One of my reverse bulbs has burnt out, so I decided to replace both to keep the outer lens cool. FYI, I used the 1156 45-LED tower from superbrightleds.com The colour match is surprisingly good with the "warm white" option. Brightness is slightly stronger than the original filament bulb, but I'm glad to put a stop to the reverse lens cracking and warping. The radiation pattern is reasonably uniform and it looks 90% original when illuminated. Left side is the original bulb; right side is the new LED assembly. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi. Looks great. This afternoon I catalogued all the bulbs for my 348. On the superbright website it suggests using 26 or 18 smd for the 348. I looked up the 355 on the site but they haven't databases that model yet. Why did you go for the 45? Did it fit ok? Thanks Jason
The original bulbs are fairly large, and the 45-LED tower is just a little smaller than the glass bulb. So fitment isn't an issue. I chose this one because it has a near-OEM brightness (a little stronger) and a relatively uniform radiation pattern. The "warm white" colour may not be available for all models, so that was also a factor in my choice. The radiated colour is very close to the old filament bulb. As long as it has the correct socket (mine is 1156), it should fit. See here for comparison:
I think it's funny ppl still white out the license plates in pics. Long gone are the days of the "DMV" bandits. BTW great mod. Love LED's
It's a cultural thing. Where I'm from (Hong Kong) it's rude to post an acquaintance's car with the plate. For random sightings it's OK.
Good call. I did this a while back after spending $300 to replace two cracked real tail lights from the heat. This should be a "must do" for anyone wanting to protect the lights from cracking. Unless, of course, you never use your brakes
The brake lights aren't really causing the melting, the back up lights are. If you remove the bulb holder, you can see how the back up bulb is physically positioned much closer to the lens than the brake lights...that is the reason for the melting. Bad design...and these tail lights first came out in the 512M in 1994...they used them in the 355, 550, 575 and 360...never improving or modifying them during the 11 years they were installed in new production cars...just letting them eventually all melt.
My bad calling them the brake lights in my post. Its the reverse lights that crack the lenses and are the ones that I replaced as noted elsewhere in this thread.
It costs a lot of money to have a tail light DOT approved and Ferrari wasn't exactly in the best financial position at that time.
Just FYI, price for the bulbs went down from $20 to $15 from Superbrightleds.com Well worth it to save you from replacing the tail light lens.
