You guys with the ebay CANBUS LED's. Hopefully they make them better than they used to. I went thru 3 sets in my 2010 Clubman very quickly. Watch out because the resistors work fine but the heat blows out the LED. Your LED could already be out but it will not give you a bulbout warning. Check yours after you have driven a while, the heat build up makes them dim and fail. There is plenty of room in there to put a large enough standard LED and avoid the warning. I ended up with a 9 SMD 194 style. You get a bulbout maybe 40% of the time so I bet a 13 SMD would do it if it fits.

UPDATE 3-28-12 a 13 SMD cheepie Ebay LED draws enough current in the clubman to avoid a bulbout and is ungodly bright. Compare at $2.50 -$3.50 a set shipped. These same bulbs throw a bulbout in the eyelid position. Maybe someone will come up with a 17 SMD that is the same diameter as the 13. That one would work in the eyelid on the R55.

If you have a R56 hatchback the festoon type I am using in the 2009 JCW has given me 3 years of trouble free service from LED automotive. You might find something like this for cheaper but I bet you don't get lucky the first time.
http://www.ledautomotive.com/product.php?id_product=129

These do not have resistors so they run cool and retain their color, not a single bulbout. After 3 years they look the same as the day I installed them. Also they fit perfect so they do not spin and dim, unlike a lot of other bulbs on the market.

Update: I uploaded a picture to illustrate. My 2010 JCW does not throw a bulbout with this bulb installed in my plate light. Yes that is the LED off to the side. And they are in series so when one goes they both do not light up. The resistors work fine and keep the bulbout at bay even though the light is out. This happened in about a week of usage (enough heat to unsolder the LED). I am sure they are not all created equal and if yours still works you have done good. This was my 3rd set though (from different vendors too), so I don't have that kind of confidence. All I am saying is keep an eye on those budget canbus lights that use resistors. And if you have a choice use LEDs that use elements that simply draw enough power to keep the bulbout away. It will run cooler, last longer, be brighter and probably cost less.

 

I ordered a pair of those LEDs and they just arrived today. I'm going to try them in the City Lights spot and maybe order more for elsewhere if they work out.

 

Sorry dupe post.

 

Will 36mm festoon LED fit R56? I think so... I ordered today.

6411/ 6413/ 6418/ C6W LED 36mm (5000K)
http://aznoptics.com/index.php?main_...products_id=16

 

Hey walk0800 did you receive these yet? I've been trying to find some festoons for my license plate to match my aznoptics led city driving lights and came across your post.

From what i gathered, our license plates uses 37mm? Would these 36mm fit as well? BTW why are some r56 festoons..while some are wedges?

 

actually...just came across another post saying itll fit 36mm-39mm, what would the difference be between these?

 

Haven't received my AZNOptics festoons yet. The last LEDs I ordered took about 2 weeks to arrive in Canada with customs.

The clubman has different bulbs than the hatch. Other than that, not sure about the differences.

The AZNOptics LEDs for the City Lights have been great so far. I am thinking of pulling them out and taking a closer look after they have been in use for a while. Just in case.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../22162/cat/500

 

My LED festoon bulbs for the license plates went all wacky a few days ago after 4 months of use (AZNOptics 6411/ 6413/ 6418/ C6W LED 36mm 5000K). Started flashing like strobe lights. Sent a video and a couple pics and AZNOptics are sending me a new set.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5UJjf9yCOQ

I put the OE bulbs back in and my bulb out warning won't go away.

 

At least they stand behind them. Good to know. Do you have any other led's installed? The bulbout for the plate lights is the same as the warning for the eyelids, turnsignals etc so it gets a little confusing.

Was that flashing going on when you first start the car or after it has been running a while? Flashing is normal when you first stat the car. That is the result of the bulb check by the computer. I don't know about the flashing back and forth though. I have never seen that before.

 

When the bulb out warning started a few days ago, the LEDs in the license plate area would flash constantly from start up. In the past, they never flashed at all. These LEDs are designed not to trigger bulb out warnings.

I also have AZNOptics LEDs in the eyelid/city lights and they never flash or flicker. At some point I will swap out those LEDs with OE bulbs again and see what happens. They are a royal pain to access so I am not in a huge rush. No other bulbs appear to be out.

If it continues to be an issue after going back to OE bulbs, I will just have the dealership have a look next time I have an oil change. I have read some people having a "bulb check" module replaced or a faulty bulb housing replaced.

 

Have had the replacement license plate AZNOptic bulbs in the car for several weeks now... Lights are fine but I still have the bulb out warning. Will swap everything back to stock at some point. If it doesn't go away I may have a faulty bulb socket or module somewhere.

 

You can use NCSExpert mentioned in threads on this forum to code away the bulb monitor circiut. The spreadsheet has the coding entries and it is pretty straightforward to modify the FRM module. Then you can use any LEDs you like.

 

In my case I was hoping to avoid buying an expensive cable since I don't really have any NCS changes I want to do... but it might be easier to buy the cable and code out the bulb warnings than swap out all my LEDs... especially those royal pain city/fogs on the drivers side.

 

I'm also using AZNoptic bulbs for my eyelids(wedges) and license plate(festoons). I got a bulb error in one of the front eyelids few months and I was immediately sent a new pair which fixed the problem. Awesome service! However I just recently got another bulb out error have to go test each light again.

I find the license plate ones to be a bit dim, anyone know who sells a set of brighter festoon bulbs?

 

I find their festoon bulbs to be quite bright. Did you insert it with the heat sink inwards and LEDs facing more or less outwards?

I am wondering if my city light/eye lid LEDs are also triggering the new bulb out warning after replacing the festoons. Rather disappointing really. Great service from AZNOptics, but perhaps not recommended for our MINIs.

 

Just got the Light bulb out code myself. Lasted 8 months without the error. Lights are all still working fine. Might give AZN an email.

 

I just saw last night that my AZNOptics license plate lights flickered for a second. The car was idling for a few minutes when a couple friends were checking out my car otherwise I probably would not have noticed. So obviously my replacement LEDs still have something not right. May be going back to regular bulbs

 

Thank you all for your help! I still wasn't sure what bulb to purchase so I pulled the cover off and did a visual. I aslo broke out the calipers to measure the length of my bulb (39mm).

After some research I ended up ordering http://aznoptics.com/index.php?main_...products_id=17

They have built in load resistors too!

I am pretty geek'd out to get these installed!

 

Received my festoon LED's from AZN optics and I have to say I could have chosen a slightly shorter bulb (37mm) and been okay (stoopid calipers).

The white is epic and shines like John Stamos's hair.

My only complaint (listening AZN?) is that the load resistors are too big in that they keep the bulb from rotating and pointing perfectly down. The load resistors interfere with the angled piece of metal at the top of the area where the bulb resides. But I do not think it hinders any light output. So thumbs up.

 

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Look at you taking the wind from my sails

Ive never been lucky at luck so I guess we'll all keep an eye on this post and see if I am cursing AZN for burnt out bulbs in a couple months, wish me luck walk0089...

 

If only I read your sig....I fail...lol

 

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