I have solved the LED festoon problem!

[ccompton]

Well, it took us long enough, but it looks like I have a solution that works.

The LED festoons that I used to replace the stock license plate festoons can be found at tunerdomes.com here:

http://www.tunerdomes.com/index.php?...d&productId=49

These are 1 watt and draw enough current to work with no "bulb out" error. I have not tried it yet, but I assume the same bulbs will work for the other 36mm festoons in the car. The first pic is a comparison between the 1 watt LED festoon and the stock bulb, the second pic just confirms the model of festoon bulb I used.

Good luck and enjoy.

A word of caution for the newer members who want to try this, please read the ENTIRE original post carefully and thoroughly before attempting. If you do it wrong, you will either break the bulb holder (trying to pry it off) or lose your wires inside your trunk lid.

[55 JWB]

could do with a list of which bulbs in the car this might replace, ie vanity mirror? footwell lighting? reading lights etc??

I purchased a complete set of xenon look interior lights for my M3, they were not LED but really changed the interior look to the car... I did the fogs and licence plate bulbs just to complete the look...

It was a US supplier called Bimmian who provided very useful video tutorials on how to install each one, very useful to avoid sticking a screw driver somewhere you should not! pretty sure they dont do Audi, but maybe if any of you US members are nearby you could give them a call??

Jason

[erdrff]

Thanks for the info! Will try it.

Now, what bulbs do you use to change the backup lights (reverse lights)? The OEM are really yellow and again, I'd like some bright white, LED, or even blue tinted bulbs to light up when putting the car in reverse.

[ccompton]

Hi guys, there are a few post on the forum that explain which bulbs are used for everything from the front fogs to dome light etc. Use the search feature and search for "bulbs". I will give you a little help on this one, but make sure you use the search becasue there is a wealth of good info you will find very useful.

http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...x.html?p=22535

and here:
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...2.html?p=23260

Enjoy...(and use the search)

[sizzle]

Originally Posted by erdrff

Thanks for the info! Will try it.

Now, what bulbs do you use to change the backup lights (reverse lights)? The OEM are really yellow and again, I'd like some bright white, LED, or even blue tinted bulbs to light up when putting the car in reverse.

Here's all the bulbs by location:

High & low beam headlamp
HID-D3S

Parking light
2825LL

Front turn signal
H21W (64136)

Rear turn signal
7506LL

Tail light
7506LL

Stop light
7506LL

High mount stop light
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Fog/Driving light
H11-55W

License plate
6418
6418LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Back up light
921
921LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Front sidemarker
2825LL

Glove box
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Map light
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Dome light
6418
6418LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Step/Courtesy light
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp
6418
6418LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Trunk/Cargo area
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

[alwin]

LOL, you know what? I popped open my plate lights after reading this, and those are the exact ones they shipped me...they must've shipped me the wrong ones! ! ! But they worked out and I didn't even notice until this post!

I've updated my DIY in my original post with the more current and corrected LED link:
http://www.tunerdomes.com/index.php?...d&productId=49

Thanks ccompton for solving the mystery.

[houseofg]

ccom - thanks, man - you are wonderful! Time to get to ordering! Didn't even realize the reverse lights were yellowish too..something else to look into.

[aerodave]

I guess it depends on how much you're worried about those reverse lights. I mean, they're on about 0.1% of the time.

And I'll be expecting a royalty check for the thread title... =)

[TXcarguy]

Originally Posted by aerodave

And I'll be expecting a royalty check for the thread title... =)

LOL Yeah, when I read the title of this thread, I immediately thought of your DRL/turn signal puzzle thread.

I agree about the very minimal use of the reverse lights. I'm not going to bother with changing those. Plus, I'm quite pleased with how much light they put out when using the rear-view camera at night.

[55 JWB]

This could be very useful, they will do a group buy if someone wants to do the homework??

Jason

[ccompton]

Originally Posted by aerodave

I guess it depends on how much you're worried about those reverse lights. I mean, they're on about 0.1% of the time.

And I'll be expecting a royalty check for the thread title... =)

I will give you 100% of the royalties I receive.

[ccompton]

Originally Posted by 55 JWB

This could be very useful, they will do a group buy if someone wants to do the homework??

Jason

Hi Jason, the problem with these interior Xenons is that they are not as bright as the LEDs.

[55 JWB]

good point well made I was thinking we could use the diagram to list which bulbs would be used where in the car and list the led alternative... I did they they did LED's also...

[erdrff]

Originally Posted by sizzle

Here's all the bulbs by location:

High & low beam headlamp
HID-D3S

Parking light
2825LL

Front turn signal
H21W (64136)

Rear turn signal
7506LL

Tail light
7506LL

Stop light
7506LL

High mount stop light
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Fog/Driving light
H11-55W

License plate
6418
6418LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Back up light
921
921LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Front sidemarker
2825LL

Glove box
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Map light
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Dome light
6418
6418LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Step/Courtesy light
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp
6418
6418LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Trunk/Cargo area
2825
2825LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

I know many of you guys have been switching the 6418 and 2825 with LED versions since these two bulbs are found in quite a few places within the car. I was wondering, for those of you who have switched out the reverse lights, what manufacturer or type of bulb (xenon vs LED vs blue-tint, etc) did you use to change the 921 bulb for the reverse light. Which bulb/technique gives the best, brightest and whitest illumination to replace those yucky, yellow bulbs currently in the reverse light socket?

[houseofg]

I'm not seeing an obvious similar solution for the 2825 (map lights and stem/courtesy lights). Any ideas there? Figured I'd order everything at once. Going to need two of these 6418 36mm 1 watt bulbs for the dome lights right? There's a light you see a lot (unlike the reverse, I agree).

[ccompton]

Originally Posted by houseofg

I'm not seeing an obvious similar solution for the 2825 (map lights and stem/courtesy lights). Any ideas there? Figured I'd order everything at once. Going to need two of these 6418 36mm 1 watt bulbs for the dome lights right? There's a light you see a lot (unlike the reverse, I agree).

Hey house,

I am ordering a couple more of the 1 watt bulbs for the dome light too...TX and I were just wondering the same yesterday on the map lights...I don't think the 2825 (wedge light) can come in an LED...but there are a lot of HID-like replacements available PIAA makes one:
http://www.xtremewhite.com/ORD-Light...47-1-1-1-1.cfm

[ccompton]

Originally Posted by ccompton

Hey house,

I am ordering a couple more of the 1 watt bulbs for the dome light too...TX and I were just wondering the same yesterday on the map lights...I don't think the 2825 (wedge light) can come in an LED...but there are a lot of HID-like replacements available PIAA makes one:
http://www.xtremewhite.com/ORD-Light...47-1-1-1-1.cfm

Okay...so I lied...

http://www.v-leds.com/Shop/Control/P...id/0/SFV/32481

I just don't know what the power draw is...but it shouldn't need to be that much.

UPDATE: I just ordered a few of the LED 2825 bulbs...we'll see how it goes. I will let you know.

[Arvin]

Hey CCompton,

I noticed your temp tag said Ohio, but your profile says Dallas, TX ???

[houseofg]

Thanks for the link(s) ccom, but I get an error. Is this what you ordered?

In case that results in an error as well, did you order:
V-LEDS HID WHITE M-SMT FLANK BULBS 194 168 158 2825?

[ccompton]

Originally Posted by Arvin

Hey CCompton,

I noticed your temp tag said Ohio, but your profile says Dallas, TX ???

Bought the car from Maine, the bank is in Ohio (US Bank), and I live in Texas. SO the bank sent me the temp tag.

[ccompton]

Originally Posted by houseofg

Thanks for the link(s) ccom, but I get an error. Is this what you ordered?

In case that results in an error as well, did you order:
V-LEDS HID WHITE M-SMT FLANK BULBS 194 168 158 2825?

That isn't the bulb, the one I was looking at returns a database error when I try to access the link (see above).

The bulbs are "wedge-type" and pretty small... the ones I was looking at are:
2 HID WHITE 6 LED LIGHT BULBS 194 168 158 2825 W5W for $7.99 (per pair)

I will send them a note and ask "what's up?".

[ccompton]

They are out of stock, drats...waiting on a reply from V-LED to see if they filled the order or not.

However, there is a similar bulb on

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...gi?product=CAR

search the page for "WLED-x6 LED", these _may_ be lower power, but I can't confirm that...If v-led didn't fill my order (before they went 'out-of-stock') then I will probably try these. TX has a couple of the WLED-x6 LED bulbs (from superbrightleds) that I may try to see if they work. I will let you know.

[ccompton]

If you want to use the LED festoons that didn't draw enough power for the license plate bulbs, I just tried one of the 'lower-power' (e.g. not 1 watt) LED festoons for the dome light and it worked with no errors, the only problem is that is really needs the 1 watt LED festoons to be bright enough.

Now, if you like "mood lighting", then you can just use the lower power festoons. I am going to order two more of the 1 watt bulbs to do the two dome lights, and the wedge bulbs for the map lights.

So the only interior bulbs that need to be replaced are the two festoons in the dome, and the two wedge map lights.

The funny thing is that the foot well bulbs in the front (by the pedals) and the back (under the seats) are already LED bulbs...why didn't they just make them all that way.

[TXcarguy]

Originally Posted by ccompton

So the only interior bulbs that need to be replaced are the two festoons in the dome, and the two wedge map lights.

Don't forget the two map lights above the rear seats.

[ccompton]

Originally Posted by TXcarguy

Don't forget the two map lights above the rear seats.

DOH! Thanks TX!!!

[houseofg]

I did notice that the foot well bulbs are LED already...odd. Darn just placed an order for 4 of those 1 watts, guess I needed 6! How do you open those dome covers anyway?

[TXcarguy]

Originally Posted by houseofg

Darn just placed an order for 4 of those 1 watts, guess I needed 6!

house, if I'm not mistaken, I think you only need TWO of the 1-watt festoon bulbs, which would go in the dome light. The remaining four map lights will use the "wedge type" (194) bulbs.

[houseofg]

Okay, so that's two festoons for license plate and two for dome light. The 4 map lights are what we are still trying to figure out (2825 type I thought..?) via ccom's links...?

[TXcarguy]

Sorry, I misinterpreted your comment about ordering four of the 1-watts as being for just the interior lighting. I had forgotten you still need to get your license plate fixed up.

[houseofg]

Okay...so my prior post was correct (as was my order of only 4 1-watts), right?