Oxygen

I stumbled upon a great thread in the W210 forum ( https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ighlight=lexus )

I thought the look of the xenon-like bulbs looks really cool for lighting the license plate... here is exactly what you need:

1) Buy 2x (I bought 3x just incase) of these 39mm 12V Festoons: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1pc-3...spagenameZWDVW
2) Go to radio shack and buy a pack of 100Ω Resistors (don't get the huge ones like they did in the other thread... they will not fit in the light bay.

I will post pictures when I get home tonight... but trust me it looks fantastic.

newton22

Thank you man! I was following a GS the other night, and thinking the plate lights were oh so pretty.

Oxygen

Well here it is... the pictures don't do it justice.

Oxygen

One thing to point out... unlike the guys on the W210 forums, you will need a 100Ω resistor on each side!

If you don't use a resistor, you will see each bulb flash like a strobe light every few seconds. After you see that, you will soon realize that this car is probably smarter than you are and the car is trying to figure out if there is really a bulb there by sending pulses of electricity and trying to detect resistance... wow.

newton22

Just one resistor and it doesn't matter which bulb you attach it to right?

Oxygen

Please read above... I am not sure how it is on the MY2000, but in the MY2003 the car will probe for the bulbs, you will need a resistor on each side, so 2 resistors, one on each bulb.

mand

cool idea, might just toss it onto my B6 Passat

ironcheflam

how did you take the acutal lights out? did you have to take off the trunk liner i removed the two screws holding it in and then i tried to giggle it out but it kept clicking back in does it go back into the trunk or does it come out on the outside i need help!!!

02S430

u just need to pry it out a little, use a screwdriver with a cloth over it so you dont scratch anything

ironcheflam

K thanks!

koreanpers

hmmm...looks interesting...anybody else done this?

SSM AMG

Can you post a diagram of the wiring?

luxse

hi all,

With Oxygen's recommendation, I went ahead and ordered the LED lights for the liscense plate.

Does anyone know the bulb type and size for all the interior lights for the w220 s600 as well? I wanted to switch all the lights on over to white "xenon-look" LED's as well. I saw them on a lexus GS430 and thought it was pretty neat looking. I was a bit disapointed that mercedes has not caught on to the benefits of LED lighting for the interior yet.

Anyways please let me know if anyone out here is familiar with interior bulb sizes and specs. If not I'll do some research and post the results on here in about a month.

Thanks in advance for any input!
-luxse

Silver KomP 57

Will the lighting still be decently bright with the ultra white replacement bulbs that can be bought at tuning shops?

qriousrich

Did you ever change out the lights interior? Problems? Sizes pls? Thanks.

RICH

dtxmob

I will post pics of my setup shortly!

qriousrich

Cool man....Haven't heard from you in a while. Hope things are well. I wanna see some pics of your ride.


RICH

Oxygen

Well everyone, let's take a step back.

I had to change out the LED for the regular bulbs yesterday... it seems that the regular 100OHM resistors get too hot, and they melted themselves and also melted the festoons and damaged the electronics in it so it flashed like a strobe light.

I am going to need to use the bigger ceramic coated resistors, but I think I will have to take apart the trunk to wire it into the harness... because they won't fit in the light bays.

I'll keep you posted.

newton22

Are you using the tiny resistors? That's what I'm currently using. Keep us updated.

Wintermute

I performed this modification on my SLK a couple of weeks ago using the large ceramic resistors.

I had one festoon fail last night, and another began to fail (i.e., flickering like a strobe) shortly thereafter. I am currently in Austin on vacation, and my friend pointed it out, so I spent an hour in a dark parking lot taking apart the trunk and refitting the original bulbs. As you might have expected, the large resistors were extremely cumbersome to work around. Both sides worked properly with the resistors and original bulbs in place.

While the LED festoons do produce a stunning effect, it might be a good idea to consider waiting unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands. I have eight more LED festoons from the supplier mentioned in this thread, and I'm trying to decide whether I should give up or install them to see what happens. The worst part, of course, is that the resistors prevent the car from "telling" you when the lights have failed.

lorinserSclass

Newton22 do you have this upgrade and if so how long? also any problems...The original poster had a 2003 S500..I see that you have a 2000 I have a 2001 I was wondering if it works better on our older S classes..thanks

newton22

I've been using it for about 2 weeks. I don't drive too much at night (only on weekends sometimes), and I checked the lights after coming home every time. So far so good.

Wintermute

You'll still need to use the resistors, as your car does have a "light out" indicator. I'm afraid that means you will also be susceptible to the problems that Oxygen and I have experienced.

The issues we noted seem to have more to do with the quality of the materials that we are installing, not our cars.

ironcheflam

use the 2w 100ohm resistors and you will be fine dont use the big ceramics ones that the other thread shows you if you want i can take pics of mine.

newton22

I am of course. I'm using the tiny resistors. They're no larger than the average ant.