w123 LED light upgrade

[TheDon]

Have you guys seen this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Brighten-Your-Mercedes-W123-300D-Instrument-Cluster_W0QQitemZ390026477379QQihZ026QQcategoryZ6763QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


I kinda like it, sure the incandescents have that nice warmth, but I can't see a frign thing

[winmutt]

I bought LED's for my cluster. Went out faster than the incandescent. Get proper OSRAM bulbs.

[Chad300tdt]

Looks like work to me.

I installed LEDs that just plug into the stock bulb socket with no modification. They're completely dimmable too. These LEDs have a forward firing LED and 4 side firing LEDs so it works great with the design of our cluster optics.

I used these:
T10 Wedge 5 Ultra Bright SMT LED Light - Automotive LED Lights - LEDLight

These fit the sockets too but you may need to modify the light tunnels a bit for them to fit. They would be pretty intense though.
T10 Wedge 12 SMT Tower LED Light - Automotive LED Lights - LEDLight
T10 Wedge 25 Ultra Bright SMT LED Light - Automotive LED Lights - LEDLight

Here's a pic with the super white LEDs in my cluster. I took it in my garage with all the lights out and the headlights on. The pic is blurry since I didn't use the flash.

[Stevo]

My instrument cluster is plenty bright with the stock lighting, fact is I crank down the rheostat most of the time

[JimmyL]

I just installed the exact bulbs Chad linked in this thread. [followed his link from another thread]
I'm super happy with the light output, and I like the very clean white light. Wish they had one to fit my spider bulb!
Time will tell how long they last. If they last awhile then they are certainly worth the price.
I thought Chad linked the wrong ones when I first got them in, but you remove the bulb assy from the instrument cluster, then pull the bulb out of the brown bulb-holder that it resides in. And polarity is necessary, so if you put it in and it doesn't come on, just pull out the whole bulb assy, rotate 180 and reinstall.

[charmalu]

Originally Posted by Stevo

My instrument cluster is plenty bright with the stock lighting, fact is I crank down the rheostat most of the time

Same here, mine are too bright sometimes and they are stock.

I did change my instrument housing from a 80 300d from PNP since mine was scratched up. since I did that the lighting is brighter at night. I don`t know, maybe I had some resistance in the other rheostat, I don`t know.

I do know the turn sig arrows are much larger.

I have purchased some other CD`s from this E-Bay seller. all quite helpful of the ones I have. these are good for a noob.

Charlie

[barry123400]

Originally Posted by Stevo

My instrument cluster is plenty bright with the stock lighting, fact is I crank down the rheostat most of the time

Perhaps someone already did something before you purchased the car. All I really know is that non of my four diesels 123s are very bright at the full rheostat settings.

[Stevo]

Both my 240s are about the same as far as the brightness of the instruments. I,ve gone in and replaced any burned out bulbs and both clusters are plenty bright for me. Maybe folks that drive in well lit cities would like more light on the cluster though.

[JordaanDMC-12]

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

Your needles on your cluster look amazing. ugh I wish mine looked that good! Did you repaint them? Or were they kept in pristine condition?

They look awesome!

[Chad300tdt]

Originally Posted by JordaanDMC-12

Your needles on your cluster look amazing. ugh I wish mine looked that good! Did you repaint them? Or were they kept in pristine condition?

They look awesome!

Thanks, the previous owner painted them. I need to paint the needles in my CD since those ones have faded to yellow.

[sw8_2dg]

mercedesleds.com sells a plug n play kit for most models

[snookwhaler]

Originally Posted by sw8_2dg

mercedesleds.com sells a plug n play kit for most models

I ran across that site when I was looking. It is a little misleading because it looks like the pictures they are showing are "back lit" clusters and the needles are either lit or have been painted with florescent paint.

There is a pic on the forum of what an older car looks like with LED's in it. The forum pic is a hell of a lot more realistic and gives you an idea of what you will be "seeing".

I think the superbright LED's site has a chart that shows the bulb crossovers and wattages. I was looking at it a couple weeks ago. I'm still on the fence about switching over.

[::matthew]

I upgraded to LEDs using Chad's link and am happy with the light output. I ended up going with blue (used to that color with the VWs and thought it would be a little less harsh) LEDs. I'd probably go with white if I did it again, but like that the lights seems to be partially in the UV spectrum and make the needles glow a bit. I used fluorescent paint recently to even up the color.

Its a $25 guide that shows you what you can find on the internet for free.

Its not difficult to solder an LED into a spare light holder. In fact, there are many LEDs on the market specifically designed to replace the normal bulbs and have a resistor built in.

[argus445]

I was looking for replacement for my audi's license plate lights has 2 on each side Osram #6418 they're 12v 5w came back with this
http://www.ledlight.com/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=6418

but i seen them selling some with all kinds of heat sinks and other gadgets on another site for $49 dollars i thought the whole point of led was to reduce heat output and increase light output is that a rip off?

http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/edpd/pagebuild_v2.cgi?home=Volkswagen&etm_adgroup=ZizaLEDPlateBulbsVAG&subcategory=ZIZA&utm_source=emailcampaign&utm_medium=marketing&utm_content=retail&utm_campaign=ZizaLEDPlateBulbsVAG