dan_cobb

I know this has been kicked around for some time now, but I have 'stumbled' across some really decent alternatives to the yellow OEM bulbs or the 'shave off one tab" bulbs that we seem to be stuck with (thanks MB!).
A cross reference for the H6W base is BAX9S. This bulb type has the tabs in the correct positiion so the electrical contact will remain tight and the bulb will actually point in the right direction instead of tilting towards one side of the socket (and reflector!)

These are the same bulbs used int eh Audi A4 & A6, plus a few of the newest VW Jettas.
There are currently 2 US ebay auctions for this bulb. One is a hyper white, the other is a standard halogen. I'm not favorable towards either one because the shipping on the blue ones is $15! and the price for the clear is $20. (the dealer has them for $7.20 each BTW)

I'm giving serious consideration to LED bulbs from http://www.42draftdesigns.com/leds_pushturn.htm.
At only $4 each, the price is WAAAAY to good, and the color match to the Xenon bulbs looks to be far better than the standard blue bulb others have settled on.

Has anyone tried these bulbs yet? If so, I'd like to hear your opinions on color match, brightness, etc.

Regards,
Dan
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MoNd3sTo7

I blew my parking light socket just becoz i put the PIAA Tera LED H6W to my car..
anyone know what did i do wrong?

OldNate

I like my set up, which is the polarg set up that you already mentioned. I think if the entire front end was white, it would be too boring. The blue gives it a mean look if you know what I mean.

dan_cobb

I like the look of yours, but i am too concerned about them being 'too blue' next to my Xenon bulbs that already push the envelope.
I know that it is illegal to have blue lamps on the front of your car here in CA. I want to avoid having some over zealous rookie from hassling me with a BS citation.

Burnt out the socket? I'm not sure exactly how those lamps are made, so I cannot help there.
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JKA

How about tripping the bulb alarm? Isn't that an issue with LEDs?

OldNate

I'm preety sure cops won't care because they are just city lights. I know they care if the actual beams are blue but you can't even see the city lights. They basically do nothing lol. By the way, I live in California.

dan_cobb

I have odred the white LED lamps and will be installing them as soon as they arrive.
I thought the only way the defective lamp indicator came on was if the resistance of the LED didn't match the resistance of the original bulb.
If the resistor is appropriate to drop the voltage down to 3-3.5VDC, then it should also provide enough drop (and current draw) to overcome the sensor activation.
At least in theory.
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JKA

Dan, Please post results.

dan_cobb

They supposedly are on the way. I'll give em a shout tomorrow and see if they have been shipped yet, or if they are still being processed.
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dan_cobb

The lights are in. Guess what? Yep, lamp failure warning indicator is on.
I cannot understand this without some additional thought.
Here are some pics:
1st is the parking/city lights alone. They are the new BAX9s white LEDs that I mentioned earlier. They look good, but the defective lamp thing stinks.
2nd is with the fogs added. They are Xenon H1 55W
Last is the headlights. They are Xenon H7 55W

Highs are not shown; too bright for the camers to get a clean shot.
They are Xenon H7 100W
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JKA

They do look nice, a little bluish but that's OK.

So the alternatives so far are two:

Shave off the Polarg contact, or live with the light warning

dan_cobb

I'm going to measure the resistance of the original bulb and compare it to the LED.
Then I'm going to see about making the LED match the others, or add a resistor before the LED, etc.
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OldNate

Mine basically looks exactly like that. Also, if you have depo headlights, you don't have to shave off the polarg contact :p You use the lower Wattage Polarg with a different end tip.

JKA

I have factory HID on mine; how would that go?

Huachipato

LED's are not easy to have resistance measured on them. Essentially, the resistance can change depending on the voltage applied. You would have better luck measuring the Amperage going through it and comparing them that way instead.

dan_cobb

Actually, the LEDs that I bought have an integrated resistor inside the base. I need to know this value, not the actual resistance of the LED itself.
I'm assuming that the resistor in there is enough to drop the voltage to around 3 volts (3.5VDC is a very typical maximum voltage rating for an LED)
If the resistor is too large, it will drop the voltage that gets to the LED to a lower value to enure that it doesn't over-current the thing and burn it out.
Unfortunately, this increased resistance value will also tell the MB computer that the lamp is "open", i.e. burnt out.

So adding resistance will not do the trick. I must think about this some more.
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Whitey

The right resistor connected in parallel will stop the light out when all is normal and still give you a warning if the bulb is out

advans

hi, not a W210, but LED city lights, if your interested.

with 8k HIDs and 6k fogs, btw, these are polarized 12w leds. amazing.

dan_cobb

Do you have a lamp failure warning?

BTW, I suspect that adding a resistor in parallel to the LED will not work because it will actually reduce the overall resistance of the circuit and then over drive the voltage to the LED causing it to burn out.


I may just bite the bullet and order the H6W xenon-look bulbs from the UK.
They should provide the color that I'm looking for and eliminate the stupid lamp warning issue without modifying the wiring harness or lamp socket.
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illest

Question for anyone who has done the LEDs on a 210:

Where did you mount the load resistor and how did you run the wires?

Drill a hole in the light housing for the wires?

advans

hey guys, i'm assuming that you guys also have dust caps on your lights?

I tried putting the resistor and all the wiring equipment inside the light, but once in a moon, i'll get a light failure, b/c the resistors get too hot,

so I drilled a hole on the dustcap, and mounted the resistors towards the grill (with zip ties, sort of "in the air") and i havnt gotten a light failure message in a while, but when these resistors get hot, you'll get a blinking lap.

i'm currently doing some research into resistors with LED H7 highbeam and Fog lights. should check the W203 thread probably in a week or two. if interested.

dan_cobb

Resistors for my LEDs are completely 'internal' to the bulb base. Aside from the LED lens, they look just like the original bulbs (no extra wires, resistors, fittings, modifications, etc.)
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Whitey

Connecting the resistor IN PARALLEL does not reduce the overall resistance of the circuit and then over drive the voltage to the LED causing it to burn out, connecting IN SEQUENCE will. The trickey part is to figure out the right spec resistor to use if you wish the light out warnings to work (depending on the bulb used a different ohmage maybe required to make this work), if and when the bulbs burn out eventually. I am using this set up on both the front turn signals and city lights.

No drilling or splicing is required, simply connect the resistor (best to solder a length of wire to the resistor for easy connection) to the harness-plug outside the dust cover - if you study the plastic harness plug, you should be able to figure out how to open it up to connect the resistor- the beauty is it is fully reversible without a trace.

P.S. I believe the integrated resistors in your bulbs are merely to reduce the cars 12V to the right voltage for LEDs, all, if not most LEDs for auto applications should have them inside, including the dreaded number plate festoons......

illest

Have you had problems with condensation in the light?

advans

yes i have, when I first installed HIDs, i didnt put the dust caps on. there was a slight condensation, so i drilled a hole, and slapped the dust cap back on. then no more condensation. i didnt want my lights to yellow or mold!