LED Number Plate Lights

[Prodigy]

Great to hear you got it sorted chopper.

Just installed mine that i received yesterday and the AM stations seem fine.

[ICEDIST]

Sorry for crappy phone photo...

It's bright, but i love it! matches the front leds and xenons... nice white glow around the whole car.

[yas786]

Sorry for crappy phone photo...

It's bright, but i love it! matches the front leds and xenons... nice white glow around the whole car.

Looks great in the flesh too.

[sharkablue]

Okay guys,

For those who want to use the OEM LED Lights, there are finally adaptor cables that you can use that will get rid of the MFD error being displayed:

KUFATEC GmbH & Co. KG - Adapter LED number plate light - VW 38488

The only catch is they are $140 shipped to Australia!!!!

If anyone is up for a group buy of the OEM Lights and these cables, if we get enough people to together, the shipping costs should be alot cheaper.

Let me know.

[Corey_R]

Lol.... I'm completely happy with the Racing Dash ones that we all got from eBay for ~$45 including shipping. They are quality, look OEM, aren't too bright and have a good spread of light so they look like the OEM LED pictures. The service from the guys is absolutely excellent - resolving that AM issue they went beyond what any other seller of a product of $45 has ever gone. Just go with it

What's the point of getting the OEM lights if you then need to use non-OEM adaptors to fit them? Defeats the purpose IMO.

[DDTW]

I would actually just get the R-Dash ones....not goanna throw anymore money away on the numberplate lights.

$140 for just wires and resistors is an absolute rip off.

[sharkablue]

Yes $140 is a rip off for cables. but $106 of that is shipping. So if there is a lot of interest in this, the more people that buy the shipping costs are reduced substantially, because it doesn't seem to increase depending on how many you order.

I personally don't like the R Dash ones because they are way too bright and don't look like OEM to me. I personally think they look a bit too ricey. Thus the reason why I'm keen to get the OEM ones but was waiting on a solution to fix the bulb out warning.

So for those that are interested please PM me and we can gets something going.

The OEM lights are on ebay for about $55 shipped from Germany too. So yes they are more expensive then the R Dash, but if you don't want the rear of your car to be as bright as a Christmas Tree its not a half bad solution.

[Vaku]

Sorry for crappy phone photo...

It's bright, but i love it! matches the front leds and xenons... nice white glow around the whole car.

lol sorry I made you get them

no issues with my r-dash lights, very happy with them.

[Corey_R]

I personally don't like the R Dash ones because they are way too bright and don't look like OEM to me. I personally think they look a bit too ricey.

Are you saying that because you have seen the R Dash lights in person?
Or because you're judging them by sh*tty phone camera photos?

I mean, if you want to go spend $140 for the cables to make the $160 OEM lights work (so that's like $300 all up for number plate LEDS, lol), then that's your choice. But in real life the R Dash ones are not too bright. They're just much whiter than the halogen globes. To me I can't tell the difference between the sh*tty phone camera photos of the R Dash and the OEM LEDs...

[racingfreak]

I also had the same problem, here is how I solved my "bulb out" without having to cut anything...pimped from my thread on our local forum:

I installed the OEM numberplate Led's a couple of weeks ago hoping that the un-ticking of the "numberplate cold lamp check" would bypass the "bulb-out" thats common with led lights

After this didnt work, I searched the net and found a thread on the TEX about a guy that did a similar install in the states

What I liked about this OP's install is that he found a way around the resistors that used to get too hot and required mounting inside the cars bodywork etc

His theory was that by using a larger resistor, you reduce the % of total capacity drawn and in return reduce the surface temp of the resistor

For my application I made use of 56Ω/50W resistors which are rated at 300C surface temperature

The OEM bulbs used on our cars draw roughly 5W (4.7W to be precise) vs the OEM Led's that only draw 1W, which results in the dreaded "bulb out" warning

This indicates that an additional draw from the resistors of 4W each will be required

This is only roughly 10% of the resistor's full draw which will result in a surface temp of around 10% of the maximum 300C

What this indicates is that the max temp of the resistors will be around 30C + ambient (35C max), thus 65C which is not enough to come close to melting our bumpers and makes it safe for storage in the bumper void

Down to business

I went ahead and ordered the following parts:

Two (2) of each of the following:

- 1J0 973 702 (female plug)
- 1J0 973 802 (male plug)
- 000 979 131 (repair wire)
- 000 979 132 (repair wire)
- 50W/56Ω power resistor

The resistors used with some heatshrink to further reduce chances of melting





Assembling of the wires are easy, the only thing to take note of is that with the female plug you need to remove a purple clip before inserting the wires and then refit after insertion to keep the wires in place



With the male plug, after inserting the wires you need to push the purple tab down with a small screwdriver to clip the wires in place



Assembled they look something like this





Now you have to join the wires together, I recommend spreading the individual copper strands and intertwining them, word of caution, ensure that you join the wire coming from plug point 1 (one) on the one plug to wire 1 (one) from the other plug, these numbers are clearly indicated on the plugs themselves





Now just some soldering and heatshrink and bobs your uncle







Test fitting



They tuck into the bumper cavity very nicely, drove around for 30mins and pulled them out and was able to touch them easily, little warm but nothing drastic

So if you want the OEM Leds and dread the "bulb out" warning, these are an easy plug and play sollution

[Corey_R]

Thanks for the post and pictures racingfreak, a great first post!

I presume that people such as sharkablue aren't interested in making such a solution, as one of our members, Maverick already posted a similar guide over 1.5 years ago, but I guess people wanting to go the OEM route want it due to it looking OEM, not being home made like or something.

[markwid]

Hey sharkablue, do what you want. Don't mind Corey.

It is your money - if you choose to spend $300 vs $45 on this.

[Corey_R]

Exactly, I agree. I just want to make sure, mostly for sharkablue's sake, that it's not based on highly inaccurate phone camera photos, that's all

[ICEDIST]

lol sorry I made you get them

You did too... ... Very happy with them. looks sweet. Just waiting for my LED fogs, and led interior kit to arrive. I'll post up pics once installed.

[DreamensioN]

What was the problem that fixed the AM issue with the R-Dash ones? And did you just email the guy to say you had issues with yours, or did you have to send your original ones back?