Finally, brighter speedo LED bulbs that work!

[Ozzy]

After trying loads of different bulbs, I finally found some that work and are much, much brighter than the crappy stock ones without any of the usual bright spots/uneven light problems and the dimmer still works. Thought I'd share for those wanting to upgrade theirs also.

The bulbs to get are called 'T5 3 3030 SMD'.

There's various different colours on ebay. A lot of them seem to be from china though so delivery time is around 2 weeks. Theres similar looking bulbs from UK but most are actually different, crap and cost more. Trust me, I tried loads.

I'll post the ebay item numbers below for the different colours so you know which to get and they cost £4.33 for 10 bulbs. Keep in mind, all the colours will look slightly pale due to the orange filter but still decent.

Ebay item numbers
Amber    - 401714378348
Red      - 183344612233
Blue     - 401572722076
Ice Blue - 183344611905
White    - 183344611899
Pink     - 183344612232
Green    - 401572722157

I got the amber bulbs as I quite like the stock orange look. The original bulbs actually look more dingy in person as you all know and the new bulbs are actually waay brighter.

[Ardent]

 
wooozers

[Bossworld]

Good find and post!

Would you mind posting a pic at dusk, if you get chance? I've got LEDs fitted but they've got hotspots, as it were, and they're hopeless on an early evening as the sun is setting.

Mine are (I don't have a clue what all the numbers mean)

10x WHITE T5 286 3 SMD 5050 Wedge LED 3W Lighting Light Bulb Dashboard 12V 3528

Edit: looks like that 3030 designation on yours makes all the difference according to this chart

https://www.saving-star.com/smd-led-comparison/

[househead]

I might just have to give these a go!

@Ardent this is definitely a mod  are you going for it?

[Ardent]

@househead
Too left field for me.
Will stick with my stock replacements

[onion86]

Nice, they do look very bright!

Keep in mind, all the colours will look slightly pale due to the orange filter but still decent.

Did you try them to see? Wondering what the blue ones would actually look like.

Does the dimmer wheel still work, I don't like having them super bright all of the time?

[Ozzy]

@Bossworld
I'll get some pics tomorrow... If I don't forget lol.


@onion86
Dimmer wheel still works and not tried myself with these bulbs but I know someone who has tried blue using some different bulbs and the colour looks pretty good.


One bulb is missing in the middle but you get the idea of how it should look.

Blue is a dark colour so not sure how easy it would be to read the speed or how good it'll look in person. Colours like amber, ice blue, white and pink are probably best for visibility.

[Call the midlife!]

Straightforward push fit replacements or any soldering required etc??

[Petrus]

@Ardent this is definitely a mod  are you going for it?

Bwahahahahaa ;-)

I like the clocks et all as dim as possible. That distracts less and is better for your night vision.

[Bossworld]

Straightforward push fit replacements or any soldering required etc??

The holders twist out of the clocks (only three screws to get the clocks free if I'm remembering correctly).  You then just carefully remove the existing glass bulbs from the holders without gripping them too tight.

You may need to push the metal contacts inside the holders in slightly so they grip the LED boards better.  You'll also swear a lot as you put them in, realise you've got half of them the wrong polarity, and have to redo them.

Ordered the white ones, I love the effect on the needles but my previous attempt was too dark:



I also feel bad as I got them with a best offer of £4, that 33 pence would have probably made a difference to the seller  Take the boy out of Yorkshire...

[househead]

@Ardent this is definitely a mod  are you going for it?

Bwahahahahaa ;-)

I like the clocks et all as dim as possible. That distracts less and is better for your night vision.

I do tend to also dim them a little in pitch-blackness, but early sunset / early evening I do prefer them as bright as possible. If the dimmer wheel still works with these then you still have that option.

[Call the midlife!]

Straightforward push fit replacements or any soldering required etc??

The holders twist out of the clocks (only three screws to get the clocks free if I'm remembering correctly).  You then just carefully remove the existing glass bulbs from the holders without gripping them too tight.

You may need to push the metal contacts inside the holders in slightly so they grip the LED boards better.  You'll also swear a lot as you put them in, realise you've got half of them the wrong polarity, and have to redo them.

Ordered the white ones, I love the effect on the needles but my previous attempt was too dark:



I also feel bad as I got them with a best offer of £4, that 33 pence would have probably made a difference to the seller  Take the boy out of Yorkshire...

Nicely done! Yeah, I've replaced the standard ones before so I'm au fait with the general procedure but I've also seen people have to solder leds in and I'm all fat thumbs when it comes to that.

I'm also another lover of a barely there light at night but run with sidelights on during the day and like the dash turned up to 11.
Thanks for the guinea pig work and the good info, I might risk the £4 myself next time I'm feeling flush.😆

[Petrus]

If the dimmer wheel still works with these then you still have that option.

Mine does but I only used it to dim to just under half and left it there.

[Ozzy]

Good find and post!

Would you mind posting a pic at dusk, if you get chance?...

Visibility is still pretty good tbh

[Bossworld]

Good find and post!

Would you mind posting a pic at dusk, if you get chance?...

Visibility is still pretty good tbh

Nice one. Ordered the white ones as above, will stick a picture up in a few weeks. Glad you did the research, it seems the numbers on this type are much higher in terms of output/lumens.

[Ozzy]

Looking forward to how they look, that colour of your current bulbs looks alot nicer than expected and makes the needles really pop. Wonder if the ice blue bulbs mixed with the stock orange filter would make the speedo light up pure white with red needles.




By the way, do you guys have an empty bulb spot on the back of the speedo? I do but not sure if I've got one missing or supposed to be like that.

[Call the midlife!]

Looking forward to how they look, that colour of your current bulbs looks alot nicer than expected and makes the needles really pop. Wonder if the ice blue bulbs mixed with the stock orange filter would make the speedo light up pure white with red needles.




By the way, do you guys have an empty bulb spot on the back of the speedo? I do but not sure if I've got one missing or supposed to be like that.

Whereabouts? I know the SMT has a gear indicator on the panel but not sure if it's a standalone led display?

[househead]

By the way, do you guys have an empty bulb spot on the back of the speedo? I do but not sure if I've got one missing or supposed to be like that.

I had an empty one too when I last changed mine out (not leds). I assumed it was for the SMT display which has an extra bit.

[Ozzy]

Aaah, must have been for the SMT display then as you guys said. It was near the middle, around the same location where it would be. I tried putting a bulb in but didn't notice any different so left it empty.

[onion86]

Look good, thanks. I'll try both the blues and see how they come out

[Bossworld]

Mine arrived (fairly quickly, though given the recent developments around Coronavirus I wasn't sure what would happen to something from China).

Fitted up, I cannot understate how little fun it is ensuring polarity is correct.  The high beam one was particularly fun.  I thought I had it nailed by making sure the writing on the back of the bulb holders was the same for all, and that the - and + signs on the LED's board were all the same in relation.  Nope   

They are definitely brighter, I've lost some of the detail/distance on the needles as these bulbs sit much closer to the plastic bulb holder but hopefully I'll be able to see at dusk now.  The photo makes the needle effect seem greater than it is.

These are the 'white' ones. Much more uniform, the only bright spots left are the '3' on the rev counter, and 120mph marker.

Second pic is a before/after, the left hand side is my old LEDs, the right, the new.

[househead]

Nice to see that with some decent LEDs, the redline is actually red I can barely see a difference in colour on it with my (replacement, similar to) stock bulbs.

Ordered 3 different colours as they're so cheap I'd like to see what's possible colour-wise. 7% discount for multi-buy too!

[Ozzy]

That looks nice but odd that it still has a slight bright spot for you. Definitely better than before though.

If you have a spare bulb left, you could try sanding or filing down the base of the bulb a little bit that's causing the hotspot, the part that wedges into the holder. That should help sort it out.

[shnazzle]

Those lights actually look quite good. A lot better than the LEDs I put in and then ripped out.

Might have me reconsidering

[Bossworld]

Those lights actually look quite good. A lot better than the LEDs I put in and then ripped out.

Might have me reconsidering

The type makes all the difference, looking at the chart I linked to earlier, the 3030 designation that Ozzy found is miles ahead in terms of lumens, to the ones I took out