Which LED license plate lights? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Perfectlap · 10-02-2015, 08:10 AM

I saw a car on the road the other day with LED license plate lights. Huge improvement...if you have this mod which lights did you get? Lots of options on Amazon. I used to be worried about attention from police but I think was overblown.

[IMG]http://www.****************************************************.com/mm5/graphics/00000002/porsche%20rear%20led%20license%20plate%20light.jpg[/IMG]

ohhh my · 10-02-2015, 10:07 AM

I personally keep mine stock. Although it looks nice, it also attracts a lot of attention from police. With an extremely low car, on black rims and silver paint, it attracts a lot of attention.

MarkeeeVR6 · 10-02-2015, 02:24 PM

I have the ones from suncoast and they are pretty good. I am sure you can get them from other places online as they are no different.

I have led plate light on all my cars and never had a problem with police.

Coaster · 10-02-2015, 09:08 PM

Sun coast for me too.

Fintro11 · 10-02-2015, 11:00 PM

i took the bulb number out of my owners manual and bought a led set off eBay for $1 they work amazing

Boxtaboy · 10-03-2015, 08:04 AM

I'm curious what other people here use for their Boxster too, as I'm interested. Have them on my daily driver Audi, and wife's ML350 came standard with them. I put aftermarket ones on my Audi, and they are so bright, they light up the road behind me. Lol. I don't care cause I just want people who text and drive to see me!

10/10ths · 12-13-2015, 09:25 AM

...a set from Suncoast Porsche on my 2004.

Took them out for a test drive last night and they are fantastic.

Boxtaboy · 12-13-2015, 01:17 PM

I bought a set I think is the same as the ones from Suncoast but they are $23 delivered free shipping for the set instead of the $35 plus shipping that Suncoast charges. Whatever you do, I don't suggest the LED Festoon type bulbs as there's not enough room in the housing for the heat sink to do its job and the clear plastic cover ends up browning up. Get the entire led housing that they sell on EBay. Just search for LED License plate lamp Porsche 911 / 993 996 Boxster. They update the look of the car, and are easy to install...

Top is old incandescent bulb, and bottom are the new LEDs...

LED bulbs from a distance...

particlewave · 12-13-2015, 02:03 PM

Any eBay LED will do. If you're paying more than $1.50 per bulb, you're a sucker!

Boxtaboy · 12-13-2015, 02:08 PM

I've seen on another board someone who used an LED festoon from eBay that basically burned up his housings. He ended up buying the full housings like the one I have installed from eBay, and all is good now. Glad you have been only paying a buck for those festoon type bulbs that pop in, but I don't want to risk them burning up the plastic.

particlewave · 12-13-2015, 02:12 PM

$3 for 10 of these. They don't even get warm, so no heatsink or yellowing.

Don't let places like Suncoast rip you off!

Man...I should make some of these up. I could make a killing @ 50x markup!

edc · 12-13-2015, 02:17 PM

I got some from eBay which were a complete housing. Been on a year or so and work great.

Boxtaboy · 12-13-2015, 02:18 PM

How long have they lasted? I have the same type of full housing LEDs in my Audi, and I've had em for over 6 months without them blowing out. If yours have lasted for a while, without you having to throw a new set in every 3 months, maybe I'll give yours a try next time.

edc · 12-13-2015, 02:22 PM

Found the eBay link

2x Bright Led License Number Plate Light PORSCHE Boxster 986 1996-2004 96-04

edc · 12-13-2015, 02:23 PM

Pics here http://www.boxa.net/forum/index.php?/topic/59044-edcs-550-anniversary/&page=12

Been on the car 15 months

10/10ths · 12-13-2015, 02:26 PM

....They fit perfectly, they work perfectly, they tested them for us so I trust they are "the good ones", Suncoast is part of the Porsche world, so I like supporting them instead of some faceless eBay outlet, if they go bad, Suncoast is easy to deal with for returns, and they had a free shipping sale, so I didn't pay for shipping.

It's amazing to me that folks will spend the money to buy a Porsche, and then try to save five bucks on some widget.

Anyway, the Suncoast bulbs fit, work, and got here in two days.

Boxtaboy · 12-13-2015, 02:29 PM

Yeah, those are the type I got. They are as little as $14 bucks on the US eBay sites. They last long. I can't complain. 1 dollar is fine too if they last as long. I'm too lazy to replace them all the time.

particlewave · 12-13-2015, 02:33 PM

OK, let me backtrack a little bit here and say that (for those of you that don't know) I'm an electronics engineer and know what I'm looking for. If you don't know what you're looking for, you're better off paying a premium for something that's well supported.

A lot of the bulbs on eBay use underrated resistors (resistance and wattage) in an attempt to make their bulbs superbright. This causes heat and premature failure issues. Your LEDs should never get hot unless they are used in a high-power application like a super bright flashlight or headlights. I can buy the cheap ones because I always check them out and, if needed, swap in a better resistor.

edc · 12-13-2015, 02:33 PM

Suncoast for you guys in the U.S. gives you some confidence in which to buy and you are happy to pay a premium for that. Good for you. I just found some even cheaper ones on eBay for my AMG and shock horror I think I will save some money and be a cheap skate and put them on my car too

particlewave · 12-13-2015, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10/10ths

It's amazing to me that folks will spend the money to buy a Porsche, and then try to save five bucks on some widget

I hate to break it to you, but these are $5-10k cars and the bulbs that bigger vendors like Suncoast sells are the exact same bulbs on eBay from Asia.

It doesn't matter what emblem is on the hood.