Replace bulbs with led’s on a 97 Cabriolet

[Turlough]

Hi folks,

I’d really like to change all my 97 Cabriolet bulbs before the winter comes, but it’s an led mine field out there and I’ve no clue about led bulbs their wattages or fittings.

I believe there are bulbs called ‘Canbus’ or ‘fault free’ and that’s about as much as I know.

I would change all the bulbs eventually but would like to start with headlight, brake, indicator and reversing lights. Does anyone have any advice they could pass on? Any insight into the world of led bulbs, especially in relation to a 97 cabriolet would be much appreciated. 

[Vinpetrol]

Hi Turlough 

how did you get on with this?

I've been considering doing this to mine as I'd like some brighter exterior bulbs especially on the boot . The reverse lights  are awful! 
mines a 98 cabriolet 

[IHK 11]

Hi ive seen some reverse light bulbs that had a lot of little leds in a circle which were pretty bright but apparently theyre illegal. They were called canbus error bulbs which is suppose to eliminate any electrical problems but id ask a proffessional for advice first if i were you. My headlights on my 1990 Audi coupe B3 were pretty awful and i thought about led bulbs or hid kits but the main problem is my headlamps are frosted not totally clear and also reflector headlights not projector headlights which would dazzle other cars if i put leds or hids in. So i looked for an alternative which was legal. I first put a pair of philipps racing vision 150% brighter h4 halogen bulbs in which were pretty ok to be fair but then i changed them to philipps racing vision 200% brighter and theyre pretty good. Apparently the brighter the bulb the less it will last but the 200%brighter bulbs ive got in now had a life expectancy of one year and ive had them for 3 years and theyre still good. Halfords do some good 200% brighter halogen bulbs and osram do some pretty good ones as well. You see some blue bright lights but from my experience id recommend a white light.  As your car is a B4 Coupe you can get a pair of clear headlights which would be better. Theyre rare but do come up on eBay occasionally.  

[Turlough]

Thanks IHK 11

I never did get those bulbs changed before the winter came in but certainly intend changing them during this year.

 Thank you for the advice and insight!

Turlough..

[Turlough]

On 7/22/2022 at 5:33 PM, Vinpetrol said:

Hi Turlough 

how did you get on with this?

I've been considering doing this to mine as I'd like some brighter exterior bulbs especially on the boot . The reverse lights  are awful! 
mines a 98 cabriolet 

Hi Vinpetrol, I’m so sorry for not getting back to you I somehow missed your post..

I didn’t get around to changing the bulbs last year, but intend to change them in 2023. The above post from IHK 11 is very helpful in relation to changing bulbs.

sorry again, Turlough

[IHK 11]

Hi Turlough and vin petrol the reverse light bulbs which i mentioned which are canbus error leds although probably not legal the light is really good on them. Another thing that might be worth checking is inside the lens of the reverse light as this can get dirty and go a bit green. I used a little bottle brush and some warm water  in there after removing the panel with the bulbs in. The bulb holder panel can get rusty as well. My lights wernt very bright before so i took the bulbs out of this panel and cleaned inside every bulb holder and removed the connectors and cleaned under them as well with white vinegar and a scouring pad. It made a difference. If you can find any earths around the back lights id clean them too. Ive never tried it but id imagine if you could get canbus error bulbs for the tail lights which i do know you can buy theyd look good. Another good tip if anyones interested. I tinted my indicators on the rear lights red the same colour as the rest of the lights and it looked good until when i indicated the indicators lit up red but if you put green indicator bulbs in there they will light up orange. If your interested in having brighter dash bulbs i wouldnt try leds. I put leds in mine and some parts of the cluster were bright and some were dark. It was very patchy. The standard dash bulbs are t5/286 clear halogen bulbs which are 12v and 1.2 watts each. I upgraded mine to the same bulbs but instead of a 1.2 watt i put 2 watt bulbs in and the dadh was much brighter and the higher wattage bulbs didnt cause any electrical problems at all. The standard cluster in the coupe lights up orange but i fancied having mine light up red like the early Audi A4s so i painted each bulb with red nail polish before fitting and it looks quite good. Maybe not to everyones taste but its ok. I also painted the rear fog light switch bulb red as well so i know the red ones the rear and the yellow ones the front. this is what the tinted indicators look like. My reverse light lenses arent the best.This is the dash with the 2 watt bulbs painted red. I also done the auxilary gauges the same.

[coupe4]

thats a nice touch ian with the dash lights.im going to do the same soon.ive a retest on wed here for my nct [mot].id a few small jobs to do so its ready now for the test.

 

[IHK 11]

Its worth doing. I like the way it looks. You do have to be careful tho taking bulbs out of the cluster too often. They tend to become a bit loose. The best fitting bulb ive had for the cluster is the 1.5 watt bulbs with a orange plastic base that are used on the Audi s2. The plastic base is a bit more flat creating a tighter fit.this is the standard dash bulb 1.2 wattthis is the uprated 2 watt bulbthis is the 1.5 watt bulb the same as the Audi s2. This is the best fit of them all as the base is shorter. these were the bright led reverse light bulbs i was talking about. If you did get them make sure theyre canbus error.

[IHK 11]

I forgot to say i imagine it would be more difficult replacing the dash bulbs on a 97 coupe than my 1990 as its probably got an airbag. Good luck. 

[Turlough]

That’s great information IHK 11, thanks a lot!

[IHK 11]

No problem.