LED tailight on EM

[hunterD]

someone on ozhonda has LED tailight on their EK, not sure who. but i've never seen any on an EM1. just wanna know if anyone on this forum has it on their em1. or does anyone have any pictures of any other em1 that has it? I've never seen it before but i think it'll look sick if its possible.

also, anyone got any quotes for it?

cheers

[Dylanamus]

Find out what type of bulb your tail lights take then search for LEDs of that type. I did this recently and replaced my parkers with LED bulbs. It's the first globe that claims to be white that actually looks white. Looks cool how the glow is not as diffused and is more directional. Would suit tail lights and brakelights as they're only really necessary to be viewed from behind. I wouldn't rely on them for lighting up the road though (ie reversing lights etc).

I got my LEDs off a dude on ebay, FYI. He had a huge range of varieties. I also bought some festoon LEDs to replace my cabin and boot lights. :)

[saxman]

hidplanet.com/forums has a section on doing LED retrofits the real way, not just swapping out for some cheap led bulb.

[Dylanamus]

Not sure what you're implying there, saxman. I replaced the T10 wedge bulbs on my parker lights with LED lights. There is absolutely no difference between the way the LED light is fitted and the way the original bulb was fitted.

They all fit and work perfectly, so if it's cheap, why do you believe this method deserves indirect discredit? Why don't you write up a list comparing the pros and cons of "the real way" and the way I used. That'd help some other people around here maybe.

[saxman]

the real consists of retrofitting entire led boards and such in. The idea is to produce an even light distribution and such and a professional appearance.

Look at a car that comes with LED tail lights stock... there's a huge difference in appearance and lighting between something that uses an led array and using a halogen replacement bulb. Not that there's anything wrong with that persay, other than usually producing hot spots from the tail lights and not necessarily an increase in visibility, it's just a completely different thing than actually making LED tail lights.

[shinji112]

changing parkers to LEDs is easy as pie.. but finding LEDs that fit into your rear tail-light bulb sockets might be hard.. never seen LEDs with those socket sizes.. but i get wat saxman is trying to say.. its one thing to try to find LEDs to replace your normal bulbs.. but its another thing completely to get an entire LED assembly to replace your tail-lights.. goodluck finding them! let us know if you do

[ekhybrid]

ahem
supershitauto have them

[shinji112]

lol how'd you know that steve?? i hate supershitauto stuff.. bulbs last like a few months!

[Waggy]

Actually this is something I have been thinking about doing to my EM1 - as long as it looks gangsta and not altezza cheap....

I've seen it on a hatch in the appearance gallery... no coupes yet though...

[egSi]

I sell these guys :thumbsup:

[wOlfee]

I have LED tail lights for my EG civic :P love em

[MoonSha]

Do not use LED tail lamps, they are not bright enough and DO NOT put out enough light for people to easily see that you are braking in the day time. If somebody crashes into the back of your car your insurance is 100% VOID and you will have to pay for everything yourself. I have read many threads on these things, because they put out such a narrow beam of directional light they do not bounce off the standard reflectors and do not light up the whole peice of red plastic. Only people directly behind you can see the light properly and in almost every single case the standard light bulb lights up brighter and more of the lamp. If your tail lamps are reflector type then really don't bother, the effect is even worse.

LED Parkers however are quite good and do their job nicely.

The only sort of LED tail lamp that works properly is a totally custom job using rows of high intensity LEDs like you see on new cars. These setups are expensive and require a lot of DIY work.

[saxman]

The only sort of LED tail lamp that works properly is a totally custom job using rows of high intensity LEDs like you see on new cars. These setups are expensive and require a lot of DIY work.


Which is exactly what I was referring to above. Doesn't have to be that expensive though. Does require a lot of DIY work.

[hunterD]

ok thanx for the information fellas. very informative

[Dylanamus]

Yeah I think the difference between parkers, interior and tail lights brought me over to the same page as you, saxman. Luminoscity is not a huge issue with the lights I've changed, so in my case all the extra work you suggested is not really a requirement. LEDs are great for saving power - like when you come back a few hours later and realise your interior light was on or your parkers were on (if your lights don't beep at you when you get out) and you'll still have plenty of battery, but I wouldn't replace lights where brightness is a part of safety unless you know what you're doing, like the saxman hehe

[MoonSha]

Which is exactly what I was referring to above. Doesn't have to be that expensive though. Does require a lot of DIY work.
Expensive as in, more than $10 for two off ebay.

[saxman]

yes, will cost a good bit more than that



this is a VERY different concept that those led bulbs on ebay

[Boban]

[QUOTE=MoonSha;1007385]Do not use LED tail lamps, they are not bright enough and DO NOT put out enough light for people to easily see that you are braking in the day time. If somebody crashes into the back of your car your insurance is 100% VOID and you will have to pay for everything yourself.

I have LED as my tail/brake lights and haven't had anyone rear-end me yet (most cars these days have a 3rd brake light somewhere in the middle) but i do agree with what you guys are saying about them not bing as bright as normal bulbs

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5788/x1prtzv02ww2pkvvx9ga7ebux6.jpg

mmmm rice, sorry about the pic, i was actually taking a picture of the wheels at the time, but yeah, the LEDs are 4 rings (2 per side) with indicators and reverse being just normal bulbs in the middle