Finally a plug-n-play LED solution for 964/993 gauges
 

Finally found a LED that fits right into the gauges. It is bright, much brighter than the OEM bulbs. Another big plus is that you can still adjust the brightness.

Here is the end result.

Very cool - any details to share?


Andreas

One must share

Mike

The LEDs are 74-xHP3, 3 High Power SMD LEDs with wide beam angle radially mounted - 15 lumen.

I got them from superbrightleds.com.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b....15100&next=50

It fits directly onto the twist lock #74 base which I got from ebay. The LED originally came with the #74 base was not very bright. So I tossed them and fit these new 74-xHP3.

I got the cool white one, but warm white and other colors are also available.

In the attached pic below, the leftmost is the OEM bulb. The middle is the single LED /w the #74 twist lock base I got from ebay. On the right is the 74-xHP3. Just pull out the single LED and insert in the 74-xHP3. Then just install them into the gauge.

I like the look in the picture. but....

I tried plug in LEDs 2 years ago after Geo graciously offered to let me try them. In the end I decided that it was "too much". The problem I had was that the other parts of the car (knobs and such) are incandescent and did not match - at least enough for my tastes. The LEDs I had were too blue compared to the yellow traditional look.

Maybe what you found is different than what I tried. I seem to remember that the LEDs with the special bases were kind of pricey.

With that said, I have LED license plate lights and like them. Got the idea from seeing a TL acura.

Here are some comparision between the bulbs/leds.

In the fist pic, the clock is the single LED, tach is the 74x-HP3 leds, the others are OEM regular bulbs.

In the second pic, the clock is the single LED and the tach is the 74x-HP3 leds. The tach is a bit more blue than the single LED, but much brighter.

In the last pic, you can see the dramatic difference between stock and the new LEDs.

The site also list a "warm white" which the specs says is very close to the regular bulb. I just went /w the cool white since my interior has a bit of blue.

al911

Well chalk up another to do on the ever growing list. Man I need to get started on my car or I will never get it done. Nice job.

Mike

That looks pretty good...great job :cheers:

Can you give a list/summary of which bulbs you bought and how many of each? Thanks.

Not bad. How many does it all take?

Why not use the amber ones? It looks like you can get the lower lumen LED's.

I turn mine down & like just enough light to see the dials.

Looks great. Much better than the single LEDs that I have in mine.

Looks like I can probably get these LEDs and then switch them with the single LEDs.

I use the cool white 74xHP3 leds. It takes 11 of them for all 5 gauges. You will also have to order the 74 type screw base.

Thanks!

Just curious -- another post a while back said that the bulbs had an overly direct light pattern vs. the stock even distribution/dissipation, resulting in some bright spots, dim spots, etc. Did you notice that? Thanks.

These have 3 separate LEDs. One on top and 2 on each side. Each LED diode doesn't have the lens to focus the light. So these have an even distribution pattern. No light and dark spots.

However, in the dark, they may be a bit blue for my taste. I may get the warm white or red to play around with.