2011 GL X164 - replacing bulbs with LEDs
Discussion
My car has a curious mixture of LEDs and bulbs. The rear light cluster has LED rear, brake and indicators but bulbs for reverse and fog lights.
The fronts have HID dipped beam, conventional halogens for main beam, bulbs for side lights, and LEDs AND bulbs for indicators - there's an odd bulb that the Americans call a "side marker" light which I think comes on and stays on in the US, whereas it only lights up with the indicators here.
The rear view mirror has LED map readers, the door mirrors have LED puddles, the DRLs are two-brightness LEDs (they dim when the main lights are on), the interior overhead "dome" lights are bulbs, and there are a load of festoon bulbs scattered all over (more below).
It disturbs me. In particular, the sidelights look yellow compared with the HIDs, and the reverse lights are rubbish - and I need to reverse up our fairly long and unlit drive. So I set about replacing as many bulbs as I could.
I've read a lot about the pitfalls of doing this, particularly that CANBUS expects to see a load associated with a bulb or it'll believe the bulb has failed and stop sending current to that light (and sends a warning to the dash). So I bought carefully - I thought. So far:
Replaced reverse bulbs with usefully-bright LEDs, however the light cluster-fitting doesn't really allow for light to be directed efficiently directly behind the car - so the net effect is minimal:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262812309412?_trksid=p20...
Replaced the rear fog light bulbs with RED LEDs however the car doesn't recognise them (CANBUS error) so I am looking for another supplier:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181782916154?_trksid=p20...
Replaced a ton of bulbs with cheap LED panel festoons, which include:
2x reg plate lights (very successful - especially because I cleaned the lenses too)
4x door lights (shine backwards and downwards when the doors are open)
4x footwell lights
2x sun visor lights
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272253681293?_trksid=p20...
The difference between the old and new:
Replaced boot light, boot lid light, and both rear passenger handle/coat hanger lights with LED:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262770782729?_trksid=p20...
I have bought replacement front sidelights but I'll be damned if I can get to the bulb holder behind the main headlamp unit. I've even tried removing the headlamp fitting entirely but the bumper is in the way and I simply can't be arsed to remove that (although I may yet resort to that). If I could only confirm that the fitting needs a 1/4 turn to remove it, I'd make a tool to gently do that. There's absolutely no access for my hands Damn - there's no access for Barbie's hands, or even my 8yo daughter's.
Anyway, I have tried the bulbs as they're the same fitting as those I've bought for the boot, and they're really nice - not too bright but definitely the same colour as the HIDs, with a lens on the front which accentuates the "point" of light nicely:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191961605328?_trksid=p20...
And finally, I'm not sure what to do about the indicator markers or the main beams. I kind of gave up looking behind the headlamp assembly after failing at the sidelights, but I expect the indicator markers will be simple-enough and I'm not even sure there's any change worthwhile with the main beams. In fact, I wouldn't even have considered it but while looking for LEDs for the other applications above, I noticed an American company selling G7 and G8 LED replacements which I assume are intended for dipped beam however the only real difference between dipped and main beam on my wife's E-class is the position. It's the same HID that physically points upwards.
LED main beams could be fun except they're f'in expensive.
Oh yes, how do I remove the front and rear interior dome light fittings? There's a suggestion that they're only held in place by spring clips and you can simply pull down on them but I fear breaking something. The front one seems to be fairly easy to get my fingers into but the rear one appears more firmly fixed in place.
The fronts have HID dipped beam, conventional halogens for main beam, bulbs for side lights, and LEDs AND bulbs for indicators - there's an odd bulb that the Americans call a "side marker" light which I think comes on and stays on in the US, whereas it only lights up with the indicators here.
The rear view mirror has LED map readers, the door mirrors have LED puddles, the DRLs are two-brightness LEDs (they dim when the main lights are on), the interior overhead "dome" lights are bulbs, and there are a load of festoon bulbs scattered all over (more below).
It disturbs me. In particular, the sidelights look yellow compared with the HIDs, and the reverse lights are rubbish - and I need to reverse up our fairly long and unlit drive. So I set about replacing as many bulbs as I could.
I've read a lot about the pitfalls of doing this, particularly that CANBUS expects to see a load associated with a bulb or it'll believe the bulb has failed and stop sending current to that light (and sends a warning to the dash). So I bought carefully - I thought. So far:
Replaced reverse bulbs with usefully-bright LEDs, however the light cluster-fitting doesn't really allow for light to be directed efficiently directly behind the car - so the net effect is minimal:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262812309412?_trksid=p20...
Replaced the rear fog light bulbs with RED LEDs however the car doesn't recognise them (CANBUS error) so I am looking for another supplier:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181782916154?_trksid=p20...
Replaced a ton of bulbs with cheap LED panel festoons, which include:
2x reg plate lights (very successful - especially because I cleaned the lenses too)
4x door lights (shine backwards and downwards when the doors are open)
4x footwell lights
2x sun visor lights
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272253681293?_trksid=p20...
The difference between the old and new:
Replaced boot light, boot lid light, and both rear passenger handle/coat hanger lights with LED:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262770782729?_trksid=p20...
I have bought replacement front sidelights but I'll be damned if I can get to the bulb holder behind the main headlamp unit. I've even tried removing the headlamp fitting entirely but the bumper is in the way and I simply can't be arsed to remove that (although I may yet resort to that). If I could only confirm that the fitting needs a 1/4 turn to remove it, I'd make a tool to gently do that. There's absolutely no access for my hands Damn - there's no access for Barbie's hands, or even my 8yo daughter's.
Anyway, I have tried the bulbs as they're the same fitting as those I've bought for the boot, and they're really nice - not too bright but definitely the same colour as the HIDs, with a lens on the front which accentuates the "point" of light nicely:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191961605328?_trksid=p20...
And finally, I'm not sure what to do about the indicator markers or the main beams. I kind of gave up looking behind the headlamp assembly after failing at the sidelights, but I expect the indicator markers will be simple-enough and I'm not even sure there's any change worthwhile with the main beams. In fact, I wouldn't even have considered it but while looking for LEDs for the other applications above, I noticed an American company selling G7 and G8 LED replacements which I assume are intended for dipped beam however the only real difference between dipped and main beam on my wife's E-class is the position. It's the same HID that physically points upwards.
LED main beams could be fun except they're f'in expensive.
Oh yes, how do I remove the front and rear interior dome light fittings? There's a suggestion that they're only held in place by spring clips and you can simply pull down on them but I fear breaking something. The front one seems to be fairly easy to get my fingers into but the rear one appears more firmly fixed in place.
Edited by Watchman on Saturday 18th February 20:08
The cheap LED panels I used worked fine throughout the car interior but the reg plate throws up a dashboard warning, so I've ordered a pair of CANBUS versions instead.
I'm pleased, and slightly amazed to discover this evening that those I installed in the footwells dimmed upon closing the door. I thought this was a tricky operation for LEDs but it all seems to work happily.
I'm pleased, and slightly amazed to discover this evening that those I installed in the footwells dimmed upon closing the door. I thought this was a tricky operation for LEDs but it all seems to work happily.
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