As I explained in my post about upgrading the angel eye running lights to LEDs, exterior lighting can really affect how old the car looks. So, to finish off bringing the exterior lighting up-to-date I wanted to upgrade the number plate lights from halogen to LED.
I thought choosing LED angel eye bulbs was like stepping through a minefield, number plate lights are a whole 'nother level.
Nevertheless, I finally settled on a pair of 16 SMD LED C5W festoon bulbs for £6.95 shipped. They claimed to be error free and the images of the bulbs looked the part.
I honed my skill of making 5 minute jobs last hours, this time by removing the number plate, washing, claying, polishing and then waxing the rear face of the boot lid. I was removing the number plate as I was taking pictures for the blog, so I thought it rude not to clean behind it. Unfortunately, I only thought to do that after taking the first pic, removing the driver's side lamp housing.
I levered it out using a trim puller, instead of a screw driver in the slot to the left of the lens. I don't like the screw driver method as if you slip, bad things happen to your shiny paint work.
Once the lamp housing is removed from the boot lid, you've got access to the bulb, which just pulls out. As with the halogen angel eye bulbs, the number plate light bulbs were looking rather burnt, no doubt the originals from the factory.
Prior to refitting the lamp housing, with the new LED bulb in tow, it's good practice to check the bulb works. This is especially important with LEDs as they are polar, i.e. they only work in one orientation.
Encouragingly, it fired into life. After clipping the lamp snugly back into position I stopped to take a comparison photo between halogen and LED.
Yes, the LEDs genuinely are that much brighter #nofilter.
On with the show, I promptly replaced the other side and stood back to admire my work. Quite a dramatic uplift I'm sure you'd agree, and for a shade under £7, big bang for your buck.
Before and After
There was just one snag...remember how I said to watch out for poor quality bulbs in my post on upgrading the angel eyes to LEDs? Well I should have took my own advice. These bulbs from a seller on eBay called enewgate lasted just under 4 months. Not good enough.
As the LEDs make such a difference, I didn't want to go back to halogen, so I pressed on and found what I hoped to be some more reliable LED bulbs.
The seller, we-sell-hids, was offering 2x 39mm 3 SMD LED C5W bulbs for £7.75 posted. But these only have 3 LEDs, the old ones had 16, won't they be less bright, I hear you cry.
The difference is, these LEDs are made by Samsung, claiming 80,000hours running time. I got them ordered and fitted, surprisingly they were actually brighter.
Touch wood, after 11 months they are still going strong. Result.
Let me know what you think in the comments below, have you bought LEDs that have only lasted 5 mins? Can you recommend any other sellers that supply decent quality bulbs?
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