So I got a couple free LED's for my licence plate with the sidemarkers I ordered and Im addicted. They look so much better so I want to hook up LED's everywhere else in the car. I dont know how they work vs. regular bulbs so I'm clueless about what I need for the rest.

Im thinking of changing these all to LED:

Sidemarkers - do I need to use a resistor?
Inside door panels
Front inside reading lights/dome light
gauges
climate control system
tail lights- is this doable or should I just buy LED tails?
am I missing any others I can change out?

I cant' really find any write-ups on this so Im hoping somebody can point me in the right direction or give me some tips.
thx

 

sidemarkers bulb size is 194 no resistor,inside door panel as long as ur refering to the courtesy lights when u open the door they are 194 as well no resistor, the original bulb is i believe a 164 but a 194 goes rite in. map and dome lights you can i got my dome light from autozone its a 12 led board that plugs in no resistor needed but with others u may have to. redoing the gauges and climate leds u will need to add resistors as well. as for the tails u can get led bulbs resistors will be needed.buying led tails is prob very expensive and IMO not worth it. and as for other lights u can change u can do the visor vanity bulbs, door switch panels. im sure there is more but thats my .2 cents GL man

 

sidemarkers -- no resistor
tail lights for your blinkers u need a load resistor 6 Ohm 50watt if u don't mind them blinking fast which is supposed to let u know one of your bulbs is not working

More info on LED lights go to HIDplanet.com

 

All of that depends on if you are wanting to simply use the LED bulbs or do a full LED retro. If you wanna do it right (IMO) do a retro. Make some LED boards (or buy a set, a few recent threads are up in the classifids.) and do the install.

With the bulbs, nearly all are pretty much PNP. But with a retro there is much more that is involved, not only resistors, but voltage regulators, PWMs, heatsinks, etc. It all comes down to how much work you are willing to put in to it.

If it were me, i would be doing a full LED retro for all my exterior and interior lighting (short of my HID projectors).

And as mdemonte said, check out HIDplanet.com and search SEARCH search, there is soooo much information on LED retros, bulbs, and all sorts of stuff on there. I did so much searching on that forum to learn about it and i got a lot out of it.

 

Okay, good advice here. Ill do some reading on that site later from work....

so whats the point of this whole retro thing vs. just the bulbs? it sounds a lot more involved, is it worth the extra effort?

edit: I must be retarded I cant find any info on led's on that site... its only about HID stuff? I already have HID its stock in my 2k2...

 

Go to HIDplanet.com, click on the forum link on the right hand side of the page,then click L.E.D. forum (its the 4th one down)

Or click below (you need to register though)
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/view...2647bd07c5d3dd

As for doing the retro. If you were to make you own, or purchase a set from someone who makes them (Kelvo911 makes a nice set) they would look like this......

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...il-boards.html

This,

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...il-lights.html

And this is the boards out of the tail light housing (different makers boards will look slightly different),

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...ht-boards.html

The LED bulbs will just replace your current stock bulb. Bulbs will make your light more red, brighter, and last longer (hopefully).

If you were to stop behine someone with LED bulbs in their tail lights, you most likely would not notice. But, stop behind someone with retros, and you know it looks good

There is a bit of work involved with a retro (to me it really is not too much work, but also, to me replacing a tranny isn't too bad. just depends on what is "too much work" for your taste/knowledge), but IMO it would be totally worth it. Plus, if you were to buy them from Kelvo911 it make the install a little easier (but its not chaging the oil by any means). The cost of a retro however is definatly more than if you were to simply purchase a bulb. But the outcome is so so worth it IMO.

Let us know what you decide, and post pics too

 

Is this okay for dome light?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/1-x-9-LED-Car-Int...d=p3286.c0.m14

Is this okay for map lights?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2x-42...Q5fAccessories

I think Im going to pop off my lights so I can see how they go in...

I bought a bunch of 194 wedge bulbs... Do I need anything to install them or do they just plug in to the same socket as the regular bulbs (for the sidemarkers)?

 

Yes, those Should work fine. I have not used them personally, but from reding a little on HIDplanet.com some people have had good experiences with them.


For the side markers, yes those should work as well.

Seriously man, if you go to HIDplanet.com, nearly all your questions can be answered with not much searching at all. You will never regret it!

 

okay okay Ill find that LED section now. BTW I ordered that 2nd one I linked. I'm gonna see how it works out and then buy more for the map lights if its all good.