Citroen C5 X7 HP19W (Corner light) LED upgrade

[JohnnyUndercover]

So the C5 X7 with xenon headlights uses a specific light bulb for the corner lights. The HP19W bulb to be precise and as far as I know it's the only car that uses that light bulb and only with the xenon headlights. On normal headlights it's a standard H7 bulb. That makes it difficult to find a LED replacement. Needles to say that while writing this I did not manage to find a HP19W LED to install. And the thing is, I love LEDs, especially around the 6000k colour temperature index. And having a halogen light pop out in between the LED front lights was bugging me. So I had to improvise. Power LEDs for headlights have been around for some years now and I've been using them a lot on my cars (H1, H7, H8, D1S...). I had a pair of H7 LEDs laying around and started thinking of a decent way of fitting them in my corner lights.

I came up with two solutions, the first one was temporary and easy and the second one was the right way to do it. So I am sharing this in hope of helping someone in the future who has the same dilemma.
This are the LEDs that I am using (always try to get the CSP chip, they are better): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004 ... 1802FjCRlu

Now I had to make a connector adapter from the stock connector in the headlight to the connector of the H7 LED. I had some spare breadboard jumpers and the male headers were a perfect fit for the connector in the headlight.




And this is how it looks in the car (shown on the picture is a second set I made for a friend to install after I did it on my car):


I wrapped around some electrical tape just to prevent any possible bad connection.

So now here are the two ways I had in mind on how to install them. First the easy and temporary solution:
Flip the H7 socket adapter and use some strong double sided tape. Press the LED firmly in the headlight and that's it. Would not recommend but for me it held for almost a month without falling out while I came up with a better way.



Now to the better solution:
I've designed and 3D printed an adapter for the H7 LED using the HP19W bulb.









And as a finishing touch I've placed a rubber O-ring on the adapter to make it lock in place snug. Just like on the original bulb where it had some rubber to hold it in better I guess.






The outer diameter is not that important, as long as it fits over and doesn't go of the edges. The thickness should be in between 1.8mm-2.3mm

Here is a video of the LEDs in action:


I am going to share the STL file here tomorrow, for everyone to use for free. Keep in mind that some filing and/or sanding is required for the LEDs to fit the adapter as I made the inner diameter just as big as the neck of the LED (16mm).

EDIT: STL file - https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-print- ... 39533e994a

If someone is wondering, the LEDs (per unit) draw a current of 2A @ 12V or 1.55A @ 14.4V. I have measured them.

The positive things about this is that the LEDs are CAN-BUS so no error messages, no drilling or cutting of the headlight is required, it all fits nicely in the headlights with the cap on, and you can put in the original light bulb back whenever you want.

[CitroJim]

Most excellent work

[JohnnyUndercover]

Thank you!

Here is a short clip of the new LED corner lights : https://photos.app.goo.gl/5NmWMDdVL4b7yhtx7
And here is a clip of me installing one of the LEDs : https://photos.app.goo.gl/LteR8QP9kdAbANXB9


And as promised here is the STL file: https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-print- ... 39533e994a

[undead68]

I tried to repeat your experience with installing LED lamps, but I had a problem.
I put the Dawnknight K5C mini lamps that I had on my second car (like these https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005043782974.html ). But when they turned the steering wheel, they just blinked three times and went out. In addition, the incandescent lamp was turned off before restarting the car. I connected a resistance of 21W to 9 ohm, but the result is the same.
Will there be any such problems with the lamps from the first message? Or maybe something needs to be activated somewhere in diagbox?

[JohnnyUndercover]

I tried to repeat your experience with installing LED lamps, but I had a problem.
I put the Dawnknight K5C mini lamps that I had on my second car (like these https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005043782974.html ). But when they turned the steering wheel, they just blinked three times and went out. In addition, the incandescent lamp was turned off before restarting the car. I connected a resistance of 21W to 9 ohm, but the result is the same.
Will there be any such problems with the lamps from the first message? Or maybe something needs to be activated somewhere in diagbox?

No need for activation, that looks like either there is a bad connection with the LEDs or the LEDs you are using are not CAN-bus compatible and you didn't put enough load with the resistor. Try with the resistor again and reassure that all of the connections are good. That happened to me when one of the pins that goes on the connector of the car was loose, that's why later I started using 2mm copper wire and pushed it in as far as it could reach. No problems after that.

[perezgarcia]

Great tutorial.
Thanks for the STL files and the detailed explanations.

I’ve tried doing this on my C5 X7 2.0 HDi (2009), and the bulbs don’t even turn on.

I measured them and they draw about 0.9 A (~13 W).

I tried to check the link to your bulbs, but they’re no longer available.

Do you have any idea why this might be happening?

My hypothesis is that the bulbs draw too little current and the BSI detects an error.

I think they need to be around 18–24 W per bulb.

[JohnnyUndercover]

Great tutorial.
Thanks for the STL files and the detailed explanations.

I’ve tried doing this on my C5 X7 2.0 HDi (2009), and the bulbs don’t even turn on.

I measured them and they draw about 0.9 A (~13 W).

I tried to check the link to your bulbs, but they’re no longer available.

Do you have any idea why this might be happening?

My hypothesis is that the bulbs draw too little current and the BSI detects an error.

I think they need to be around 18–24 W per bulb.

If I remember correctly, the LEDs need to be CAN bus compatible, so it could mean that they're drawing too little of current. You could do a quick test and wire them both in parallel on one side and check if that side will turn on, that would double the current consumption. (Would be smart to leave the halogen bulb on the opposite side if it's still functional so it doesn't throw an error). The car and the low beam lights need to be turned on for the corner lights to be able to turn on.

I am still running this setup on my C5 with the same LEDs, no issues.