DIY LED License Plate Lights

I understand this is a very simple mod, but I believe that this will help some and I think I am one of a handful (if not the 1st uh 1st gen) using dome leds for the plate light. All that is necessary is a dome light kit of appropriate size and a screwdriver to install.

After a while I was getting sick and tired of the 194 plug in LED license plate light. Don't get me wrong, some of them work well for most, but in my case I went though them (1 set superbrightleds and 2 sets of no name cheapies off ebay).

I went the BMW route and finding that most were using Luxer 1 brand dome light LEDs in their license plates on the E9X; I set off in search of those only to find that they were going to cost in excess of 50 for both through bavauto for the 12 light led kit (even if you bought the 24led kit you would need 2 as it contains only 1 adapter and we need 2). A little too much for an experiment IMO. I went ahead and measured our plate light housing, finding that it was 20mm max in width, so I searched for something that would fit perfectly. This led me to ijdmtoy as their light was the same as the Luxer 1 at 19.812mm. I am sure there are others that will fit. Make sure it is no more than 32mm x 20mm (or remeasure as that 32mm length was off the top of my head).

Here is the kit:
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Lots of room in our housing to hold the wiring and adapter:
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Sealed up and ready to reinstall:
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Comparison of no name ebay 6-led bulbs vs the 12 led dome setup:
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Installed (yes my FX is dirty, its going to rain again tomorrow and these are daytime shots, and yes I dropped one of the mounting screws and cannot find it lol):
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Added night pics!

post a link to where you got them? that would be great man!

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/

Instead of buying from their website I went through their ebay auction.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Whit...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item588949643a

$15.29 shipped.

I'll get some night shots later.


---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:05 PM ----------

Great license plate btw. "Awesome"

Yep. Some people hate it, some get a kick out of it. It's my nickname when my parents and girl are angry at me. It also signifys my driving style.


---------- Post added at 10:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------

Night shots...
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The ground behind my FX...holy jebus this is bright!
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Backed up to the garage door, the reverse lights are not engage, that's all license plate LEDs
2r2td8m.jpg



The bad: If you have the backup camera this led upgrade is so bright that part of your screen will show up white at night. Since I don't use the camera to back up, it's really no big deal for me.
 

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I just bought some LED lights for my plate off Ebay for $4. It realy changet the look of the car at night. They just instal into the stock socket.
 
wow those are some bright LEDs! :tup:
& nice license tag LOL

Oh Damn those are bright as hell. I think that's the brightest led license plate lights i seen ever. Looks good. Who needs reverse lights when you have those lol.

Thanks for the positive comments. They are still going strong without any problems unlike the superbright and no name ebay leds I had before. I'm quite pleased and the rear of my FX looks "newer" IMO, weird but true.

I just bought some LED lights for my plate off Ebay for $4. It realy changet the look of the car at night. They just instal into the stock socket.

It does change it. The lights that were replaced were off ebay and were the same wedge (194/168) type as OEM but had 6 leds per bulb. These are a lot brighter and they don't flicker after a month of use like the 2 sets I bought off ebay did.
 
i just got these tnx to your link on another thread, quick question: Is there any cutting or shaving involved? or just plug n play?
 
I ordered the lights and installed them myself over the weekend. One of the adapters that was neccessary to plug it into the exisitng light socket was a bit finicky to install. The wire had the connects the adapter to the LED light was a little loose and so it had to be installed in a way where the wire made contact with the socket. The light itself is the perfect fit for the housing. It fits in there nice and snug.

The end result looks fantastic! It's really bright and the light itself is white with just a hint of blue. Thanks for the inspiration Sexual Chocolate!
 
Getting them now. Was looking to get some V-LEDS but was hesitant cause i have had those flicker out on me in the past. BUT DANG DEM SOME BRIGHT BULBS MAN!
Looks Good. THANKS
 
Is there any LEDs that you guys bought that didn't effect the backup cam? I use the cam ALOT so it'd probably bug me to have a half white screen! Maybe less bright ones that aren't the flickering eBay ones? Thanks guys!
 
I just bought the exact lights from JDM. What else do I need for the install? I have never done a DIY like this.. What are the wires and what not in your pics? thanks !

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:04 PM ----------

Can you post the exact purchase for the DIY. I just got my order and it seems alls i order was the bulbs from the site for 10 bucks. Are the plastic cases part of another purchase or are they already a part of the vehicle? Thanks
 
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