Lex Talionis

there are a couple of guys here with companies selling awesome digital HID kits that are 100% DIY. real easy to install, and very affordable. search the forums, you will see a LOT of chatter about who, what, where, how much, how to, photos, etc.

5000 or 6000k - either way, as both are good choices - I did 5000k personally, HIDs rock!

replacing the rear bumper and sensors is the easy part - plug and ply - painting it to match... THAT is the tough part. (don't ask me how I know )

well... if your serious.. sure, you 'could' have theme bead/sand/or media blasted and then brought to a high polish. no reason why not. might be costly and time consuming, but very doable. and yeah, aluminums rock over the chrome clads

then simply do this - all the difference in the world, and a heck of a lot cheaper and less hassel

I thought the exact same thing. It 'looks' like there are little festoon bulbs sealed into that unit. all you would have to do is use like a dremmel tool and cut all the way around the unit down near the refractor away from bulb, peel open, replace the bulb (whatever it is), and then reseal with a glue, epoxy or just simple electric tape incase future replacements are desired. The unit sits up in the mirror pretty safe and secure. I believe this is 100% doable, no doubt. the real possible issue is what kind/size bulb is in that sealed unit and finding it? It is irritating to have all of these nice super white LED bulbs and the dingy yellow on the puddles. UPDATE: dealer says retail on just 1 of the puddle lamp units is $63.00.. d-ohhhh

It is on the list at Syncmyride.com as compatible... so that is good. no, this should not happen. you can always contact tech support through that website. they are good about follow-up and are better at diagnosis and phone pairing.

Okay.. after much research and what not, here is my plan of action to do ALL the bulbs inside the car having already done the license plate bulbs. I believe I have measured this all out correct and have the items sourced all from 1 place. he is getting back to me, but here is the goal. In measuring, I see that in the case of the festoon bulbs, the lengths do not need to be right on exact... for example, in a 38mm, a 36mm or 39mm should be just fine. they are on order and I will report back. 1 rear trunk cargo area: Super white 9-LED 39mm festoon bulb 2 front map lights: Super White T10 6-Led 194-168 wedge bulbs (exact ones I did for license plate) 3 rear dome/map lights: Super White 6-LED 36mm festoon bulb

on page 136 of my manual/owners guide are pretty much these exact directions - so mine seem to be correct

it you are talking about the front drivers/passengers map light when you say "Windshield Dome" - well, on my 2008 those are NOT festoon bulbs. they are wedge bulbs like the lecense plate bulbs. so, not sure what you plan to put 42x11mm festoons into? as for opening that front drivers/passengers map lights.. I am curious about opening that as well. you can easily pry down the white trim around the 2 bulbs clear pressable covers, but to get actual full finger access you need to pull down the whole trim piece and as much as I have tried, it seems it will break.

that is pretty interesting idea actually. not sure how they would fit though. Would have to do the flexible one, but even then, just not sure if enough room in the rear dome/map. I think it might work in the rear cargo area light. but, one guy reviewed and was concerned by the heat generation. since you would put in the festoon, then push up the wires and try to fit this +- 4/5cmx.29" thick square full of lights into the available opening.. just not sure how feasible it is without those LEDs making contact with the surface they push against. I would rather stick with a cleaner straight festoon. since a lot of my research is pointing to the fact that there are not exact festoon LED bulbs that match length of ours (as I see the same LED sizs listed over and over and over and ours is not among them) another idea was to try to use all of the same size festoon for both the map/dome and rear cargo despite them being 2 sizes. you see, since you need 3 smaller for the map/dome and 1 bigger for the cargo (as my diagram shows) - maybe get 4 of the smallest size that fits the dome/map perfect and then use one of those in the cargo area as well. it should/might just fit and span the clamp gap it needs to, and if so, 1 size bulb would fit. some of those larger 38,39,40 festoon bulbs are not cheap and are often sold in pairs. and, since either way we would be getting more and better light, even if you took a smaller map/dome bulb and put it into the rear cargo that should have a larger festoon, it should still mean more light and you could buy 2 sets of 2 pieces rather than trying to buy 3 and 1. make sense? my goal is to do the cargo area first as I think that has the most immediate utility to me to have brighter, cleaner white light back there to fill the all black cargo area at night. then, move onto the front map lights and rear map/dome lights. I admit I am a little bit apprehensive about the front map and rear dome/map as I do not want like POW hella bright light when I open the door or need the map light or the passenger flips on the dome light... so still need to consider maybe a lower number LED for those than 6. like a 2 or 4 as either way it would be clean white and still brighter but not like a death ray from the sky - like in the movie Fire In The Sky

Sorry.. but I am going to hold onto it.. BTW, the same company I got my stubby antenna from also has regular full size ones as I am sure the dealer charges and arm and a leg, but I would hold the dealer to giving me an antenna for Gods sake, I mean come on.. no antenna no radio.

It was cheap.. about $14 shipped or so... something like that. there is a link in my post that will take you right to their site. many to select from, but we now know that model I listed in quotes works great. (and looks great). as Creamy said.. I would NOT cut an antenna down. no way. for that cheap of price, just buy it and try it. you'll like it and creamy.. I like the shark fins also, but I have seen no mention of one that will fit/retro, plus you would have to remove that blocky antenna base some way and who knows what that entails.

(add disclaimers, risks and caveats here about what damage you could do or warranties you could void by changing your antenna) I have not seen this done on any Edge yet, but another thread got me thinking about something I had subconsciously never really liked about my Edge.. the antenna. I love the placement of the antenna, but NOT the look of it nor the fact it was 11.5". Just seemed out of place. PLUS, I never listen to AM/FM (I have Satellite and an iPod so no need), so was cool with bobbing it even if it lost some signal strength as what did I care. It was a huge focal point for something I do not really need, but need to have something there. I was going for look more than performance. So, after surfing the internets, I came across a nice aluminum, stubby, all black antenna I wanted to try. I wanted to go about as short as possible, and I found the shortest I saw was about 2", and ended up going 2.5". I saw many styles, colors and sizes on many sites, but opted for the "Mangowalk 2.4" Black Short & Stubby Antenna Mast in black aluminum". They were super cool with answering emails and fit questions, and the price was very good. It comes with 4 different sized threaded mounting studs to mount to any real possible size antenna base, and so I was covered. Install was cake.. hand turn out old, put in the right size threaded stud into the new antenna mast, hand tighten down new antenna. Cake. Now, of course I wanted to see just how/if it did affect signal strength so before I did this I scanned and programmed all AM/FM1/FM1 presets while in my driveway. Filled all the channels. After the install, I quickly went back through each and every preset and I could not tell a bit of difference. Of course, not moving car, in an area that seems to get good reception, and blah blah blah, but I expected something to change. Nothing. Now, of course your mileage may vary, duh. But for me, I was pretty impressed. Don't plan to listen to terrestrial radio.. but it seems I still can. More importantly, I achieved my goal as I think it looks 100 times better, a bit more stealth and modern, a bit cleaner look.

Just ordered some "super bright white" 6-LED bulbs for the license plate (194/168 T10 size). Should give that nice bright clean white with a slight tint of blue over the plate versus that dingy yellow - will kind of match the nice HID kit up front. I opted to get mine off of eBay for 9$ delivered for a pair (2) of bulbs. Same specs as the others, but a bit mo cheaper as they do huge volume. I tried to find the right "festoon" bulbs from them as per post #20 - but no dice in those sizes. many are very close, but not exact. UPDATE: they look awesome. worth while 9$ upgrade. and a little tip, it matters how they go into the socket. if you put them in and they do not turn on, pull it and turn around and reinsert. it seems the LED adhere to a +/- post

I need to add, contrary to what I said above about the Sirius and XM channels combining.. I was partially correct, but over simplified it. As the details about what will happen with the merger come out more and more daily, it seems that to get both combined channels, one will need a newer - as yet to be even built and released - receiver to get both satellite feeds as they appear to be 'interoperable' signals/radios so cannot pick each others up and will not be made to do so as they will not change the signal type, just update the receivers (car, home, portables, etc) to receive both signals in one unit. That being said, they may combine them in that they might add 'select' channels from one to the other and send it in that signal type. So, they will combine programming it seems, but to get the full XM and full Sirius programming you would need a new receiver to get said full combined programming, except for those 'select' channels they make cross over channels and stream in both formats. Make sense? Now, for me, that is not so bad as by all accounts, there is nothing on XM I seek or care to listen to. but, nevertheless it seems those that wish to get both signals will need to buy new units. And, as the reports are speculating and saying, this could be 2-3 years down the road from when the merger is even FCC finalized for them to be seen in actual cars as lead times for car makers to spec them and fit them into cars/dashes is a lot longer than the portable or home kind they can crank out and you can just plug and play and buy from Radio Shack or the internets. Then, on top of all of this, there is a push for 'a la carte' programming. Paying a base fee for services with select channels... then 25 cents up to a few dollars per channel for other channels - as of yet unknown what the division will be. So, it is about to get a whole lot more interesting as this develops and unfolds as a lot of pundit speculation abounds, but neither company is commenting much. But, in the meantime, for those of us that use Sirius, have it in the car, like it, we have nothing to worry about as "both companies said 'no existing radio will be made obsolete by the merger.'"

as it seems festoon bulbs are based on actual size, rather than cross reference of of numbers (i.e., Ford versus Sylvania versus what is stamped on them) here is a diagram I made in an effort for me/us track down the exact correct size LED bulb for the 3 rear dome/map ceiling light and the 1 rear cargo area. These are based on exactly what is in my 2008, measured with calipers. (it seems the front map lights and license plates are easier to find and are not festoon anyway). I see some measurements on the superbrightleds.com website, but not exact matches to these sizes. and a call to them was a bit fruitless. maybe these are just oddball sizes and hard to find...

sure enough.. I find some discrepancies here also with the Ford manual/Sylvania site versus going and looking for myself: It claims the License plate is 6418.. which is a festoon style bulb (100% round and long ovalized) which is NOT what is back there. what IS back there is more similar to a 168/194 bulb style (round front bulb end with flat tail) it claims that the Rear Courtesy Lamp in the cargo area is a 2825 bulb (round front bulb end with flat tail) which is NOT what is back there. what IS back there is a festoon style bulb (100% round and long ovalized) that being said... 578 for 3 rear dome lamp seems correct as it is a festoon style bulb (100% round and long ovalized), but shorter than the Rear Courtesy Lamp in cargo so not technically the same bulb model. 2825 front map lamps seem to be correct also as that is a round front bulb end with flat tail style, which is what is there, but not same dimensions as license plate style technically though it seems. BTW - how the hell did you get to the 2 front map lights? when trying to pry down the clear plastic trim around that section you can get it 80% reveled to see the bulb, but the section facing the windshield is tough and I am afraid to man handle it in fear of breaking it to actually get access enough for my fingers. Something else to consider here on the LED 'festoon' bulb placements - those on the ceiling rear dome lamp and the rear Courtesy cargo bulb - is the angle they disperse light. For example, a regular bulb emits light 360 degrees and light shining back reflects off the reflector to bounce forward and fill an area with more light. Well, the festoon style LED bulbs have bulbs mounted on 1 side and are placed facing out. so, there is no light facing back (or up or down) to bounce off a reflector and fill the space. Now.. why this might matter is that if you put these above you... will they shine straight down in a beam like a flashlight rather than fill the general area? and in the cargo area, will they send a beam across to the other side of the trunk rather than generally fill the cargo area?

so what all did you replace? where did you get? to confirm, did you use size 194/168 bulb for the license plate light as others mention, or an actual 6418 led bulb? to confirm, what size did you use for the front dome/map lights - 2825? actually, Ford lists the rear second row dome as 578 - which is also on the Sylvania a website. And the rear courtesy lamp in the back is listed by Ford as W5W, the same as the Map light which we know Sylvania claims said front 'Map Light" is a 2825, this should mean the rear courtesy lamp would then also be 2825 as they share W5W as their Ford part which Sylvania translates to 2825. point is, it looks like both these are in fact listed. So.. as kind of a brake down of some of the key bulbs one might change for LED, I see it as: License Plate: 6418 (C5W ford) [maybe 194/168 according to some] x2 Front Map Lamps: 2825 (W5W ford) x2 Second Row Map/Dome Lamp: 578 (578 ford) x3 Rear Courtesy Lamp Cargo Area: 2825 (W5W ford) x1

true that.. I did mine in like 5 seconds as it is just hand tight. this whole topic got me thinking about replacing that uber antenna - which I never really did like from the start but did not think too much of it - and I wanted to see just how well it was attached.. hand tight at best. take it off, toss it in the center console and away you go

don't be so quick to want to bail on it.. try it... you might just like it. it is pretty affordable and you get 6 months free - some I have heard a year, guess it depends on your area - so you might get swayed in that free trial period. once I listened to Satellite I have NEVER - not one time in 2 years - gone back to regular radio. I now have 3 subscriptions. AND, as of this past week, if the FCC signs off to the agreed approved merger, Sirius and XM will merge and this likely means even more channels to select from as they combine. Satellite rocks...

no worries.. really only an issue if you badly wanted them in the rears I suppose.. you did read my install though and saw that I pulled it off perfect without any issues and made no mention of them touching the grill, but still believed CF :shades: anyway, I am sure what you got will rock and it WILL be better than stock for damn sure. as we know, there is no way they can test all speakers in all cars (front and rear to boot)... they likely just use speaker and door panel dimensions from the manufacturer to guesstimate probable fitment - but were wrong in this case. good luck... post back when you get them installed as then we will have another rear option for people to read about.

to resurrect this topic - as I love the idea of bobbing this antenna as I NEVER listen to AM/FM radio given I have Satellite and/or iPod so do not really care if it was there but need something of course.... I understand the GPS antenna is in the dash and the Satellite antenna is on the rear spoiler, so am I assuming correct that the front antenna is nothing but AM/FM radio so swapping it would only affect radio reception?... can anyone confirm that the front mounted antenna is purely just for the AM/FM radio? confirmed this to be true from dealer last, can anyone confirm the screw size of that antenna into the base (5mm/10-32 or 6mm)? UPDATE: I just ordered a black aluminum stubby antenna today to give this a whirl and see what comes of it. I ordered a 2.4" antenna (yes, I know the reception will likely suffer, but I truly couldn't care less). The stock antenna is a flexible 11.5" and that 2.4" is about as short as it goes - I did find one about 2" but didn't like design. UPDATE 2: I did this.. should stop the antenna from interfering with any rack, it it is cheap mod to do: see here