TF front sidelight change to LED

I've upgraded my rear lights over the past year to more powerful LEDs so as to counteract the effect of the smoked lens on my Lexus type rear lights. I've also upgraded the front main beam and dipped beam to Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited bulbs (literally brilliant +110% illumination)..and replaced the front fried egg indicator bulbs to chrome...but I've stopped short of changing the front sidelights because it's just too darned difficult to find an LED bulb that will easily fit.

However, I think I've cracked it now..not the bulb of course..that would be silly..but it was close!

I realise that replacing filament bulbs with LEDs is controversial so why do I want to do this?..well

LEDS are:
1. More expensive - not good
2. More robust - good
3. Brighter - good IMO
4. Whiter - good IMO
5. Lower wattage - good

I ended up fitting two of these:
2X Led Side Light Xenon White Car Bulb 501 T10 W2,1X9,5D 1X 3W Cree Hp 12V D 57 Completed
Despite the warnings on the ad I found these worked either way round..dunno how but I tried them both ways round in the fitting and they worked fine.
This is what my old sidelights looked like

This is where the sidelight bulb lives

Unscrew the plate and you can see the sidelight fitting on the left..where the grey wires terminate.

It's relatively easy to remove in one piece because the bulb is small and has a rounded end but there is a solid bulkhead in the light assembly which makes the length of the bulb critical. It's necessary to pull it backwards and pull the rear upwards to clear the bulkhead.

Here are the bulbs I tried to use..The leftmost one is the original..I discarded the middle one because it's too long and spiky which makes it virtually impossible to fit and also because it has LEDs shining sideways which don't contribute to the light because the fitting obscures them.

I used this one

..and this is the trick to fitting the longer bulbs..easy really once you work it out..duh!
Place the bulb in the fitting

and then using long nose pliers to push the end cap on the bulb..while holding the bulb in place with a small screwdriver (not shown). Failure to hold the bulb in place means the bulb disappears into the front lens and it's a sod to remove..

and this is how they look..

and I think they look great...and more to the point they make my black LE500 more visible when parked and they use fewer amps....so not likely to flatten my battery. :yesnod: :yesnod: :broon:

Just to add.. there are two types of TF headlights. One type has the 'slotted' sidelight holder like above, where you can maneuver the bulb in from an angle, the other type is it a totally enclosed tube, and there is not enough room to wiggle a larger bulb in on the fitting, and nowhere to hold the bulb with a screwdriver for the method above!

Best to check which type you have under the access panel before you go buying the LEDs! Felix's ones were fine, Meg's were not!

I didn't know that Adam...would it be possible to cut a slot?

I've never come across the non slotted type, but I did have to widen the slot as the ones I used on DeepBlue were on the large side.

They do make a difference, but they tend to not last very long before they start flashing.