I tried some LED bulbs in my tail lights and there were a dismal failure. The bulbs I tried were from SuperBrightLEDs:

Part Number, Color ......, Color Temp, Lumen, Beam Pattern
67-W9 ......, Cool White, 9000K ......, 30 lm , 100°

Well, they sucked. The vendor claims 100° angle, but I don't see that as true. They were waaay too dim, especially the side marker part of the tail light. Then there is that metal band built in the lense, right across the bulb. I guess it's there to reflect the light sideways, and it does a good job of that with incandescent bulbs. But with the directional LED bulbs in there, side light was like a candle.

Has anybody tried another LED bulb in there that works? The problem I see is limited space, only a small 5w size bulb will fit. So the long LED bulbs such as an 1156 style are just too long, they hit the lense before they get fully into the socket.

Has anybody tried removing that metal bar in the lense? Do you US guys even have the same metal band in your tail lights?

Does anybody make full LED tail light assemblies for our Disco2s? Anybody tried them yet?

 

Have not ventured to exterior lights yet, but interior LEDs from same vendor and others are a plus; my D1 has a "multi-function unit" that handles things like dimming the lamps. The main transistor inside has no heat sink. Good for maybe 1 watt of power in free air, vs. 55 - 60 on a good heat sink. The two dome lights and cargo light draw more than 2 amps total, so it was no surprise to me that the plastic case of the MFU unit has a small hole melted in it when it failed. Replaced with LEDs and it's brighter and about 10 - 15% of the original amp draw. So the right LED can help roll back the death grip of Lucas.

What was that bumper sticker - "Why do the British drink warm beer? Thay all have Lucas refrigerators...."

 

If you are looking for a brighter bulb, buy a set of long life bulbs, they are brighter then LED's, which I also tried, and factory bulbs.

 

LED'a are directional and need an optic to direct its light. The standard tail lights are set up for an incandescent bulb which throws light in all directions. I have LED's in my interior and for my license plate and they work great. I have not ventured, and probably will not, into the exterior LED's for exactly the problems you're facing.

 

x2 on the interior lights. I changed those bulbs over first. But I didn't know that I was also saving the life of that dimmer unit!

x2 on the comment about our stock directional reflectors designed for a single filament source. Yes it's an uphill battle switching to LEDs. SuperBrightLEDs also offers an 1157 replacement that is sufficiently omni-directional for exterior lighting. It has something like 45 LEDs on it, and it costs too much. I have some in the Peugeot for tail/fog bulbs. I don't know why I am fascinated with exterior LEDs, I guess I just like the look.

 

I HATE LED tail lights, the bulbs do not get hot and then the tail light gets covered in snow and people cannot see you.
Here in MI this is a huge problem, they are even switching over to LED stop lights but they have to have heating elements in them to keep them from being covered in snow.
I dont know how many cars I almost rear ended last winter because their fancy LED taillights were completely covered.
My work van has them and I am not looking forward to brushing them off every 5min.

 

Holy sherbet, I never thought of that! I will keep that in mind.