Tail light LED bulb upgrade

[CryptoWhale]

Driving behind a Nissan GTR today I noticed the tail lights were really bright in the day light, they looked great. Got me thinking how the Z4 would look with upgraded LED bulbs.

Has anyone done this and does it make much of a difference to the brightness of the tail lights both in daytime and night? Pictures would be appreciated (facelift lights if possible).

There's various 382 LED red bulbs on the market so I will probably go ahead and try them out and post back with pictures

 

[AndyBeech]

The (facelift at least) tail lights are led strips I believe and cannot be replaced as such that I know of. They're certainly not bulbs that can just be unscrewed and replaced. I'm sure it's possible like anything but I imagine it's a ton of hassle. You'd have to get the unit open somehow for a start to even get to the strips.
I can't recall anyone having tried for that reason.

 

[CryptoWhale]

The (facelift at least) tail lights are led strips I believe and cannot be replaced as such that I know of. They're certainly not bulbs that can just be unscrewed and replaced. I'm sure it's possible like anything but I imagine it's a ton of hassle. You'd have to get the unit open somehow for a start to even get to the strips.
I can't recall anyone having tried for that reason.

My tail lights aren't LED strips, they are just standard 382 bulbs. I was under the impression the only fully LED unit on the Z4 was the 3rd brake light

 

[AndyBeech]

The (facelift at least) tail lights are led strips I believe and cannot be replaced as such that I know of. They're certainly not bulbs that can just be unscrewed and replaced. I'm sure it's possible like anything but I imagine it's a ton of hassle. You'd have to get the unit open somehow for a start to even get to the strips.
I can't recall anyone having tried for that reason.

My tail lights aren't LED strips, they are just standard 382 bulbs. I was under the impression the only fully LED unit on the Z4 was the 3rd brake light

Fair enough, I was going off RealOEM, doesn't show any bulb replacement for the top tail light part only the 4 other bulbs (brakes/fogs/indicator/reverse), neither does Pelican Parts. Apologies I thought you were reffering to the top strip but yes the other bulbs are just standard bulbs.

 

[1000rr]

Mine has leds all round, pre facelift though.

Definitely 2x brighter at least in comparison to standard filament bulbs..... they needed coding out though.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

My tail lights aren't LED strips

Sure they are, the position/tail light at the top of the facelift are integrated PCB LEDs. While you might be able to remove these and replace we've not seen anyone manage it so far.

All the remaining bulbs are conventional. I've not found a reverse lamp that actually provides useful illumination, even giant COBB type. There is also not really any point in replacing the fogs (passenger side for BFD only). As previously mentioned bulb checks need coding out, you can just do the bulb warning (CC prefix) but then the LEDs will still flicker due to the checks, so better to do the hot and cold checks too.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

The lights illuminated in this photo are LED (ignore the US sidemarkers).

 

[Sidewaze Samm]

My tail lights aren't LED strips, they are just standard 382 bulbs

If your profile pic is of your car, then the tail lights are indeed LED - replaceble only as a whole lamp unit. Unless you want to start cutting things open. All the other lights are standard filament bulbs. No LEDs on the pre-facelift though...

 

[CryptoWhale]

So they are LED after all... 382 bulb was the brake light... my bad

It is a shame that there isn't an easier way to make the strip a bit brighter though.