Well, I've finished int/ext light facelift. Hopefully this is the end of my mod bug. After some trial and errors, I came up with the best combination/match of bulbs for RX, so I liked to share. This posting is about the "type" of bulbs, not about instructions (which you can find them here, here, and here). Thanks so much for very useful information in the links.

[Interior Light Bulbs]

In general, all you need is small thin flat bed driver (cover the blade with some maksing tapes). Carefully insert the driver, put some pressure sideways and pull out the lenz at the same time. All similar and easy to do except vanity light which you want to pullout the housing per Anita's instruction (see the last link above). I simply summarized what other members posted here and there in this forum.

1. Dome(Type:194/168/2825) Front (x2) vs Rear (x1)

Front Dome Light takes two bulbs and pointing downward, while rear takes only one projecting sideways. By having two 4xSMD for front, and one 6xSMD as in the picture, interior looks and feels more balanced.

2. Vanity(Type:194/168/2825) (x2)

The vanity bulbs point sideways and the bulb is similar to rear dome bulbs shown above except it has 4 SMDs instead of 6. The right lumen for this kind of LED is 70, but most of them in ebay are 40 or less. That's perfect for vanity lights, since it lights in front of your eyes. You don't want them too bright.

3. Footwell(Type:194/168/2825) (x2)
or
Footwell bulbs point downward, and I personally used the 8xSMD. This area tend to get dirty, so if you don't want show how lazy you are, then 4xSMD may be better choice.

4. Door(Type:194/168/2825) Front (x2) & Rear (x2)

You want the brightest output possible for door lights. 13xSMDs

5. Cargo(Type:3175 or 3528 Any Festoon with right size will do) (x3)

These are the only non-194 type bulbs for RX interior, but 27mm-29mm is the right size. 31mm can do with a bit of modification as shown in the link above.

[Exterior]

1. Puddle(Type:194/168/2825) x2

Puddle lights point sideways, so obviously this bulb is most efficient. With proper manufacturing, this should produce 125 lumen (vs 70 lumen for 4xSMD). You want the brightest output possible for puddle lights.


2. Parking(Type:194/168/2825)
or
If you use high lumen LED (ie 8xSMD), you may get purplish light due to the reflection and coating of the lenz. This problem only exist for parking light. I personally chose 4xSMD one, which turns out more pure white and matches better with HID. There are no LED bulbs which can do perfect color match with your OEM HID. Philips offers 4100K OEM HID match LEDs, but I haven't tried them.

3. DRL(Type:9005)

This is 102xSMDs which rated at 460 lumen, which is the best I've seen. I recommend to use decoder with this bulbs. Even if this is the best solution I can find, but it's still nowhere near Philips LED DRL (stick like shape, which you can find from latest European cars, BMW sells this as OEM part. One of my car has this, and it's crazy bright). Other than that, I am happy with the solution. I've seen some members use blue tinted bulbs for DRL, and that's great alternative only if you are OK with the blue hue reflection when off.

4. Reverse(Type:921)

102xSMDs rated at 460 lumen.

5. Turn Signals(Type:992) Front(x2) Rear(x2)

Chrome coated bulbs - just to get rid of amber. Don't overpay for this. You can find cheapos easily and they last long time in my experience.

6. Fog(Type:H11)

For fog lights, I am only interested in color matching with 4300K OEM HID, so I installed Putco Mirror White (which is advertised 4100K). I heard good things about HOEM Xenon match bulbs too, but I prefer lighter blue tint in Putco. (To be fair, it's not a big deal, since there is virtually no blue/yellow hue reflection thanks to the location of fog light housing and their recessed shape) For those who want usable light output in foggy situation, aftermarket 3000K HID kit or Putco Jet Yellow should be right choice. This kind of blue/yellow tinted bulbs are notorious for short lifetime, but Hoen and Puto have built their solid reputation. We will see how they will hold up.


If you buy from the right place, the cost is very reasonable. My total cost was under $140.

 

Nice! Any chance can post pics of the modded car?
Tnx in advance!

 

No I haven't taken pics yet, (dark in the garage and I only have iPhone4 camera). In person, now I can tell why you guys are crazy about these LEDs.

Instead, you can even do this (photo-chopped version) to match with blue OLED dashlight.

 

This is very useful. Thanks for putting them together.

You guys can try GP thunder H11/H8 for the fog lights as the color will match really well with the stock HID. They are very popular at BMW community for replacing the oem angel eye.

 

JiniJazz,




Thanks for your detailed write-up. It is very good as you are very detail-oriented and put a lot of thoughts in your LED setup.

I have been planning my LED setup and yours is a very good reference.

 

Posting here for my reference.

 

nice to see someone else pursued this with the third gen!

Well done with the overall costs! I have to ask where you got those reverse bulbs. Those SMD's add up in price pretty quick in my multiple experiences or re-doing LED's in two cars!

 

For Fog Lights, I understand that it’s H11 and you went with Putco Mirror White. You have any pictures of the end results here? Not sure what Papaalex went with here, but he seems to have good pictures.

For Parking Lights, I understand that its 194/168 and you went with 4xSMD. What brand is that and where did you buy it from?
Papaalex went with:
V-LEDS HID WHITE 4 M-SMT 2W HIGH POWER BULBS 194 168 158
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...-p8187987.html

Yours look about the same as his?

Again, thanks so much for your help and insight.

 

Thanks for the info. i just ordered a bunch from Ebay .... Will do the conversion soon.

 

The least return for the money is Putco fog light from the above. Lexus fog is very good as is, so the difference I get is minimum. I may try GP thunder later. Thanks for the tip.

 

I know what you mean. I did all 3 cars, but it adds up even after full research. But the difference they make is priceless

 

For parking light, I went for the whitest and I believe he went for the brightest. Here is my parking light.


For fog, the difference is minimum, so I'd say don't bother unless you are perfectionist. I don't recommend LED fog either, because it is not bright enough to be functional. I've seen that in person, it was nothing but disappointment. Don't judge everything from the picture alone, especially LEDs. More importantly, they will not match with your OEM HID.

 

JiniJazz.

Thanks for the Guide. However, the 13 smd won't fit into my door housing spot. It's too long. How can you squeeze 13 SMD into the housing for door lights? Mine does only fit 5 SMD?

 

You have to look check out the length in the description before you buy, since they are all different. I had 9x smd fit well with enough space and 13x smd also which I bought from my friend. I used to have the dimensions for each light somewhere, but unfortunately I cannot find it now.

Just go measure and double check the description before you buy.

 

Can someone please tell me how to get to the overhead console lights with Lexus assist installed.