When I bought this car in the fall of 2019, I had zero clue what I was getting into. To be honest, I didn’t even plan on buying a Ferrari, I wanted an old Porsche. But 2019 was the year of Copart, IAAI, and rebuilding supercars for Youtube even though I didn’t do Youtube like that at the time. Over the years though, this car went from being a pain in my ass, to a pain in my ass that was also kinda fun. You’ve probably heard some of the modifications we did to the car as well. We put it on Air Suspension from Accuair (RIP), Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, Blaque Diamond BD-F18 wheels, a mountain of carbon fiber from Exotic Car Gear, and now we’re working with Valvetronic on a valved exhaust and a brand new top end rebuild that’s getting done in my garage later in the year (Subscribe to that crap show here).
But today, we get to focus on a fun modification. A mod that’s not only making the car look better, but actually fixes an issue that all F430 owners know about; the crummy tail light design.
These are a direct bolt-on fitment for all Ferrari F430s from 2005-2010 including the Berlinetta, Spyder, 16M, and Scuderias. They use all of the stock mounting points, and should not take more than an hour or two to install all four tail lights. Morimoto claims they’re plug and play, but i’ll be the judge of that. (Spoiler alert, they are plug and play)
The packaging and overall unboxing experience was fantastic. I could tell right out of the gate that the tail lights were going to blow me away just by the packaging. And sure, you might say it’s because its for a Ferrari, but i’ve seen Ferrari ship parts in the worst types of boxes. Instead, these taillights came in a foam-protected box with the instructions easily accessible through a QR code that was on a pamphlet.
Once we were able to remove the OEM tail lights, we began to realize why they were shaking so bad. Ferrari mounted these taillights using 3 plastic mounting points and when the tail lights didn’t align perfectly, they used shims to straighten out the light. Typical.
Over time, and usually because of aftermarket exhausts, the vibration of the car can cause these plastic mounting points to crack and break. And while first time Ferrari owners are going to replace this part with an OEM replacement, most second hand Ferrari owners are going to do what the previous owner of this F430 did; just glue it back together. Nice.
After chiseling glue and broken plastic pieces off the car, we were finally ready to install the Morimoto Xb LED Tail Lights.
The Ferrari F430 LED tail lights from Morimoto are designed to work without any modifications. These LED tail lights will plug into the factory connectors for the stock lights on all US-spec cars. Each set includes signal splitters too, which makes the pair of lights on each side of the car to work in unison (rather than one acting as the turn signal, the other as the brake).
Inspired by the design of the tail lights on the Ferrari 488, these are the perfect solution to modernize the rear end of the 430 without getting too close to the “rice” element that typically follows lighting mods. While you can get this with a red-lens to maintain a more OE look, I went for the fully smoked version and I think it complements the rear end with the carbon fiber challenger grille perfectly.
Also, and probably worth mentioning, the optical light pipe that highlights the outside perimeter of each light acts as a low intensity parking light, and high intensity brake light (red). The middle section acts as the turn signal and hazard light (amber). The center of each light is a high-intensity reverse light (white). Pretty much, Morimoto fixed the way Ferrari set up their lights so that you don’t need to worry about which lens goes where.
After 2 hours or so, we were done. Overall the process was incredibly easy. A quick removal of the access panels inside the engine bay using a hex head socket and you’re set. The OEM lights were held in using a 10mm washer and could be removed by a self-ratcheting socket or wrench; whichever is easier. The new lights look absolutely incredible, are insanely bright (but not annoying) and really do hit the mark of OE+ styling for me which I love.
You can learn more about this specific F430 product here, or check out our lighting store on MartiniWorks to buy other Morimoto products. Questions? let me know below!
What’s included
Tail Lights:
4x (Complete Set) 05-10 Ferrari F430 XB LED Tail Lights
Wiring:
Plug and Play Adapter Harness (US Spec Only)
Adapters:
Plug and Play Adapter Harness for Euro Vehicles (Optional)
Compatibility
Ferrari F430:
05-10 (Berlinetta, Spider, Scuderia, 16M)
Ferrari Enzo:
All
US Spec Cars: Standard
EU Spec Cars: Needs Adapter Harness (PN LF356H-EU)
Replaces Ferrari Part #: 193181, 185669, 185671, 185668, 185670
Compliance: DOT, SAE, ECE Compliant
TECH SPECS
Input: Ferrari Multi-Pin OEM
Material: ABS Plastic (Housing), UV-Resistant Polycarbonate (Lens)
Light Source: SSC LED
Reverse Light: White
Brake Light: Red
Parking Light: Red
Turn Signal: Amber
My name is Alex, or Alex Martini (Alex.Martini__) and I love building unreliable cars. From track, road, drag and drift, there really isn't a motorsport I love. PS if you're reading this, just know that we've got some WILD builds coming for MartiniWorks that we're really excited to share with you :)
