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One thing I really dont' like about my 2003 C230 Sport Coupe is the back up lights. They are basically worthless. Has anyone improved that situation with different bulbs?
Totally agree that the stock reverse lights suck. They're the same bulbs as the brake lights for crying out loud. In fact, I started a thread several years ago.
Right now I'm currently running 35W halogens (bulb type 796) that fit into the same socket as the stock P21W. They're definitely an improvement over the stock bulbs but the light output is still rather lacking.
If I were to do it again now I would be looking at some name brand or reputable LED options such as Philips or VLEDs. The brightness for LED bulbs (buddy installed P21W reverse VLEDs into his car so I got to see firsthand) is night and day. The only issue I have with the LED option is that they don't draw enough juice and therefore require Canbus resistors. No clean installation method I can think of at the moment as I don't want to drill random holes into the car and don't want to melt something.
Last edited by slammer111; 01-18-2021 at 07:03 AM.
I had a chance to look at the bulb socket holder today and actually it looks like it's not too difficult (but not also trivial) to add the required resistors if going the non-Canbus LED route.
Basically each "plate" cutout is a wire. The photo above shows which 2 plates power up the reverse light. The resistors have to connect these plates. The red and blue rectangles seem to show the best points for attaching the resistors. It also looks like there is room to stuff the resistors inside.
If I were to do this job without soldering and without Canbus, I would wrap the leads around these 2 sections. As for resistance, I would probably buy a few 3W or 5W resistors and fiddle around with the resistance values. Remember that this circuit does not have to draw the full 21W. It only has to draw enough to trick the car into thinking the bulb isn't out. There is a magic number but I don't know what it is for this particular circuit. The resistance required would also depend on the power draw of the specific LED bulb installed.
This is actually giving me ideas for my next mod.
As a reference, look at my method for converting the rear plate lights to LED. To trick the car for these 5W circuits, I only had to draw about 2.5W total, including the LED bulbs themselves. Also note that the magic number was different between the L and R plate bulbs for my particular car. This is probably caused by loose tolerances in the wires and circuitry.
Last edited by slammer111; 01-31-2021 at 07:45 AM.
01-15-2021, 05:06 PM
In fact, I started a thread several years ago.
