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Mirror Cover LED Retrofit 2, Page Updated January 27, 2008

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Project Completed in September 2007

On this page, I describe how I retrofitted LEDs into my chrome Mercedes-style mirror covers. I did not like the way these looked on the car, so I replaced them with my newest mirrors once I got the car painted.

First, since I had to use the stock mirrors, I wanted to make them pretty by painting them, so I painted them black with my plastic paint.

I had no idea what to expect when I got the mirrors how the LEDs would look. Here, the blue and amber LEDs are on. I was disappointed that the LEDs were just some small ones that fired out, and none of the light went into the reflectors. If you look closely, you can see that there were LEDs facing out the sides towards the back (which was key for me). This signal could be seen from the side, so I didn't need my side markers anymore.

Here is the back of the covers. I determined that I needed to get that black plastic piece off, then I could get the LEDs out. I took of the 4 screws holding the light in place.

I pried the black plastic backing off with a small screwdriver. The circuit board came out easily (I was not going to use this at all). There were 8 LEDs out the front and 2 out the sides, half of each color. You can see the two LEDs going to the side light in this picture.

On to the LEDs. I got these 3 watt luxeon LEDs from autolumination.com, and their respective bright/dim power transformers. They have built in heat regulators, so that the LEDs turn off if they get too hot (which happens very easily). This is why I didn't have the mirrors light with my parking light, only my turn signal (because the LEDs got too hot).

In this closeup, you can see how the lenses on the LEDs fire all of the light sideways. I wanted this, because I used these LEDs to light up the reflectors. And they do a very good job.

I also used some of the 20 mA LEDs I used in every project. These LEDs would fire forward, just like the blue/amber LEDs did. I wanted to put 4 pairs of them facing outwards, but they didn't fit. So I had to sand them skinny, as you can see the two LEDs wired to the resistor are much skinnier than the other two. I also mounted one of these out the side.

Here you can see how I mounted the 4 pairs of LEDs in the openings, plus the one LED out the side. The 4 pairs of LED are glued to that little support between each 2 pairs. I lined up the LEDs with the lines on the lens, so that the light was focused.

Then the hard part was getting the 3 watt LEDs in between everything. I managed, though, with much forcing.

Here is the back with all of the wiring complete. It was hard to get all of those wires to fit. Actually, that black spot is where some wires shorted together (because they melted when I tried leaving the 6 watts of LEDs on as the parking light). But I fixed that.

Here it is from the front and mounted to the mirrors. You can see the 8 forward LEDs being magnified by the lens. They ended up being very bright. The 8 LEDs in the front and the 2 3 watt LEDs behind them blink with the turn signal, but the side light has extra wires so that it stays on with the parking light.

Closeup at night with parking light and turn signal on. It is quite bright.

Here is the parking light at this point. You can see the sidelights on, since those only turn on with the parking light. By now, I had made my mirrors and bumper lights so that they only turned on with the turn signal, because it made them easier to see at night through the blinding fog lights.

This was the newer look of Starfighter you saw coming at you down the road at you, since that the bumper lights and mirrors didn't light up from the front.

You could even see the sidelights from the back.

It is definitely bright enough, since you can see it even with the HIDs on. (The side lights are on with the right turn signal.)

I made the side light so that it was a parking light instead of a turn signal because the front turn signals can be seen from the side easy. Therefore, I don't need the side markers anymore (so they are gone now).

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Don't forget that if you have any help, advice, comments, criticisms, or questions about my car and future mods, please sign my Guest book!

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Table of Contents

My Corolla Today
Page 1: Current Exterior
Page 2: Current Interior
Page 3: Current Engine
Page 4: Current Audio

Corolla Time Lines
Page 5: Phase Time Line
Page 6: Detailed Time Line

Other Stuff
Page 7: Photoshop
Page 8: Look at this page before you buy replacement LED bulbs
Page 9: Details on my current and future mods
Page 10: For Sale!

DIYs and Project Write-ups
Page 11: Bumper light LED retrofit 1
Page 12: Third Brake light LED retrofit
Page 13: Diablo Mirror LED replacement
Page 14: Taillight LED Retrofit 1
Page 15: High Beam DRL Mod
Page 16: Bumper Light LED Retrofit 2, PLUS detailed description of how I do LED mods
Page 17: Painting preparation (details on my fenders, grille, trunk, and Bondo)
Page 18: Side marker LED retrofit and installation
Page 19: HID fog lights and headlights
Page 20:
Interior painting, modifications, and exterior trim painting
Page 21: Installing Halo/LED/Projector headlights
Page 22: Mirror cover LED replacement
Page 23: Installing a new stereo and speakers
Page 24: Body kit installation, front end conversion, and other body work for round 2
Page 25: Retrofitting LEDs into my third mirrors and front turn signals
Page 26: Putting interior LEDs behind the dash and in all the buttons and all over the interior
Page 27: LED tail light retrofit 2 and baking your lights in the oven to remove the lens