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Old 29th April 2015, 13:51   #1
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VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

Last year I bought Philips Xtreme Vision LEDs to replace the signal lights of my Swift. You can find the details in the link below:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post3452508

The Swift was sold and i bought a new Polo GT TDI recently, and i had with me those LEDs that I had removed from the Swift before i sold it. So today decided to put them to use in the Polo tail lamp cluster. So here it is!

The taillamp opened to install the bulb. Only one side photo was taken.
VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150403_163646.jpg

PS: In the pic above i have upgraded the brake light to Philips P21W Red LED on a later date. I didn't take another picture after i did so. The Philips LED looks exactly like the other big Philips LEDs in that assembly.
  • Philips W5W 4000K bulb which was in Swift's front parking light used for tail light.
  • Philips PY21W Amber bulb used as indicators (without load resistors, in the Swift i used load resistors).
  • Philips P21W White LED which used for reversing lamp. It was doing the same duty in the Swift and Swift had two reversing lights.
  • On the RHS taillamp assembly i have used the other Philips P21W White LED from the Swift reverse light for fog lights. The fog light portion has a red bubble over the bulb so the white lamp is working better than i had expected it to and i don't have to buy P21W Red for the rear fog light.

Tail lamp
VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150403_193356.jpg

Indicators
VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150403_193447_013.jpg

Indicators Flashing - These are much brighter than stock bulbs and i like that digital ON OFF effect of LED lights! (Open the picture in another tab if the gis is not working for you)
VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-poloindicatorflashing.gif

Reverse light - Now its USEFUL! Stock Polo reverse lights are weak.
VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150403_193710.jpg

VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150403_193657.jpg

Rear Fog light - Not bad for a white LED shining through red lens
VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150403_193537.jpg

VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150403_193613.jpg

I did the front Park lights and also the Front Indicators on another day. As i was in a bit of a hurry i didn't take any detailed photos. For the front light install the headlight assembly has to come out. Its removed by unscrewing two Torx screws on top that hold the headlight to the car body and pulling the lights out at an angle. Use T25 torx bit for the screws. There are no screws for the bottom as the light assembly is held in place by a wedge clip at the bottom. For re-installing the headlight just align the lights to the body and push it in. The top screw holes have to line up and the bottom clip will wedge itself in.

For the park lights i used the Philips 4000K W5W LED exactly like the ones I have used in the rear light cluster for tail lamp. For the indicators i have used the Philips PY21W LED which is used at the rear tail light cluster.

Front park lights - 4000k Philips LED
VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150416_215007.jpg

VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit-20150416_215019.jpg

I had posted the same in the Lighting thread before, but since it is hard to keep track of updates there i believe this thread will be a better idea to consolidate everything and future changes.

Last edited by Sankar : 29th April 2015 at 13:54.
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Old 1st May 2015, 15:33   #2
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re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

That's some cool stuff Sankar. Most impressive is the reversing lamp. Not only the Polo, but most cars have pathetic reversing lights. Your modification has improved the result infinitely!
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Old 2nd May 2015, 01:40   #3
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re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

Having just one reverse lamp is always a pain and on top of that having an underpowered bulb just adds to the misery. This simple mod has made your reversing lamp extremely effective in lighting up the path behind the car. Ingenious little modification!
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Old 2nd May 2015, 09:08   #4
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re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

Useful mod this. Especially the reverse indicator light. As you mentioned it is really underpowered making reversing at night a pain. Rain only makes it worse.

Did you check out using LED for the head lamps?

Drive on,
Shibu.
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Old 2nd May 2015, 09:08   #5
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re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

Quote:
Originally Posted by abhii176 View Post
Having just one reverse lamp is always a pain and on top of that having an underpowered bulb just adds to the misery. This simple mod has made your reversing lamp extremely effective in lighting up the path behind the car. Ingenious little modification!
Quote:
Originally Posted by shibujp View Post
Useful mod this. Especially the reverse indicator light. As you mentioned it is really underpowered making reversing at night a pain. Rain only makes it worse.

Did you check out using LED for the head lamps?

Drive on,
Shibu.
Since headlight optics are more complex than signal lights and the beam pattern matters a lot for safe driving and it will most probably be far from satisfactory and did not consider it. Maybe later!

Yes the original incandescent never really helped! The bulbs i used are listed below:

Reverse and Rear Fog
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-12898X.../dp/B00HWS7TQG

Front park and Tail light
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-129644.../dp/B009NOZ4SC

Brake light
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-12898R.../dp/B00HWS7TRK

Turn signal Indicators
http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/xtreme-vision-py21

Interior roof light - On the way
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NOZ4NW

Only bought the Brake light LED, an extra pair of W5W and interior roof light LED new, rest were re-used from Swift.

Last edited by Sankar : 2nd May 2015 at 09:16.
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Old 15th June 2015, 23:10   #6
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re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

Of all these, I think the reverse light can definitely use these bright bulbs. Thanks, Sankar
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Old 16th June 2015, 09:55   #7
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re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sankar View Post

The bulbs i used are listed below:

Turn signal Indicators
http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/xtreme-vision-py21
Really good upgrades Sankar on the GT.

I have not tried going in for LED on the turn indicators since they flash vigorously due to low output. Are you have the same issue with this change on the GT ?

Also bro, can you please upload a Video with the Turn signal/indicators activated and the hazard lights activated separately.
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Old 15th July 2015, 15:20   #8
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re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vik0728 View Post
Really good upgrades Sankar on the GT.

I have not tried going in for LED on the turn indicators since they flash vigorously due to low output. Are you have the same issue with this change on the GT ?

Also bro, can you please upload a Video with the Turn signal/indicators activated and the hazard lights activated separately.
Thanks Vik0728. Logged in after many days recently so apologies for the late reply.
The turn indicators on the outside do NOT flash vigorously (its called hyper flashing) when i put the LED bulbs in them and i am not using any resistors in the Polo.

However the turn signal indicator in the cluster does hyperflashing, by doing that its telling the driver that one of the bulbs could be blown. I have let it be because on the outside the indicators are working normally and i really don't mind the cluster indicator flashing twice as fast.

Will upload the video soon.
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Old 27th January 2018, 18:52   #9
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Re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

This thread is too old and the car is now sold,
But i got hold of some more LEDs for the desire isn't dead!

Crysta GX trim - All exterior bulbs (barring high beam and fog) and interior bulbs changed to LED. Used Philips and Osram.
i10 - Rear brake, and reverse changed to LEDs,. Interior all LED. Used Philips.

Since i don't have a thread its all scattered here and there.
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Old 20th November 2023, 12:56   #10
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Re: VW Polo 1.5L GT TDI tail lights - LED bulbs retrofit

I have swapped the WY16W bulb of rear turn signal of MG ZS EV with LED. It is working fine and as such bulb is not hyper flashing. But the buzzer inside the cluster is fast after three ticks. Also after 6-7 second a message is displaying in the cluster that "Bulb Fail, Please refer manual". The led bulb's description says that it has CANBUS ERROR CANCELLER (but still may throw error on German/Italian cars). Any solution for this other than installing relay or load resistor.
Also if i continue with this and ignore the warning message in cluster, will there be an issue for the vehicle or its warranty

PS- The original bulb is 16w and the LED one is 4.5w
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