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Interior bulbs
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:58 am
by Andy Beats
Anyone changed the interior bulbs to LED?
Is getting access to the front courtesy lights a nightmare of swearing and broken plastic tabs?
Re: Interior bulbs
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:20 pm
by Muldoon
Not event attempted this - I would prefer a brighter interior light would it help? Suppose it's a case of trying to prise out the bulb covers with a small electrical screwdriver?
I must admit the ambient lighting is a bit poor on my SE - previous Fiesta Zetec had front footwell lights and optional puddle lights on the folding door mirrors, you miss them when they are gone and it's pitch black outside!
My main wish is for ambient lighting round the ignition key barrel as it's hit and miss finding the keyhole and plastic surround scratched to glory now. Might tap into interior lighting and fit a small LED nearby to illuminate that area.
Re: Interior bulbs
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:33 pm
by Andy Beats
Ignition key light would be nice, yes.
i want to replace all the interior bulbs with blue LED.
It's a really nice effect when you open the doors, I did it in my Mini.
Re: Interior bulbs
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:49 pm
by Muldoon
Do the LED bulbs just fit as a straight swap or can they upset the ECU and you need a kind of voltage regulator thing? I've heard it can be tricky changing exterior bulbs for this reason. Might be fine - I noticed the Polo has LED number plate bulbs as standard for some reason but nowt else - very odd!
Headlamp bulbs are a priority for me - they are awful, beam height a bit low plus very dim and yellowish. I suspect the reflector design is a bit weird, the bulbs sit in smoked plastic recesses hardly a recipe for bright projection of lights. When I flash people on main beam as a 'thanks' and dipped headlamps are on you can't tell the main beams are flashing on it's that average.
Re: Interior bulbs
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 1:01 pm
by Andy Beats
Muldoon wrote: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:49 pm
Do the LED bulbs just fit as a straight swap or can they upset the ECU and you need a kind of voltage regulator thing? I've heard it can be tricky changing exterior bulbs for this reason. Might be fine - I noticed the Polo has LED number plate bulbs as standard for some reason but nowt else - very odd!
Headlamp bulbs are a priority for me - they are awful, beam height a bit low plus very dim and yellowish. I suspect the reflector design is a bit weird, the bulbs sit in smoked plastic recesses hardly a recipe for bright projection of lights. When I flash people on main beam as a 'thanks' and dipped headlamps are on you can't tell the main beams are flashing on it's that average.
For interior LED bulbs, just look for ones that advertise no CANBUS errors - they've worked fine for me.
For the headlights, get yourself some Osram 'Cool blue boost' 5000K bulbs -
make sure they are the 5000K ones (they're actually marked 'offroad use' on the box)
Lovely white light, I have them in the Polo and the Sportage.
Perfect match for LED running lights, and as good as the LED headlights on my Nissan Leaf.
I wish I'd taken some before and after photos, the change from yellow to white is remarkable.
Once I get the actual headlights adjusted so they're not just illuminating 6 feet in front of me, I'll be happy.
Re: Interior bulbs
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 6:18 pm
by Adam_013
I broke a clip doing this [emoji107], you have to remove the plastic trim between the lamp unit and the windscreen first, and then remove the lamp unit. I didn't do this and broke a few locating tabs... Still fits, but not ideal. I put Phillips LED ones in mine. They make a nice white light, unlike the cheaper 'bluey' ones.
Whether they're canbus or not shouldn't make a difference.. interior bulbs aren't monitored.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Re: Interior bulbs
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 7:00 pm
by Benji6c
I found a whole LED light kit on Ebay, cost around £10 and came with every interior bulb including the boot light. No errors or faults have come up since and they have been in nearly a year and a half now. Would be best to buy the little orange interior tools for like £3, and just take your time taking out the centre light in the front, it is a whole lot easier with the tools.
Hope this helps
Re: Interior bulbs
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:03 am
by Andy Beats
I've already got the plastic trim tools.
Is there a 'procedure' for the front courtesy light trim?