Blue LED interior lights (Poor Man's Illuminated Door Sills)

kcrnmale

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I posted this topic elsewhere and decided to make a separate thread because somebody in the future will find the LED mod quickly.

I decided to install LED lights in the foot wells and under each door. It took about 2 minutes per light to install. Simply insert a flat head screwdriver into the edge of the lens, and it pops right off. Then take the screwdriver and slip it behind the bulb and push it right out of the metal frame. The LED bulb slides right in. Then just snap the lens back into place. The light under the steering wheel had less slack to work with and took me a little while longer.

I left the dome/map lights alone for now. The LED lights look great and aren't super bright. A nice subtle touch. I may do the dome lights in the future. It's hard to take a pic because you need it to be dark, but you can't use a flash.

I bought them online from superbrightleds.com for $27 delivered. The bulbs are WLED-x6 LED Wide Angle (Blue). I bought 6 bulbs. The company is great and ships them super fast by USPS first class mail. I purchased bigger bulbs last week, but they wouldn't fit into the Buick light housing and I returned them without any problems (except I paid the $2 to ship them back. I made the mistake and not them).

Today I got the itch and took out the rear dome lens and bulb, and slipped in a blue LED light to see how it looks. Looks awesome! FYI, the lens pulls out, leaving the switches still intact to the headliner. The bulb is a Wedge 194 style (all the bulbs are 194). I'm not sure if the front dome lens pulls out separately from the console or not? I will need to ask the dealer. I'm going to replace the front dome light with a blue LED and leave the map lights alone.

The pics with the blue rear dome light are very bright because I have a LED bulb which is too big and I can't replace the lens cover. When I buy and install a smaller bulb, the dome light will be more subtle. For some reason, the LED bulbs mess with my camera and make all the pics blurry.
 
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Very sharp...and that website has great LEDs!
 
New Pics with blue LED dome bulbs.

I received my dome light blue LED lights today and it took about 1 minute to install. They look GREAT! The lens are white, so the blue LED light is a softer blue and matches the stock ambient lighting perfectly. It's not as bright as my pics (above) now that I replaced the dome lens. I will take more pics tonight. I left the map lights alone.

The dome lens pop out using a drywall putty spatula by inserting into the corner of the lens and using a gentle prying pressure. A butter knife would work as well. The bulb(s) just pull out to remove and push in to replace. The lens just snaps right back in place.

I used the WLED-xHP5 from:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=/mini-wedge.html
 
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This is awesome. I just ordered both the door and under dash lights as well as the two dome bulbs. I can't wait to get these installed.
 
Ok, I am pleased to say that total time to install was less than 10 minutes and the results are as amazing as the pics kcrnmale posted. I have ebony interior as well, so I don't plan to upload more pics unless there is another view someone wants to see. It is really one of the most simple and constantly rewarding upgrades you can do to this car.
 
Ok, I am pleased to say that total time to install was less than 10 minutes and the results are as amazing as the pics kcrnmale posted. I have ebony interior as well, so I don't plan to upload more pics unless there is another view someone wants to see. It is really one of the most simple and constantly rewarding upgrades you can do to this car.

Since you just did this upgrade, and you please post a list of part numbers you ordered and which lights in the car they replaced?

Thanks.
 
Since you just did this upgrade, and you please post a list of part numbers you ordered and which lights in the car they replaced?

Thanks.

Below is the info from my order from the superbrightled site that the original poster linked to. I used the 2 xHP5 wedge bulbs for the front and rear roof lights (single light in between map/reading lights) and the 6 x6 bulbs for the entry/exit lighting located in the following locations (duplicated on each side of car):

- under dash near brake/gas pedal
- bottom edge of front door when open (under map pocket)
- bottom edge of rear door when open (under map pocket)

Qty | Product / Options | Price/ea |
============================================================
2 | WLED-xHP5 Wedge Base Bulb | $ 5.95 |
Blue WLED-BHP5
------------------------------------------------------------
6 | WLED-x6 LED bulb | $ 3.54 |
Blue WLED-B6 0.75
------------------------------------------------------------
 
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Appreciate it, thanks. I believe I'll get the same happening, assuming I can do a super-bright white (you know, the white which the slight blue tint to it). Had that in my Maxim and it looked great.


On a side note, has anyone considered doing the turn signal or back-up light bulbs?
 
Appreciate it, thanks. I believe I'll get the same happening, assuming I can do a super-bright white (you know, the white which the slight blue tint to it). Had that in my Maxim and it looked great.


On a side note, has anyone considered doing the turn signal or back-up light bulbs?


Yes, in addition to the bulbs listed above for the interior, I installed 921-x12 wedge bulbs for the reverse lights. I bought natural white so they would have good color but super bright! Snug fit and took some doing to take out the rear light assembly, but worth it. Superbrightleds.com has good specs on the bulbs so you can measure the housing and ensure good fit!

I also replaced trunk light and added reflector behind it to brighten trunk area (originally, there is just an open cavity behind this bulb). 😀

Haven't done the turn signals yet...I may try with a pair later, but I want to make sure the blink rate is OK, or else I'll have to put a resistor across the LED. I'll let you know.


-Dave
 
Sounds good, looks nice! Any comment on amount of light (blue v white) for the dome lights for reading, access/exiting?
 
Re: Blue LED interior lights - FUSE

In the process of replacing my lamps with the led's - I must have blown a fuse - I also lost the backup camera - but have not been able to determine which fuse - I tried the one for the instrument cluster, as well as the one for the backup camera - can anyone help instead of waiting until Wednesday to see my dealer?
 
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Re: Blue LED interior lights - FUSE

In the process of replacing my lamps with the led's - I must have blown a fuse - I also lost the backup camera - but have not been able to determine which fuse - I tried the one for the instrument cluster, as well as the one for the backup camera - can anyone help instead of waiting until Wednesday to see my dealer?

Solved my problem - I had also lost my left rear turn signal. I began testing each fuse and found a blown fuse in the engine compartment fuse block - it was # 32 - listed as "body control module". Who would have thought?
 
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