So I'm still having issues with the brake lights on my 500e. Can't seem to find any that will light with the parking lights. Brake? Fine. Parking light - no go and bulb out error. As soon as I put in the incandescent, everything works just fine. I'm pretty close to giving up...

 

Not in the spirit of this thread, but I ended up using resistors here. 50 ohm is plenty enough to trick any parking bulb, but you could probably dial it in closer to 100 ohm depending on your exact specs. Pick up the same 5 pin connector and you can avoid splicing stock wiring. There is plenty of space and thermal headroom to mount the resistor below the housing. Just keep in mind it's not exactly waterproof in there.

 

Fast forward 2 months everything still working good. The led headlights are a joy to drive at night over the halogens.

 

I am pretty sure that "FiatCares" is a bot of some sorts.

 

Just spoke with Lasfit and they said a CANBUS error-free brake light LED is actually in the works and will hopefully be available late-August. That one should work for the Fiat 500e brake lights. I'm gonna get a replacement incandescent brake light bulbs in the meantime and order that one when it's available.

 

I think the "holy grail" here figuring out DRLs that work (without headlights being ON) that don't trigger errors.

 

Even those LasFits caused flickering in the normal "ON" position. D'oh!

 

Almost a year later from this original post, is there any solution -plug and play- for the LED DRL? 😬

 

Sorry - I just got my '16 500e. I am using these without any errors or flickering: 2800LM 7443 Super Bright LED DRL Daytime Running Light Bulbs 6000K Xenon White | eBay

 

I did what most people, who really want white LED DRLs, did - turned the DRL function to OFF in the car's configuration - meaning they only turn on with the headlights. It does defeat the purpose of DRLs but it's the only way to keep them on without triggering an error apparently.

I used some KATUR 7443 LEDs

 

wow! it's 2020 and a seven years old car defeat us/me. hehe. With these LEDs did you need to use a load equalizer?

 

The best solution for LEDs is the electronic "Deceiver" inside the BCM.

 

The best solution for LEDs is the electronic "Deceiver" inside the BCM.



Is that Plug-and-Play?

 

Also, I "thought" I got all the correct CANBUS LEDs and now I get the DRL and BOTH TURN SIGNAL errors after driving for a bit. So I may just have to rip out all the LEDs except headlights and fog lights. UGH

 

These DLRs work without error for me - nice and bright - (2016 500e):

2800LM 7443 Super Bright LED DRL Daytime Running Light Bulbs 6000K Xenon White | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2800LM 7443 Super Bright LED DRL Daytime Running Light Bulbs 6000K Xenon White at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

But I cannot find any LEDs that will work correctly for the brake/tail lights.

 

I've tried 2 different brands of LED for the reverse lights T15/921. I can get one side to work but it only works if the halogen bulb is installed on the other light. Any ideas how to fix this? I took one set of them and installed in my GTI with zero issues, worked straight away.

 

I did a bunch of searching and came to the conclusion that Lasfit LEDs were the ones to try.

And so far so good!

9012 Headlights (Link) LA9012

Its a bit of a tight fit on the passenger side, I recommend taking the bolt out of one of the reservoirs so you can get the headlight cover back on.

Other than that, the wiring just needs to be tucked around the top of where the bulb sits and its done.

Very bright, good beam pattern.


Reverse Lights (Link) L-T15

install exactly like replacement Halogens... No errors, Extremely Bright

Trunk Light (Link) L-T10

This was a test because I wanted to see if these Canbus ready bulbs would actually work on the car. The t10 size is used in a number of places.

Its a bit thick compared to the stock bulb, so it has some issues fitting in the bulb socket. But there is enough flexibility to pry some extra space out of the bulb socket. I'd expect the same issue with the socket on the side markers, and turn signals.




Hope this helps some looking for LED replacements.

i'm going to try out some others as soon as i can. Fogs, interior bulbs, and some side markers.

Old thread I know,
But as usual the links have been deleted or no longer exist,
Does anyone have the part number to these LASFIT LED 9012 BULBS??
The Amazon links are bad.

Thanks,

 

I swapped to these: New 9012
Old version was discontinued, the new bulbs fit so much better. No struggle to get the dust cover back on.

 

Ha, the zombie thread is alive! My $60 Sylvania halogen bulbs toasted in just over a year. I too am on the same quest for LED longevity. I found these on Amazon and the car fit thing says the do work on a 500, but they are a bit salty. Then again I do love the free returns, just not standing on line at UPS making those returns. Mulling it over. So many reports of Canbus issues has me a bit shy.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...gp/product/B085RQR3X2/ref=crt_ewc_title_srh_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A208NATLN9W7P5

 

Did you check these out?
(click to enlarge)

They were recently posted by @Larry Karoll here:
Headlights and fog lights stopped working at the same time

I noticed the oldish date on that screenshot, so I searched Amazon myself to find the current link for them & I THINK this is it:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WYL1P4...1fd1629bbaa&pd_rd_w=497fy&pd_rd_wg=OLeUa&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_2_img

 

Did you check these out?

I just installed those lights. Haven't drive an inch with them but I did learn one thing. They are 2-sided LEDs, kind of like they are mounted on a popsicle stick, and they need to be adjusted about 45 degrees. I read that in a amazon review but forgot to do it to the first light. So as an experiment I left it stock and put the other in so the popsicle stick was parallel to the large tab. It was about a 45 degree adjustment. You can see from this pic that driver side is definitely brighter and that is the one I adjusted. If you buy these read the top review in Amazon. The guy tells you what to do. I'll report back after I do some night driving.

Here's what you get.

It's nice that they throw in the wrench for adjusting the angle. I didn't see a need for the zippies. The dust caps wont go on with these. I plan to drill a 2 holes side-by-side in the back of them, pass through the connector and then just silicone the wire to seal it up. I have to wait for temps above 40 to do that. According to the long range forecast it'll be late February or March. Hmmm, now that I think about it, I wonder if I can work all of that into the housing of each light with no mods? And I guess you have to worry about the heat or it wouldn't have a fan. Hmmm... prolly should stick to do nothing. If I seal it up it can't cool. Thoughts anyone?

 

I've now read a LOT of Amazon reviews, & at least one said they put the wire with the canbus block inside the housing with the dustcap on, although that was a different brand bulb AND car.

As for heat, the OEM halogen bulbs are pretty hot too, but you could turn the LEDs on while parked for minimal cooling airflow. Then pop the hood & feel them. Then if they're not all that hot, you could put a cap on for a few minutes, then take it off & feel, then try a bit longer, & see how hot they eventually get.

Many plastics can take pretty high heat. I accidentally left a shopping bag on top of my friend's huge counter-top oven at 375F & she was SO pissed but it didn't even melt. I've even had some pre-made meals in plastic that say they're conventional-oven-proof.

 

I just bit the bullet & ordered a set of $100 bulbs called "Hikari 9012 Acme x" (just search Amazon for that, but make sure you click on 9012, not H7 or something).

They're an in-between price*, with tons of great reviews when used in projector housings like ours, although apparently not quite so good in reflector housings but of course that doesn't matter to us.

@MondoMojo shouldn't have a heat issue tucking it all inside the dustcaps, because one of the reviews was a 500e user who did that. They didn't mention this though:

Hikari says I might need this $30 pair of add-on decoders, which they have available, unlike other brands I checked. The bulbs above have the standard one built right into the BULB**, so an external one would still fit in the housing, with the dustcaps on.

* $60 for @MondoMojo, $100 for me, $120 for the Lasfit in post #72
** NOT "built in" to a separate wire, like some others list.

 

Did you end up needing the add on decoders? I don’t see mention of them in your posts here.

 

Standard Philips halogen HIR2/9012 on the passenger side, Hikari Acme-X LED on the driver's side. Pic taken from dead-center ahead of car (click to enlarge):

Less than 5 minutes to do the driver's side but the other side is a bit blocked by a coolant reservoir. The new bulb only cleared the housing with its plug straight up instead of straight down as instructed, but it seems to work fine, with space for the OEM dust caps, & no adjustment needed.

No flickering or errors yet, so I hope that won't start after I get the 2nd one in 🤞.

 

Nice! How much juice do you think these might save?

 

I bought them in order to see even better at night, not to save power.
They only save about 1%.
In other words, I can now theoretically go 101 city miles instead of 100.


Here's the math: Mine use 64W/pair which is only 46W less than the OEM 55W x 2 bulbs. So every hour they only save 0.046kW hours, or about 0.21% of the Fiat's 22.2kWh of usable power. I can drive about 100 city miles averaging 21mph on my trip gauge, which takes 4.76 hours. Multiply that by 0.21% per hour & it's 1% saved when driving from full to dead.

I'm going right now to do a night drive test & also to park facing a light-colored wall for another old vs new comparison pic.

 

My initial driving impression with only ONE Hikari installed:

"WOW! These might be as good as the eGolf SEL that spoiled me!".

When I first drove my friend's eGolf SEL with OEM LEDs I actually said "These headlights are so good, I can't believe it isn't illegal to sell a new car with anything less".

Fiat 500e with Hikari "Acme-X" might match that.

My pics above & here do NOT do them justice.

In real-world driving they light up SO much more, especially anything "retro-reflective" like paint lines, bike reflectors, tail-lights of parked cars, & even streetsigns well above the cutoff line!

OEM fogs TOTALLY fill in the little dark patch low center of the pattern, which actually hits the road so close to the car that it doesn't matter at all. Sorry I didn't yet think to take a pic with fogs on, or a pic of the blinding blue-white high beams which I rarely get to use here in the city.

Click to enlarge, but please ignore the angle of the door. The driveway is sloped down on the right & the camera is parallel to the car floor:

 

I finally got them both in, so here's a pic of that, even though it still doesn't do them any justice (click to enlarge):

& here they are with the OEM fogs on, HOWEVER note that since the fogs are lower, they're angled more horizontal than the headlights, so they actually hit the road right at the little dark spot, filling it in perfectly, unlike this closeup shot:

Here's highbeam:

& here's no errors even without the add-on decoders
(except the ESC cuz I'd been driving with the power steering fuse out):

Also there's none of any flicker that's been reported for other LEDs, even without the add-on decoders, so those are not necessary. Just plug&play with just the Hikari 9012 Acme x bulbs.

 

INSTALLATION TIPS:

Super-easy driver side:

1. Twist off the dust cap & the old bulb, both counterclockwise as viewed from the driver's seat.
2. Twist the LED's adapter ring* so its long tab is straight down when the bulb plug is straight up*.
3. Insert & twist clockwise to lock the ring, plug it in, twist the plug back to straight up & replace the dust cap.

* Click to enlarge:

THESE have the error-&-flicker-preventing circuitry built right into the bulb base, so they may be a bit bigger than others, making the right side require removal of the black bracket shown just above my finger:

10mm socket for all 3 bolts: Reservoir, Base, & A/C tube at my fingertip. Unfortunately the latter was cross-threaded on mine so it was very hard to remove, & I didn't bother replacing it but the tube feels pretty sturdy as-is.

 

Its been awhile since I've been on and I've changed around a bit in the last month.

Headlights: original Lasfits, one bulb started to flicker last month. That one has been discontinued replaced with their 60W 6000LM 9012 LED. light output looks the same to me

DRLs: went back to a halogen, not the stock one, its a bit whiter, but i still hate it. More on why later
Extremely bright front blinkers: Back to stock, same reason as above
Reverse: Back to stock, same reason as above

Sidemarkers: replaced all of them. a couple of duds, one set was still on warranty. Lasfit sent a new set immediately.


Rear taillights: I finally got the Series 4 tails in!
I'll make a post of the process, it took over a year to get all the parts. Hopefully I still remember it all.
Essentially the way the custom PlugnPlay harness was designed; the brake light and blinker share the same LED bulb. This made the Canbus ready front blinkers and non-Canbus ready DRLs show bulb out error or just wouldn't work correctly. I personally think its something to do with the LED bulbs (came with the harness) its the a run of the mill LED, not Canbus ready. I just haven't had time to track down a better bulb yet.
As for the reverse lights, the second bulb in the Series 4 tails is not a very common LED bulb, at least as a white reverse light. I believe in Europe this bulb is supposed to be a blinker and the reverse lights on the Series 4 500s are in the bumper.
It all works, so I'm mostly happy with the current result.

 

I really wish people would stop doing this. My 500 came with all “upgraded” lights to led and the result is a flat out dangerous car to drive at night, can’t see the road at all, and the dome lights flicker like a haunted house And never fully turn off. So now I have to go through and “unupgrade” all my bulbs back to oem. This isn’t saving any watts so what’s the point? Btw “canbus compatible” simply means they put a resistor in to make them draw the same power as the oem lamps which an engineer and safety team spent careful time and money on to design around a specified bulb. To put something wildly different in is flat out rude to other drivers, and potentially risky to your own car. Rant over.
PS, when I see these bright *** wrong color headlamps coming at me down the road, I wait until the last two seconds and blast my brights right in their faces hoping it sends them off the road to a fiery death.

 

I really wish people would stop doing this. My 500 came with all “upgraded” lights to led and the result is a flat out dangerous car to drive at night, can’t see the road at all, and the dome lights flicker like a haunted house And never fully turn off. So now I have to go through and “unupgrade” all my bulbs back to oem. This isn’t saving any watts so what’s the point? Btw “canbus compatible” simply means they put a resistor in to make them draw the same power as the oem lamps which an engineer and safety team spent careful time and money on to design around a specified bulb. To put something wildly different in is flat out rude to other drivers, and potentially risky to your own car. Rant over.
PS, when I see these bright *** wrong color headlamps coming at me down the road, I wait until the last two seconds and blast my brights right in their faces hoping it sends them off the road to a fiery death.

It sound s to me like the LED bulbs were never rotated to their proper orientation to illuminate the road. When I installed one of mine i didn't make sure the LEDs were properly oriented so I got more light on the side of the road than in front of me. I believe I posted a pic somewhere in this thread. Long story short, you CAN mess up the install of LEDs and make them worse than stock. The ones in my previous post work great. I switched more for not replacing bulbs every year or so more than illumination. If these last two years it'll be better than the $70 halogen bulbs that burn out quick. You might want to look at the orientation of your LEDs and make sure that they are oriented up/down, or just down if is isn't a double-sided bulb. When they were side-to-side they were worthless. A simple adjustment with a tiny hex wrench and they work great. It's worth a look to see if this is the case!