My LED swap

[mglavina]

Note:
First off, thanks to OJ Bartley for helping me out. There are many different options out there and different places to get leds, I ended up swapping all of mine all from the same place. Everything worked out pretty well. All the bulbs fit and had equal outputs of even lighting. I went with a super white, the lighting output it much brighter and the colour is very nice. There is a very slight hint of blue but it's not blue in any way, the colours closely match the stock HID output. There are other colour options available, depending on where you order from.

Pics of LED's Installed - Scroll down for How-To Install
The shipment (sticker added between 10-15 whp):

Front door lights (WLED-WHP):

Rear dome lights (WLED-WHP):

Front dome lights (WLED-WHP):

Vanity mirror lights (74-W):

Rear license plate lights (WLED-NW5):

Parking light (comparison with stock lighting on the drivers side):

Both Tower II's (WLED-WHP9):

With stock HID's:

Installation - In progress, getting more pics soon
Tools used:

Vanity mirror:

Door lights:

Rear dome lights and license plate lights were all just clips. The front dome light had 2 screws in the sun glasses spot and clips. Again just unscrew the bulb and put in the replacement one. Most of the bulbs just came out by pulling them, dome lights just needed to be twisted. Pics will be coming soon.

For the parking light, the back of the housing had to come off (clips) and then you could just pull out the parking light housing and swap the bulb. This bulb was a VERY tight fit, I advise caution when swapping this bulb.

In my case, all the bulbs were wedge based and if they don't work the first time then just turn them around to get the correct + and - side.

Only thing that sucked with this process was the shipping, taxes and duty fees I ended up paying on top of the bulbs... yay Canadaland. Enjoy the review , more pics avaiable upon request.

 

[batou079]

Looks good! quite a difference isnt it? i LOVE getting rid of all that ugly stock incondenscent lighting.
did this a while back with just about the same exact choices from SUPERBRIGHTLEDS.com.

cept i used the WLED-WHPs for the parking lights also. same choice as you for licence plate lights too.
I also did the trunk light, which is much brighter and more helpful...cept i couldnt put the cover back on...
i didnt not attempt the vanity or glove box, thats my next step.

Parking Lights: at first i DID use the towerII, but i didnt like how i had to JAM them in there, and when i wanted to remove em they actually came unplugged from the harness and fell INTO the light assembly!! i had to completely remove the headlight from the car and juggle the light outta there. during the process either install or removal, the LEDs got totally discolored/dmg'd... so I used an extra pair of the WLED-WHPs and honestly i like em in the parking lights much better!! try it.

 

[mglavina]

Yeah I'm gunna battle the trunk in my next setup when I go with more custom lighting, thinking about putting in a whole strip of white LEDs.

You should really do the vanity mirror lights, those were the easiest ones to swap IMO, makes a good difference when it's dark and you need a mirror.

Parking lights weren't easy but I loved how the single bulb had 9 small bright leds pointing in every direction, really did a nice swap for me.

 

[Speed_J23]

Very clean look, you just inspired me to change my lighting as well. I'm probably going to order the bulbs this weekend.

 

[ms6zoomzoom]

Looking good. I changed all mine a while back but my interiors are all red so it can match all the gauges and stuff. Sometimes I get tired of it but eventually I'll just change em out.

 

[amilliems6]

Yeah I'm gunna battle the trunk in my next setup when I go with more custom lighting, thinking about putting in a whole strip of white LEDs.

You should really do the vanity mirror lights, those were the easiest ones to swap IMO, makes a good difference when it's dark and you need a mirror.

Parking lights weren't easy but I loved how the single bulb had 9 small bright leds pointing in every direction, really did a nice swap for me.

i felt like i was gunna brake the plastic covers

how did u guys do it

 

[boost2dms6]

That looks great man.. This is still on my to-do list.. I hope to get my new job soon so I will have extra cash to spend on my car..

 

[dave_PEI]

i need to do this!! atleast the exterior lights

 

[Drover]

I done all mine, only one that's tricky is the back interior lights. But i did buy mine all off eBay, much cheaper and they work great.

 

[mglavina]

The vanity mirror lights just popped off. I used this tiny flathead looking screwdriver, probably about 3 or 4mm long and less then 1 mm wide.

 

[Guest20182]

Might be a dumb question, but what went where? I assume the towers went in the parking lights and the WLED-NW5's went into the license plate? What about the others?

Thanks

 

[Drover]

74's are vanity lights and WHP is everywhere else. I also added a 74 to my trunk and ash tray and took the little red plastic piece out of the ash tray as well.

Oh and another thing i found was Ebay made it much cheaper for replacing these bulbs. I could of got them all for half the price of i that i paid from super bright leds

 

[mglavina]

I'll edit my original post for what went where.

 

[OJ Bartley]

Great job and great writeup Marko!

Isn't it so much cleaner and sharper inside now? You did pretty much exactly the way I would do it if I were to start from scratch again. I like the TowerII in the parking lights because it lights up the whole reflector in the housing, and I found the WHP to be more a "point source" there, and not as visible for oncoming traffic. The glovebox is easy, you just need to unhook the door so you can get in underneath, same as changing the cabin air filter.

Oh, and I can't remember if I posted this here or sent you a link, but THIS is what I did for my trunk lighting and it is way better than before. An LED bar would be awesome too if you can find a good safe place to mount it.

 

[SHURIK]

That looks pretty sick. I might have to look into doing this myself. I always liked the parking lights to be a big yellow though. I want to find some yellow led's or something close to it. Makes it stand out a little more and the yellow with a blueish HID would look SICK. Nice right up, appreciate it

 

[Drover]

Anyone have any trouble getting the tower II into drl lights? mine wouldn't go had to put them in the step lights on the doors

 

[OJ Bartley]

Shurik, I think you can get the TowerII in amber as well. (yep... Autolumination does have it in amber, or it is called the WHP9 at Superbright)

Drover, I didn't have any problems, just be gentle with them and maybe wiggle a little bit? I have heard that the TowerIII is too long to fit though.

 

[Drover]

Mine was too wide to fit the housing. Was strange, i need new ones now bought some cheap tower ones after the tower II wouldn't fit and the LED's died in them quickly

EDIT:

Just bought these, hopefully these last awhile

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170472483161

 

[mglavina]

Thanks OJ, with your help everything came out great. I'm gunna tackle the glove box, trunk and cup holders at the same time probably... Thats on the next list for lighting mods with my side markers and turn signals.

SHURIK, like OJ said you can get this bulb in a variety of colours, I think Qwik6 put in amber but took them out? I'm not 100% sure but I know he took pics.

Drover I did have a bit of trouble putting them in. Yes, they are wide but I just had to wiggle and turn them to get them in the housing. VERY tight fit, like said, I advise caution so you don't push the bulb in too far or brake something with too much force.

All in all, such a sharp look. I have the advanced key entry and I set the dome lights to "door" so whenever I walk up to my car and press the small button on the handle the whole interior lights up with this nice white... Looks killer with the white and black leather.

 

[Drover]

I figured if i got them in that if one ever went i wouldn't get it out, the socket will just pull off before the bulb came out