking the bulbs with the car on so I could see when they came on. It has to be due to the LED's being polarity sensitive, but I could not find a plus or minus on the bulbs, so it's a trial and error thing.
04-13-2015, 10:34 AM
#38
Drifting
Thread Starter
Just had to be delicate with mine, but I didn't haven't any issues fitting them. I left the car on (pre start up) to make sure they would light up while I installed them.
04-13-2015, 11:07 AM
#39
Drifting
Thread Starter
What kind of LEDs did you end up using? The first ones I tried where some cheap ones from eBay and they would work at all. If you bent the little prongs they would fall apart. So I tried the superbriteled ones and those worked great.
LEDs aren't for everybody, so I can understand why some people like to stay with the soft warm old school look. I personally like the LED over the originals. Just looks cleaner and more visible to me. I almost did red as the backlight color, but I thought it would look flashy. You probably could just run amber it replicate the look of the original ones. IDK, may be to yellow though.
LEDs aren't for everybody, so I can understand why some people like to stay with the soft warm old school look. I personally like the LED over the originals. Just looks cleaner and more visible to me. I almost did red as the backlight color, but I thought it would look flashy. You probably could just run amber it replicate the look of the original ones. IDK, may be to yellow though.
03-30-2018, 06:38 AM
#42
Rennlist Member
I’ve bought the Vintage White Gauge LED kit from Design 911. As purchased they don’t fit, because the prongs are not close enough together. I assume from reading this that they have to be custom bent to work? Is there some rule I don’t know of where only some firms can sell aftermarket parts that actually fit out of the box?
03-31-2018, 05:38 AM
#44
Rennlist Member
Bending the prongs worked. The Vintage White ones were fitted to the clock, but the speedo has normal incandescent bulbs.
The LEDs are dimmable. I struggle to see the difference in the real world (pic taken with an iPhone).
03-31-2018, 05:23 PM
#45
Instructor
I've converted just about every bulb on my car, interior and exterior, to LED, and for the most part, I really like it and am very pleased with the results.
I agree, there isn't a huge difference on the gauges between the vintage/warm white and the incandescents, but it is brighter overall. They do require some bending of the prongs to get it just right.
I converted all the warning bulbs, as well, using a combination of red/yellow/orange/green/blue LEDs where necessary. There were several I immediately switched back to incandescent because I think the car registers faults if certain circuits aren't pulling the right current. In particular, the airbag and seat belt lights seem to need to be incandescent or else they will not go off after start and an error is registered in the OBD diagnostics. I'm also thinking of switching the ABS & alternator bulbs as they occasionally will stay on after start until I hit the accelerator pedal, but maybe that is telling me I have an actual error. (I put in a new Bosch battery at New Years so I don't think it is battery but maybe something related, or a fault in the ABS itself). I think there was one other I switched back but I can't remember off the top of my head.
I've noticed that the LED's do not do as well a job of "throwing" light, and even though I've got the LED's with multiple diodes on each face, at certain angles the needles on the gauges are not always illuminated as well as I would like. This is most noticeable on the fuel gauge needle.
Also, I swapped the incandescent bulbs for the rear window defogger & fog light switch to LED's. I don't recommend this and have gone back. The LED's do not do well with the multi-level current that those switches use to indicate on versus off. With LED's, they are always on at full bright unlike the incandescents.
The only other place I haven't done LED's are the fog lights, as there does not seem to be an acceptably bright H3 bulb which is small enough to fit in the fog light unit of which I'm aware, so for now, it stays halogen. I would like to get some bulbs that better color match the LED headlights which are 600k, I think.
I have absolutely loved having the dome lights as LED, as well as the lights in the frunk and engine bay. They are actually useful now!
All of my exterior bulbs (other than fog lights) are LED and I am very happy with the increased brightness. Considering I am sharing the road mostly with oversized pickups in Texas, I want to make sure they see me when I'm braking/indicating a lane change/ etc.
Anyways, that's my two cents. Hope it is somewhat useful!
I agree, there isn't a huge difference on the gauges between the vintage/warm white and the incandescents, but it is brighter overall. They do require some bending of the prongs to get it just right.
I converted all the warning bulbs, as well, using a combination of red/yellow/orange/green/blue LEDs where necessary. There were several I immediately switched back to incandescent because I think the car registers faults if certain circuits aren't pulling the right current. In particular, the airbag and seat belt lights seem to need to be incandescent or else they will not go off after start and an error is registered in the OBD diagnostics. I'm also thinking of switching the ABS & alternator bulbs as they occasionally will stay on after start until I hit the accelerator pedal, but maybe that is telling me I have an actual error. (I put in a new Bosch battery at New Years so I don't think it is battery but maybe something related, or a fault in the ABS itself). I think there was one other I switched back but I can't remember off the top of my head.
I've noticed that the LED's do not do as well a job of "throwing" light, and even though I've got the LED's with multiple diodes on each face, at certain angles the needles on the gauges are not always illuminated as well as I would like. This is most noticeable on the fuel gauge needle.
Also, I swapped the incandescent bulbs for the rear window defogger & fog light switch to LED's. I don't recommend this and have gone back. The LED's do not do well with the multi-level current that those switches use to indicate on versus off. With LED's, they are always on at full bright unlike the incandescents.
The only other place I haven't done LED's are the fog lights, as there does not seem to be an acceptably bright H3 bulb which is small enough to fit in the fog light unit of which I'm aware, so for now, it stays halogen. I would like to get some bulbs that better color match the LED headlights which are 600k, I think.
I have absolutely loved having the dome lights as LED, as well as the lights in the frunk and engine bay. They are actually useful now!
All of my exterior bulbs (other than fog lights) are LED and I am very happy with the increased brightness. Considering I am sharing the road mostly with oversized pickups in Texas, I want to make sure they see me when I'm braking/indicating a lane change/ etc.
Anyways, that's my two cents. Hope it is somewhat useful!