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Bulb List for LED Swaps

96K views 132 replies 59 participants last post by  PONY MAN 
#1 · (Edited)
Given that bulb numbers are requested constantly, and the Sylvania list is (or was) unreliable for our cars as they listed some incorrect or proprietary numbers, finding out what bulb numbers you need is a bit painful and currently requires a lot of searching around (I know from experience). Therefore, I figured I'd make a central list with all the numbers I have tracked down, as well as whether or not they are confirmed to work. I included a zipped Excel spreadsheet that I made for this which might be easier to read.

Mods, if you could sticky this, I'd appreciate it. :)

If anyone has numbers for any other bulbs I missed, or sees any mistakes in the list, let me know and I'll update the post.

Format:
[Bulb name]: [bulb number], [quantity needed (individual bulbs)], , [Confirmed to work?]

Starred (*) bulbs require a resistor (6 ohms on each bulb) to be installed in order to avoid hyperflash, brake release blinking, output degradation, and other unsavory side-effects.

Exterior Bulbs:
  • Backup/Reverse: 1156, 2, White, Confirmed
  • Brake: 7443/7440, 2, Red, Confirmed
  • License plate/Tag: 194, 2, White, Confirmed
  • Sidemarkers (under headlight on front bumper cover): 194, 2, Amber, Confirmed
  • Side repeaters/fender turn signals (behind front wheels): 194, 2, Amber, Confirmed
  • Front turn signal: 1157, 2, Amber, Confirmed , *
  • Rear turn signal: 1156, 2, Amber, Confirmed , *

Interior Bulbs:
  • Dome lights: 194, 4(sunroof)/2?(no sunroof), White, Confirmed
  • Trunk (also Glovebox, Center console): 211, 1, White, Confirmed

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT MANY SITES (SUCH AS V-LEDS) SELL MANY BULBS IN PAIRS! DOUBLE CHECK HOW MANY BULBS YOU ARE BUYING SO YOU DON'T ORDER MORE THAN YOU NEED!

If you are going to add a glovebox light (or if your '08 G8 has it and you're going to swap it to LED), or a center console light, the same bulb type as the trunk light will work.

I've confirmed all bulbs except for the brake (which are on the way to me) and license plate lights, but these have been installed by others on the forum before and I got the bulb numbers from them. Edit: Confirmed by other members. Edit 7/29: Brakes confirmed by me as well.

I believe non-sunroof cars have 2 interior bulbs as they lack the map lights... If anyone that owns a car sans sunroof can confirm I'll update things.

I will update this OP as needed.
 

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#4 ·
#7 ·
Sorry for the delay, been a hell of a busy weekend...

No, the side repeaters do not require resistors. They will not hyperflash when swapped for LED bulbs.
 
#9 ·
You'll need four resistors total, all of them 6 ohm.

Yes, the website says you can use 3 ohm if you're doing both front and back... except that assumes the car has electronic flashers. Our cars do not have flashers, the BCM controls the flash rate, and the circuits seem to be independent. You'll need 6 ohm resistors on each turn bulb to keep the BCM from thinking it's a dead bulb.
 
#11 ·
There are 3 different lights in each tail light. Which are you referring to?
 
#14 ·
I haven't installed mine yet, but others have. If they're dim though, might be a bad bulb, or one that doesn't fit the application correctly.

i plan to either hack the puter so the flashers are always slow or jus swapit with the hazards since they dont hyperflash
Installing the resistors is a piece of cake... Especially compared to any of those options.
 
#15 ·
They are the right bulb, and they work fine. I think I need some capacitors installed but I do not know what size I need to give them that extra push. I have the 50w capacitors from Super Bright LED's that I ordered a couple of years back and I would use them only as a last resort. The reason being is that they get real hot when in use. I'm not too comfortable with that.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Man, I'd just find myself a better/brighter set of LEDs before I resorted to going to capacitors... But that's just IMO.

i know there ez to install but for a more clean look and not have to worry bout hte heat issue of the resistor the hazards options would be the best and almost undectable if ur car goes in the shop they can void ur electrical system warranty
Clean look? The places you'd install the resistor (on a frame rail in the engine bay, behind the carpet trim in the trunk) are invisible. There is no heat issue if you install it to a piece of metal, and even less if you use the brackets like the ones V-LEDs sells. For the engine bay ones, I stuck metallic duct tape on the frame rail, then used double-sided tape to stick the resistor on top of that. On the rear, since they go behind the trunk carpeting (even though the carpeting should never touch them), I'm using the brackets that completely encase the resistor to protect other components, and act as a heatsink as well. That will be stuck on with double sided tape to the sheet metal next to the tail lights.

If you do it right, there are absolutely no negatives to installing the resistor. Additionally, with the splices they come with, it would be impossible to void your electrical warranty, unless you completely bypassed the resistor with a straight piece of wire and shorted 2 wires, but then you'd really have to be trying to be a moron.

What would you be doing with the hazards? Rewiring the lights themselves? Besides being more complicated, it might not even be an option because the hazards might be entirely controlled in the BCM.

Mainly for cosmetic purposes. They also have a longer lifespan than filament bulbs and are brighter. The fact that they use less power is just an added bonus.
Exactly. They have an extremely long life compared to filament bulbs, better color temperature (cosmetic), brighter in some applications, give you much more options to customize your lighting to your liking (such as the switchbacks on the front turns that switch between white for parking light mode and amber for turning signal - there's no way to do that without going to those LEDs), and lower the power draw.
 
#18 ·
Mainly for cosmetic purposes. They also have a longer lifespan than filament bulbs and are brighter. The fact that they use less power is just an added bonus.
 
#21 ·
I've gotten all my LEDs from V-LEDs, other people have used other sources. As far as V-LEDs, their LEDs have worked perfectly for me and the ones I've gone with are very bright, and their customer service is very good - I was able to replace 2 sets of V-Stars (for the reverse and rear turn signals) after they didn't fit, and they accommodated me with no questions asked and no hassle.

As far as how many LEDs per tower, that's up to you and there's no set requirement or recommendation. For the brake lights, I'm using V-Stars, which have something like 90 LEDs on each assembly. They fit well in the brake lights, though getting them out if you need to is a bit of a mission. For the reverse and rear turn signals, I'm using the 7W high power 12 LED assemblies, and they're working great.

Where there was an issue with number of LEDs per assembly was when SmokeyBear911 tried some switchbacks for the front turn signals, and the ones he tried had power issues, but I don't remember how many LEDs they were and I don't remember if they were V-LED bulbs or another company's.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Thanks for the reply. The reason I ask is I found some 7443 red towers on ebay with 48smd and was unsure as to how bright that would be. Is there just less current going to the bulb with lights just on as opposed to when you brake? For example are leds just dimmer than get brighter with brake pedal or do some smd not activate until you push the brake.

Also do you have pics of the v bulbs for the tail lights?
 
#23 ·
The number of LEDs on the towers doesn't necessarily correspond to how bright they are. In some cases, more LEDs = more light, such as the V-Stars, but this is when compared to the same power draw and type of LEDs. So when you compare a V-star with roughly 90 LEDs to a tower with 50 of the same type and power draw of LEDs, then the one with more will be brighter.

However, the high power LEDs I'm using in the reverse and rear turn signal lights have 12 LEDs in each tower, but they are 7W each (tower). Each of the LEDs is a high power LED, meaning it needs more space for heat dissipation, which is why there are only 12 on the tower. However, you end up getting more light out of them.

In summary, how bright the assembly is depends on the LED tech and the power it draws.

As far as the brake bulbs themselves, the OEM bulbs are dual filament (which I believe is the reason for the 7443/7440 designation). As far as how the LEDs work, the brake 7443/7440 V-stars do in fact light up brighter when I press the brake pedal than when the lights are just on with no brake applied. Not sure about the details on how they accomplish this but I do know the harness going to the brake bulb has more than 2 wires.

As far as pics, I just got my new camera to replace the ones that I lost at the beach a few months back, so I'll try to get pics of the LEDs as soon as I can. :)
 
#24 ·
hey check this out! puttco makes hyper flash rear brakes lights with all the capicitors built in no extra wirring needed. just plug and play almost 80.00 a set but well worth it.
CTG8
 
#25 ·
Hey, could someone tell me which of the LED's on this page would work in the G8 dome lights best? Not really sure since there are several 194 replacement options. Thanks.

LED options
 
#27 ·
I bought all of mine from V-LEDs, so I'm not familiar with SuperbrightLEDs's stuff, but for the interior dome lights I used LED array PCB boards with a 194 type base adapter. The ones I got have 48 LEDs on the board all firing down into the cabin, which put out A LOT of light. My interior looks awesome with them. On the V-LEDs site, they're under the "Circuit Board LED" category, the "PCB Lamps with 194 Wedge Base" on that SuperbrightLEDs link should be equivalent (though I can't say anything about the number of LEDs on the board, dimensions, or brightness, for that company's stuff).

The only thing about putting these in the dome lights is that you'll have to pop the assembly open to get them in. There's a thread in the DIY section that gives you the general idea, just be aware that the rear dome is a great deal more complicated to do than the front (it's absolutely doable, as I did it, but there's a lot of swearing, hopeful and cautious experimentation, and effort involved - definitely more exciting).

For the maplights (if you have a sunroof car), I just used regular 194 LEDs (the high power 2W ones from V-LEDs, extremely bright).

LEDS are faster. It's a safety issue. "Style" has nothing to do with my choice to use LED bulbs. I want to give the driver behind the maximum time to react when I put on my brakes.

This video clearly shows how much faster LEDs are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huF9g4z50wc
That too. It's amazing how much faster my rear turn signals are now, that's where I noticed the difference the most when I swapped them.
 
#30 ·
I bought bulbs from V-LED's for my GTO and they look great! The only bulbs I need for the exterior will be the side repeaters and the tails. I got some SMD 194 bulbs for my plates and I can transfer those over too.

As far as those 7443/7440 bulbs go, I see three types on V-LED's site. They have standard, SACK and SRCK. Do we just need the standard?

I'm picking up a non-sunroof car on Friday so I ought to be able to confirm what his has for interior domes/maps.
 
#31 ·
As far as those 7443/7440 bulbs go, I see three types on V-LED's site. They have standard, SACK and SRCK. Do we just need the standard?
If you check the pages for CK bulbs, they say that they're designed for special applications on Toyota/Scion. Go with the standard bulbs.
 
#33 ·
Are you talking about regular 194 bulb-replacement LEDs, or the PCB boards I discussed earlier? For the dome lights themselves, or for the map lights in sunroof-equipped cars?
 
#34 ·
Just ordered some blue dome light, white license plate markers, and blue side repeaters from v-led.

Used coupon code "DRIVEN" for a 15% discount on top of sale prices.
 
#35 ·
Sylvania 2825 works for the side markers and repeaters. They come in amber and clear.
 
#36 ·
Starred (*) bulbs require a resistor (6 ohms on each bulb) to be installed in order to avoid hyperflash, brake release blinking, output degradation, and other unsavory side-effects.
Where/how does one go about getting ^ these?

I ordered bulbs but based on the reading here I require 6 Ohm resistors (x4) for the front and rear turn signals...thanks guys, this thread has been very useful!!!
 
#43 ·
Okay i have a G8 GT with no sunroof.. From what i am reading, I need 2 LED's (194) to do the interior swap and 2 more for the license plates? (4) 194 bulbs will get this done correct?

Thanks!
Make sure you get some short LED bulbs. Long (tower) bulbs may not fit.
 
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