LedPerf

[CRB]

I recently decided to update the reversing lamps and also the licence plate lights on my 66 plate A3 Sportback with brighter LED units. Whilst there were many bulb replacements, all from China I couldn't find them with positive to the barrel of the H6W base. This is necessary because of the way the lamp holder is designed - whilst the tail and rear fog bulbs are negative "earth" the connections are reversed on the reversing bulb socket. After a detailed search I came across LedPerf in France who offered a bulb with correct polarity & built in resistor to fool the OBD and not produce a "lamp out" message on the dashboard. At the same time as I was ordering these I noted they offered replacement licence plate units specifically for 8V models. I thought that replacing them with brighter whiter units would also help when reversing. To cut a long story short when they goods came, the reversing bulbs were great and fitted perfectly and are much brighter. The licence plate lights were totally wrong, obviously for another model as resistors were also supplied on flyleads (so these were for a car with standard bulbs, not like the 8V which already has LED units. Getting LedPerf to agree to a return with them paying postage was a nightmare - some 26 messages back & forth! In the end I gave up as I didn't trust them to sort it out or refund postage.  I had realised that I could use the lamp units they had sent by changing the connectors on the car with simple adaptors. Asking Ledperf to at least pay for the adapters was pointless, they just point blank refused.

If you do buy from them be aware that if things go wrong, it's virtually impossible to get them to sort it quickly and easily.

 

[Steve Q]

Hi Colin, sorry to hear you've had these issues. It's really annoying when businesses don't want to resolve issues. I trust you've managed to resolve the issue and improved all the bulbs now. 

Cheers

Steve

[CRB]

Hi Steve,

Apart from LedPerf being a pain, so are Audi & other German car makers - the standard reversing lights on most of their new cars are awful! It's unbelievable that quality cars need to be modified to be able to see clearly when reversing unless cameras are installed. Not exactly "Vorsprung durch technik" more a case of "Rückwärts durch Technik" !

I have made the adapters up myself (I'm a retired electronics engineer) and just have to remove/replace the original connectors on the car. I'd have preferred to find  "male" (not sure I'm allowed to use this term nowadays!) connectors to mate with the originals, but couldn't do so. Instead I'm making 2 more adapters using the original ones so that I can refit the standard licence plate lights if necessary. When I've finished I'll put some pictures on the forum.

I've also obtained a 50cm length of 12V LED strip lighting, that is just 15mm wide to stick directly under the licence plate lights & rear door handle, above the number plate. I can connect this to one of the reversing lights and it would give a very much better rear view at night. I don't think it will look too unsightly there as it's partially hidden.  I've added pictures of the strip.

I'm also having a camera fitted. Possibly overkill? Probably I won''t need to do all the mods. I'll keep the forum posted as I sort it out.

Cheers

Colin

[CRB]

UPDATE: Had reversing camera fitted by Autologics. Great guys and nice job done. What a difference - reversing so much easier now. I won't need the light strip that I was considering fitting.

[Steve Q]

Glad you got sorted Colin :) and reverse cameras really do help :) 

[Fatbloke]

Was it a 3rd party camera or genuine? What kind of cost is involved?

[CRB]

Hi Fatbloke

It was genuine, fitted by Autologics. Price was quite steep at £599, but it does really work well, with a good clear view in the media screen when reverse selected. (And it would only take a minor bump going backwards into a post or similar to run up the same cost)