interior lights - as it's dark a lot these days

[davidwort 0]

my interior lights, including boot and glovebox are rubbish, I don't think even new bulbs (that aren't half burnt out) will help much, anyone tried LED replacements?

 

these look pretty cheap for a punt:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-42MM-INTERIOR-LIGHT-FESTOON-BULB-LED-XENON-WHITE-UK-/290604291747?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43a95d96a3

[Yandards 0]

my interior lights, including boot and glovebox are rubbish, I don't think even new bulbs (that aren't half burnt out) will help much, anyone tried LED replacements?

 

these look pretty cheap for a punt:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-42MM-INTERIOR-LIGHT-FESTOON-BULB-LED-XENON-WHITE-UK-/290604291747?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43a95d96a3

 

The pair I fitted as side light bulbs a few years ago put out a lot more light, always found the interior light to be ok but the boot light was poor and the glove box light appears to be a mole with a birthday candle..

 

Be interested to see how you go with the LEDs.

[davidwort 0]

Worth a go, only a couple of quid.

[jscVR6 0]

I relaced all mine a few months ago with SMD LED's, they're a bit brighter than the standard LED's, was well worth doing.

Interior light:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WHITE-42mm-SMD-FESTOON-INTERIOR-BULB-C5W-264-SV8-5-/290558401768?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43a6a15ce8#ht_2257wt_1185

 

They also do ones for the glove box (31mm) and boot (36mm i think)

[Macdaddy 10]

Stay away from those ones, Bought the same and they are still in the packet due to being even dimmer than oem bulbs!

 

You really need superbright bulbs or better quality.

[davidwort 0]

Ah, cheers, will just get new bulbs I think,

I bought some cheap 12v waterproof LED strips from ebay for night lighting in my fishtank, should have seen my missus face when I told her they were to fit to the sills on the corrado :lol:

[jscVR6 0]

The SMD LED's i fitted are much brighter than the standard bulbs, and are much whiter than the standard "yellow" ones.

[davidwort 0]

Well, in the end I discovered the previous owner had fitted a 5W festoon bulb in the main interior light instead of the 10W that should be there (10W is even printed on the light fitting :roll: ) so I popped in a spare good 10W and the interior light is much better, strangely the main light unit in the non-sunroof car has no reflector in the fitting, only the passenger reading light has this, probably to focus the light as much as anything, so I used some sticky backed foil tape that came from a model shop I think originally, to line the light unit too, seems to improve it a bit more.I also ordered a 48 LED panel that should just fit inside the light unit, not arrived yet but it was only a couple of quid so thought I'd try one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300638394274?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

[ATTACH=CONFIG]51054[/ATTACH]

as well as this I ordered a twin 1W LED festoon bulb, which should really have been a 42mm one, but going by the old 5W bulb I measured 36mm instead:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290627067116?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

[ATTACH=CONFIG]51055[/ATTACH]

this is very similar to the one in the post above but much cheaper so thought I'd give it a go

.this one has arrived and like most cheap LED bulbs I don't think the light output is great, it's a nice white light but a bit too focussed and probably lights up more like the (wrong) 5W bulb I had before (but whiter). o

Not all was lost though as I thought I could use it for the boot light, which is another story as it turns out the old one hadn't blown but the tailgate catch microswitch was knackered so had to replace the catch :roll:

In the end I have found this little festoon LED bulb pretty good for the boot, somehow the colour of light and more focus improves the boot light a fair bit.Once I get the 48 LED panel I'll take pictures of both.

Oh, and the reason the glovebox is so bad is it uses a very small 3W festoon bulb which I think I'll look at replacing with an LED or small LED panel array too, as you really could do with a whiter light in there, a 3W orangey glow is worse than useless as Yan said :)

 

For comparison, GSF do standard festoon bulbs at around 60-70p each, Halfrauds want £2

e-bay special (link above) is £3 delivered for the 5W equivalent twin LED (2W) - suitable for the boot, will fit interior main which can take 36-42mm bulbs, but not bright enough IMO

I still have a bunch of tiny 12V red leds I was planning on fitting into the interior door handle recesses etc, still not got around to it, I did put a bigger one in the centre cubby hole though and that works well, just sanded the end a bit to diffuse the light and I get a nice glow in there so you can just see stuff.

Edited January 12, 2012 by davidwort

[Nick 17 10]

My glove box bulb and boot bulb have both blow what are their sizes as i cant find it anywhere :(

 

Also on a sunroof model how do you remove the reading light and interior light casing out of the headlining properly?

 

Many thanks Nick :)