Issues with LED Brake/Turn Signal Bulb Replacement – Any Suggestions?

[Sneff_529]

I recently decided to replace my left turn signal/brake light on my B-Class with LED bulbs since it went out late last year. I figured it’d be a good idea to upgrade to LEDs since they’re pretty standard now—heck, I even switched out most bulbs on my 2008 Mazda 3 to LEDs ages ago. I ordered a set from superbrightleds.com (despite mixed reviews) because I thought, how hard could it be, right? LEDs should be plug-and-play at this point. While waiting for the new bulbs, I took out the old one to inspect it and found a small burnt spot, though the tungsten wire was still intact. Oddly enough, after putting it back in, it worked again—until it went out for good a few days later.

Here’s where the frustration starts. When I tried installing the LED replacement, I just couldn’t get it to fit. After checking repeatedly, I noticed a major issue with the LED bulb itself. The locking pins are at a weird angle, making it impossible to fit into the socket. I contacted superbrightleds.com for a refund, but they want me to cover shipping costs and charge a 15% restocking fee for what I believe is a defective product. I refused to go along with that, I’m not letting them resell these cheap bulbs to the next person.

Luckily, I was careful during the process, or I might’ve damaged the socket, which would’ve been expensive to replace. So, lesson learned—I won’t be doing business with superbrightleds.com again. Does anyone have a reliable source for LED replacements that actually fit the B-Class?

 

[OldbutGold008]

Ok, that's a whole story there. I guess you have learned your lesson.

Go for Philips Automotive. You can also go for PowerBulbs, but it is outside of the US.

 

[asavage]

There can be all kinds of side-effects of replacing incandescent lamps with LEDs. Here's another one: on a 90's car I used to own, the transmission ECM would not allow OD (or would disengage OD) if the brake pedal was depressed, and it sensed that via monitoring the voltage on the lamp side of the brake lamp switch. Changing to LED lamps for the brakes had a knock-on effect of changing the un-pressed lamp side circuit voltage, so LED lamps = no OD.

There are workarounds, like paralleling a resistor to the lamp, or buying lamps that are LED but have a built-in resistor to draw as much current as the incandescent . . . but incandescent lamps last plenty long enough in automotive use that I have not bothered to tilt at this particular windmill, since earning several battle scars over the years.

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I've had rather good success with products purchased from superbrightleds.com . I'm sorry to hear you haven't.