E-Class (W212) 2010 - 2016: E 350, E 550
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Did it...LED interior, LED trunk, and LED rear License plate lights.

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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 07:06 AM
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Did it...LED interior, LED trunk, and LED rear License plate lights.

Started at midnight...finished around 1:30 am...

Did all 4 lower door panels, glove box, all 4 footwells, 2 front dome, rear dome, 2 rear reading lights, 2 rear trunk ,1 rear trunk lid, and both license plates.

Need to figure out the side mirror puddles.

Pics in subsequent posts....keep on scrolling down.

Pete

Last edited by PHML; Jan 28, 2012 at 03:53 AM.
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 07:09 AM
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oh...forgot to say that since I have P2, I didn't swap out any inner city lights, or fog lights.
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 11:56 AM
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These mods sound wicked
I can't wait to see the pics
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 01:31 PM
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pix!
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 01:32 PM
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pix!!
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 02:28 PM
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Where are the pics!?!?
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 06:25 PM
  #7  
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DIY

Originally Posted by BenzV12
These mods sound wicked
I can't wait to see the pics
Originally Posted by hyperion667
pix!
Originally Posted by hyperion667
pix!!
Originally Posted by SolidGranite
Where are the pics!?!?
I need to take more pics of the final product tonight. I took only a few pics during the install...kinda hard to trying to mod as quietly as possible not to wake up the neighbors past midnight...LOL!!

I'd have to say this though...the door panels, glove, trunk, and footwells were the easiest. Removing the bulb housing required a flat head screwdriver and prying one side out...then popping them back in...

Door Panels....



I used directional SMD LEDs....the socket flips down and the LEDs will face outward...





Removing Footwell housing (the glove box unit and trunk is similar to this).....



The more difficult ones were the front dome, rear dome, and the license plate bulbs.

Front Dome....you need to remove the white housing like so...




Put in the SMD LEDs...I used these for now...it has a small heatsink...but I may swap them out later...



The rear dome unit is more difficult than the front dome...

You need to remove the entire rear dome unit with a flat head screwdriver...



then disconnect the wire....



Once disconnected....you have to pry apart the unit just to get to the festoon bulb....I tried to tenderly pry the sections apart, but realized I aint going to get it done if I baby it....the tabs are delicate...I broke a small tab, but nothing to worry about...still works....btw, the reading lights are easy to swap out...





Festoon bulb in place....either 39mm to 42mm can be used...stock size is supposedly 41mm.



Put it back together and you're in business.

As far as the rear trunk lid LED and the license plate bulbs...it is easy if you have skinny arms. I think swapping out the bulbs is easy...its just getting your arms in there is the hardest part. I think its just the access to them is what everyone wants to know. I didn't take pics of this part, as I was in a zone to finish quickly...so maybe tonight, I'll take some pics on how to remove the liner to access these bulbs.

Best of all...no error codes!! Cheeeeee Hoooooo!!!

Overall pics of how they look will be taken tonight.

Pete

Last edited by PHML; Jan 27, 2012 at 06:41 PM.
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 06:44 PM
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finally !!! can't wait to see more pics .
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 07:12 PM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by PHML
I need to take more pics of the final product tonight. I took only a few pics during the install...kinda hard to trying to mod as quietly as possible not to wake up the neighbors past midnight...LOL!!

I'd have to say this though...the door panels, glove, trunk, and footwells were the easiest. Removing the bulb housing required a flat head screwdriver and prying one side out...then popping them back in...

Door Panels....



I used directional SMD LEDs....the socket flips down and the LEDs will face outward...





Removing Footwell housing (the glove box unit and trunk is similar to this).....



The more difficult ones were the front dome, rear dome, and the license plate bulbs.

Front Dome....you need to remove the white housing like so...




Put in the SMD LEDs...I used these for now...it has a small heatsink...but I may swap them out later...



The rear dome unit is more difficult than the front dome...

You need to remove the entire rear dome unit with a flat head screwdriver...



then disconnect the wire....



Once disconnected....you have to pry apart the unit just to get to the festoon bulb....I tried to tenderly pry the sections apart, but realized I aint going to get it done if I baby it....the tabs are delicate...I broke a small tab, but nothing to worry about...still works....btw, the reading lights are easy to swap out...





Festoon bulb in place....either 39mm to 42mm can be used...stock size is supposedly 41mm.



Put it back together and you're in business.

As far as the rear trunk lid LED and the license plate bulbs...it is easy if you have skinny arms. I think swapping out the bulbs is easy...its just getting your arms in there is the hardest part. I think its just the access to them is what everyone wants to know. I didn't take pics of this part, as I was in a zone to finish quickly...so maybe tonight, I'll take some pics on how to remove the liner to access these bulbs.

Best of all...no error codes!! Cheeeeee Hoooooo!!!

Overall pics of how they look will be taken tonight.

Pete

Can u post where did u order your led light? Thanks in advance!
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 08:36 PM
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wow, thats great man....I'll bet it's so bright in there!!
thanx for putting all the effort in sharing your work: a job in itself
sorry you broke one of the tabs.....hopefully you won't get a rattle anywhere's....
and seriously, how much noise could you have been making?? lol
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Old Jan 27, 2012 | 09:57 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by Eaosdad
Can u post where did u order your led light? Thanks in advance!
ebay....everything is regular 194 size LEDs...the only exceptions are the license plate LEDs which need to be canbus to prevent an error code on the dash, and the rear dome LED is festoon...41mm/42mm is best.

Originally Posted by hyperion667
wow, thats great man....I'll bet it's so bright in there!!
thanx for putting all the effort in sharing your work: a job in itself
sorry you broke one of the tabs.....hopefully you won't get a rattle anywhere's....
and seriously, how much noise could you have been making?? lol
Was a small plastic tab joining the 2 of the 3 sections of the rear dome together...no rattle at all.

As for noise, I had to pull the car out of the garage to work on it with the doors swung wide open on both sides....and I live in a private culdesac so its pretty quiet...except for me.
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 03:38 AM
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Pics show the light as more blue...in real life, its more white...





















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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 03:45 AM
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wow ! you did a wonderful job !!! i gotta order mine right now!!! do you have a pic when all four doors open? would like to see some pics of the courtesy lights, too !!!
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 03:52 AM
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Originally Posted by BM2BZ
wow ! you did a wonderful job !!! i gotta order mine right now!!! do you have a pic when all four doors open? would like to see some pics of the courtesy lights, too !!!

No..not all four doors...but I do have this pic...

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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 04:03 AM
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thank, man ! you rock! i'm still counting how many bulbs i need in total .
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 04:04 AM
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Originally Posted by BM2BZ
thank, man ! you rock! i'm still counting how many bulbs i need in total .
Always buy extra bro...
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 04:37 AM
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ok, please let me know if my math is ok. 4 lower door panels (courtesy lights), 1 glove box, 4 footwells, 2 front dome, 2 rear reading lights, 2 rear trunk , 1 rear trunk lid, 2 side mirror and they are all 194. 2 error free license plate bulbs and 1 festoon for rear dome. am i correct? i really like the brightness of yours, not too bright. how many smd? thanks again!
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 04:45 AM
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Originally Posted by PHML

Need to figure out the side mirror puddles.
got mine changed a while back and saw how it was done...

the mirror is pretty much held in with 3 clips that can be popped off by prying with a plastic knife type of item. it'll end up dangling from the side mirror. the bulb will not be accessible right away. There is a small light module that is held in place by 1 small screw. Remove the screw to remove the light module to access the small bulb.

i hope my attempt of explaining what I saw works....
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 07:25 AM
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wow, another batch of great pix phml!!!
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 08:20 AM
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Originally Posted by c2xbenzo
got mine changed a while back and saw how it was done...

the mirror is pretty much held in with 3 clips that can be popped off by prying with a plastic knife type of item. it'll end up dangling from the side mirror. the bulb will not be accessible right away. There is a small light module that is held in place by 1 small screw. Remove the screw to remove the light module to access the small bulb.

i hope my attempt of explaining what I saw works....
Hey bro....thanks for your tips, however, I bit the bullet and took things into my own hands a few hours ago since no one had a clear answer. I didn't see your post til now.

Anyways...like my Lexus' side mirror, our side mirror is held onto the motor by clips. Angle the mirror down and away as far as possible....this should give a small gap between the mirror and the housing. If you can get a finger in there, pull the mirror down away...a quick jerk may do the trick, and the mirror should pop off from the motor. Remove the mirror from the motor and let it hang by the wires. You need to remove 3 screws to dismount the motor....then unplug the socket plug to the motor and place the motor somewhere safe. At this point, removing the puddle light housing is difficult, but can be done. The problem is that the bracket that holds the motor to the inside housing shell is large. It's the full height and length of the inside shell housing....and sits above the puddle light housing with about only 2mm gap between them, and the housing is held in place with a rail guide on one side, and a plastic tab on the other side.....so even removing ALL the screws (3) that i could find and thinking it would free up that bracket to make it easy to access the puddle light housing....I was sadly mistaken! With all the screws out, that bracket didn't budge at all.

I was forced to muscle the puddle light housing out at an angle....I was thinking for sure I was going to break a tab...but luckily I didn't break any. Swapped out the puddle bulb for the driver side...took me an hour...done at 2 am....lol. I will do the pass side later...it's time for bed.

Btw, this is by far the most difficult to do...makes the rear dome seem easy!

Pete

Last edited by PHML; Jan 29, 2012 at 04:30 AM.
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 01:41 PM
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Originally Posted by hyperion667
wow, another batch of great pix phml!!!
I hope this helps other members try to do this mod themselves.

Pete
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 03:03 PM
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I would consider a few places to put the led's....the floorboards are a yes....
the trunk too, and the doors.....not sure about the actual compartment lights.....
I have them set to stay off when the doors open anyway......helps the ambient lighting and the door sills stand out even more......
I'm sure the led's would accentuate that nice look.......
those night time pix are savory man, nice high quality looking....
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 05:25 PM
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Thanks for the pics, I am saving them on my computer as a reference in the future .
You did a marvellous job
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Old Jan 28, 2012 | 09:09 PM
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Side mirror pics...mirror and motor removal to gain access to puddle light bulb housing...



Remove 3 silver screws to dismount the motor...



Removed 3 black screws to remove the backside bracket...but it didn't budge at all....so I put some muscle and luckily didn't break anything to remove the puddle light housing...as you can see below...the housing is now loose.


Last edited by PHML; Jan 29, 2012 at 04:30 AM.
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Old Jan 29, 2012 | 03:25 AM
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wow, thanks for the pics and post again but after seeing your post and pics, it might not be a good idea to change them after all . will change the other, though.
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