Disclaimer - Please note I only recommend professionals undertake any work on vehicles. Spdkilz.com is not liable for any damage or harm that may come from the use of instructions given in the following how-to section(s).

 

. : List of Materials Needed : .
(1).  Twelve LED's	(2).  Wire Cutters or Scissors
(3).  Small Flathead Screwdriver	(4).  Soldering Gun
(5).  Solder

 

(click on pictures for larger versions)

 

(1).  Here is a picture of a few things you will need (not shown is Wire Cutters or Scissors).
(2).  First, we need to unplug the plug at the rear of the mirror so as to cut the power to the LEDs.  If you tilt the mirror forward a bit toward you, there will be more room to get your hand behind it to pull the plug.  There is no connector on the plug, so just gently, yet forcefully, pull on the plug until it comes loose.
(3).  No action is done in this picture.  It shows the plug detached from the mirror.
(4).  The next step we need to do is pry the lens which is covering the LEDs, out of the mirror.  Obtain your small flathead screwdriver and carefully wedge it in between the opening.  Take your time so that you do not damage the surrounding plastic.  [Note]  When taking the lens out be sure to remember the orientation of it, because it only goes back in one way.
(5).  Shows the lens covers removed from the mirrors.  Observe the retaining clips on the lens.
(6).  This picture shows the LED assembly within the mirror.
(7).  Using the same small screwdriver, carefully remove the LED assembly.  When it becomes loose, you should be able to pull it down a bit.  There is an electrical plug you will need to detach from the assembly.  [Note]  The electrical connection is facing towards the mirror side of the assembly.  This is imperative to remember because when you put the assembly back in, you will not be able to get the lens covers back on if you put the LED assembly in wrong.
(8).  Repeat the procedure for the other side of the mirror.  This picture shows the LED assemblies up close.
(9).  This next step is where the fun begins.  Obtain your soldering gun and carefully heat up the back (green) side of the circuit board.  Notice where the LEDs are and try to wedge your soldering gun in between the two leads so as to heat them both up simultaneously.  When you notice the solder beginning to liquefy, pull the LED out of the circuit board.  Repeat this procedure until all twelve LEDs are removed.
(10).  Shows all factory LEDs removed from circuit board.  Notice the (+) markings on the circuit board.
(11).  Next, obtain your new LEDs.  You will not need to use resistors with these LEDs because the rearview mirror has already dropped the voltage enough so as not to harm the LEDs.  I trimmed the leads on the LEDs to be shorter so they would be easier to solder into the circuit board.  I left one side a little bit longer to remember the orientation of the LED (the longer lead on the LED is always positive, so when I cut the LEDs lead down a bit I left the positive side a little longer).  Obtain your circuit boards.  There should still be solder left on there from the factory LEDs.  This may or may not be enough solder to hold in the new LEDs.  Reheat the solder up and push the new LED (remember orientation matters, match the longer lead of the LED with the (+) marking on the circuit board) into the circuit board.  Do this for each and every LED.  I personally needed to use a little bit extra solder to hold the LEDs in, but I know some people did not have to.
[Note]  There currently is a lot of discussion about the rearview mirror circuitry.  It has been found out that the outer two rows (which housed the amber LEDs) have a lower voltage than the inner row (which housed the green LEDs).  This causes the four outer LEDs to not light up at full brightness (when putting in the new LEDs), while the middle two light up fully (and are extremely bright).  There has been talk of modifying the circuit board to have a single higher voltage to fix this problem.  For now, though, nothing has been resolved.  Therefore, if you run into this problem it is normal to have dimmer LEDs on the sides.  HOWEVER, I stumbled across something strange.  On one of my circuit boards, one of the outer LEDs burnt out on me (no idea how).  The strange thing is that with one of the four outer LEDs burnt out, the other three in return lit up just as bright as the inner two.  I was curious to see if this was some strange fluke or not, so I purposefully burnt out one of the LEDs on the other circuit board and tested that one out.  Sure enough, the remaining three LEDs were just as bright as the inner two.  Therefore, I actually chose to have only five of my six LEDs light up, because in reality it is brighter having that one burnt out (and having the other five light up fully) than having all six LEDs light up (and have four not light up fully).  It is really up to you on what you want to do.  You may prefer it to not be as bright, or you may not want an LED to be burnt out (though you cannot tell).   Experiment a bit and see what suits you.  I just though I would tell you guys this so you can decide for yourself.
(12).  Once you have all the LEDs soldered in, go test them to make sure everything works.
(13).  If everything is as it should be, begin reinstalling the LED assembly.  As others have said, this in all honesty was the most difficult part of the procedure (well, it took the longest).  I am going to quote what a fellow corvetteforum member (EFI-1, aka Dave) on the best way to reinstall the LED assembly.  "Seat the LEDs into the lens.  It should be a pretty snug fit.  Re-attach the electrical connection to the LED assembly and make sure to push the connecting wire far up into the mirror and snap the lens back into place."
(14).  I absolutely love the new look the hyper white LEDs give off at night.  My car finally looks complete!  Every factory bulb has been replaced with an LED!
In this last part of the tech tip, I would like to formally thank a few members from Corvetteforum.com who helped out with this modification.  A big thank you to Dave    (EFI-1) for doing the original write up of this.  Another big thank you to Doug (WhiteC5Vette) for e-mailing me diagrams of the mirror, and taking time out of his schedule to figure out how to take it apart.  Lastly, thanks to Rob (CUlookin).
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