Not sure, but Audi also have them as std on some models as well now.

However even fitting the OE LED numberplate lights (they are sealed units and not just replacement bulbs) they still throw an error up on the dash!!

Thank Gizmo for your instructions and for pointing me at Carl's photo, which is very clear. One last question: the original number plate bulbs are festoons, but the bulb holder you are suggesting is a W5W. I was (wrongly) assuming you would need 2 additional festoon bulb holders to hold the original filament bulbs and thus "trick" the car into thinking all was well. Are you saying that fitting a standard W5W bulb into the W5W holder will serve the same purpose as a festoon holder? I hope so, as I have a fistful of interior light W5W bulbs following an LED upgrade in my Polo.

Yes Simon it is for that exact reason - I too have a load of W5W bulbs left over as well now, they also take up much less room and are easier to fit than an additional pair of festoon bulbs.

ATEOTD all you need to do is fool the car into thinking the 5W (festoon) bulbs are still working, providing you use another 5W bulb it doesn't really matter what type of fitting you use, but W5W is IMO the best due to it's size.

Right the W5W (501) holders arrived today. First they cables were shortened:

Then they were soldered to the number plate lights:

Then cable tied to the light:

Fitted to the car:

Comparison with the OE festoon bulb:

A very neat and much better solution than soldering the original festoon bulbs directly onto the new LED bulbs/bulb holder. I shall be copying your approach as soon as my W5W bulb holders arrive. Thanks for sharing the photos.

That's excellent Gizmo. A much easier solution.

Thats exactly how I managed mine, been working a couple of weeks now with no issues. Only one bulb was needed. Other license plate led is solo.

I've LED'd everything now except the number plate lights. I love the bright white over the dull yellow but hate the very obvious glare spots they throw onto the glossy plate. Not sure if a matte plate or a mod to the diffuser could help dissipate the light some more??

Guys

One has to ask the question - why go to all this trouble; you want whiter lights at the rear - really?!

Step back and look objectivly at this - you have two numberplate lights which in order to replace with LED's you either have to add loading resisitors (probably the best solution) and Carl as ever, gave it some thought and did a proper job or stick a filament bulb on piggyback which IMHO is just plain nasty. It's a bit like converting your car to run on coal and having to tow a trailer with the fuel!

Now I would love to have nice white numberplate lighting but the lengths required to achieve this at the moment on an FL are borderline lunacy!

Sorry to sound like a killjoy but ever heard the terms "sledgehammer to crack a nut" or "you have too muvh time on your hands"

Nasty would be just making do with the error message.

Two little solders to add a bulb no one can see is genius. A resistor would be a little cleaner admittedly... What rating resistor would you need?

The resistors are a PITA, they get overly hot and cannot be attached to anything. Honestly the extra bulb is a safer solution.

Guys

One has to ask the question - why go to all this trouble; you want whiter lights at the rear - really?!

Step back and look objectivly at this - you have two numberplate lights which in order to replace with LED's you either have to add loading resisitors (probably the best solution) and Carl as ever, gave it some thought and did a proper job or stick a filament bulb on piggyback which IMHO is just plain nasty. It's a bit like converting your car to run on coal and having to tow a trailer with the fuel!

Now I would love to have nice white numberplate lighting but the lengths required to achieve this at the moment on an FL are borderline lunacy!

Sorry to sound like a killjoy but ever heard the terms "sledgehammer to crack a nut" or "you have too muvh time on your hands"

Not really. The bulb holders take all of 5 minutes to solder to the surround of the newly installed LED festoons (which took another 5 minutes of prying to get fitted). Using cable ties to make sure the bulb holders didn't rattle around inside the tailgate takes another 5 minutes, 10 if you really want to be careful.

So all in all a 30 minute job to make the rear of your car look nicer in the dark - really not a big effort.

Taking your stance then any modification from the original specification is a waste of time.

Not really. The bulb holders take all of 5 minutes to solder to the surround of the newly installed LED festoons (which took another 5 minutes of prying to get fitted). Using cable ties to make sure the bulb holders didn't rattle around inside the tailgate takes another 5 minutes, 10 if you really want to be careful.

So all in all a 30 minute job to make the rear of your car look nicer in the dark - really not a big effort.

Taking your stance then any modification from the original specification is a waste of time.

No you're missing the point - this is two bulbs but to get them to work you need to f*rt-a*rse around soldering....BULBS to the back of the holder! It's lunacy mate and nothing short of a bodge, especially on a new or nearly new car

I've got a front splitter, self installed Columbus, bluetooth, MDI and I'm about to change to the later badging and colour code the grille surround and add spacers but none of these mods is a bodge - they are all electrically and mechanically sound, they are fitted correctly and I don't think "hmm, I know it looks OK on the surface....but...."

Just my opinion of course but I just cannot abide "lash-ups" or bodges and soldering a bulb on the backside of a bulb hoilder to get....a bulb of a different colour to work is both of these!

Does your columbus have the proper antenna fitted to the roof - on later models appearing as a "sharkfin" as per OEM or are you using the "bodge" of simply installing your GPS antenna to any "solid looking" piece under the dash?

Does your columbus have the proper antenna fitted to the roof - on later models appearing as a "sharkfin" as per OEM or are you using the "bodge" of simply installing your GPS antenna to any "solid looking" piece under the dash?

OK I take the point but come on - get a grip - there is a world of difference between using a GPS "puck" antenna to resolve the requirement for the Columbus over lashing up a bodge involving soldering bulbs to the back of the light fitting!

For a start I even went to the length of cutting the cable down to ensure that there wasn't 20 feet of wire bundled behind the Columbus! I >could< do the roof antenna but at the end of the day the solution I've adopted is electrically and mechanically sound and performs at least as well as the roof mounted antenna. Also there is the question of cost involved as well. What it doesn't involve is bulbs illuminating the inside of the trunk lid just to have a whiter light on a numberplate!

Look, I'm not critisising anybody - each to their own and if it wasn't for people actually trying things, we'd still be rubbing sticks together but this LED business is kinda out of hand when you have to go to these lengths just to stop a bulb warning coming up!

I've LED'd everything now except the number plate lights. I love the bright white over the dull yellow but hate the very obvious glare spots they throw onto the glossy plate. Not sure if a matte plate or a mod to the diffuser could help dissipate the light some more??

You could try turning the bulb so that the SMD's are not pointing directly downwards, not sure if this will help?

Guys

One has to ask the question - why go to all this trouble; you want whiter lights at the rear - really?!

.

.

Now I would love to have nice white numberplate lighting but the lengths required to achieve this at the moment on an FL are borderline lunacy!

Eh? I thought you were questioning why others would want white numberplate lights, but then you contradict yourself by saying you want them as well?? :think:

...nothing short of a bodge, especially on a new or nearly new car

I've got a front splitter, self installed Columbus, bluetooth, MDI and I'm about to change to the later badging and colour code the grille surround and add spacers but none of these mods is a bodge - they are all electrically and mechanically sound, they are fitted correctly and I don't think "hmm, I know it looks OK on the surface....but...."

I thought the new badges also required breaking the mounting lugs off them to fit other models? sorry but you may not be able to see the broken lugs but what is different to that and a bulb you cannot see?

I appreciate this is not for everyone, I too didn't want to have to go down this route but it appears to be the only way to get them to work on newer cars.

as for the resistor verses bulb, they are (very) basically the same thing - they both draw 5w, the resistor just waists this by turning into heat, the bulb turns it into heat and light (you only get the light because it is clear) the beauty of the bulb is, if/when it blows you will know it has gone without having to physically test it unlike a resistor, the resistor may never 'blow' though...

I've said it once and I'll say it again.........it would be a boring world if we all throught and done the same.

TBH the people who are going through the effort of trying to do this have got the true spirt of modding.......its all about that extra little personal touch that doesn't make sense to others yet when you step back you think, yes that makes all the difference.

I guess what I'm saying is yes its a lot of ar*ing about for just 2 white lights, but its how the finish product (their car) makes them feel onces its been done.

A few months ago when i bought my 2011 vrs i fitted some canbus leds from my old fabia vrs. The looked great, but of course doomed by the dash light.

I had hoped it would be possible to buy festoon bulbs from philips or osram, similar to their bluevision w5w's etc, but couldnt find any.

For a few quid i tried these, ok not as white as some leds, but still whiter than standard and of course no errors. Dont let the blue finish put you off, they dont generate a blue light, but a crisper light than standard.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370201258358

Also worth noting ive never got a years use from any aftermarket leds, philips bluevision w5w look good and last well.

What you need are 2 x 28ohm resisters these will need to be a min of 5 watt types though I would go for 10watt

John

For a few quid i tried these, ok not as white as some leds, but still whiter than standard and of course no errors. Dont let the blue finish put you off, they dont generate a blue light, but a crisper light than standard.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...em=370201258358

Also worth noting ive never got a years use from any aftermarket leds, philips bluevision w5w look good and last well.

I tried MTEC DRL's and XTEC W5W sidelights and TBH found them both to be a waste of money.

I must have been lucky with my LED's as they are all just under 18 months old now and touch wood, still going strong.

Ill see how these go, they are the only c5w ones i could find that offered anything other than standard white (yellow).

A real shame philips dont do a bluevison one.

18 months is good going!

Finally here... I have been keeping an eye on the Dectane site after getting the led rear lights for my estate. Dectane finally have a plug and forget solution for facelift models. Check this out. https://www.dectane....-v--passat.html

Unfortunately (or fortunately for me) going abroad for the next month, but will order a pair as soon as I am back. My Led conversion is now almost complete

Paulo

Edited 26 June, 201213 yr by paulolourenco76

....and as I posted in another topic, the Dectane ones are just plain crazy pricing - E70?? WTF??

Finally here... I have been keeping an eye on the Dectane site after getting the led rear lights for my estate. Dectane finally have a plug and forget solution for facelift models. Check this out. https://www.dectane....-v--passat.html

Unfortunately (or fortunately for me) going abroad for the next month, but will order a pair as soon as I am back. My Led conversion is now almost complete

Paulo

I too will be interested to hear back how these go - make sure that bulb error light doesn't come on!

Can you do us all a favour and take some close-up photos? Show us what they have done to get around the bulb out error?

Because I personally will not pay that kind of money, but if we can see from the picture what they have done then we can invetigate a far cheaper option.

I too will be interested to hear back how these go - make sure that bulb error light doesn't come on!

Can you do us all a favour and take some close-up photos? Show us what they have done to get around the bulb out error?

Because I personally will not pay that kind of money, but if we can see from the picture what they have done then we can invetigate a far cheaper option.

Course it doesn´t, it has a resister added to it.

When I first tried it was adding the bulb behind, then I got these for the front DRL and ended up on the plate lights.

This 2 years ago next month