TurboMike
01-25-2010, 10:01 AM
I was shocked what a joke the vanity lights are. I cant see my own ugly at all. First step is to take them apart. This is so easy you can do it in the car, but obviously easier with them out (especially if you do a soldering solution).
When you open the "door" that turns the lights on, there is a lip around the mirror and two light lenses. The plastic the mirror and two lenses are in snaps into the plastic frame at that lip. There are two tabs on either side, and two tabs near each corner on the bottom edge. No tabs on the top (door edge). You need a small screwdriver to pop each tab out. WARNING: if you lift one edge out, you can break the mirror. Work out all 8 tabs. When they are out you can lift it all out in one movement.
Now this is what you see:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/4301614260_5b24ff5693_o.jpg
See the two bulbs? Those are BEHIND the mirror. See the curved black plastic next to them? Thats what supposed to reflect the weak bulbs out through the lenses. What an engineering joke.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4301614398_dc63786235_o.jpg
The bulbs is a 36mm festoon bulb. Some 2008 owners said their bulbs were soldered in. My 09.1 were not and they pop out. The lights are just a joke if i had an 08 I'd un-solder them. I thought about getting a brighter bulb and then painting the black plastic reflector thing with chrome paint to get it to reflect more light, but I found a better solution. On ebay they have a small grid of LEDs on a board with wires to a fake bulb so you can plug them into any bulb. If I could get the grid of LEDs to sit where the reflector things are, I'm golden. I picked up some 12 LED arrays for $6 each:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2742/4300486575_665f05c5ec_o.jpg
Installed:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2771/4301232828_9eb475c00b_o.jpg
When I installed them, the festoon bulb itself was a little thicker, and the connector for the wires was a pain to get in a corner where it wouldnt effect the vanity light going back together. Also it was a pain to get the LED arrays to stay straight while I closed the whole thing. I finally got it together with masking tape holding the wiring in place, and the door and everything worked (and the lights are FANTASTIC). But the flat part with the mirror and lenses was not perfectly flat anymore. It was a little harder to open the vanity door because of that, I wasnt satisfied. I cut the wires to the LED arrays and soldered them direct to the metal rails that deliver voltage. The top rail is 12v and thebottom rail is ground. MAKE SURE you know which wire is which going to your LEDs, unlike a normal bulb that can have either wire go to either side, you can only have 12v on one wire and ground on the other. My LEDS had a white wire for 12v and red for ground, luckily i tested them before I soldered.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4301233746_b9305d3707_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4301233602_b65e795219_o.jpg
The lights are awesome. You could easily not use a 12 array of lights and 6 or 9 would be enough. Here are some night pics (stock bulbs on left, new LEDs on right)
No flash on camera:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4300486683_ce8125ff01_o.jpg
Flash on:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4300486895_d6ee3c081f_o.jpg
From the side:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4301233368_e02f4f4639_o.jpg
Here is a pic I took during the daytime, with both sides of car done:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4301232672_bef688dd89_o.jpg
On "that other G8 board" a few people said it looks TOO bright. Yes its fairly bright and the camera picking up the glare makes them look a lot brighter than they are, which is why I tried the shot from the side at an angle. If anyone tries this with less LEDs please post up pics so we can compare.
When you open the "door" that turns the lights on, there is a lip around the mirror and two light lenses. The plastic the mirror and two lenses are in snaps into the plastic frame at that lip. There are two tabs on either side, and two tabs near each corner on the bottom edge. No tabs on the top (door edge). You need a small screwdriver to pop each tab out. WARNING: if you lift one edge out, you can break the mirror. Work out all 8 tabs. When they are out you can lift it all out in one movement.
Now this is what you see:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/4301614260_5b24ff5693_o.jpg
See the two bulbs? Those are BEHIND the mirror. See the curved black plastic next to them? Thats what supposed to reflect the weak bulbs out through the lenses. What an engineering joke.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4301614398_dc63786235_o.jpg
The bulbs is a 36mm festoon bulb. Some 2008 owners said their bulbs were soldered in. My 09.1 were not and they pop out. The lights are just a joke if i had an 08 I'd un-solder them. I thought about getting a brighter bulb and then painting the black plastic reflector thing with chrome paint to get it to reflect more light, but I found a better solution. On ebay they have a small grid of LEDs on a board with wires to a fake bulb so you can plug them into any bulb. If I could get the grid of LEDs to sit where the reflector things are, I'm golden. I picked up some 12 LED arrays for $6 each:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2742/4300486575_665f05c5ec_o.jpg
Installed:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2771/4301232828_9eb475c00b_o.jpg
When I installed them, the festoon bulb itself was a little thicker, and the connector for the wires was a pain to get in a corner where it wouldnt effect the vanity light going back together. Also it was a pain to get the LED arrays to stay straight while I closed the whole thing. I finally got it together with masking tape holding the wiring in place, and the door and everything worked (and the lights are FANTASTIC). But the flat part with the mirror and lenses was not perfectly flat anymore. It was a little harder to open the vanity door because of that, I wasnt satisfied. I cut the wires to the LED arrays and soldered them direct to the metal rails that deliver voltage. The top rail is 12v and thebottom rail is ground. MAKE SURE you know which wire is which going to your LEDs, unlike a normal bulb that can have either wire go to either side, you can only have 12v on one wire and ground on the other. My LEDS had a white wire for 12v and red for ground, luckily i tested them before I soldered.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4301233746_b9305d3707_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4301233602_b65e795219_o.jpg
The lights are awesome. You could easily not use a 12 array of lights and 6 or 9 would be enough. Here are some night pics (stock bulbs on left, new LEDs on right)
No flash on camera:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4300486683_ce8125ff01_o.jpg
Flash on:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4300486895_d6ee3c081f_o.jpg
From the side:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4301233368_e02f4f4639_o.jpg
Here is a pic I took during the daytime, with both sides of car done:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4301232672_bef688dd89_o.jpg
On "that other G8 board" a few people said it looks TOO bright. Yes its fairly bright and the camera picking up the glare makes them look a lot brighter than they are, which is why I tried the shot from the side at an angle. If anyone tries this with less LEDs please post up pics so we can compare.