R36 LED conversion

[pat_ballam08]

Hey guys,

So recently, I have decided to change a vast majority of the lights on/in my vehicle to LED. I have so far only (successfully) managed to swap out the parking lights. I ordered an LED licence plate assembly, which when it arrived was clearly not for the R36 as advertised, it had both a different plug and was a different size to the original assembly, meaning it didn't even fit in the bumper.

I have done some research on here and notice a lot of you have gone down the same path, which is why I am here to ask for guidance, so as to not end up with poor quality items. Can anyone help me out by sharing some links for different LED's used, specifically at the moment for licence plate and interior LED's?

Thanks for any help.
Pat

[dero]

What's the benefit of swapping all the lighting to LED?

Does this include headlight halogen bulbs to LED bulbs?

[snerlo]

Hey Pat,
I see you live around St Lucia. If you want to, I can help you out and show you what they all look like on mine seeing as though I live in the same area. I literally just installed the last piece of the puzzle yesterday with regards to the festoon LED bulb in the rear cargo area as I kept getting sent the wrong size even though I specifically asked for 42mm!! But I can't do it this weekend. Next weekend should be ok though if you are around, or sometime after work next week works also. I could come to you on my way home from work if that suits. That way I can let you know what you are looking for and I can then also send you links to the appropriate LED's. I might even be able to sell you some on the spot if they are the same as mine as I have bought a packet and I have some to sell (if you are interested). Just let me know mate.
Leon

[pat_ballam08]

What's the benefit of swapping all the lighting to LED?

Does this include headlight halogen bulbs to LED bulbs?

The benefit is mostly cosmetic, white lights look better and more modern than standard halogen.

My headlights are xenon. I don't think LED headlights are a thing, Philips crystal vision or similar are a good alternative, if you don't want to go full xenon conversion.

Hey Pat,
I see you live around St Lucia. If you want to, I can help you out and show you what they all look like on mine seeing as though I live in the same area. I literally just installed the last piece of the puzzle yesterday with regards to the festoon LED bulb in the rear cargo area as I kept getting sent the wrong size even though I specifically asked for 42mm!! But I can't do it this weekend. Next weekend should be ok though if you are around, or sometime after work next week works also. I could come to you on my way home from work if that suits. That way I can let you know what you are looking for and I can then also send you links to the appropriate LED's. I might even be able to sell you some on the spot if they are the same as mine as I have bought a packet and I have some to sell (if you are interested). Just let me know mate.
Leon

Hey Leon,

That sounds perfect, I'll PM you and hopefully get a look at everything. Plus I see you posting on here all the time, would be good to have a chat with someone who knows what they're doing haha.

[snerlo]

All good mate.

[Netrover]

With the help of some very good threads in this site I've replaced all interior lights with LED's except for foot wells. I have ordered red LED's for those. Also have LED puddle lights. Looks fantastic - way better than standard bulbs.

Also so have LED daytime running lights again with the help of this site. Brilliant.

[Ironman]

With the help of some very good threads in this site I've replaced all interior lights with LED's except for foot wells. I have ordered red LED's for those. Also have LED puddle lights. Looks fantastic - way better than standard bulbs.

Also so have LED daytime running lights again with the help of this site. Brilliant.

We are a helpful bunch. Show us what those Red Footwell lights looked like. Pleaseeeee

[pat_ballam08]

We are a helpful bunch. Show us what those Red Footwell lights looked like. Pleaseeeee

I ordered some interior lights last week and went with some blue footwells, to match the car Should arrive early next week.

Still struggling on licence plate assembly that fits though...

[snerlo]

I'll be able to help you out mate whenever you wanna have a catch up as they changed the fittings between model years.

[Netrover]

We are a helpful bunch. Show us what those Red Footwell lights looked like. Pleaseeeee

Here it is. Messy footwell I know!


This is the box they came in and what they look like.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ich bin ein Berliner]

Is there anybody that sells a complete exterior package of LED's for the R36, it is such a minefield trying to pick which ones to get, would be so much easier to just buy them all in one go, I have seen the interior package but not exterior, anybody know anyone?

[Felixrising]

You might like to give Blingwork Automotive Lighting a try. I'm not sure about pre-packaged kits, but I was very happy with the cost and shipping for new cornering lamps and parkers from them.

[snerlo]

To tell you the truth mate, you are dancing with death buying a package mate. I have been through all this on my R36 and believe me, there are differences depending on the year of your car. Best bet is to have a look at what bulbs you have and buy them separately that way. This is also applies for interior LED's as well. You will then be confident that you have the correct bulb. I have started threads on all of the exterior/interior bulbs that I have done, but it is different to others so be careful if you decide to buy a package. There are also links to the stuff that I have bought as well. Aliexpress is the go to for buying them. Ebay has certain good specials too but it is a matter of looking around.

[slipshot]

As snerlo says - I did the same and bought a B6 package for my car. They arrived, with three festoon bulbs. I only have one festoon in total and none of the ones sent were the right size. The others I have been able to use (a real bugger in the front reading lights but managed to get them in) and I used two for the number plate lights (which worked fine although perhaps are a bit too bright for my liking so I may play around with these. So, far better to check first what you actually need as, per other comments, they did seem to change a fair bit through the life of the car and there are no guarantees.

[pat_ballam08]

I also ran into the same issues as both Snerlo and Slipshot have mentioned. I bought licence plate lights off ebay that were not the right size, due to there being a change in both the size and connections of the assembly throughout different year models. Mine being a 2009 (MY10) made this all a little bit harder. My interior lights I bought as a kit, but were missing the 2 vanity lights.

You are much better off having a look, figuring out what you need and going from there. Someone above mentioned Blingwork Automotive, these guys were VERY helpful for me. I sent them an email and they were more than willing to find me part numbers etc. and also happy to trial and error with me, including returns at no cost if necessary, so that the licence plate lights I got from them were correct.

I would also advise looking at snerlo's posts, these helped me immensely throughout the process.