W164 number plate bulbs

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Wacko74

Active Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
137
Car
ML 300
Hi all

So I got a message saying left and right number plate bulbs had failed
Quick stop at Halfords and a couple of bright LED bulbs purchases
Five minutes fitting and they are lovely and bright

problem is I still get the warning telling me both bulbs have failed when the lights come on
And on checking the two I took out I find they are both ok

any ideas guys
 
Halfords don't sell error free LEDs

You need CANBUS compatible ones, LEDs use 8% the power of standard bulbs, as a result the car thinks the bulbs have blown. The error free ones have a resistor built into them which fools the car.

I use to sell 100s of them
 
Last edited:
Thanks KillerHERTZ
Sounds like an eBay search over the weekend is coming
 
LED number plate bulbs always look wrong to my eye - always unnecessarily bright.
 
What, like the standard bulbs they're replacing?

Yeah, makes them dimmer, like the later OEM LED bulbs.

I know what you mean, normally an E36 3 Series with I burning whitelight coming from them.
 
I had the same problem after getting eBay canbus led bulbs.
now fitted the correct bulbs and all is good.
guessing the so called Canbus led bulbs don’t have enough load to let the system know it’s working.
 

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