interior dome lights.

[85turbo]

Hi all.

im about to replace the interior globes in my car with LED's.

i cant figure out how to open / get access to the front globes.
the rear one was easy, but how do i get at the front one ?

i know they are all T10 types, and i already have the LED's on the way.
im gonna replace them all, even the ones in the boot and glove box.

the boot one looks like a 44mm festoon type.
not sure about the one in the glove box yet.....

any info on how to open the front light housing ?

Jason.

[Greg Roles]

Yep the boot is a festoon torpedo type, unsure on the glovebox. I've left the boot stock for now, for as nice as the whiter LED's are, they do put out less light overall. I ended up with the highest intensity LED's I had in the interior, as "normal" LED's just weren't enough. I am unsure if a LED could light the boot as well at night, when you really need it.

The front plastic just levers off from memory, and comes off as one big thing, just take your time, use a big screwdriver and don't force it too much.

It's a while since I did mine, so perhaps I've forgotten a screw in the sunglass holder or something, but I don't recall any major effort to get it off.

I do remember the alloy lamp holders do take a bit of massaging to get them to contact the LED style blade bulbs, and to also hold them tightly enough to stop them falling out. It took a bit, so be prepared. Also remember the have 12V across them with the door open, I made sparkies.

[85turbo]

Also remember the have 12V across them with the door open, I made sparkies.

unless you remember to turn the dome light switch to the "off" position.....

thanks for the info on the cover for the lights.

as for their intensity, if you get the right typs(S) they can be even brighter than the original ones. i did all the interior lighs on my last car, and the interior was way way brighter than original, and as an added bonus, it was nice and white too.

i bought all PCB type leds, with multiple SMD high power led chips on them.
like this one.....LED PCB

they come in many sizes, and shapes, and are heaps brighter than the stock globes. the only downside, is their physical size. they don't fit in all locations.

ill post my results once im finished.

Jason.

[Maverick]

Yep the boot is a festoon torpedo type, unsure on the glovebox. I've left the boot stock for now, for as nice as the whiter LED's are, they do put out less light overall. I ended up with the highest intensity LED's I had in the interior, as "normal" LED's just weren't enough. I am unsure if a LED could light the boot as well at night, when you really need it.

Depends how you do it, part of the problem is the location of the single stock unit.

An easy upgrade is to place a LED module on each side of the boot as detailed here.

http://www.my-gti.com/297/golf-hatch-light-upgrade-to-twin-led-modules

as for their intensity, if you get the right typs(S) they can be even brighter than the original ones. i did all the interior lighs on my last car, and the interior was way way brighter than original, and as an added bonus, it was nice and white too.

Unless they're using cree or similar LEDs they won't be as bright. The fittings are designed to take a halogen bulb and LEDs are very directional and whilst they may give an appearance of being brighter often they're not. I put polarg xenon globes in and whilst I get a decrease in light they are whiter and work well without the light being directional or concentrated in one area.

Depending on the LED's you can also have problems with the LED's staying lit up dimly without any way to turn them off with removing them or flicking the switch.

[85turbo]

hey Mav.

as stated, i have done the mod with my last car, and can supply pictures to prove that they were brighter.

the ones i used were not standard led's.
they were multi SMD multi chip types.
the ones i used previously had somewhere about 30 multi chip leds on each board.....

ill upload a few pics so you can see what i mean....


these are the type of boards i used, many different sizes.

each of the yellow modules has multiple SMD led chips on it.

these WILL blind you if you look at them while powered up.(ask me how i know this )

and........
an interior shot with no other lighting than from the leds in the overhead dome. show me a normal filament type interior lamp that's as bright or white as this ?


no flash was used for this shot either........(it was a crappy 2mp camera phone pic)

so as you can see, with good decisions, you can have LED interior lighting that's brighter than stock.

Jason.