Styling LED Number Plate Lights

Currently reading:
Styling LED Number Plate Lights

Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
212
Points
55
Well having been a former Vauxhall Signum Owner, I wanted to fit some LED number plate lights. The ones for the Stilo looked the same fittings as my old Signum ones so I measured the item's​ on the Stilo to make sure etc.

Bingo they were the right size.

So after ordering some off eBay ( search Vauxhall Signum CAN Bus Error Free ) I finally got them delivered.

The normal rusty screw's broken heads etc later, I got them out of the housing. The old one's looked rusty and very poorly. So I cleaned both set's of housings up with WD-40 and set about making the new units fit correctly.

As you can see from the photos the fitting screw holes don't line up and the power spade's are a little short. So I got the tool's out and bent the spade's to match the old units and I decided to glue the new units into place. The new units were placed into place and dry fitted to test working etc. Then removed and glued into place. Tested again before the glue dried to make sure all was good.

I have posted a old photo from my Signum to show how bright they are. I will post one tonight with the Stilo showing the fully fitted one's.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20170518_103821.jpg
    IMG_20170518_103821.jpg
    3.1 MB · Views: 89
  • IMG_20170518_103816.jpg
    IMG_20170518_103816.jpg
    2.8 MB · Views: 48
  • IMG_20170518_101128.jpg
    IMG_20170518_101128.jpg
    3.7 MB · Views: 158
  • IMG_20170518_091145.jpg
    IMG_20170518_091145.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 104
The old car went through a few MOTs and plenty of miles with no stress.

I can always remove and replace if stopped, but I would think having working lights beats the not working ones out on the road currently.
 
They look way too bright to me and seem to be visible from behind.

I've seen a few Vauxhall Corsas with over-bright number plate LEDs. The light reflects off the number plate making it illegible and then reflects backwards to dazzle cars behind you.

It'll not read well in the court transcripts if someone runs into the back of you because the number plate lamps masked your brake lights. I'd tape them up so that just one LED is showing, to be honest..


Ralf S.
 
As promised, a night shot.

They are far to bright and the pattern is very poor. Regardless of MOT results they are illegal and if they look as bad as they do in the photos are likely to get you stopped. The police are getting hotter on this, in some areas at least, it's another thing they can use as grounds to pull you over and do a full check.


Robert G8RPI.
 
I guess that you both don't like them, but I do. The lights aren't visible from the road and they highlight the pressed euro style plates really well. I understand your concerns and as regards to the brake lights, I have fitted some Bosch Pure Light bulbs fully in both clusters and they have made a huge improvement. Just to help things along I also sanded and polished the lenses too.
 
Nice mod. No more replacement numberplate bulbs for you :slayer:

I do agree with the chaps they look awful bright. I dont know enough of the legalities or otherwise regarding this matter, so I'll not comment.

The MOT is slightly different because there are rules about what the MOT tester can and cannot do to the car. You're also relying somewhat on the MOT tester knowing your particular marque and model inside out to know what is standard equipment and what you've fiddled with. Lets face it that's a very difficult task.

Simple tricks if they're a little bit 'OTT' you could experiment with sticking some window tint film over the top of them to darken them down a bit (layer up if needed) or some black electrical tape / duct take on the outter edge to narrow the beam in to focus more on the number plate rather than casting all that light backwards.
 
Last edited:
Yorkshire007

Great mod and description. I’ve been searching all over the forum trying to find something like this as I don’t think there is such thing as an LED unit for Fiat Stilo’s like there is on other cars. Could you please send a link of the LED you purchased from eBay as there are a few different ones I’m not sure will fit. Best regards
 
Back
Top