Buckeye_S4
07-26-2013, 07:01 PM
Got the LED replacement bulbs from USP in the mail today. Their installation video is a bit weird because the sample car already has LEDs installed but it's pretty good to show you how to pry things out. I essentially got everything except the glove box replacement because I could care less about the light in there. The lights all look good, definite improvement over the standard bulbs. Here are a couple things that might be helpful in addition to the video if you decide to perform this upgrade.
1. The stock bulbs get HOT very quickly. Nearly instantly. Be prepared for this and maybe have something to grab them with or in my case I decided to push them out from above with my tiny flat head screwdriver. The down side is hot bulbs flying everywhere.
2. I never had issues using a tiny flat head instead of the plastic pry tool with one exception; I think it would have messed up the rectangular white front dome light cover if I had pryed with the flat head. My solution, since you have to remove the whole roof mounted console to get to the map lights was to just push out the dome light bulbs from above and then push on the inside of the dome light cover from above as well near the edge. Once it popped open I just grabbed it from below and voila.
3. My gaggle of LEDs came in a nifty felt bag but they were all mixed together and I wasn't sure how I would know what went where but it's pretty intuitive once you get to it.
4. I probably had the most issue installing the bulbs in the rear map lights. Getting the harness out was not an issue but the bulbs were hot and stuck in pretty good so I ended up pushing them out from the top with the screwdriver.
Some connectors may get pushed or bent slightly out of place but just move them back. Anyway I'm already making it sound more complicated than it is. Everything pretty much snaps in and out very easily. Below are a few phone pics I took in my garage with the door closed.
Puddle
http://carphotos4.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/44/16282044_large.jpg
Front (sorry for the weird rotation)
http://carphotos2.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/64/16282046_large.jpg
Dash
http://carphotos3.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/35/16282053_large.jpg
Dome
http://carphotos2.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/15/16282051_large.jpg
Rear
http://carphotos3.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/84/16282048_large.jpg
1. The stock bulbs get HOT very quickly. Nearly instantly. Be prepared for this and maybe have something to grab them with or in my case I decided to push them out from above with my tiny flat head screwdriver. The down side is hot bulbs flying everywhere.
2. I never had issues using a tiny flat head instead of the plastic pry tool with one exception; I think it would have messed up the rectangular white front dome light cover if I had pryed with the flat head. My solution, since you have to remove the whole roof mounted console to get to the map lights was to just push out the dome light bulbs from above and then push on the inside of the dome light cover from above as well near the edge. Once it popped open I just grabbed it from below and voila.
3. My gaggle of LEDs came in a nifty felt bag but they were all mixed together and I wasn't sure how I would know what went where but it's pretty intuitive once you get to it.
4. I probably had the most issue installing the bulbs in the rear map lights. Getting the harness out was not an issue but the bulbs were hot and stuck in pretty good so I ended up pushing them out from the top with the screwdriver.
Some connectors may get pushed or bent slightly out of place but just move them back. Anyway I'm already making it sound more complicated than it is. Everything pretty much snaps in and out very easily. Below are a few phone pics I took in my garage with the door closed.
Puddle
http://carphotos4.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/44/16282044_large.jpg
Front (sorry for the weird rotation)
http://carphotos2.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/64/16282046_large.jpg
Dash
http://carphotos3.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/35/16282053_large.jpg
Dome
http://carphotos2.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/15/16282051_large.jpg
Rear
http://carphotos3.cardomain.com/images/0016/02/84/16282048_large.jpg