Improving Rear Lights Brightness...?

[Phil H 16]

Watching my wife drive the 205 the other day, I noticed how dim the rear lights are. The brakes seem as bright as tail lights on modern cars.

I have bought a new set of Valeo tail lights from carparts4less.co.uk for a mere £52 and shall clean up and vaseline the earths, but is there any brighter bulbs or upgraded bulbs to improve the light output?

[Alan77 78 1 Cars]

Have a look on ebay for 380 LED stop/tail light. I have the 24 LED red stop/tail and also white for reversing.

It was one of the best little upgrades and also one of the safest that i've done. The rear lights are now as prominent as modern cars.

My cluster inner and lenses were clean, but the LED bulbs make so much difference.

[Phil H 16]

Have a look on ebay for 380 LED stop/tail light. I have the 24 LED red stop/tail and also white for reversing.

It was one of the best little upgrades and also one of the safest that i've done. The rear lights are now as prominent as modern cars.

My cluster inner and lenses were clean, but the LED bulbs make so much difference.

 

Are LED bulbs still a bit one directional, ie you only see them if directly behind and they don't reflect within the cluster?

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

I'll think you'll find the new clusters are enough

I got a set and was astounded at the difference and that's with normal bulbs

 

 

[kyepan 291]

something like this

http://www.phoenixautobulbs.co.uk/pr/380-led-canbus-bulbs/

 

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

I took my lenses off and gave them to the wife to clean thoroughly. Wiped the light unit off to free it of 23 years of dust and the improvement was impressive. I was excited anyway.

[cRaig 273 1 Cars]

I replaced the clusters, the difference was quite surprising, you can see how much the reflective finish had faded:

 

[S@m 156]

LED bulbs are actually dimmer than standard filament bulbs. I replaced my stop/tail with 36 LED ones and whilst they did light up a lot quicker than the filament bulbs they were so much dimmer that i went back to the standard - i thought it might be that the ones i bought were just bad so i tried a different brand of 24 LED ones and it was even worse. The best upgrade you can make is a high level stop light like the late ph2's had.

 

Sam

Edited November 9, 2012 by Sam306

[omri617 18]

this is something i wanted to do for a long time

are all models universal fit?

can anyone give a link of a suitable LED's on EBAY?

I'd appreciate it , got confused of all the stuff there

[omri617 18]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-1157-BAY15D-380-19-Led-Backup-Stop-Tail-Brake-Red-Light-Lamp-Bulb-DC-12V-/110947528825?pt=US_Car_Lighting&hash=item19d4fcf079

 

 

is this suitable for brake lights?

[Baz 421]

As said most of the time it's dirtied/worn reflectors inside the lights, this should be one of the jobs done once a year or so IMO, makes quite a difference sometimes, along with actually having the correct bulbs that haven't darkened/dimmed!

 

Slightly OT but I personally think modern cars' taillights are far too bloody bright, blinding in fact.

 

And don't me started on the police's flashing lights...!!

Edited November 24, 2012 by Baz

[GLPoomobile 958]

I hate the current MIni's brake lights. They are excruciating when sat behind one in traffic. I have to look away!

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I replaced the clusters, the difference was quite surprising, you can see how much the reflective finish had faded:

 

 

As we followed you out of the NEC I noticed how bright your rear lights were and thought it most un-205ish!

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

The condition of many 205 rear lights reflector are so poor now that the rear lights are like having a t-light instead of bulbs but a clean / wipe down can make a massive difference.

 

Don't use any harsh cleaners though, soapy water is about bets because the reflective coating is attacked by many household cleaners.

 

g

[omri617 18]

Which led bulbs would be the best improvement ? a lot of model on the web.

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

i did the same as craig and ordered new lights. the difference was amazing, i was even running 10w bulbs in the old ones but had to go back to the 5w ones with the new lights.

[farmer 328 1 Cars]

my new gen ones made the world of difference

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

LED bulbs don't usually emit light towards the reflectors so they aren't as effective as standard bulbs on decent light units imo.

 

g

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

this is where i got my light units.

 

http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/rear-light

[Phil H 16]

carparts4less sent me a new Valeo pair comprising of a broken lense on one and both were scuffed where they were lense down in the box. Returned 10 days ago and not heard anything yet....

[cRaig 273 1 Cars]

Their customer service is a bit crap, but Ive returned a couple of things and they get there with refunds in the end. I found email was a more productive medium than bothering to try and call them etc.

 

Craig

[lagonda 42]

As hinted by others, I'd try dismantling & cleaning the units first, also making sure all electric contacts are good. Even with what seems a fairly good seal, it's amazing the amount of filth that accumulates inside, very worthwhile as the brightness improves significantly. Slightly off topic, but T-Cut is great for making the plastic lenses shine like new.

[farmer 328 1 Cars]

turtles of rathkenny have a new rear light new old stock call him its the left hand side and gen