The CX-5 LED Lighting Thread

ChrisLLK said:
Please post photos of the light pattern and brightness once you get them installed - I'm waiting with baited breath (also detail what position you found works best). Also which colour temperature did you decide on? 5000K or 6000K?

Now that the 2016 CX-5 announcements are out I see they now have LED headlights as an option on Touring and GT - I wonder what projector housing they are using for those - if it's the same as they used for the HID's, the same as they used on the halogen H11's, or another "all new" projector/lamp housing... and what the chances would be of a retrofit of those new '16 MY LED lighting systems on the '15s (obviously without the adaptive leveling/aiming functions) - so many questions... I may have to go visit a local lot that has a '16 CX-5 with LED lighting in stock in the next few weeks and take some under the hood pictures to see what they've done to implement them and then compare them to the standard Halogen setups.

IF the LMZ's look good, I will likely start on step one with the 4 emitter 5000K 4500LM low beam H11's. If they pass the muster, then the 9005 5000K 4500LM high beam retrofit comes next, finally followed by the inexpensive 5000K 850LM XB's on the fog lights (which I almost never use, but if all my others are 5000K LED why not finish the package... Ok... so I'll be spending like $600 on retrofitted LED lighting - but what the heck - if they look good, last a long time, and are even a little brighter with a little better vision than stock halogens all around I'm happy.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat about spending money on LED's... except that boat has sailed a while ago ;) I should have the Philips LED's next week.
 
tmz_99, great pictures! I have mine fitted... except my car is really dirty right now with all the rain we've been getting... now to get clean and take some pictures :)
 
Do any backup LED lights offer any additional lumens to stock bulbs? I'm looking at that mod for functional reasons as I sometimes tow a trailer. Previous posts a while back mentioned output was equal or less than stock.
 
Fitment is good. The only thing that is not plug and play would be wiring the inner light to be brighter when the brake light is activated. Let me get you the link when I get home. As for reverse light, no bulb is provided so you will need to get your own. I already had a set of reverse LEDs that I installed on the stock tails.
 
Kedis82ZE8 said:
Do any backup LED lights offer any additional lumens to stock bulbs? I'm looking at that mod for functional reasons as I sometimes tow a trailer. Previous posts a while back mentioned output was equal or less than stock.
Click to expand...

It might also depend on the optics of the LED.. Some might be "bright" but with scatter light, it could be useless. I never replaced mine.. but you could try Philips or VLEDS 921 for the backup light
Philips: https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
 
D_Frost said:
Fitment is good. The only thing that is not plug and play would be wiring the inner light to be brighter when the brake light is activated. Let me get you the link when I get home. As for reverse light, no bulb is provided so you will need to get your own. I already had a set of reverse LEDs that I installed on the stock tails.
Click to expand...

Hey D_Frost, if you could let me know how you wired that "third" wire in the LED tails, I would really appreciate. I bought my tails from japanparts.com this summer and I had no clue what that third wire was for. On a positive note, they are still going strong after 8-9 months of use. Did Have to make custom gaskets though.... I used some thin weatherstripping foam around the edges which stopped the water from coming in. Still have some negligible condensation on the edges but not enough to drive my crazy.
 
Kedis82ZE8 said:
Do any backup LED lights offer any additional lumens to stock bulbs? I'm looking at that mod for functional reasons as I sometimes tow a trailer. Previous posts a while back mentioned output was equal or less than stock.
Click to expand...

Bought these right after we got the car in summer of 13. Still work great and definitely put out more light than stock bulbs. Help quite a bit with the having all of the windows tinted too.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
 
thedaddyb said:
Bought these right after we got the car in summer of 13. Still work great and definitely put out more light than stock bulbs. Help quite a bit with the having all of the windows tinted too.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
Click to expand...

From one of the comments on the Amazon listing:

Warning: Bulbs Delivered DO NOT MATCH The Product Photos

Bought two replacement bulbs because I had one of my currently bulbs go out. This is the second time I have ordered these bulbs, the first time they matched the photos attached in the listing and they fit my opening perfectly.

The set I just ordered, however, do not look like the ones in the photos, they are slightly larger and have a round glass end on them. Actually look like better quality, unfortunately they are now too big to fit in the opening and I can't use them.

Anyway wanted folks to be aware as it could cause them to have a similar problem when fitting these bulbs.

UPDATE: 7/17/14

It appears they updated the photo to match the new product they are selling, which as I said earlier looks like a higher quality version of the one they used to sell that did not have the magnifier glass on the end. It's a shame they don't fit.

Can you confirm that the updated higher quality bulbs fit in a CX-5?
 
kaptinjak said:
Hey D_Frost, if you could let me know how you wired that "third" wire in the LED tails, I would really appreciate. I bought my tails from japanparts.com this summer and I had no clue what that third wire was for. On a positive note, they are still going strong after 8-9 months of use. Did Have to make custom gaskets though.... I used some thin weatherstripping foam around the edges which stopped the water from coming in. Still have some negligible condensation on the edges but not enough to drive my crazy.
Click to expand...

The extra set of wires in the liftgate portion of the tail light are to be tapped into the positive/negative wires of the third brake light (up top). If you want, I can see if I can pull the trim panels out and get some pictures.
 
The center tails do not light up when braking in the stock tail lights. Since the replacements are designed to light up under braking, they will need a signal to increase brightness (which can be had from the third brake light).
 
cleverusername said:
From one of the comments on the Amazon listing:

Warning: Bulbs Delivered DO NOT MATCH The Product Photos

Bought two replacement bulbs because I had one of my currently bulbs go out. This is the second time I have ordered these bulbs, the first time they matched the photos attached in the listing and they fit my opening perfectly.

The set I just ordered, however, do not look like the ones in the photos, they are slightly larger and have a round glass end on them. Actually look like better quality, unfortunately they are now too big to fit in the opening and I can't use them.

Anyway wanted folks to be aware as it could cause them to have a similar problem when fitting these bulbs.

UPDATE: 7/17/14

It appears they updated the photo to match the new product they are selling, which as I said earlier looks like a higher quality version of the one they used to sell that did not have the magnifier glass on the end. It's a shame they don't fit.

Can you confirm that the updated higher quality bulbs fit in a CX-5?
Click to expand...

The ones we received have that little flash light end on them similar to to picture. They fit but were very close to the same diameter as the hole opening. I could see if they had some slight changes throughout production that there could be an issue.

I also have mixed reviews on the iJDM brand too. I purchased a higher output DRL (13w) from them as well that only lasted a little bit over a year before some of the LEDs burnt out or began flickering. Basically the same design. Seemed like the heatsinks couldn't cool the LEDs well enough. Haven't had any issues with the reverse lights, but that is probably due to the limited use and run time compared to the DRL.

Looks like from the more recent reviews that a lot of people have had mixed experiences.
 
Tail Lights Installed

As promised earlier, here are the pictures of the new LED tail lights installed...

Lights off:


Parking lights on:


Hazards on:
 
D_Frost said:
As promised earlier, here are the pictures of the new LED tail lights installed...

Lights off:


Looks good. Mine CX5 is white too but the led tails are red/clear without the smoke. My last car was blacked out, tinted tails, sidemarkets, etc. and I got tired of it so switched it up for the CX-5. Thanks for the heads up on the brake light tap in. I'll try it when the warm weather comes.
Click to expand...
 
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