LED fog light and marker light upgrade complete

[lion]

While I'm not as concerned about the fit (does look like a match after all the research I did), I'm going to hold off with ordering them for 2 reasons:

1) Price: TRS website offered 20% off recently, plus it looks like other sites (such as the Focus ST website) managed to get them for around $130 via a Group Buy. $175 is too much.
2) Color: Some of the pics in this 10-page thread on focusst.org about these lights makes it seem like they might not match the color of our LED headlights.

As for the Sylvania LEDriving lights, I ordered 4 from Advance Auto Parts (can't beat that 35% discount), but I had to go to multiple stores in order to get that quantity. Not sure if they are discontinuing them or what. Will install them this weekend.

asimba2: where did you get the H11 plug for your BMW fog conversion? If you got any more pics/details of the conversion process, post them please, thanks!

 

[asimba2]

From the Leaf Wiki:

LED headlights: 5012K
High beam: 3107K
Fog lights: 3011K
Parking lights: 3007K

I like warm white lighting inside my house, but I do prefer 5000K lighting on vehicles, particularly on something as advanced as an EV. The mix of 3000K and 5000K lighting on the Leaf looked terrible. The LED headlights on the Leaf are good enough that the factory fogs did absolutely nothing to add forward lighting, not to mention they are very inefficient. The LED retrofit fixes all of those things. (The XB fogs are 5000K as well, so they should also match the Leaf LED headlights.)

I can't say anything bad about the X5 retrofit, other than it did take probably 6 hours by the time I had them built and aimed. It's not so hard to cut the back out of the Leaf fogs, but after doing some trimming I found it necessary to use modeling clay to temporarily hold the module inside the Leaf housing while it was on the car so I could aim them. Then they were permanently secured in that position. This is a pain as you'll need to set aside some time after dark to do some driveway aiming. And of course you loose the adjusting mechanism, so your fallback would be to shim the mounting tabs with washers if you found it a bit off, but that's about all you can do.

I did not take very many photos, but I did find a write up online where a guy put the same modules inside his Ford Focus housings, which happen to be exactly the same as the Leaf. Here is his writeup: LINK.

What I did differently is I have the modules at about a 15 degree angle outward, since the bezel of the X5 lamps is curved inward. I didn't use the screen/cloth he did, but I cut a few scraps of tin to fill in the larger gaps between the module and the housing, then sealed with silicone.

It's a total hack, but in this thread the poster compares the $175 XB light with a nearly $300 light and I think the BMW ones look better than either one. (And they are only $60.) I think these compare pretty favorably with the HID Hella Micro DE fog lights I have on another car.

As far as the H11 plug, the BMW plug is already H11. But the polarity is wrong, so I cut the 2 wires on the BMW lamps and switched them. That way if I decide to keep these lamps when I turn the Leaf in at the end of the lease, I can simply swap in some stockers with no fuss.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. If you're willing to put the work into it, you'll end up with a very good light.

 

[TomT]

I believe that I was the one that measured the color temperatures way back when with my Sencore... I went with 5000K in all my replacement lamps to match the color temperatures... Just an FYI that numerous studies have shown that 4300K is actually the best color temperature for human visual acuity at night...

From the Leaf Wiki:
LED headlights: 5012K
High beam: 3107K
Fog lights: 3011K
Parking lights: 3007K

 

[asimba2]

I bought some similar to the pic below to go into my ICE license plate lights and found that the Leaf uses the same 2825 bulb, so it got a set too.

Not surprisingly, I am not having good luck with the above cheapo Amazon bulbs (to illuminate the license plate). Both bulbs are now flickering after five short months. The Sylvania/Osram LEDs I am using in the front marker lights are excellent though, and they served two years of duty as the license plate lights in my other car. They're also expensive though, at $12 each. Looks like I will be buying two more Osrams.

 

[lion]

Just check sites such as SlickDeals.netfor Advanced Auto Coupons, they have been posting a lot of coupons lately.