Hello guys

I want to swap out all the interior lights in my G35 and my buddy's FX, I'm more than confused with the array of choices.

Is there a QUALITY difference between the bulbs sold on SuperBrightLEDs vs AutoLumination, for example? AutoLumination charges $10/bulb, which seems to be double the price of SuperBrightLEDs and eBay...is this price disparity justified? How can they get away with it if it's not?

And WHY is their website the worst designed website in history? They have at least 3 different bulbs listed as the "best bulb in history"...

As far as SuperBrightLEDs, seems people buy their "WLED-4" bulbs.. why not WLED-5? or more? Is it just the price issue?

Am I in danger of buying LEDs that are TOO bright? (heat issues, etc)

I know I need 168/194 bulbs for the map lights, rear plate, and interior lights (8 in all, correct?)... Which should I buy?


Any help would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

I got mine from vled.com (www.frickenbright.com). They use the SMT type (superior) and they ship via usps (not a rip off). Very happy with mine.

 

got mine from superbrightleds.com and they are smt leds too

 

Leds wont emit as much near heat as to cause any problems, i have 12led in my front map lights went with superbright got over a year out o fthem but get occasional flicker out of no where...

 

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp#LED_light_sources
LED light sources
Automotive headlamp applications using LEDs have been undergoing very active development since 2004[26][27]. The first series-production LED headlamps are factory-installed on the 2008 Lexus LS 600h / LS 600h L (low beam, front position light and sidemarker only; high beam and turnsignal are filament based. The headlamp is supplied by Koito), and on the version of the 2008 Audi R8 sports car sold outside North America supplied by Automotive Lighting. The LED headlamp supplied by Hella for the 2009 Escalade Platinum is the first U.S. market headlamp with both a LED low and high beam. Present designs give performance between halogen and HID headlamps, with system power consumption slightly higher than halogen headlamps. These lamps currently require large packaging and a large number of the most powerful LED emitters available. As LED technology continues to evolve, the performance of LED headlamps is predicted to improve to approach, meet, and perhaps one day surpass that of HID headlamps.[28]

The limiting factors with LED headlamps presently include high system expense, regulatory delays and uncertainty, glare concerns related to the output spectrum of white LEDs, and logistical issues created by LED operating characteristics. LEDs are commonly considered to be low-heat devices due to the public's familiarity with small, low-output LEDs used for electronic control panels and other applications requiring only modest amounts of light. However, LEDs actually produce a significant amount of heat per unit of light output. Rather than being emitted together with the light as is the case with conventional light sources, an LED's heat is produced at the rear of the emitters. The cumulative heat of numerous high-output LED emitters operating for prolonged periods poses thermal-management challenges for plastic headlamp housings. In addition, this heat buildup materially reduces the light output of the emitters themselves. LEDs are quite temperature sensitive, with many types producing at 30 °C (85 °F) only 60% of the rated light output they produce at an emitter junction temperature 16 °C (60 °F). Prolonged operation above the maximum junction temperature will permanently degrade the LED emitter and ultimately shorten the device's life. The need to keep LED junction temperatures low at high power levels always requires additional thermal management measures such as heatsinks and exhaust fans which are typically quite expensive.

Temperature is a major factor when dealing with semiconductors...it could also be the quality of the LED used by the websites. The best way to make sure LEDs last longer than the vehicle is to drive the LEDs from an external power driver...or try and make sure less power is applied to the LEDs, making sure they don't overheat...cause once a LED is damaged, the quality remains bad. You might even be able to just buy one of the luxeonstar.com's star LEDs and somehow mount it to the 168/194 adapter. luxeonstar uses very high quality LEDs...in fact, they're used in our taillights

 

So.. we established that over-heating can be a theoretical problem but practically does not happen.

Any word on whether it's highway robbery to pay $10/bulb??

I personally know many members have purchased off AutoLumination and some JDM sites that sell for $10 a pop too...why?

 

overheating is a theoretical problem that DOES happen, why would processors have heatsinks on them if overheating did not occur? processors are like LEDs in the respect that they're both semiconductors and at the atomic level, electrons behave similarly in both...

 

I mean it doesnt happen in the normal (short-term) usage of LEDs used for interior lighting of cars bro, chill your electrons

I rarely keep interior lights on for more than seconds at a time, I doubt over-heating will become a problem that quickly. Incandescent bulbs are hardly cool either. My point is tons of people have used LEDs as interior lights with no problem, so I'm not concerned about it.

I'm more concerned about lumen differences between manufacturers. Seems like SuperBrightLEDs are USA-made and of decent quality at least, so I'll be ordering from them in all likelihood. If anything goes wrong, I'll try the more expensive AutoLumination and see how they compare.

Also seems like we have limited choice in the size of bulbs that will fit in our housings: even though 5-, 6-, or 9-LED bulbs have the same socket, it seems 4-LEDs are the most popular, according to some because the larger bulbs do not fit.

(http://www.infinitifx.org/viewtopic....&sd=a&start=25)

Any more input?

 

that's true, with the interior lights i don't think you'd have to worry much about overheating, but i know many members who also do their license plate lights, and those will be on for long periods of time depending on the road trip i guess...i do see what you mean though

i don't have much experience from any of those companies...i ordered 6-LED corner city parking lights a while back but never changed it. i would imagine most of those companies are the same in terms of quality...personally, if you are worried about the lumens output then i would buy a luxeon star LED from luxeonstar.com and change the LEDs out individually...luxeon uses a different process to make their LEDs than the conventional method where the semiconductor material covers the diode, making the spectral lines diffract in the substrate

http://clearcorners.com/products/006/index01.shtml

there is a good comparison for some the LEDs you mentioned above, mike did some testing of all kinds of LEDs to show the differences between them

also, many members here stand strong by their Philips Ultinon xenon bulbs and strongly discourage the use of lesser-known brands for their HID bulbs...luxeon LEDs are philips brand so you know the quality is there...i may even try a retrofit of an LED myself, that would be the best method if you care about lumens...go to their website and see for yourself, they rated higher by a significant amount compared to the LEDs on those websites you mentioned

 

I bought this one for my license plate lights. In the description on the website, they are said to be specifically made for license plate lights due to the metal ring around the bulb (dissipate heat). Whether it's true or not, I don't know but will find out down the road.

 

cool thanks ugaexploder and san~man, I went ahead and ordered a bunch of lights for the interior from SuperBrightLEDs, but I'll keep Luxeonstar in mind for later.

As far as the license plate lights.. I'm not sure if I want to replace them at all, but if I do I'll post if overheating causes them to flicker out. I know others have had the flickering problem mostly on their license plate lights, perhaps for the reasons you mention.

Great link to clearcorners btw, the comparison confirmed what I already knew, that incandescent bulbs are alot brighter in the conventional sense. Interestingly, they seem to be alot hotter as well, but I believe LEDs are alot more temperature-sensitive than incandescents.

Thanks for everyone's help.