Lord Helmet

I was thinking about doing this little mod that I’ve seen in newer high-end cars and I am wondering if anyone has tried it.

In the TSX loaner I had there was a tiny blue light up by the sunglass holder. (like an led or something). At night it lit the front area of the interior around the center console just slightly enough to see. It is a very soft light, not ricy at all. My mom’s old 530i had one too but her’s was red. Anyway, it is kind of a trick little feature that I was thinking of trying in my car. Has anyone done this and if so, what kind of light did you use? I wonder if it would be hard to wire up. Anyone have any ideas??

Thanks in advance!

zoltanh

If you did something like that and for it to look good, i would think it would need to match the color of the interior lighting in the vehicle. It looks good on the tl because the dash and radio and all that lighting is blue. I think one blue light in a cl would look silly, unless you changed all your interior bulbs. just my opinion.

Lord Helmet

I was actually thinking red. The one in my mom's bimmer was red. She had tan interior. As for the dash lights, I tink they were that orange/red color. Who knows, maybe you're right. Still kinda like to try it though.

Lord Helmet

No one has any other thoughts on this? Too cheesy/ricy??

MarbleGT

I think it looks great on the TL. I say do it, see if it looks good, tell us about it, and if it doesnt take it out!

fabrikated

My mom's '04 Audi A4 has red interior lighting just like that.

Lights up the 6spd box nicely

Time For Sleeep

Wouldn't it be possible to get a greenish or off-whitish bulb to better match w/ the CL dash?

anothercls

They do it on servers, supposedly you can remotely turn on the blue light to tell the techs which one to work on.

Lord Helmet

Anyone have any ideas on where to find a light like this?

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

Just a basic LED. Not all that complicated. Drill a hole, mount the LED, wire it into the power for the auto-dim rear view mirror. Done.

gary_william

yeah, it's a little more complicated than that. LEDS require certain voltages and amperages, so just throwing 12 volts across is will make it real bright, for about 20 seconds, then it wil fry. Go to www.ledsupply.com for information about "drivers" which are basically variable resistors, or better said is that they are mini power regulators. Look for the "buck puck" model for 12V in. You will need to use more than 1 LED, though.

Hobo

obviously you need a resistor... ooh and i think you should point out that you might have to solder....

gary_william

no, no "resistors" required if you use the "buck puck", as it IS the "resistor" so to speak. The buck puck regulates the voltage output and provides a constant current, so think of it as a dynamic resistor. Soldering will be required, though, you are right.

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

Obviously there is more to power supply that just splicing two wires... I didn't feel the need in stating the obvious. Although I don't see any need for more than 1 LED. If you know how to solder it shouldn't be that complicated to hook up.

quicksilver10101

go to superbrightleds.com

Lord Helmet

That LED stuff is more complicated than I thought. i'm not too sure where to start here. Anyone have any expert opinion on what to buy?

Lord Helmet

What about this. Go to this link http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini_tubes.htm# and there is a "LED Wire" at the bottom of the page. You guys think this would work?