hi all quick question ive just fitted the led lights in my boot and now want to do it to the interior lights front and back. could someone tell me what bulbs to get please? thanks

What model & year is it?

its a pre face 57 plate

C10W for front & rear interior lights & W5W fir the reading lights either side of the front interior light.

What lights did you use in your boot, got any pics, what is the tint like?

They are the W5,s too. Give off a very bright light to the boot and very easy to fit.

I bought one of these (48 SMD) on eBay and realized that it was too big for the fit. So, I cut them into 2 halves (3x8 LED's on each side) very carefully using a hack-saw!!! (the only tool I had). This did not damage any wiring as the circuit was divided on either side of the halves. I then fitted one half to the front and the other to the rear Interior Lighting Dome. The Lighting in my Car now is very bright and neat too.

Don't forget that the Power being delivered to each of these units is 10W while the LED Panel uses less than 1W, so the panel will start to fade very soon (depending on the usage) as the LED's are being heated up due to this extra Power. To make it light and live longer, I have actually soldered 6x 100ohms Load Resistors in parallel on the back side, where there were 6 empty PCB Etches for this provision. The Panel does heat up a little if lit for quiete long, but the heat now is from the Resistors and not from the LED's. This should now be able to save the LED's for a longer time if not for ever.

So, ideally, you will need something like this but with half the width, maybe a 24 LED would suffice. Go in for a CANBUS system if possible, else solder some Resistors yourself, which is recommended as most of the CANBUS Systems out there have a single Load Resistor in parallel which will not be able to sustain that Power for too long and would evntually blow out.

I bought one of these (48 SMD) on eBay and realized that it was too big for the fit. So, I cut them into 2 halves (3x8 LED's on each side) very carefully using a hack-saw!!! (the only tool I had). This did not damage any wiring as the circuit was divided on either side of the halves. I then fitted one half to the front and the other to the rear Interior Lighting Dome. The Lighting in my Car now is very bright and neat too. Don't forget that the Power being delivered to each of these units is 10W while the LED Panel uses less than 1W, so the panel will start to fade very soon (depending on the usage) as the LED's are being heated up due to this extra Power. To make it light and live longer, I have actually soldered 6x 100ohms Load Resistors in parallel on the back side, where there were 6 empty PCB Etches for this provision. The Panel does heat up a little if lit for quiete long, but the heat now is from the Resistors and not from the LED's. This should now be able to save the LED's for a longer time if not for ever. So, ideally, you will need something like this but with half the width, maybe a 24 LED would suffice. Go in for a CANBUS system if possible, else solder some Resistors yourself, which is recommended as most of the CANBUS Systems out there have a single Load Resistor in parallel which will not be able to sustain that Power for too long and would evntually blow out.

Jesus H - is this a **** take or what?. Go to a motor factors and buy some direct replacement LEDS and save yourself the cutting, soldering and possible blown load resistors!! I think I spent £20 and that was only becvause I swapped the rear passenger set as well!

Jesus H - is this a **** take or what?. Go to a motor factors and buy some direct replacement LEDS and save yourself the cutting, soldering and possible blown load resistors!! I think I spent £20 and that was only becvause I swapped the rear passenger set as well!

LOL!! i was thinking the same!

Jesus H - is this a **** take or what?. Go to a motor factors and buy some direct replacement LEDS and save yourself the cutting, soldering and possible blown load resistors!! I think I spent £20 and that was only becvause I swapped the rear passenger set as well!

I agree, but then it was just an ad-hoc solution to me. If I had to order another LED on eBay, I would have to wait for another 2-3 weeks for it to be delivered by post and if I had to order it from a service station, they would probably charge me 10 times the cost that I actually spent on this LED. Moreover, I got 2 Lights for the price of one, which cost me less than £3, a realy saving indeed. The choice is yours!

Wattage is the power being DRAWN by the connected device, you can't force feed something more power than it demands. Voltage yes, but power no.

If the LEDs are rated at 1W then they will draw 1W and no more. That is the fundamental problem with LEDs - the bulb failure detection is expecting 5 watts (for example) and 'sees' only the 1W being drawn by the LED, this is what generates the bulb errors and shut downs. Each LED should have its own dedicated resistor anyway to limit current flow and prolong their life otherwise they last about 2 seconds. Parallel connection off one resistor is also bad news.

Connecting an additional load resistor will simulate the correct wattage of an incandescent lamp across the LED and fool the bulb detection accordingly. It is worth nothing that all of the power drawn by the resistor will be converted into heat. Caution is advised when installing these inside a car as they get bloody hot and can be a fire risk.

Well explained indeed @dstev2000, especially the line "...Voltage yes, but power no."

A lot of cars which check for errors in the lighting system actually only check if there is "some" bulb (load) present which draws "at least" and "not more" than a specified Power limit, basically "Tolerance". For instance, there will be no error thrown when there is a Bulb present in a W5W (T10) Socket which is rated at 3W, but then again, this depends on the Car. While the higher Power consumption limit is usually enforced by a Fuse.

That tolerancwe would make sense as a filament bulb's resistance must drasticallychange from a cold start to its self-evidently white-hot operating temperature.