LED sidelights for facelifts B5 S4s
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:21 pm
All,
My car was winking suggestively to other cars, and so when replacing them I decided to take the plunge on LED sidelights. I don't use sidelights for illumination - I have HIDs for that. Effectively, my sidelights are just running lights.
I ordered a pair of UH6W1W+ H6W BAX9 LED sidelights, from ultraleds.co.uk, paying 11.50, including shipping.
They're a single Luxeon LED in a big-ass package, with a sodding enormous heat-sink surrounding them. This is important! The main problem LEDs have with longevity is temperature. If they get hot for extended periods of time, then their lifetime significantly degrades. The minimum recommended distance between these bulbs and an incandescent bulb is supposed to be about 3 inches. We're running at about an inch and a half away. So basically, time spent with high beam on is time spent killing these. D'oh.
Fitting was easy - just make sure to look at your sidelight bulb and grab for that one, rather than your high-beam bulb. It's an interference fit, meaning that it's just a push-in, and friction holds it in place. Unlike other writes that say "We assume you know how to remove your air intake", I didn't actualyl know, but it's simple enough that I figured it out - on the driver's side, you need to remove the two screws that hold the air intake in, then lift the rear section of air intake up, in order to get enough freedom to remove that pipe. This allows access to the headlight assembly on that side. Reverse those steps to replace.
They lights worked first time, but since I was clever enough to change them in daylight, I haven't seen what sort of light output they have. I'll post a picture later, if it's at all interesting.
The main reason I'm writing this report though, is because ultraleds have decided to phase out selling thier automotive bulbs. They're going to sell their existing stock, but not renew any of it, so if you're thinking about trying these out, now might be a good time to do so.
My car was winking suggestively to other cars, and so when replacing them I decided to take the plunge on LED sidelights. I don't use sidelights for illumination - I have HIDs for that. Effectively, my sidelights are just running lights.
I ordered a pair of UH6W1W+ H6W BAX9 LED sidelights, from ultraleds.co.uk, paying 11.50, including shipping.
They're a single Luxeon LED in a big-ass package, with a sodding enormous heat-sink surrounding them. This is important! The main problem LEDs have with longevity is temperature. If they get hot for extended periods of time, then their lifetime significantly degrades. The minimum recommended distance between these bulbs and an incandescent bulb is supposed to be about 3 inches. We're running at about an inch and a half away. So basically, time spent with high beam on is time spent killing these. D'oh.
Fitting was easy - just make sure to look at your sidelight bulb and grab for that one, rather than your high-beam bulb. It's an interference fit, meaning that it's just a push-in, and friction holds it in place. Unlike other writes that say "We assume you know how to remove your air intake", I didn't actualyl know, but it's simple enough that I figured it out - on the driver's side, you need to remove the two screws that hold the air intake in, then lift the rear section of air intake up, in order to get enough freedom to remove that pipe. This allows access to the headlight assembly on that side. Reverse those steps to replace.
They lights worked first time, but since I was clever enough to change them in daylight, I haven't seen what sort of light output they have. I'll post a picture later, if it's at all interesting.
The main reason I'm writing this report though, is because ultraleds have decided to phase out selling thier automotive bulbs. They're going to sell their existing stock, but not renew any of it, so if you're thinking about trying these out, now might be a good time to do so.
