lion said:
Well I confirmed it should work, so at least there is hope
I'm surprised you are getting help from Philips. They don't want to support the US market, especially now that they have spun off the lighting product lines into a separate company.
Where did you mount the controller? I dropped mine into the bracket that holds the 12V battery (and tied down the wire with a zip-tie as a backup).
How do you like the lights? Any trouble installing them? Any regrets?
I love mine, but I wish there was a better location (like the Nissan LEAF Nismo bumper).
Actually I am from Europe, but still contacted US consumer care and received an answer by email. They even suggested to contact them again if I have some additional questions
I mounted the controller in the very front, under the removable plastic cover. There was a second flat plastic conver down below with a lot of empty space around, so I just used two screws to firmly attach the controller. It looks very stable. And also the wires from the LEDs had to go a very short way.
I really like the lights. Although following the bumpers curve they are not pointed directly forward, so the best brightness of each one is a little to each side. But maybe that not so bad - the car is super visible from the angle (pedestrians etc.). I really like that the color of the LEDs perfectly matches with car lights, so during night it looks like one system lighting and I can easily recognize my car from far away, when wife is using it.
It was really tough installing them on LEAFs bumper, as the bracket design coulb be better - I bought a special angle attachment for my 12V screw driver, however the lower hole of the bracket was so tiny, I could not fit any "screw head" (don't know how to call them proprely) through it. So I had to use some force and use a simple screw driver doing it from an angle. That way, one of the brackets moved from the original position while doing it and the lights are not 100 percent perfectly alligned. So this is my only regret - before pushing the lights in, I didn't meassure exact distances of mounted brackets. Witout the lights in, it was not visible, and after that, it was too late. But it really worried me only the first day. Now I don't notice it any more, as following the curve of the bumper put's the lights in a discrete position (I think it might be otherwise if they would be perfectly straight and one side would stick out).
Yes Nismo bumper would be nice, and the location probably better, however current location is also ok, as it's quite unique among other vehicles I see and looks fine.
Before installing I was making a decision between these Philips and others Osram - which would have been a much more OEM choice and maybe would have looked more cool, but they were more than two times more expensive. They are fitted instad of FOG lights, but have double fuction as daylight lights and as FOG lights. They even have side lighting when you turn.
And from what information I found, would fit LEAF without problems. However installing them would be more difficult than Philips. And since I am something very far from a technician, I decided to go the simpler path
