marc r

I've just gotten a 2013 ES300H and have found some of the Incandescent lighting, such as in the Trunk to be very dim and was wondering if anyone had purchased LED conversion Bulbs for these spaces. There seems to be quite a few vendors that claim the LED conversions they offer will improve the Lumens illuminating these spaces. Have you found it was worth doing?

Halfmoon

See this thread.


https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...ior-led-s.html






.

bc6152

And this thread too.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...questions.html

I did all of my interior lights as well as the trunk. They are T-10 LED's available on Ebay for about $1.00 each.

Good Luck with your project.

marc r

Thanks BC... I only did my initial search for other posts for the Es300H which did not reveal anything

And thanks for the reference to the "T10" Style..... I initially read I have "T3" style... both which appear to be WEDGE Style. My manual shows the lamps are "F5".


I can see where brighter Lumens are needed in the Trunk for example, but I'm now wondering if it's wise to have brighter white Light in the cabin, as that can temporarily reduce your night vision.

bc6152

Well they're only on when you get into the car or when you turn them on (on the overhead console) or look in the mirror...

chromedome

I finally got my LED bulbs (T10 wedges) and replaced the front and rear headliner lights. I used an old gift card to gently prise open the plastic lens. They're 6000 K lights, 1.5 W with 6 chips, a bit brighter than stock and a lot whiter. They're not distracting at night but I should have gone for a warmer color temperature because the car now feels very clinical.

I haven't done the door courtesy lights because I can't get the lens separated from the bulb housing. I'll keep the stock vanity mirror bulbs unless I can get 4500 K LEDs.

marc r

Chromedome: Do you too have a 13" Es300H? I ordered mine from the suggested site YITAMOTOR.

I've asked several question of them and they are VERY responsive.

These are the one's I ordered:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251370483066

When re- viewing my Owners Manual, it appears several of the originally specified Halogen Lamps have different Wattage's. As these LEDS's are all the same, I'm hoping not having these different Light intensity's really matters.

As far as the Color Temp goes, it's a good point, but since mine are already on the way and the cost is so low, I can always re-order if needed.

chromedome

Mine's a 2014 ES300h but the interior lighting should be the same.

According to the manual:
5W: door courtesy lights, vanity mirror lights, trunk light, outer foot lights
8W: interior light, personal light

I changed the 8W bulbs with 1.5W 6-SMD LEDs which are supposedly equivalent to 5W bulbs. The interior light feels dimmer but the personal lights are much brighter, maybe because the LEDs have a more directional pattern. Maybe a 10-SMD LED at 2.5W would be a better match for the interior lights.

I'm going crazy trying to match the color temps of the outside xenon and LED lighting with the interior. I'm guessing the xenons are 4500 K, the LED DRLs are 4200 K, but I can't find cheap interior 4500 K lights.

marc r

The accepted Light Output for illumination is now measured in "Lumens" as you may know, but trying to match the original Halogen Wattage to LED Lumen output when the vendors don't supply this info makes trying to follow Lexus's suggested brightness design guidelines all but impossible. The 20 Piece "kit" I ordered have all the same Lumen output, so it will be trial & error if I find them too bright.

chromedome

Is your LED supplier using the same bulbs or different bulbs in the kit? Can you confirm the wattage and number of SMDs per bulb? I couldn't find any lumens figures from Lexus or my LED supplier so I just bought whatever was available.

One thing I noticed is that Japanese carmakers use white-yellowish LED DRLs while Audi/VW/Porsche go for white-blue. It would be nice to know the exact color temperature so I can match the interior LEDs too.

marc r

From the Ad on Ebay which I showed the link, all the LED's in the "Kit" are identical T10's. They don't provide any true Lumen count per lamp.... These are fairly inexpensive and even though they claim they are of "High Quality", my guess is they don't list specs that can be easily challenged to what there true Lumen output is. As fara as Color Temp is concerned, they say the below:

Aggressive clean 6000K Xenon White Colour, 300% brighter than traditional light bulbs

"Wattage" you ask? Incandescent and Halogen Bulbs have historically been Rated in Wattage.. That is the amount of Wattage that the Bulb draws from the circuit. As you know the LED's have very low Wattage Draw, but produce greater Lumens per Watt (with little or no heat).... Home Lighting LEDS are now advertised in Lumens, as Wattage is no longer an indicator of Brightness, so trying to compare old and new is not industry standard it seems at this time.

I believe I did see a vendor selling some supposedly higher quality LED's with I think Lumen Rating. They were $6-7 each.......

Trying to match Color Temperature's across the board may be difficult depending upon the Vendor and the price you are willing to pay for the array of LED's one needs for the vehicle. I suggest you pose your questions to the Vendor before buying so you know what they will guarantee the final product so you will not be disappointed.

chromedome

See attached pix for what the 6000 K LED lights look like at night. The front personal lights are almost too bright, I can't turn them on at night without being dazzled.

The door lights took me a while to replace but they're actually very simple - use a card or spudger to pry the top of the lens from the door, disconnect the plug, then bend the center of the bulb holder outwards to release the front plastic assembly. The bulb is then exposed, just pull it out and replace, then do the reverse of the disassembly steps to put the whole thing back together.

bc6152

They look good Chrome. I've had mine in for over 2 years and the white over the yellow is much better IMO.

Arty101

The center lights do look a little too bright. Are there warmer 460k LEDs available?

chromedome

The center lights are super bright because I had all three turned on The side reading lights are brighter than stock and the concentrated light is too bright to use when driving.

I got 6000 K lights because they're the cheapest I could find, a little over a dollar each. I've seen Japanese 4200 K LEDs but they cost 5x more. Philips Ultinon LEDs are available in 4200 K and T10 but they cost a fortune.

It would be interesting to see what BMW uses for its official aftermarket LED kit for the 5 series.