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Chrome: I too got my T10's in and replaced all but the Puddle lights (I'm leery about popping those mirrors intact without some practice!)..... Brightness? It's certainly subjective and after seeing them in my darkened garage, I question if they are as bright as the examples you purchased. Now that I started some more research, I see that my LEDS are based on "5 SMD"'s...... i.e. 5 individual LED lamps on each T10. May I ask if you would furnish me your source as I would like to compare them with mine. The other LED's I saw have a total of 9 SMD's.... they appear smaller so they can fit onto the available footprint of the T10. The really nice LED's which claim they are made by a well known LED manufacturer are totally enclosed in a Housing of a Lens and Aluminum Heat Sink....$18+ Plus each......
I find that the ones I bought on Ebay for about $1.00 each supply just the right amount of white light. Luckily for me they were sold on Ebay from Horsham, PA. less than a mile from my home. Look for that address when you shop and you'll find the 5 smd bulbs that I've had in for over two years. 10 for $10.00 unless they've gone up in price. FYI I think the photos from Chromedome do not accurately portray the actual amount of brightness from these LED's. For me they're perfect...
Thanks for the lead, and I did find the vendor you refer to. Unfortunately this vendor (nor the one I ordered from) provides the actual Lumen output... just the 6000K Color Temp... and are called "Super Bright" which means nothing for comparisons sake. They appear virtually identical from the pictures, so without Lumen Ratings, trying to purchase the "brightest" LED is near impossible... unless you wish to pay $$$ fro the name brand LED's..... I was more curious than anything as far as what others experienced. I'm sure the ones I got are more than bright enough......
I also upgraded a total of 15 of my ES interior and puddle lights to LEDs earlier this year. Both 5 SMD and 20 SMD bulbs were purchased from two different vendors. I found the 20 SMD bulbs from JTECH were slightly brighter than the 5 SMD bulbs. Both "super white" LEDs were the same shade of "white" and no failures have occurred to date. I did end up using a LED light bar in the trunk for even more light output.
Very happy with the results.
The LEDs are 6 SMD units (4 around the base, 2 pointing up) in a plastic body. These supposedly use Samsung 5630 SMDs which are supposedly 5000 K and 50 lumens each... I have no way of verifying these figures.
I checked on BMW's official LED interior kit, it also uses 6000 K bulbs and costs a fortune compared to buying on eBay. I guess nobody has 4200-4500 K LED interior bulbs for a decent price.
The puddle lights are next, once I feel brave enough to dismantle the mirrors I'm also thinking of adding a light bar in the trunk.
Last edited by chromedome; Dec 16, 2014 at 08:49 PM.
Installation was easy... and I used a metal small tongued shaped tool normally used for disassembling phones. The Translucent Lamp covers have two sides... Think of one side as the "Hinge" (not really a hinge but where the lens hooks mainly into the frame) while the other has smaller prongs that clip that side into place. Look at the Cover with the light ON. You should see one side has two or more small darker areas along the edge... That's the hinge side... while the opposite side is where you carefully pry up against to easily "swing" open the lens to gain access. The 20 for $9.00 lamps are what I used... and as long as they don't fail prematurely, the Light Output and clean Color certainly improve the overall look of the interior. The Single Trunk Lamp illumination has improved a bit, but those who want more light should consider the small Flat Panels that have 8 or more LEDS. They use an adapter connection to tap into the Wedge Socket.
The biggest hurdle is getting over the fear of breaking the lens in trying to remove it. They are on very securely and take a fair bit of pulling to remove. Happy to hear you succeeded Marc and are satisfied with the results. It's an easy and inexpensive upgrade.
Marc, good to hear the install went well. Any pix? I'd love to see the color temperature of your LEDs.
My 2014 ES300h uses white-yellow LEDs for the foot well lights and a small ambient light on the bottom of the rearview mirror. They're probably 4200 K or 5000 K. They don't match the 6000 K LEDs I've installed and I prefer their warmer color at night. Has anyone here managed to install these warmer LEDs for the interior?
Chrome: I'll try to snap some pictures in the next few days... I'll do my best for the Pics to retain there original 6000K Color Temp..... What baffles me is that Lexus did install LED "White" lighting on the License Plate, Footwells, Glove Box, and I believe the perimeter lighting around the headlamp cluster on my 13' Es300H, but failed to use LEDS in the Cabin for the 10 Lamps there.
Here's two pictures of the Converted Headliner Courtesy Light.. with and without ambient fill light.... The Color Temp of the LED Light in the picture is accurate to the original.
That's a nice bright white. Mine are slightly blueish so the color temp may be off.
As a comparison, one of my license plate LEDs was replaced with a 6000 K unit to make way for an aftermarket reverse camera. The LED on the right is original, it's dimmer and more white.
I'm slightly regretting buying these cheapo LEDs because good 4000 K ones are available from Philips:
Model: 127994000KX2 T10 Ceralight
Lumens: 50
Watts: 0.8 W
Model: 129644000KX2 X-treme Ultinon LED
Lumens: 50
Watts: 0.8 W
The second model is available on Amazon for $17 a pair (listed as XtremeVision T10 retrofit bulbs http://www.amazon.com/Philips-129644000KX2-XtremeVision-Interior-Exterior/dp/B009NOZ4SC), so doing up the whole ES interior would be less than $100. Using 4000 K bulbs would mean a warmer looking interior and matching the foot well and rearview mirror lights.
So I ordered a 10 pack on eBay from user xbrightsidex and they are perfect. They match the illuminated door sills perfectly. They are not bright like the others I have tried. I purchased 10 for $9.99 and free shipping. It is worth it. I am finally happy with the look of these. They are T10 Samsung 2323 1W SMD LED. I wish i would of bought these the first time.