Just ordered a full set off the web; doors, domes, and reading lights. They should arrive next week. Instructions say simple to install with a flat blade screwdriver. They make it sound like a monkey can do it - so I'm worried.

Anyone done it and is it that simple? Any caveats?

 

I've seen them. It looks spiffy! And it's very easy.

I just can't remember now if you need a resistor or not. Hopefully the LEDs you bought are for cars, right?

 

I did the blue leds for my CG. Interior only. If you do exterior leds, then you will have to get the resistors for the blinkers. The install is simple, all the plastic covers just pry off. Flat blade screwdriver will work. Just put some electrical tape around it so you dont scratch anything.

Only thing that sucks about the reading lights is that their useless with blue light. Other then that, it gets a lot of positive comments!

 

I got a set off of ebay a few weeks ago...I was worried as well at first, but just follow the instructions in your owners manual and its pretty simple stuff. The reading light is useless, but looks cool. I think the blue lights looks especially good with CG, which has some blue in it.

 

NorCal, how much did you pay for them? I'm planning on getting a set as well for the interior...

Why are the reading lights useless? Not bright enough?

 

Yes...I don't think its so much the power of the bulb, its that the light is "darker"...I know that sounds corny, but I dont know how else to describe it. I think the human eye is geared towards "white light" and the blue hue makes it hard to read.

 

Did my doors, front map lights, and rear dome light several months ago with blue LEDs. It looks great and it was very easy (15 mins max). Use the smallest flathead screwdriver you can to pry the covers off, the plastic is kinda soft. Actual replacement of the blubs was a snap, they are either the "festoon" type that slide in, or the "wedge" type that you push in. Both are very very simple to install. One thing is, if the blub doesn't light up when you put it in, take it out and turn it around 180 degrees and try again. There are several threads on this site that detail the type of blubs, howto, etc. I also recently did my tail-lights/brake-lights in LEDS and I really like the results.

www.superbrightleds.com <--- got my blue interior lights here
www.autolumination.com <--- got my LED tail-lights here

If you want more details on the part #'s, etc, let me know and I'll post them but as I say there are some threads already that list this stuff.

 

Can you post any interior pictures with the blue lights?

 

I'll try and get some up a little later today. Stay tuned.

 

Hey can you post the part numbers for the interior bulbs please...

thanks...

 

Alright, as promised here are some pics. I apologize for the marginal quality of these but it should give you an idea of what it looks like. Some of the pictures are a little dark, the light "spreads" out better in person and is a little more intense than the pictures show.

Two of the pictures show the interior with the blue glow that that LEDs cast. I don't like bright lights and so the blue glow is perfect for me. Again the glow is much more visable in person, it doesn't really show up well in the pictures but you can see it reflecting off the metal trim, etc inside the car.

The doors are T13-B6, and you need two of them.

The domes are 3022-B4 and you need three of them, 2 for the map lights and one for the rear dome.

When you install the 3022's, make sure the LEDs are pointing downwards. You'll see what this means when you see the bulb, the LEDs are attached to a small circuit board and are only on one side of the bulb.

I got all of these from superbrightleds.com.

Here's the pics:

 

Thank you for posting the pics. They look great.

 

Its hard to tell from the pics, but the blue light really looks cool reflecting off of the metal trim elements on the dash, etc.

Im contemplating adding some blue neon or LED strips to the bottom of my TSX for even more blue lighting effect

 

hey, are those tail lights as bright or brighter than the stock bulbs? i was afraid that the LEDs wouldnt be as bright...

 

Sorry for the delay Kammerz...paid about $25 w/ shipping and handling. Got 'em off of Ebay; Tec_Toyz was the guy.

 

It depends what kind you get. I read somewhere else on this board about a different type of LED bulb that is called a Matrix bulb -it has lights around the side of the bulb in addition to the regular LEDs. I used the 12-LED Matrix bulbs (red). They also sell 15-LED Matrix that have 3 extra LEDs around the side. The 12-LED bulbs are more than bright enough.

http://autolumination.com/7443_7440.htm

I used:

Two red 7443 12-LED Matrix bulbs for the outermost brake/tails.
Two 15-LED Matrix Super White 7440's for the backup lights (I wanted them BRIGHT)
One red 7440 12-LED Matrix for the high mount brake light
Two Type 194 wedge base red 5-LED Matrix for the inner tail-light.

This page has great diagrams and part #'s:

http://www.e-clipse.net/tsx/lights.html

I don't think this person used the Matrix bulbs. I reccommend them if you are concerned about them being bright enough -I was and I'm not disappointed with how it turned out. FYI it was almost as easy to replace these as it was to replace the interior lights.

 

Do you think the Matrix 15-leds would be too bright for the tails?

 

No, I think they'd be fine. Most of the light comes from the read facing LEDs and the 12 and 15 LED Matrix bulbs both have the same amount of those. The only difference is 3 more "side-facing" LEDs on the 15 LED ones. I don't think 3 extra LEDs is going to make that much of a difference. If you really are concerned about them being bright enough, get the 15 LED. I'm thinking about replacing my 12-LED bulbs with them, actually. If you get them, post back here to say if you like them.

 

how much does it cost for a set of interior led's?

 

Everything should be less than $30.00 I think. You'd have to price them out and add it up, all the info about which bulbs to get and from where is in this thread (and others).

 

Hey thanks for the pics Eeyore, I'm stoked to get my interior finished....looks really nice from your pics.

The Matrix info is appreciated as well - seriously looking into doing that next.

 

Great thread, thanks for the pics. I've been thinking of doing something like this for a while now.

 

I bought it from Tec_toys.. very nice set up.. I get very nice comments everytime they get into my car at night.

 

I'm about to order some parts here and I have a question for you if you don't mind. The 12 LED 7443 bulbs are listed as dual circuit as they are both brake and tail lights. The 15 LED 7443's aren't listed as dual circuit. Wouldn't they have to be dual circuit in order to work correctly and brighten up when you mash the brakes?

 

Are the blue led maplights bright enough to read by or is it just for looks?

 

Barely. Mostly just for looks. Even if they were brighter, it still probably wouldnt matter. Its very difficult to read with blue light.

 

The light is barely bright enough to read by. As Joe Rocket pointed out, it is more difficult to see with blue light. They throw out more light than you might think, though. It definately doesn't make the map lights useless or anything.

 

As far as I know, all 7443's are dual-circuit. So the only difference between the 12 LED and 15 LED 7443's should be 3 more LEDs on the 15 LED jobbies. The 7440 you use for the high mount brake light is not dual circuit, since this light just needs to turn on/off when you step on the brakes.

These are pics of my car. They are 12 LED red Matrix on the outside, 5 LED red Matrix in the middle, and 15 LED Super White for the backups. I can't stress enough that this does actually look much different in person! Mostly it seems like the lights are more brilliant than the regular bulbs.


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Makes perfect sense. I kinda thought this was the case as the type was the same but I wanted to be sure.

Thanks for the pics too. Your car looks awesome.

 

Just got done doing the install, a couple of things I wanted to add:

- The map lights work for reading and writing, though they are a little more dim being a softer blue light.

- You need a real small screwdriver to get the door bulb covers off. I was really worried about cracking these guys (they're a tight fit).

- The dome light has the clear platic cover and a grey platic ring (actually part of the mount) around that. You want to put the screwdriver between the clear cover and the grey ring to remove.

- I had my map lights set to "off" and they always stayed off. After puting the LED's in I noticed that (with the car running) these lights now stayed on at roughly 1/4 intensity. The only way to shut them off was to throw the switch to "door". Interesting.

 

Okay, I just got my LED bulbs today and the red 15 LED 7443 bulb I was asking about is indeed dual circuit. I have yet to install them but I tested it with a bench power supply in my workshop and it's dual brightness across two circuits for tail/brake lighting.

Edit: I haven't taken a look at the taillight assemblies yet. Are they relatively easy to gain access to?

 

They should look good once they are installed. Post some pics if you can.

Where did you order them from?

 

Same place you did; autolumination.com. I'll get pics once they're installed.

 

Got my blue lights today and just put them in. Pretty simple. I didn't get the blue LED's. These are just regular bulbs. I didn't want something too bright. Just a warm glow in the cabin to go with the cars existing blue ambient lighting. I can't wait to see them tonight to see how much they do light up the interior.

 

Eyore, would you be so kind as to reinstall the regular bulbs on one side and leave the LEDS on the other. can you retake that pic from an eyelevel and again above the eyelevel view of the tail lights?

and i know i am asking a lot but can you also take another pic in daylight with the brakes applied? thanks

 

This reminds me that I have my all-LED interior/exterior lighting installed and I need to take some pictures of it. They look just like Eeyore's though, so maybe I'll wait until I get my 8000K HID fogs put in too.

 

You're in luck...I took some comparison pics when I did this but never posted them because I didn't think the quality was all that great. Here they are. One has a big spot right near the left backup light, that is a snowflake! It was snowing pretty good when I took these pics. Let me know what you think but I really can't emphasize enough how different these look in person. rmpage can probably relate. The light from the LEDs is much more "directional" and shoots more or less straight back, so if you are 5 foot 10 or 6 feet tall and standing right in back of the car, the LEDs don't seem that bright, but when you bend down or take a few steps back (similar to where cars driving behind you would be), they get brighter. Also, since the original bulbs are clear, you get a much more true red color with red LEDs behind red lenses. Also, for the outer lights (7443s I think), you will want to get the 15-LED units. I got the 12-LED and that's whats in these pics but I want them a bit brighter so I'll be ordering the 15-LEDs and installing them soon.


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I would add that the LED tail lights look a LOT brighter and more vivid (red, not orange) in real life. Especially the outside tail/brake light - that thing is brighter than I remember it being originally. The camera doesn't really show it well.

As for the backup lights, the LED versions are not as bright. They are a lot "whiter" though, and resemble the color temp of the stock HID headlights.

This is a very cool mod. I get a lot of compliments between these and my interior blue lighting.

 

Do you have blue lighting in addition to replacing the interior lights with blue LEDs?
If so, what did you use?

 

No I just replaced my LEDs for now. I used a kit I bought on ebay for like $20.

I do have some blue cold cathode lamps with 12v inverters that I use when I build computers, and I am thinking of putting one in the footwell of each front and back seat for the hell of it.