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Hello, fellow Saabers!
PIAA and others make replacement LED "wedge" bulbs and I was considering buying these for the center high mounted stop light (CHMSL) on my 9-5. LEDs are brighter, last longer, and light up more quickly than traditional incandescent bulbs. Many other cars have LEDs in the CHMSL, so I was thinking about installing these in my 9-5 for both increased safety and better looks.
[rant mode on]
Well, today I went to examine the bulbs in the CHMSL of my 2002 9-5 Aero... BIG mistake.
WARNING: Don't ever remove the cover for the CHMSL unless you absolutely have to! The CHMSL in the 9-5 is composed of three pieces:
1) an outer plastic cover which is held, via black plastic tabs, onto...
2) the main plastic frame which bolts onto the ceiling, which also holds
3) the bulb holder in place, also via plastic tabs
Well, VALEO chose to manufacture part #2, the main plastic frame, out of possibly the cheapest and crappiest plastic on earth. It's shiny, hard, brittle plastic which absolutely has NO BUSINESS being in a SAAB.
In order to remove the white outer plastic cover, you have to press in two tabs on either side, which are molded into the main plastic frame. Problem is, it's almost impossible to do so without having the tabs break off on you! Even the larger tabs which keep the bulb holder in place snap off all too easily.
I tried to glue the plastic tabs back in place, and succeeded with the larger ones which secure the bulb holder... but the smaller ones which hold the white outer cover are virtually impossible to repair! I even used a special plastics repair kit, which uses a two-step process. No dice.
NO WAY IN HELL am I gonna shell out probably $250 at the dealer for a new CHMSL. NO WAY.
Fortunately, I thought of an easy way to secure the white outer plastic cover: drill two small holes into the main frame, and install the outer cover with screws, using the holes already present as a "tab catch".
Three pictures are attached below.
Picture #1, the top picture, shows the main plastic frame. You can see the low quality of the plastics used by VALEO (how do I know it was manufactured by them? Their name is molded into it... AGAIN, THANKS FOR NOTHING, VALEO)
The top arrow shows where the top tab broke off, and the bottom arrow shows where I drilled a small hole.
Picture #2, the middle picture, shows where I inserted a small screw into the white outer cover [one on each side]. This piece looks okay from inside the cabin, but if you look at the inner part, you can see this is also of marginal quality. On mine, the rubber seal around the edge was carelessly installed.
Picture #3, the bottom picture, shows the final repaired product, doesn't look too bad.
[rant mode off]
Thanks for allowing me to vent...
Jason
'02 Aero
ps- SAAB, you simply cannot allow your suppliers to cut corners like this... This is extremely disappointing!
posted by 24.46.48...
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