I own a '05 x-type and I wanted to replace some of the bulbs, ie license plate lights, dome lights, with LEDs but I can't seem to understand sylvania's guide in the part numbers of the bulbs? Someone please help me! How do I find bulbs that are compatible with my car?

 

Hello JagXtype620,
A good website for LED lights is http://www.v-leds.com/
i have bought led lights from them are they are really good.

 

JagXType620, the license plate bulbs are 2825 bulbs. These bulbs are also used on the side marker lights. So, when you find a sight (like the one listed above), tell it that you are looking for a "2825" bulb. The LED sight will then tell you the equivolent LED bulb. I would tell you to use the Sylvania site to figure out which bulbs are where and then use the LED bulb site to figure out which LED bulbs are the equivolent.

How are you with wiring? I only ask as the ones I found that are the 2825 equivolents are running about $15/pair plus S&H. I have been working on an LED conversion for my car and I am currently replacing the side marker lights with 280K MCD 10 MM LEDs. Takes a little bit more work on my part, but at $0.75 a bulb, much cheaper. These bulbs put out almost the same amount of light (slightly less), but work just as good. Not to mention only pull about 1/10th the power. The big problem with doing things the way that I am is that it requires installing a resistor in series with the LED, where the ones from the above site don't require any wiring modification to the car.

 

i thought it was just a simple screw out, and screw in, if the bulbs were the same, i would like to do this, but it sounds complecated.

 

well if you go to a LED website, and find an equivalent LED bulb, it is a simple plug and play. For example the license plate frame lights on the back of our cars, the bulb is a 194 bulb. All you have to go is go to vleds and click on LED 194 bulbs and then all you do is take out your own bulb and insert the new one. its just like replacing any other bulb.

Also as thermo was saying, the license plate and side marker bulbs are 2825 bulbs. Dont be confuzed by this because 194 bulbs are the same bulbs as 2825. I have led light on my headlight in the highbeam light, just as a running light and they are 194. I have 194 bulbs all around my car so you should not have a problem with whichever bulb you choose.

 

Disco, yes, you are correct. If you buy the complete LED light assembly, they are a simple unplug the old bulb, plug in the new bulb, and you are done. But, a lot of these bulbs are running $8 each roughly. When you start thinking about how many small bulbs there are in one of our cars (around 30), that can get rather expensive. For the DIY people, you can get your own LEDs and wire them up into the factory housings. A bit more work, but for $30, I have enough to do 2 vehicles. So, how handy are you? The other benefit of doing your own LEDs is that you have a bit wider selection of colors that you can use. The big trick with the DIY LEDs is knowing what the different LED values are and what will work in certain applications. The LED light assemblies have taken that aspect out for you.

 

okay, well i would do work on my car, if i had time the patience, i did a couple of things a few weeks ago with the markers and some engine stuff but right now i don't have time lol, i will however, hopefully get this in before winter

 

I love Vleds, they also have a store on eBay. All my LED's come from them, including amber ones that I use in my side blinkers with the clear cover.

 

Thanks for the quick replies everyone!

I'm still kind of confused on a few parts....

For instance, the 194 blubs, there is like 20 different kinds on that website, how do I know which one is right for my car? Or is it just different type of styles that emit different lights or something?

Thanks in advance

 

well on vleds they sell many different 194 light bulbs. All of the 194 bulbs will work on your car. the thing you need to look at is the dimensions of the bulb because 194 is simply the type of connector the bulb has. For example, there can be 194 bulbs with 2 leds, 3 leds, 4 leds or 5 leds and so on.

basically just get a led that has similar dimensions as your standard bulb. im pretty sure vleds tell you the dimensions of every bulb.

if you need any more help, just ask.

 

JagXtype620, like was mentioned above, there are different types and each is going to be slightly different. Mainly you are going to have a choice of color and the other choice will be the brightness. As a general rule, the more LEDs, the brighter the LED bulb is going to be. But, to be sure, they should have some sort of luminescence rating (either in candle, lumen, or candela). The higher the number, the brighter the bulb will be. So, something for an interior dome light will probably want to be as bright as possible where the license plate lights will not need to be super bright. If you see an LED bulb rated in watts, you will only need a 1 watt bulb for things like the license plate bulbs or the side marker lights. LEDs are much more efficient in making light. The 194 type bulbs are 5 watt bulbs for reference.

The big thing you will need to make sure of is that the bulb isn't too long. 1" is about as long as you will be able to go with and still have them fit in the factory housings.

 

Don't forget light dispersion angles. They vary quite a lot among the different LED styles. You'll have to pick one that's compatible with your application.

 

light dispersion angles lol

So make sure I don't get anything longer than 1"?

So, How do I find out the measurements to each factory housing? Such as license plate, interior dome etc.....

My first car and I'm not very experienced with these type of things.

Thanks again guys

 

to find the measurements, i would just take a good old fashion ruler and measure the old bulb in millimeters and compare it to the size they give on the website.

 

If you do a bit of research on the Interweb, you'll see that one of the characteristics of LEDs is that they don't emit light in every direction (think spot light instead of lightbulb). Depending on the LED, the angle of light emitted can range from 15 degrees to 180 degrees. One way manufacturers are compensating for that is by including multiple diodes on a bulb pointing in different directions.

you just need to figure out which way you need the light to shine, e.g., do you need it to reflect off the light housing, do you need it come straight out, do you need it to point down (in the case of license plate bulbs, for example), and then pick the bulb that works best for that application.

LEDs are going to look like crap if the light doesn't come out in the direction you need it to.

 

Is it true that LED 194 bulbs for parking lights will continue to be lit even after the lights are off? I am thinking LEDs are not worth it from that info I read on a thread

 

harounq, LED can be worth it in the ability to get more light with less power needed. The other nice thing is that once you do the LED conversion, the need to replace any more lightbulbs almost goes away 100% because the lifetime of an LED is many times longer than a standard bulb. Another nice thing is if you have HID headlights, switching over the front parking lights to LEDs will give you a white light very similiar to the HIDs vice the yellow the factory bulbs give you.

Is it an expensive conversion, can be. But, there can be benefits if the correct bulbs are chosen. So, to each their own.

 

I would like to know the answer to that question

 

I have some LEDs in my exterior lights (side marker lights). My lights are off when the car is off. So, I am not sure why they would stay on when the vehicle is off. If they are staying on after the car is turned off, it wouldn't matter if the light bulbs are LED or not. The only difference would be with the LEDs that they may glow enough to be noticeable where the standard bulbs will not glow and will not let you know of a problem. So, to me, that would be a good thing. The other nice thing about LEDs is that they pull less power. So, if the bulbs are remaining lit, you will have more time before the battery is drained by using LEDs (0.01 amps for LEDs vice 0.1 amps for standard bulbs under partial voltage conditions).