LED bulbs for interior of the car - any particular brands better than others?

My car SHOULD take the 6418 bulbs in the dome/map lights if I am not completely mistaken. The manual lists all bulbs but those.

This is mostly a cosmetic issue as the heat doesn't seem to deform the plastic in the dome lights yet. I had a few cheap imported eBay special festoon LEDs that I put in the car (2006 Volvo V70, 36mm festoons in the dome lights if I recall right, I think it's 40mm in the footwells) with a parallel resistor. The light was better1​ with a little more brightness in the car and with the resistors installed they didn't glow while the car was awake and even theater dimming worked just fine.

After about a year, they started blinking and flickering and then finally died.

So.. this looks like a worthy bulb if it's not too wide for my housings;
http://www.jmgoods.co.uk/acatalog/37mm-LED-Festoon-Bulb--10-watt-equivalent.html#SID=24


eBay shows listings for the "Sylvania Premium" 6418s between $6-$10 each. Claimed compatibility with 6461 and DE3425 bulbs (any of those two model numbers better/brighter/stronger than 6418s?).
There are also the "Sylvania ZEVO" bulbs, though I don't know what the difference are between ZEVO and "Premium".


These bulbs have a frosted covers and what looks like a heat sink on the back. Official-looking packaging too, to my untrained eye.


My question is if these are good quality bulbs that could be expected to last in the car (Texas summer heat, occasional winter cold, vibration and 80's glam rock) or if I should pass on them.


I'm *still* extremely glad to have listened to Alaric & Virgil about the OEM headlights on the same car! I ended up with a set of European OEMs that are leaps and bounds better1​ than the old, faded, 110K mile OEM lights I replaced: http://www.robdiesel.com/wordpress/?p=24



*1 - Subjectively speaking. I'm no expert.



PS.
I used the Sylvania LEDriving 194 bulbs in the puddle lights under my exterior rear-views. Excellent and long-lasting bulbs with a lot of light. Am I breaking the "no LED bulbs outside" laws with that given that they're not a safety related light? Oddly enough they ONLY come on with a separate button on the remote, not at lock/unlock of the car, or follow-me-home lights. When I hit the "UFO" button, the puddles, tail lights and city lights up front come on. Weird.
If this is illegal, this question is for a friend. Or hypothetical. :naughty:

ZEVO bulbs are lifetime warranted, if you believe in such a thing, with registration on their website. Strangely only the red versions seem to be legal for street use, see packaging for the notation. For Philips the outside bulbs have a list of vehicles in which LEDs are legal on the outside. The Sylvania premium ones are not lifetime warranted, and look like the type one gets from eBay. The ZEVOs should last, in my opinion. I have no idea about shipping costs, but they should replace them if anything goes wrong. My local Walmart has both Sylvania types in stock for your browsing....

Strangely for my '12 E-Class reading lamps, Sylvania's guide lists one bulb, while Philips lists different ones. I just ended up following the Philips listing as they gave a LED option as well as the details given from following the good advice on this forum....

All my interior LEDs were purchased at vleds.com. Absolutely ZERO issues with any, and I've had them over 5 years!

Thanks guys. I'm not concerned with legalities as this is entirely inside my car. I just want to buy quality bulbs and never worry about them, rather than "struggle" with cheap, low quality stuff.

I didn't think of Walmart. Interesting. That gives me an effective 5% discount too if I pick them up on my credit card.

ameli0rate said:

I'm *still* extremely glad to have listened to Alaric & Virgil about the OEM headlights on the same car! I ended up with a set of European OEMs that are leaps and bounds better than the old, faded, 110K mile OEM lights I replaced.

Click to expand...

We, and the people you share the road with, thank you for having listened

I used the Sylvania LEDriving 194 bulbs in the puddle lights under my exterior rear-views. Excellent and long-lasting bulbs with a lot of light. Am I breaking the "no LED bulbs outside" laws with that given that they're not a safety related light?

Click to expand...

No LED bulbs (with certain, case-by-case exceptions for certain Philips bulbs (and potentially newer Zevo bulbs) in certain lamps *if those lamps perform a regulated safety function* (and fog lamps, which in the US aren't Federally regulated but you really want them to work correctly)). In the "puddle lamp" position, even on exterior mirrors, go (mostly) wild.

I might get around to doing them in the LS430-- I'll probably do red or amber so as to lessen the effect on night vision.

Alaric Darconville said:

We, and the people you share the road with, thank you for having listened


No LED bulbs (with certain, case-by-case exceptions for certain Philips bulbs (and potentially newer Zevo bulbs) in certain lamps *if those lamps perform a regulated safety function* (and fog lamps, which in the US aren't Federally regulated but you really want them to work correctly)). In the "puddle lamp" position, even on exterior mirrors, go (mostly) wild.

I might get around to doing them in the LS430-- I'll probably do red or amber so as to lessen the effect on night vision.

Click to expand...

For some reason the ZEVO LEDs that produce a red light don't say "For Off-road Use Only", as the ones that output white or amber do. That's just what I observed on the packaging, and why I noted so. I had one brake light go out on a '92 Mercedes 190E and just so happened to have the proper red ZEVO bulb. I replaced only that one. The output of the new bulb seems brighter in the evening but not recognizable by my slightly red colorblind eyes during the day...

Walmart seems to have competitive pricing, (if they haven't raised their pricing since I last checked a while ago), as Amazon seems to have raised theirs....