Puddle Lights - DIY (a piece of cake)

[KOWCC]

Alright, I swapped out my bulbs yesterday with LEDs.

The process takes about 5 minutes for each side.

Tools required:

1- Angle wrench (see pics) or a similar angled tool
2- Cloth
3- Screwdriver with torx bits
4- Size 194 LED bulbs

Detail Steps:

1- Wrap the curved part of the wrench with the towel.


2- Tilt mirror all the way down, and place the angled wrench behind the mirror and pry out, use a quick nudge, usually two nudges will do it. Do not attempt to do this on the sides of the mirror, left or right...that's where the cracking will occur.


3- Unscrew the 3 torx screws holding the tilt module in place. Have pliers ready to catch the screws. Screws falling into the mirror housing will no longer be a quick job.


4- Tilt module is now out. Pull out the black wire housing (the thick housing with the white sticker around it, that's holding all the wires together) from the plastic clip for better access. I'm pointing to the clip below



5- The blue and green wires connect to the bulb harness that needs to be removed.


6- Pull out the bulb harness with pliers. Be extra careful and do this slowly. My first time, the bulb came lose and fell inside the light housing. I ended up taking apart the entire mirror assembly to remove it.


7- Here is he 194 bulb.


8- Swap it out with your LED bulb and open the door to make sure the bulb lights up before putting it all back together! LEDs have poles, so if it doesn't light up one way, turn the bulb around and put the base in the other way.


Put everything back together and you will now enjoy this quick mod the next time you unlock or open the door.


And here is the bulb I used. Size 194 from eBay. I bought a dozen of them for $4.99

[baye]

Great writeup. Although I fear If I do this I'll end up wanting to match all the other lights (license plate, interior, etc.) too.

[KOWCC]

I hear you!! In my case my car throws error codes if I try to swap any other bulb, so when that happens I just use Hyperwhite bulbs as I did on my license plate. They are not as white as LEDs, but a hell of alot better than yellow! So color wise my plate doesn't match my puddle lights 100%, but I'm ok with that...nothing in life is perfect

[Los1]

Great detailed write up with pics.

[KOWCC]

Great detailed write up with pics.

I try to make it as easy as possible

[Stero1D]

No No No!!! Itsnt going to work, buddy!!! I want some DSLR n HD shots in here

[Grajjie]

Very nice and detailed write up. I will definitely be doing this soon.

[KOWCC]

Great, good luck!

[mtomaska]

Did you try error free LED's? Just google it and you will find plenty of LED's that are designed for European cars

[mtomaska]

I hear you!! In my case my car throws error codes if I try to swap any other bulb, so when that happens I just use Hyperwhite bulbs as I did on my license plate. They are not as white as LEDs, but a hell of alot better than yellow! So color wise my plate doesn't match my puddle lights 100%, but I'm ok with that...nothing in life is perfect

Did you try error free LED's? Just google it and you will find plenty of LED's that are designed for European cars

[KOWCC]

The puddle lights do not get tested by the CECM. I did not get any errors. However I've purchased several sets of error free bulbs for use around my car and they were specifically designed for VW and all claimed to be error free. They STILL throw an error code. It just won't take any LEDs. Tried about 10 sets for my plate, literally 10 sets, even tried resistors. Believe me I have toooo much experience with this and they don't work. Even bulbs from ECS and Pyspeed who guaranteed me no codes, still threw codes. Specifically the 2012 lux limited trim has an upgraded CECM over the other trim packages due to its internal ambient lighting. That trim hates LEDs. All my friends with 2012s that are lower than the the lux limited use the same bulbs without errors.

[boogiedownberlin]

So I got the LED lights today. I do however have a question, before I start taking my mirrors apart. I know how I have to take the mirror off (basically the first step of the whole process), but my question is how do I put it back in there again? Glue?

[baye]

So I got the LED lights today. I do however have a question, before I start taking my mirrors apart. I know how I have to take the mirror off (basically the first step of the whole process), but my question is how do I put it back in there again? Glue?

The mirrors are held in by small clips, so you can just simply pop them back in again. Easy.

[boogiedownberlin]

Did it today. Was a bit scared on the first mirror and took over 15mins, but the end one took like 5 minutes. Thanks for the instructions and help guys

[Los1]

Well I managed to get the mirror off without cracking it relatively quick due to this great write up but the darn led light bulb fell in the small light housing. Are there any solutions to retrieve the bulb without taking apart the entire housing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[akipal]

Well I managed to get the mirror off without cracking it relatively quick due to this great write up but the darn led light bulb fell in the small light housing. Are there any solutions to retrieve the bulb without taking apart the entire housing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Actually the housing can be popped out
If you push it firmly it will be come off
There is holding tap inside of housing so you can push in the outer side of the lamp housing

[Los1]

Thanks for the info. I will give it a shot this weekend.

[sti(CC)ky]

same here. i'm going to try this soon. great diy instruction .

[DasCC]

solid writeup

[KOWCC]

Thx guys, glad it helped!

[Joef1sh]

Well THAT was an expensive mistake...



Word of warning: Do NOT use a flathead screwdriver (all I had) to attempt to remove the glass. I wrapped mine in a thick terry cloth and it still cracked both mirrors. I should have learned my lesson the first time, but even trying to pry it from a different location, it cracked anyway.

I removed the glass from my MKV Jetta the same way and it was a piece of cake. I seriously think VW used thinner glass on these CC's. I barely nudged them and this is the result.

[Will22]

Great write up and now bookmarked on my phone. I will be doing thins in the next few days.

Thank you KOWCC

[Los1]

The write up is definitely great. I broke a mirror on the first attempt and then I decided to give up. I ordered the blue tinted aspherical mirrors and give it a second try with much success. I used a plastic angled pry tool that I purchased from my local auto store and followed the steps from the write up.

[KOWCC]

Well THAT was an expensive mistake...



Word of warning: Do NOT use a flathead screwdriver (all I had) to attempt to remove the glass. I wrapped mine in a thick terry cloth and it still cracked both mirrors. I should have learned my lesson the first time, but even trying to pry it from a different location, it cracked anyway.

I removed the glass from my MKV Jetta the same way and it was a piece of cake. I seriously think VW used thinner glass on these CC's. I barely nudged them and this is the result.

That's why I used that tool buddy. It has much more surface area than the flat head (its all about surface area, to spread the force) plus it has than angle, so the force is only directed straight outwards.

[KOWCC]

Great write up and now bookmarked on my phone. I will be doing thins in the next few days.

Thank you KOWCC

Will, any questions let me know...here to help.

[Los1]

That's why I used that tool buddy. It has much more surface area than the flat head (its all about surface area, to spread the force) plus it has than angle, so the force is only directed straight outwards.

You know your stuff. Thanks for sharing as you have helped me out in the past.

[KOWCC]

You know your stuff. Thanks for sharing as you have helped me out in the past.

Anytime brother.........I'm here to learn as well.

[BORA RSI]

@Joef1sh Why not use your fingers to pull them instead. That's what I have done to mine and two others works better imo. Now you can upgrade them at least

[Joef1sh]

I tried, but couldn't get enough grip on them to pull them off. Even with them tilted all the way down. I didn't want to drive around without mirrors while a set of blind-spot's would have to be shipped, so I just swung by the stealership and got another set. I'll chalk this one up to being ill prepared. I picked up a nice set of trim removal tools this weekend, so I won't make the same mistake...uh...3 times.

[MikeinNJ]

Just did mine with the 194 bulbs from superbrightleds. Looks awesome! No glass broken either.

Though, I did the driver's side first and when I was squeezing the bulb socket back into it's housing, the bulb came out of the socket and fell inside the housing. Had to disassemble the whole mirror in the middle of the rain/snow storm we're currently having to fish it out and start all over. Got it in ok, then hooked the mirror glass back up and sealed it up. Then realized that I didn't tuck the harness back under its hook. Had to pull it again. The passenger side, I was done in about 10min. Yes, it's also dark out right now. Yes, I am nuts. So worth it though!

[KOWCC]

Just did mine with the 194 bulbs from superbrightleds. Looks awesome! No glass broken either.

Though, I did the driver's side first and when I was squeezing the bulb socket back into it's housing, the bulb came out of the socket and fell inside the housing. Had to disassemble the whole mirror in the middle of the rain/snow storm we're currently having to fish it out and start all over. Got it in ok, then hooked the mirror glass back up and sealed it up. Then realized that I didn't tuck the harness back under its hook. Had to pull it again. The passenger side, I was done in about 10min. Yes, it's also dark out right now. Yes, I am nuts. So worth it though!

Lol, we are all nuts....nothing at all stops us....I gotta say for me personally nothing stops me from working on my car, except for darkness...I must have light!

[MikeinNJ]

KOWCC, for your Sencart puddle lamp bulbs, do they fade in/out like the incandescents do or do they have a sort of stepped, digital fading? The ones that I got from superbrightleds do an almost flickery, stepped dimming on and off. Also, they are definitely not as bright as the ones you posted in the other thread. They are about the same light output as stock, maybe a bit more, but do have a nice cool white color temp.

[KOWCC]

KOWCC, for your Sencart puddle lamp bumps, do they fade in/out like the incandescents do or do they have a sort of stepped, digital fading? The ones that I got from superbrightleds do an almost flickery, stepped dimming on and off. Also, they are definitely not as bright as the ones you posted in the other thread. They are about the same light output as stock, maybe a bit more, but do have a nice cool white color temp.

Yes same style fading in/out as you described....not a consistent soft fade in/out, but almost like a flicker on/off... When they flicker the light never turns off completely, but its like a digital in and out exactly as you described....yes the sencarts are extremely bright.

[MikeinNJ]

Ok, thanks! Also, I wouldn't mind that extra brightness, though I know I would really be chancing it to change these bulbs out TWICE without losing any screws or cracking the glass.

[KOWCC]

Ok, thanks! Also, I wouldn't mind that extra brightness, though I know I would really be chancing it to change these bulbs out TWICE without losing any screws or cracking the glass.

After the first time, it's a piece of cake.....done it a handful of times