OK having read more including Mr Palms tome, I thnk I'm on the right track.

5 #194 for the main dash lighting and 17 #74's for the warning lights.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/...s--/29-1165--/

seem to be a really good setup for picking the right LED's for each application.

Couple of questions though to those who know.

1. Should I use white or coloured #74's in the warning lights? thinking as they are behind coloured plastic that it will be fine?
2. What lumens should they be, this site gives 3 different lumen ratings for the three possible bulbs for that application - 25, 15 and 5 lumens! Same with the #194 different lumens and differnt beam angles.
3. Are CAN bus bulbs a no no?

cheers

Dave

 

Dave
Suggest you use color bulbs to match your display. I found two lumens to be good. I started with Ebay bulbs but found them to be unsatisfactory except for the white T10 instrument illumination. I have two suggestion; 1. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...lights-124049/ 2. buy your bulbs from US supplier with "bright" in their name.

More info. There is tape and paint that conducts electricity and can be used to repair the plastic wiring or make more secure connections: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...e+tape&_sop=15

 

my experience

 

Just an FYI. I did quality soldering on the printed circuit with a 25 watt iron and very quick soldering..Be careful not to solder to plastic covering over copper traces, Look closely as it is deceptive.

 

Has anyone removed the plastic strip that covers the bulbs and contains messages (Such as Sport, high beams, turn signals, etc) Facelift model. Would like to know how. I believe it is glued on, but hoping it snaps in

If that plastic strip is removable, White T-10 bulbs can be used by inserting from the display side rather to the top side. I used White T-10 bulbs and mounted from the top side (The proper way) Mounting was very difficult because they do not fit the hole. but illumination was very good once installed. The real plus they cost eight dollars for 20 white bulbs; shipping was free.
Other than Facelift models it appears they have direct access to the mounting holes. I would suppose they would take T-10????

 

[QUOTE=afterburner1;1228853]Has anyone removed the plastic strip that covers the bulbs and contains messages (Such as Sport, high beams, turn signals, etc) Facelift model. Would like to know how. I believe it is glued on, but hoping it snaps in

If that plastic strip is removable, White T-10 bulbs can be used by inserting from the display side rather than the top side. I used White T-10 bulbs and mounted from the top side (The proper way) Mounting was very difficult because they do not fit the hole. but illumination was very good once installed. The real plus they cost eight dollars for 20 white bulbs; shipping was free.
Other than Facelift models it appears that other cars have direct access to the mounting holes. I would suppose they would take T-10????

 

Well swapped out the instrument lights today before going on an afternoon run, drove back home after dark. Very happy with result apart from a couple of issues.
I replaced the warning lights with leds and they are great except the high bean light which is now a bit too bright (distracting) so I'll buy a dimmer led and swap that in.
I replaced the gear selector light for a green led and did away with green film strip as it had a black mark at the drive locale from the heat generated by the old light. I also replaced the lighter light with a green led for a faint funky green glow when driving at night with the phone charger plugged in. Swapped the fibre optic light for a 240lm 6xled and now it works nicely. It illuminates all the bits it should quite tastefully!

Now the bad part - when going over the binnacle and swapping out the 5 dial lights with 30lm leds I noticed that there was a break in the copper circuit relating to the light at the top of the tacho, bummer! going to try to fix it with some new stick on copper tape if that will work?

 

[QUOTE=afterburner1;1229681]The strip is removeable, but the bulbs are not T10s. It's a B8.3 base, I believe. You'll need to fit them in from behind the circuit board, meaning installing from the display side is impossible.

 

Dave 110
Copper tape will work provided both sides are conductors. You can also solder the printed circuit with a 25 watt iron or less. When soldering make sure there is no clear plastic over the traces.

Vee
The wedge type T-10 will fit if the plastic strip with the warnings is removed The T-10's are fat on the illuminating side and on the back side they fit through the hole. once into the hole the can be glued in place and soldered to the printed circuit. No bases are used.

Vee;
My question to you is how do you remove that plastic warning strip without breaking it?


Another method that I considered was to enlarge the holes for a T-10 to drop in. This way you approach the whole job from the back side and do not remove the plastic warning strip. Then take 20 small squares each with a small hole with the T10 glued at an opium distance for illumination and drop the bulb into the enlarge hole and then solder bulbs to the circuit board. Soldering the bulb is easy since one side of the bulb is ground and all bulbs do not need individual grounds