bad experience with them
at least the cheap ones
they fail a lot
old blinker circuits do not work with them
I have recently upgraded my interior lights. This is the LED strip I used (warm white 480 LEDs/m):
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32947409084.html
Gallery:
Remove the window, and cut out a fitting piece of 0.3mm or 0.5mm aluminium:
Apply LED strips and wire them correctly:
Put in adapter:
Assemble:
Light in the center of the car:
Light at the front (LED strip only without aluminium):
Result:
I upgraded my center brake light in a similar way.
Gallery:
I have also tried many LED bulbs for turn indicator etc. lamps, but only these are very good:
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005003015222910.html
They really consume 24W without severe overheating within seconds. The only downside is that they just come in white, so you need colored glass. And the thermal grease inside is too little, some needs to be added.
Apart from that, they work excellently in my car. The turn indicators are insanely bright now. For the rear fog light, I added a cheap 30mm fan as this light can work long periods of time.
These lights cannot replace bi-filament rear bulbs with combined tail light/brake light (5W/20W). So I removed the wires from the PCB inside, and added 1 negative and 2 positive wires. Each positive wire got a diode to prevent accidental polarity mismatch damage, and to decouple brake and rear light voltage. One of the positive wires got a 2W/12ohm load resistor. This is now the rear light mode (4W). The other wire was connected to the brake light directly. This mode has the full 24W. It works well this way.
Even if 100 years passes, led retrofit bulbs will still not work correctly in halogen reflectors, some tail lights bulbs work ok, but some are total junk, I would think led bulb in high beam will cause less issues than in low beam where lack of glare is very important, you blinding everyone with stock high beams anyway, so not much to ruin there, sure focus will still be off, but in high beams it may not be so critical.
Seems that oem equipment lately uses leds more and more now in all cars, some cars get led headlights even in base trim. hopefully shortage of chips will not make manufacturers go back to bulbs.
Okay, my profile pic is of the front end of my pickup truck. With the install of the switchbacks in the blinker position this spring I had completed an entire switch out of all lighting to LED. It was a lengthy process, fraught with hazards, and lessons learned. I tried to go real cheap at first and got burned. My loss could be your gain.
As I have stated previously, a great amount of research goes into any new venture before I commit any capital. I re-learned that lesson while doing this conversion. I am not here to promote any particular company’s product. These are my personal choices after thorough research and considerable contemplation.
As a couple people have pointed out, direct fit LED conversions in original halogen housings are not exactly DOT approved or road legal. As I live in Wisconsin and am not subject to any sort of DOT inspection, skirting the finer points of DOT regulation, is relatively easy. Should you choose to follow my example you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK!
When selecting your halogen replacement LEDS it is VERY important to select a type whose attachment\lock ring or collar, can be loosened from the LED assembly to adjust for proper element alignment relative to your housing. Once properly adjusted (through trial and error mostly) you can then do a final tightening of that joint to ensure bulb to housing retention and beam pattern alignment. Generally speaking, align your elements to be parallel to the ground, in doing so, you cut down on glare generating, driver blinding, and indescriminate light throwing. Also of great import is whether or not you will need any special CANBUS or Bulb out error canceling decoder for your specific vehicle. Some vehicles, like my Chrysler 200 for example, just are not a great fit for conversion no matter what you do. Most aftermarket LED headlights are not big fans of PWM…thanks Chrysler.
When it comes to LED conversion in a blinker position take into consideration the resistance drop on the included circuit. This drop will cause “hyper-flashing” like when one of your old halogens had burned out. Some manufacturers, like Toyota, have a blinker relay in the fuse panel that can simply be swapped out for an LED blinker relay. A much higher percentage will be looking at adding a resistor as mentioned previously in this thread. The replacements I used and linked, already have the appropriate resistance built in-line between terminal and bulb. This choice means it is entirely reversible without vehicle wiring alteration.
As a bonus tip to help ensure proper headlight height and symmetry:
- Park your vehicle on a level surface, facing (5-10 feet away) a nearby wall.
- Turn on your dull halogens.
- Use tape to outline your starting beam pattern on said wall. Leave the tape and vehicle in place.
- Turn everything off.
- Commence your swap.
- Once work is complete, turn on your new LEDS.
- Adjust height (on vehicle adjustment screw) to cause your much brighter LEDS to fall within the outline and\or just below the bottom of the top piece of tape from earlier.
- Wait for nightfall and go for a cruise to enjoy being a lumen freak.
I hope I’ve helped. Good luck!
These are the specific replacements used on my 2007 GMC Sierra SLT. Your fitment may vary, but I highly recommend the following brands.
Low Beams(H11) and Fog lights(5202): Amazon.com
High Beams(HB3\9005):
https://www.amazon.com/Glow-Led-Headlight-Kit-Xk045001-Hb3/dp/B07QWB15G6
Front Turn Signal\Running Lights(3157):
https://www.amazon.com/Error-Switchback-Signal-Built-Resistors/dp/B07JGMCHGT?ref\_=ast_sto_dp
Rear Turn Signal\Brake Lights(3157):
https://www.amazon.com/Canbus-Parking-Signal-Built-Resistors/dp/B07NF7NPB6?ref\_=ast_sto_dp
License Plate\Side Marker Lights(194):
https://www.amazon.com/TORYOR-Replacement-Courtesy-License-30-Pack/dp/B09GNKGTW7?pd_rd_w=sDtCi&pf_rd_p=16a720fa-f274-4149-a7dd-4f72d5fcb36e&pf_rd_r=3D1C9RF3ZGTZFKWGBAD2&pd_rd_r=1671709c-93dd-4a42-8d0d-e530f471fc7d&pd_rd_wg=V0N0Y&pd_rd_i=B09GNKGTW7&psc=1&ref\_=pd_bap_m_rp_15_sc
Map and Dome(212-2): They are cool white led…I think I got them at O’rielly Auto.
The problem with either “resistor kits” or bulbs that are “CANBUS ready” is that all too often, the resistances suck down so much current which is totally unnecessary and can actually defeat the bulb-out function, and that bulbs which have built-in resistors generate assloads of heat in the base that’s normally burnt off in the actual filament.
Most resistor kits are 6Ω, so at 12V will burn off 2A, and 14V will burn off 2.3A. That’s 24W and 32W, respectively.
There are 15W and 20W soldering-irons out there.
So even if the LEDs burned out completely, or you just unplugged the f’n bulb entirely, the happy resistor will keep on registering its dummy load and everything will look fine.
I noticed when replacing one of my rear turn-signals (dedicated amber 1-filament xx56NA bulb) with an LED bulb, it’d throw an error message on the DIC (yeah, that’s what it’s called), and “hyperflash”, but on rare occasions, it wouldn’t. So the lower load was riiiiiiight on the edge of being seen as legit. So I used… I think it was a 50Ω resistor across it, for ~280mA waste current. Enough to fool the system into thinking a bulb’s there, but not burn up anything near the resistor.
Similar issues exist with those CANBUS bulbs. I never liked ’em, and will never use ’em. Especially if all that waste heat will be burnt off in the base, cooking the contacts, socket, you name it.
As time goes on, there are certain LED bulb brands that are starting to “endure.” They make a reliable LED bulb and they’re still in business years later. Finally, the quality is getting there. But they may not carry every bulb you’re looking for or support the color temp you want.
I took a chance and bought a selection of bulbs from a few different sellers on AliExpress. Some turned out great, others not. I am finally all set—I’ve got a 3500k ~ 4000k temp glow inside my car cabin. The primaries (central dome) ended up being too bright, actually. So I used 3 layers of filters to bring it down a bit. Works great. I plan to keep this car for another 2~3 years, so I’m hoping these bulbs will last as long.
Anyway, I think it’s worth doing. While I liked the temp of incandescent, the brightness was just not there. LED’s make a huge difference.
All my interior bulbs are WW/2700K. Got 4 individually-switched “map lights”, 2 on the front mirror for the front seats, 2 on “ceiling” in back for the rear seats, etc. Those that could fit taller bulbs (194s), I used 9- or 13-chip bulbs where possible. Same for the “dome light” inside.
It’s actually quite comfy.