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Leds only work in a socket one way as they're polarized for +/- current flow in only one direction. Inserted one way, they light - inserted the other way, they don't, unlike incandescent bulbs.
My Suncoast led kit doesn't have the colored spots,but the ziza kit in my wife's car does. Guess you get what you pay for. Also, the Suncoast kit supplies new modules for the frunk and engine bay lights instead of having to change the bulb in the original housing.
My Suncoast led kit doesn't have the colored spots,but the ziza kit in my wife's car does. Guess you get what you pay for. Also, the Suncoast kit supplies new modules for the frunk and engine bay lights instead of having to change the bulb in the original housing.
That's great news. I guess it's probably better to spend a few extra bucks and know it's going to be perfect than dick around with trial and error on ebay bulbs.
BTW, I can't recall whether your interior was black or gray. If it's gray...is it possible that the purple spots are there but just aren't showing up (like they do against black)? I'm just brainstorming before pulling the trigger on the Suncoast kit...
That's great news. I guess it's probably better to spend a few extra bucks and know it's going to be perfect than dick around with trial and error on ebay bulbs.
BTW, I can't recall whether your interior was black or gray. If it's gray...is it possible that the purple spots are there but just aren't showing up (like they do against black)? I'm just brainstorming before pulling the trigger on the Suncoast kit...
That's a good thought but my bulbs look like this. So the PCB is on each side of the bulb.
The lights in your footwell should be the festoons on the left with the 2D PCB if memory serves.
Or more likely this given you anomaly pattern:
Try rotating them first. Easier than returning and sourcing new LEDs. If that doesn't work then get new LEDs. Philips makes high quality festoons that are designed to eliminate the focal anomaly (purple dots):
Good news: the kind folks at Suncoast saw this post and graciously sent me 3 bulbs to demo. They assured me their bulbs wouldn't project the purple dot pattern.
ECS on left. Suncoast on right:
Bad news: the Suncoast bulbs throw an arguably WORSE purple dot pattern than the ECS bulbs!
And yes, I know I installed them correctly. As Petza pointed out, they only plug in one way, plus the PCB's are on all sides so even if you could turn them around it wouldn't matter. I'm beginning to think this is probably common, but I suppose I'm just more sensitive to the dots and/or more **** and expect perfection in my quest for purple-dot-less interior lighting.
Also, if you look VERY closely (and expect to see it), you can actually see the purple dots on the floorboard carpet of the sample car on ECS's website. This further suggests that it's an inherent problem and not just me being crazy or getting a defective kit. https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ziza-par...t/001373ecs01/
To complete the entire interior, you need 7 of the squarish, plug-in style I've shown in pics (footwell x2, door x2, map x2, and glovebox), as well as 3 linear, festoon style you mentioned (frunk, engine compartment, and center dome light). Indeed, that is what both ECS and Suncoast sell in their kits.
Thanks for the heads up on the Philips. This may be my best option for desired effect. I went directly to Philips' website which confirmed the exact bulbs I'll need and then directed me to Amazon and Pepboys as preferred retailers. Pepboys has a 25% discount and free shipping so you can build the whole kit there for $61. So that's even way cheaper than ECS ($95) and Suncoast ($165). WIN-WIN!
The lights in your footwell should be the festoons on the left with the 2D PCB if memory serves.
Or more likely this given you anomaly pattern:
Try rotating them first. Easier than returning and sourcing new LEDs. If that doesn't work then get new LEDs. Philips makes high quality festoons that are designed to eliminate the focal anomaly (purple dots):
That's weird. The camera sees the phenomenon better than my eye does, but here's a photo of my black floor mats with the Suncoast kit.
The light still shows the led dots and there is a little purple fringing, but I don't see it with my naked eye, nor does it look as pronounced as yours. I think with the textured lens that has all those little points to diffuse the light, that there is always going to be a little of that as the points likely create a prism effect.
That's weird. The camera sees the phenomenon better than my eye does, but here's a photo of my black floor mats with the Suncoast kit.
The light still shows the led dots and there is a little purple fringing, but I don't see it with my naked eye, nor does it look as pronounced as yours. I think with the textured lens that has all those little points to diffuse the light, that there is always going to be a little of that as the points likely create a prism effect.
Yep, it's definitely there on yours too. I'll install those Philips bulbs as a last ditch effort and will report back. If that doesn't work, I'll be back to incandescent, I suppose.
What's the point of swapping out the interior lights for LEDs? Too much current draw from existing lamps or not bright enough? Seems to me to be a pointless mod.
I'm guessing the interior lighting is on the dim side. i swapped out my suv interior lights with LEDs years ago but didnt get around to it on the 911.
I'm guessing we can just get pretty much the same interior lights via picking and choosing on eBay?
I'm guessing we can just get pretty much the same interior lights via picking and choosing on eBay?
As I mentioned above, I suspect Philips will be a solid bet. They're a legit brand and don't seem to have the same dot-like LED construction that is likely contributing to the problem the other LEDs are causing. Do what you want, but I'm going to try these next rather than rolling the dice on ebay. Plus they're available at Amazon and Pepboys which will be easier to return than some ebay seller in China if they don't work out.
I purchased my LEDs from eBay and they appear to be the same as the ECS kit. I also get the weird white/purple diffraction effect due to the sharply angled diffuser plates.
However, I only paid a few dollars for mine! I didn't pay the ECS markup to get eBay LEDs. Thus, I am happy.
The solution to this problem would be an LED bulb that doesn't expose the bare LED. The "bulb" needs to be wrapped with a frosted diffuse coating so that the diffraction patterns get washed out. Virtually every household LED bulb you buy from WalMart, Lowes or CVS has such a frosted coating around the LED to form the bulb.
I'm thinking about doing the Suncoast kit (along with the license plate LED lights). Did you end up going with the Suncoast kit and if so, do you recommend?
I'm thinking about doing the Suncoast kit (along with the license plate LED lights). Did you end up going with the Suncoast kit and if so, do you recommend?
Thanks for reminding me to update this thread. I ended up going with the Philips...and they're AWESOME!! ZERO PURPLE DOTS WHATSOEVER!
They don't sell a kit, per se, but their website tells you exactly which bulbs to buy for each location. The entire set was around $70 including all interior bulbs, frunk, and engine compartment (I have not done the license plate bulbs bc I don't want to make the cops' job any easier).
Here's a shot of the glove box which shows the beautiful, confluent, non-purple-dotted light pattern:
Here's the finished product (please excuse the cheesy "Little Tree" air freshener...I found that buried in the garage and stuck it in there for the fun of it). The end result looks clean, modern, and very OEM-like:
And, for a frame of reference, here's my wife's 997 with OEM bulbs:
Final verdict:
Philips: Winner by a land slide in terms of quality (no purple dots) and price ($70)
ECS: Distant 2nd. $100 buys you purple dots
Suncoast: Even more distant 3rd. $150 also buys you purple dots
Update:
I've already started getting inquires about exactly which bulbs to buy. For those of you too lazy to click the Philips link I provided above, here are the two bulbs I used in my 997.1
12-14-2016, 09:54 AM
