# HOW TO: Install Exterior Side Mirror LED bulbs



## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

Ok,

So I never found a writeup on here stating exactly what to do and how to install the exterior side mirror LED bulbs (the one's that face toward the ground) on the CC. I just got done installing them, so I figured I'd do a write-up.

I did mine on a 2010 CC VR6 4Motion... but I believe 2009 - 2012 are all the same (don't quote me on that though)

To begin... *Things you're going to need: * 

1. * 2 LED Paddle lights *-- I got mine from http://uspmotorsports.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_359_576&products_id=657

2. *A long flat head screwdriver*

3. *A T10 Torx driver or socket adapter*

*Steps:*

1. First, you're going to need to pop out your side view mirrors (I take no responsibility if you rush this and crack your mirrors... it's really not that difficult, but if you pry on them too hard, you could end up cracking your mirror and having to buy a new one)....

The easiest way to do this that I could find, is to first lower the mirror all the way facing down and then as far to the outside as you can possibly go. This open up a nice little gap in the upper right corner (driver's side) and upper left corner (passenger side).

Get a long flat head screw driver and wedge it in the crack towards the center of the mirror (if you actually look in the crack you just opened you can see how it clips on). Your screwdriver should be at about a 30 to 45 degree angle to the ground.

*GENTLY (i can't stress this enough) GENTLY... begin to pry the center of the mirror towards you (moving the mirror to the rear of the car. In all honesty, if you're doing it right, you shouldn't have to provoide very much pressure at all before you hear it click and start to unsnap out of it's hinge.*

Once you've got the first part started, again, gently work your way around the mirror to pop out the rest. It should come out very easily (both sides).

Then unhook the two "Heating wires" on the mirror and place the mirrors off to the side someplace safe.



2. Now that the mirror glass is off, you can see the inside of the mirror. You're going to need to remove the mirror hub (the big round piece in the middle that moves the mirror electronically). There's 3 T10 screws holding it in place.

Remove the 3 T10 screws, and take out the hub... make sure you disconnect it as well. And set it off to the side.



3. Next you're going to need to remove the plastic shim surround that holds the top and bottom portions of the outside of the mirror together. If you look at the outside of the mirror housing, this is the plastic surround piece facing the rear of the car. There's 2 more T10 torx screws holding this in place. 

*BUT BEFORE YOU MOVE ON.... Notice the little plastic blinker piece on the inside of this housing facing the outside of the mirror (you know... the itty bitty light that comes on in your mirror as you're driving and you flip the turn signal on?) You NEED TO PAY EXTRA ATTENTION to that piece, because you can snap that puppy off if you're not careful!*

Ok, so now that i've said that... Take out those 2 torx screws. NOW... take your flat head screwdriver and GENTLY push that little plastic piece in before you start snapping the shim out of the housing. Once you've pushed it in a little so it unsnaps... you can start pulling on the outer edges of the shim to get it out.

Once you've got it out... set it off to the side someplace safe.



4. Ok now we're getting somewhere... next you should be able to remove the top side of the mirror cover right up off the mirror, leaving only the bottom in place. It should pretty much just come right off towards the top, but give it a little tug if it gives you a hard time.



5. Now for ease of access to that lower light assembly you should now be able to EASILY see... we're still going to need a little bit more access to easily replace that tricky bulb.

You see that Yellow twisted wire going around the top inside of the housing... lets take that off it's hooks for a moment so it doesn't get in our way and prevent us from releasing the housing.

Next, there should be a relatively large and obvious clip holding the bottom portion of the mirror housing in place... this is located towards the inside of the mirror (closest to the door). You're going to need your trusted flathead again, as it's in there pretty good and tight. Take your flathead and wedge it in there to apply pressure towards the door of the car to release that clip, and at the same time, use your other hand to push down on the bottom of the mirror housing. It should eventually click out of it's clip and come loose and you should now be hanging it by the relatively short paddle light wires.

_**NOTE** after it clicks out of place, you'll probably have to turn it a bit to get it fully off and hanging by those 2 wires... just play with it for a minute and you'll have it... not hard._



6. Ok great... almost there. The bulb itself is surrounded in a rubber grommet essentially. So just
twist it back and forth and it will eventually come out of the housing. Pull out the bulb.



7. Now comes the fun part... the "square LED paddle lights" are longer in length than the actual bulb you just pulled out, and because of that, we STILL don't have enough room to just stick in the new LED paddle light and push the grommet back in place. SOOOO..... we actually need to take out the plastic light housing too (Easier than it looks guys).

On the bottom of the lower housing take your two thumbs and push the plastic light housing up into the housing... it will eventually click out of place. (The first time I did this, it shot across the room... so be careful).



8. Now that the housing is out, we have one more small point of pain to deal with. Again... the new paddle light is "squareish" and we have to fit it in a "Round Hole".... and you know what they say about fitting square pegs in round holes...

The issue is that once you put the new Square LED paddle light into the plug, the rubber grommet surrounding it is slightly bigger than the hole. And if you go and just try and push into the hole of the plastic light housing without care, I GAURANTEE the bulb will pop out inside of the housing. It's relatively easy to get it back out with a pair of needle nose pliers, but still... it's kind of a pain.

What you need to do is push the LED light all the way into the plug, and then CAREFULLY align it with the hole, it won't fit naturally, so you need to give it a little help. What I did was take a really small thin flat head screwdriver, and gently pry the edges in. Once it's past that little point, it just fits in as normal.



9. After that, make sure to test and see if the light is working by opening the door.



10. Assembly of the mirror cover is simply in reverse order.


Install for both lights should take you between 30 - 45 minutes. 

HOPE THIS HELPS!!!! :beer:


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## PLAccBo (Dec 4, 2011)

This helped me out great!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Goes well with that one website where its in german i think, but has pictures. Also i wonder how much brighter are the USP lights vs the ones i got. I figured the old 194 bulb shined light in a circle and was fairly bright, so a 194 led one that shines in a circle should do well too. I live down the street from DDM so i ended up getting all my interior lights there, and got some for the mirrors to ensure they matched.

A link to the page with pictures.
http://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/fuba...beleuchtung-auf-led-s-umruesten-t2714881.html

The style bulb i used








I got the 5x5050 bulbs.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/194-T10-168-LED-Bulb


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## SleepyGTI (Dec 22, 2002)

Well done! How-To's are ALWAYS a huge contribution. :thumbup:


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## 1slow1.8t (Sep 15, 2009)

good write up.....i bought these (like in your link) they are squared like in the picture

they do not fit into the small hole for the oem 194 i guess the only way to use these bulbs is to take apart the plastic.. # 7 on your list

i need to try this instead of buying different bulbs

http://uspmotorsports.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_359_576&products_id=657


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## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

1slow1.8t said:


> good write up.....i bought these (like in your link) they are squared like in the picture
> 
> they do not fit into the small hole for the oem 194 i guess the only way to use these bulbs is to take apart the plastic.. # 7 on your list
> 
> ...


Yep, Just take a little extra time, and pop that piece out... You'll eventually get it in there. They will fit in the hole snug (a little too snug for my comfort. You could always take a slight bigger drill bit, and drill the hole just a little bit to make it fit as well... but the grommet may need to be "upsized" or you could use RTV to hold it in place if it's too big.


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## AZ_CC (May 25, 2012)

PLAccBo said:


> This helped me out great!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Goes well with that one website where its in german i think, but has pictures. Also i wonder how much brighter are the USP lights vs the ones i got. I figured the old 194 bulb shined light in a circle and was fairly bright, so a 194 led one that shines in a circle should do well too. I live down the street from DDM so i ended up getting all my interior lights there, and got some for the mirrors to ensure they matched.
> 
> A link to the page with pictures.
> http://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/fuba...beleuchtung-auf-led-s-umruesten-t2714881.html
> ...


I used bulbs just like these also and they work very well.


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## AZ_CC (May 25, 2012)

Here's a pic of mine with the 5 smd led bulbs


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## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

Maybe this is a dumb idea.... but anyone know if there's a way to have these on while driving? Even if they're dimmed a bit?


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## sunney (May 28, 2012)

well done . thankyou for your write up . make me know more . and next time i will do this as you said .


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## Stero1D (Aug 8, 2012)

usaf-lt-g said:


> Maybe this is a dumb idea.... but anyone know if there's a way to have these on while driving? Even if they're dimmed a bit?


Had same idea


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## VdubTX (Jul 5, 2003)

Threads like this should be added to the FAQ's. Very nice write up.

Paging Mods......


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## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

VdubTX said:


> Threads like this should be added to the FAQ's. Very nice write up.
> 
> Paging Mods......


I think the "mods" have abandoned us. We've been "ex-communicated"


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## VdubTX (Jul 5, 2003)

usaf-lt-g said:


> I think the "mods" have abandoned us. We've been "ex-communicated"


Nater did respond to my post report about that one guy blasting a certain VW dealer in multiple threads over the weekend. Was going to PM him and see if he can add this to the FAQ listings.


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

Do me a favor guys...
Ill create a new thread entitled "Suggestions for additions to FAQ"...

You guys can copy/paste items and ill update the FAQ when I get the time.
Please, only legit items and no commentary as it'll make it tough for me to sort through.
I work ~55-60 hrs/week so my downtime is usually spent doing other stuff so please be patient and ill get it done. 
Thanks,


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## VdubTX (Jul 5, 2003)

nater said:


> Do me a favor guys...
> Ill create a new thread entitled "Suggestions for additions to FAQ"...
> 
> You guys can copy/paste items and ill update the FAQ when I get the time.
> ...


Thank you nater. :thumbup::beer:


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## teknodogg (Nov 19, 2013)

anyone have a DIY ... video link? or photos or step by step?


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## VdubTX (Jul 5, 2003)

teknodogg said:


> anyone have a DIY ... video link? or photos or step by step?


From the DIY listing... http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5851153-Puddle-Lights-DIY-%28a-piece-of-cake%29


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

VdubTX said:


> From the DIY listing... http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5851153-Puddle-Lights-DIY-%28a-piece-of-cake%29


:thumbup: great DIY.

these utilize the brighter flat 6 LED wafer type which will create a better beam angle and more light in the small puddle housing lens:
http://deautokey.com/product/volkswagen-cc-puddle-led-set-crisp-white-no-errors-lifetime-warranty


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