Map light cover removal?

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TCM75

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I can remove the entire overhead plastic trim piece with lights and roof switch; however I cannot get the lens/cover removed. Looks fairly simple; I tried a flat blade on the side of the lens and then a small putty knife to try and pop it out, but all I get is some unhappy-sounding creaky plastic. I'm sure it is simple, just felt the need to quit before I break something (for once).

BTW, I am trying to ascertain which kind of bulb/base is used for the map lights, so if anyone knows, that is my primary objective here.

Thanks.
 

umbertob

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Keep trying with a small flat blade screwdriver, carefully use it as a lever in the tab found in the middle of either sides of the lens to gently pull the lens down. Keep switching from one side to the other if neither will yield right away. One side (mine happened to be the passenger's, after a coupe of minutes of prying on both sides) will eventually disengage from the two metal clips found to the left and the right of those tabs. That's also the side you'll want to re-engage last when you reinstall the lens. The bulbs should be W5W, 5 watts each.
 

umbertob

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By the way, if you always found the light generated by those 5-watt bulbs of courtesy, map and footwell lights to be barely adequate for the spacious interior of the LR4 (including the trunk area), I highly recommend the Osram LEDriving 4000K (warm light) W5W bulbs as 100% compatible replacement. They produce a far brighter and whiter, very uniform natural light (as opposed to the standard incandescent bulbs, which make everything look a little too dim and amber in color), they use 80% less power - 1 watt per bulb versus 5 for the OEMs - and allow you to really see stuff inside your car a lot better when it's dark outside. They aren't cheap (about $10/12 each if you search a good deal online, and you'll need quite a few to "do" most/all your interior bulbs) but well worth it to me. No flickering at all and they should last forever - they also come with a 5-year warranty from Osram.

Took some "before and after photos" even though pictures don't tell half the story it's easy to spot the difference:

Front overhead console with W5W OEM bulbs on courtesy and map lights:
Osram1000373.jpg


Same shot with Osram W5W LEDriving bulb as courtesy lamp in the center. The beautiful white light of the Osram makes the factory bulb look almost orange by comparison:
Osram1000376.jpg


LH: Osram LEDriving, RH: OEM W5W map llights, lens removed for better view:
Osram1000377.jpg
 
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LOMartin

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umbertob, do you happen to have a walk-through thread for the bulb replacements?

I would like to chang all the interior bulbs out for the ones you posted above.

Thank you for your time.
 

umbertob

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The owner's manual has a pretty good illustrated section about replacing bulbs for all internal light fixtures. Insure the light bulb you wish to replace is off first, pry its lens cover / assembly open with a small flat blade screwdriver as illustrated, gently pull old bulb from socket, gently push new bulb into socket observing the same orientation of the bulb you just removed until it snaps in place. Other than the occasionally stubborn lens removal - see first post above - nothing could be easier. It literally takes 5 minutes to retrofit all interior bulbs after you get the hang of it with the first 1 or 2 sockets.

The only bulbs I haven't replaced are the puddle lights under the 4 doors (don't really care about those, the factory ones seem powerful enough), license plate lamps (don't really see the point of making my license plate more easily visible than necessary to strangers, cops and speed cameras) and 3rd row map lights (don't think anyone ever turned those on in my car, why waste 25 bucks...)
 
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TCM75

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Thanks umbertob, I just might replace a few of these bulbs with your recommendation. For the map lights (driver and passenger side), I actually think the stock bulbs are too bright; they totally **** my night vision. I found an LED array that I want to experiment with but I need to modify it's base to fit the wedge socket; one button push enables red LEDs and another two pushes (basically one power cycle) within a few seconds turns on the white. Nice concept.
 

LOMartin

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Thanks umbertob, I just might replace a few of these bulbs with your recommendation. For the map lights (driver and passenger side), I actually think the stock bulbs are too bright; they totally **** my night vision. I found an LED array that I want to experiment with but I need to modify it's base to fit the wedge socket; one button push enables red LEDs and another two pushes (basically one power cycle) within a few seconds turns on the white. Nice concept.

When you get the red/white LED fixture working, I'm in for a pair.
 
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El Solis

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I just put a red led in the middle row dome light and replaced the others with bright white LEDs. I too found the rear cargo lacking so this weekend I will be adding a LED strip light to the rear cargo wired into the OEM light. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1436284001.960973.jpg
 

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