I just reached in through the glove box. Wasn't easy and I had it in reverse first time, but finally did it.

 

Guess I'll give it another go, the only thing that sucks is if you don't get it the first time or two then its too hot to pull...lol

 

I think I used needle nose pliers very carefully to remove the bulb.

 

You could get a small sheet of tape about 3 inches long and then fold it into a circle and get it on the light and pull. But get the tape ready before you are in the car so the bulb is not hot and burns the tape

 

I used a rubber dishwashing glove and applied slight pressure to the side of the bulb with my index finger and pushed outward on the bulb a couple times and it just popped out. Like you HLG I put the LED in opposite the first time but thankfully it was much easier to get out so I just flipped it around and viola, then there was light!

 

Been meaning to upload these pics for a good while....

Changing out the puddle bulbs for LEDs:

Move the mirror as far up as it can go, pull it away from the housing, then take a narrow bladed flat tip screwdriver, insert into the slot, and pull on the lens assy on the bottom of the housing:





I did manage to break the tab the first time I tried to get the lens assy out...


The bulb just pulls out of the rubber boot. I used the same 5-LED bulb that I did the interior lights with:



Make sure they work before putting everything back together.

 

While I'm at it, might as well show how I changed out the reverse lights.

Remove the trunk liners to get access to these three nuts on each side:



OK, bear with me here, I did this almost a year ago, and the memories are a bit fuzzy... Lift up the clips around the circled plug, and pull the plug up:



OEM bulb with the replacement LED bulb. Will have to look up the number of the LED bulb again...



Remove the white clip, and then pull the OEM bulb out of the socket. I left the green o-ring in place.



Press the new bulb in place. You will feel resistance because of the o-ring.



Reinstall the white clip.

Test the light. If it doesn't work, rotate it 180, reinstall and test again. If everything is copastetic, reinstall into the taillight housing, put housing back onto the car and put back on the three nuts. Repeat for the other side.

Original OEM bulbs:



LEDs:



One big thing to take into account. The LEDs get kind of washed out in bright sunlight, to the point that other drivers may not be able to tell with a quick glance that the lights are even on. In all other lighting conditions, especially at night, these suckers really light up the area.

 

I tried the same thing a couple of months ago, but try as I might I could not move/release the bulb housing.
What worked for me was to lever the cover off from the outside, no need to unclip the mirror glass at all. Gently, with a small flat blade screwdriver covered with a cloth. Only problem was that the cover/housing wouldn't fit back tight and flush, fixed by a careful application of superglue.

 

Thanks to this thread I've spent more money upgrading to LEDs...smh. Since this is the official LED thread figured I should put these here. Because Adamesh is not currently making the LED DRL blades and I just couldn't trust the set from China on eBay for their asking price, with no reviews, I decided to buy a set of Philips DRL 8 LEDs, grab a rotary tool, LOTS of time and DIY'd these myself (tell me what ya'll think). All the interior bulbs with the exception of the vanity mirrors (should be in the mail when I get home) have been changed. The reverse lights should be in the mail as well. Haven't decided on doing the turn signals yet but will do the hi-beams in the near future.

 

I think you did a great job on the LED running lights!

 

Precite it Lew! Took way longer than I anticipated.

 

Finally got my vanity mirrors and reverse lights done. Make sure if you're ordering reverse LEDs that they aren't bigger than 17mm in diameter...learned that one the hard way.

 

Hey BigCat, I was trying to install LED lights in the interior of the car and the only one that seemed to work was the middle dome light. The right and left side dome lights did not turn on nor did the rear lights. Do u have any suggestions?

 

Hey guys, I installed LEDs in the interior of my car and a check engine sign came up after driving approximately 12 miles.. Could the lights be related to the check engine sign?

 

Thanks to the guys who took out their time to take pics of the steps for changing the filaments to leds.

The only trouble I have is the rear turn signal led lights. I have tried the "no error" 5202 from an ebay seller, which fits perfect and lights up, but still gives the error after turning on and off the car, driving, after days.

Anyone have a brand they used that didn't give them this error? I don't want to chop into the wires and add a resistor.

Thanks ahead of time guys.

 

Hello guys,

Maybe it is a dumb question, but has any of you changed their turn signal bulbs to LED?

When I was changing my reverse lights to LED I did test those bulbs as rear turn signals but it just started to blink faster(because of the bulb out warning).

Many people have tried the add a resistor method, to which I'm not a big fan of, with mixed results.

Now, way back when(around 2009), when I went full LED on my 99' Expedition I came across that same problem and my solution was to replace the flasher unit for an electronic one, which seems to me that it should be the right approach.

The only thing is that you wont be able to know if one of your bulbs is out\not working.

Fast forward to 2011 and I tried the same recipe on my 00' BMW M3 and I was getting a ton of bulb out messages from the information computer as the car's ECU monitors all important bulbs(brake, parking, turn, etc).

Even though I manage to change the flasher unit to bring the blink rate to normal it was a real PITA to "get reminded" every few minutes that I had basically no bulbs working on the car.

Now my REAL Question for you all XF Tech savvy is: Does the XF have a "regular" flasher unit or is it controlled\monitored by the ECU.

If it indeed has a flasher unit, where is it located?

Thanks for the great posts

Tony.

 

Hi guys,

First off, I wanted to thank everybody that contributed to this thread. I added LED's throughout my 2009 XF, however, the LEDs are cheap quality and the lights look bluish as opposed to white. I've reviewed some pictures and "Ish" added the color that I wanted to add in his vehicle. Any recommendations as to where to purchase LEDs for the interior and exterior (parking lights and plate number lights)? Thank you in advance.

 

The answer to your question is on 1st page. BigCat has a whole write up and we're to buy including every bulb number.

 

Has anybody installed Car Door Welcome LED Projector Logo Laser on an XF?

 

Thank you BigCat09. with the help of your post and pictures, I was able to change all the bulbs in my XF to led. I even went the extra mile to change the halogens for the low beam to xenon 8000 and the parking to white led. And I must add it looks pretty cool.