Not when you get them for free

 

If you say mini lights are the same as a bmw e90, then check these out (just ran across it today and may just try them out):
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES252929/

 

You guys just scared me away from the Hoen mod. @ 19.00 a pop it better fit like OEM! I am not interested in that bulb out warning gong either, so no LED. I think that mod would look great on my HzB too. Hmm, I did the stealth bulb mod to my turnsignals using silver enamel glass paint. The paint is $2.60 at Michaels, much better than paying $21.00 a pop for stealth bulbs. I wonder if they make a blue glass paint that will mimic HID? Anyone try this yet?

Smoke05s
09 JCW
05 MCS

 

They make that paint...Costs about $5 at home depot...I havent tried it, but I do remember seeing a thread about someone who has...Turned out good i guess for only being a "paint-job"

 

I was interloping on a BMW site and look what I found!

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?p=11110063

13.99 shipped for Plate LED's with a load resistor built in. I'm ordering mine tonight! . . . .

Doh!! free shipping ended 12/31. Still 17.98 is the cheapest by far that I have found. Most others are 25 + shipping and up.

I got my rear fogs in, H13 HID kit goes in Friday too, so I'll take pics

 

Let us know your results

 

The canbus led's didn't make it in yet but I had ordered a few sets of non canbus LEDs for the heck of it last week, thinking they would work on my Armada (which takes 3 sets on the interior) if they didn't work on the Mini. Well if I only use one LED and one stock bulb, they do work on the Mini with no bulbout. I put the other one in and bingo, bulbout. To top it off they are too big for the Nissan.

Update: they work in the 05 MCS Plate because that car doesn't monitor bulbout, they work in the 05 trunk, (there is an error in the osram bulb chart for 09 JCW for the trunk so watch out) they work in the 05 MCS and 09 JCW glove box.

 

OK guys,
I am pleased to report the canbus LED's work! No bulbout warning. They fit snug just like OEM. No tab bending, tweaking or soldering necessary. I was very skeptical when I opened the box because they appear to have the identical set up as the standard LED's in the above post. There is no visible load resistor as I have seen in other systems. The pills are larger and possibly draw more current, just enough to be within the threshold of our systems. Remember the others are very close to making it too. These are just slightly brighter than standard.

I found some humongous parking light LEDs (size 194) on ebay that have 13 large pills in a cylindrical pattern to work with the reflector. I calculated the current flow and it should be at least 3 watts per bulb. Seeing as stock is 5 watts per bulb, that might be within the threshold to trick the system without a load resistor (just like these plate lights). These are huge and I expect them to be very bright. The real question is will they fit in the housing because they are 42mm long. I will keep you posted there too and reveal the source if they work also.

 

Smoke05S could u please post a link as to where you bought them from!? How much did they cost!?

 

The Plate LED: $17.98 shipped is the cheapest I have seen for something that is guaranteed to work and has a warranty. http://www.ledautomotive.com/product.php?id_product=129 and they are the 6 LED version for E46 BMW. You want the error free style. This is the best solution I have read about. Many have soldered in resistors. There are others who paid $50+ for LED's with built in high power resistors and giant heatsinks that get really hot and could cause other problems. The LEDAutomotive's appear to simply draw just enough current using the LED rather than generating a bunch of heat with add on resistors.

The 194's (for the parking lights above the fogs) are ebay specials from Hong kong and are only 7.89 for 1 set of 2. I am hoping the same concept will be at work here. I can experiment all day at those prices but I'm not going to hold my breath either. These things are huge, three levels high. I hope they fit in the foglight housing! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150407088286&ssPageNam e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

Huge success with the parking lamp mod today.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150407088286&ssPageNam e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

The quality looks very good, they fit in the housing no problem, No bulbout, no flicker and they are really bright (~6000K). Not nearly as bright as headlight or foglight since there isn't much of a reflector for the parking light but it is bright enough if you park in front of a wall with the headlights on you can make them out. I'm going to add a pic in my gallery tonight. That was definitely the best $8.00 shipped mod I could have asked for. I am not sure if this seller still has them but it is not rocket science. Look for bulbs with physically larger LEDs with the yellow hue when off. Those draw the most current. And naturally the more the merrier. If you have to choose between a similarly sized bulb with a smaller qty of larger LED or one with a higher qty of smaller LEDs go with the smaller qty of Larger LED's. Those usually will draw more power.

 

Hey smoke05S,

How are the license plate LED's from ledautomotive working for you? I have them in my shopping cart but wanted to check with your experience before I spend my $18.

Any bulb out warnings/messages?

 

No bulbout, no problems. I have been using them for a over a month now. They run cool because they dont use on board load resistors. They have sized the LED's just right to avoid the bulbout and we get the powersavings benefit too. I would buy again in a heartbeat! And in case you were waiting for me you are in luck because they are on sale for 13.98 right now! remember to get the car specific, bmw e46 plate led's not the other ones in the general section.


Not to change the subject but I am thinking of doing the dome light next. There is a guy selling these for 28.00 or so in the interior forum. They are 7.95 on ebay for the same thing (less the 2 sided tape).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

No bulbouts to worry about for interior lights. I already did the trunk, the glovebox and the puddle lights. If I do the dome light I need to finish off the under dash lights and I am done. I think I will keep my map lights incandescent because it really is easier to read under incandescent yellow.

 

Do you think you could post a picture of the license plate mounted LEDs? Thank you for the link, I will hopefully order some soon. For some reason 1 of the license plate bulbs went out along with both of the overhead interior lamps at the same time

 

Really? Wow, usually incandescent bulbs last forever. if you need any incandescents just for checking your fuses, I have a ton of extras (send me a PM and I'll mail you a good bulb). At least you have a great excuse to upgrade.

In my gallery is a pic of some other plate lights that gave me a bulbout on the 09. The same led's work great on the 05. I since have the error free type installed and they are just slightly brighter and coloring is the same. Do you want a non powered picture showing the bulb installed? Let me know and I will update this post with the pic you need to see.

Also somewhere in this thread is a panel light to replace the dome light. $7 and change with free shipping. The two maplights are 194 style. Get 1Watt or 1.5 watt replacements for those. These are really common on ebay. Just search 194 LED 1W and you will get pages of choices. It takes about 2-3 weeks to ship so be patient. And like all LED's they go in one way so if they don't light up just spin them around 180 degrees and plug them back in. For some reason I noticed I get it right about 90% of the time instead of 50/50, just lucky I guess. Hey I just updated my gallery with all my HID / LED projects. Check it out.

 

Hi Smoke05S,

Does the LED for license plate and the parking light work/fit on 1st Gen MINI? Kinda interested to get one but have to make sure if it fit 1st Gen MINI.

Thanks alot.

 

Yes that same one will work but you can save a lot of money and simply get the non canbus type for the first generation. Instead of 13-25 a set it is going to be maybe 3-$4 a set shipped. The first gen does not monitor bulbout.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT

I have these in my 2005 MCS and they fit tight and work fine. If i did it over I would get it without that plastic tube. Water can get trapped in there. I had one fill up with water and it still works!

 

For those that care, I was able to find a cheaper alternative ($9.99 shipped) to the ledautomotive LEDs on eBay. They appear solid and well built and most importantly have not thrown a bulb out warning on my R57. Also, tried these LEDs for the front eyelids (city lights) and they initially worked without any bulb out errors, then then the pass side began to only work sporadically and produced the bulb out error. It looks like I will just go with a whiter traditional wedge bulb and scrap the LED idea in this location.

 

Damn, too late. Just brought from "ledautomotive" now waiting for shipment to arrive. haha.

"smoke05S" your thread is cool, i following it and see what else in the car i can LED it hahaha.

Thanks :D

 

Thanks Vodka! I don't mind being the guinea pig once in a while.

gdclnfn,
Those are exactly the ones I am using as back up lights in my Armada same seller too. I will keep an eye on them. Chances are you have a crusty connection giving you an intermittent connection. These sockets are really no better than Malibu Lights and I think I am cleaning those almost monthly in my front yard. Clean the led connection with scotchbrite and then quickly put a light coating of grease on the LED connector and try it again. Grease keeps the corrosion from re-forming ( so apply quickly) and because everything is sealed dirt is usually not a problem. My LED parking lights in the Mini are pretty much the same as those too. I paid about .04 more. The vendor was just selling some extra bulbs and was not a manufacturer so I am not sure where to get them. If the clean and retry doesn't work I do have one extra set of what you have if you don't want to wait 3 weeks for Hong Kong shipping. Just send me a pm and we can set it up.

 

I'm looking into the rear plate leds too, what do you mean by the "plastic tube"?

 

It is kind of difficult to see in the auction photo but there is a clear plastic tube around the LEDs. It locks the assembly together and is just glued in place. It is not sealed so water can get into the LED and it doesn't come out until you pull the conductor off and drain it.

On the error free LED's that I am using there is no plastic tube so the LED's are open to the air (Helps make them a little brighter) and everything is soldered together. I will take a pic later on to better illustrate.

That problem is unique to just these, if you have an R53 I am sure you can find a super bright LED that will work great for way less than $13.98. When you do, look for open air, soldered construction and use the dimension in this auction, it fits perfect. If you have an R56 or R57 go with the error free I am using from the E46 BMW forum, you wont be dissapointed.

Actually I have one extra one (the one that had a little water damage) It still works fine, you can check the fit. I see you have a 2003 so actually I am not 100% sure of the fit. If you want to try it out I will send it to you (free). Same size should work in the glove box and the trunk (at least in the 05). Send me PM. . .

JPMM that is an impressive gallery! Love that engine bay. What kind of intake is that? That is a really nice wheel color against the blue. Those would look good on my car! Where did you get them?

 

Hey Smoke05s,

You are using the Q167 White T10 194 Car SMD 13-LED Wedge Bulbs Light

for the running/parking/city lights/eye lids- what ever the lights are right about the fogs?

Those look great, and not giving any errors, I may just have to jump on a set.

 

Sorry for the delay LilQ, yes that is what I am using. You should be able to plug those in and since they draw about 3.2 watts by themselves that is within the threshold of the bulbout monitor.

How do you like that rear brake light / fog mod? got any pics?

 

Hi smoke05S,

I finally installed the LED light bulb (from http://www.ledautomotive.com/product...d_product=129), it look great!

Notice, the LED will blink/flickering whenever the interior light (at the roof) is on, but this will not happen if the headlamp is on at the same time.

Above is ok with me but what get me worried is when the car engine, light, everything is off, the LED light still on - in dimmed mode - for very long time is this normal? Will it drain the car battery?

Thanks