Or you can put a resistor in-line and cut back the voltage as well... LEDs handle undervoltage with no problems whatsoever....

 

On the hardtop, you have a dome light that helps rear passengers to see their way. On the cabrio, there is no rear lighting at all and the rear seat area can be absolutely pitch black when the roof is up -- literally you cannot see where you are putting your foot if you are climbing into the back at night. I have the worst case scenario with my Octagon black cloth interior.

 

Makes sense, it still cool enough that i might do it anyway on my hardtop, i guess im just obessed.

 

Exactly... I had two different passengers stumble when entering or exiting the car because it was so dark back in the rear of the cabrio... Since puttingin the rear footwell lighting there have been no further incidents. Works precisely as I hoped it would.

 

Yeah, that's probably where I'm headed - may try the shorter 4.5" strips since it only needs a "little" light back there... Then maybe xenon-match bulbs up front?

 

I'd hold them side-by-side before buying them all - the colors might not match. It's not a bad idea, though, and it would be the simpliest swap.

 

Very intrigued by this mod. Question though, has anyone tackled the dome light? I would like to LED the footwells in my hardtop but the dome light would overwhelm them. Don't want to remove the bulb, I use the light on occasion to read maps etc...

 

Currently the only option is to get a LED replacement bulb from a place like Autolumination.

 

That or go completely custom... For instance, you could drill some holes in the OEM dome light frame and then inset pre-wired LEDS... Or get an extra dome light cover (should only cost a few bucks), paint it black and drill into THAT and use it as a holder for your LEDs - that would actually be really easy, since it can be popped off easily and the shape would hold all your wires, and reversability would be as simple as disconnecting theLEDs and replacing the bulb and unpainted light cover. In that install, you could use the existing light wiring to power them, and since LEDs draw so little voltage, no additional fuses or custom wiring would be necessary (even a grpuping of LEDs draws less current than the stock white bulbs). Heck, if you use the OEM bulb leads and solder or clip the LED wiring to those contact points, the whole array would function exactly as the OEM light does - comes on with the door opening or via the current manual switch.

Last, I know some people also do things like inset cathode bars or LED strips into the head-liner and/or the upper trim, but that might be too "bling" for what you want to do. The point I'm trying to make is that there's no such thing as "only one option" - the only limit is your imagination and taste (or, in my case, the lack thereof, I suppose... ).

 

I just replaced my dome light with a blue LED light from Autolumination and it does not overwhelm the footwell LEDs. I have blue LEDs in my footwells and the blue dome light just completes the look. It's also bright enough to read by.

 

I have the Green LED Dome Light from Autolumination

http://autolumination.com/festoon.htm

Scroll down to the 39mm Festoon with 9 LEDs

And it lights up the whole cabin for me.
I also have LEDs in the stock footwell, which are 194 Wedge Matrix 5 LED Bulb -- http://autolumination.com/194.htm

EDIT:

Heres a pic of my interior--

 

only thing ive noticed is that its not as bright or i should say the useable light isnt as much with a colored LED, thats why i will be doing white, but im not sure if it will be enough light.

 

So are those straight bulb for bulb replacements? the LED mod is interesting but with my two left thumbs I'd prefer a bulb swap whereever I can.

 

Oh darn... I have an exam tomorrow. Why am I always on NAM when I should be studying? Haha.

Anyways, so I was reading this thread and amazed at all the work put in by ImagoX and YD and thought "of course the LED's won't come in pink and it's not like I'm going to change my colour scheme, so I guess I'm screwed."

Uh oh for my credit card bill/studying time: they come in pink.

Expect me to explore this MUCH FURTHER this weekend when the exam is done. I love that picture with the white boot lights and then the rest of the cabin is red. I'd love to do that but the rest of the cabin be pink !!

 

They SO come in pink!

 

Yup, straight bulb-for-bulb replacements. Couldn't be simpler. Clicking the links MNEEME provided will take you right to the bulbs you need.

 

NOTE ON REPLACEMENT BULBS:

With bulb replacement, sometimes the "wedge" bulbs won't light when you install them... Before you curse and send it back for a replacement, try pulling out the tiny wires from the glass wedge base with a pocket knife blade or other small. flat toool. Sometimes the wires are very snug against the glass base and do not make a solid connection with the lamp housing. I've never failed to get them to light by simply opening out the wires about 1/16" on each side. When you see the base of the bulb, you'll see exactly what I mean about the way the wires make a connection.

 

Actually the very first thing to try when a 194 wedge LED bulb doesn't light is to turn it 180 degrees to swap the +/- polarity. Most LEDs require a specific polarity orientation. Next would be to check the contacts as ImagoX describes.

 

So...hard...must...choose...color

Green reminds me of flying with night vision goggles.

Red kinda matches the instrumentation lights

Blue matches my car

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH...decisions!

PS...has anybody tried one of the LED lights in the door (puddle lights)? The mod requiring foam and drilling and removing panel scares me...

 

Just doing the single bulb in any other color than white isn't very satisfying... The problem is that the ligt in the door has no reflector, just a clear plastic bulb clip, and so much of the light from either a coated (colored) incandescent bulb or even a 5 LED 194 bulb is wasted - it travels up into the door. Add in the dimmer nature of colored bulbs, and it's pretty anemic. In my case, I tried forst a incandescent blue 194 bulb and then a LED bulb, and both were so dim as to almost be non-existant... In repsonse, I designed the "puddle light" LED array with the foam you were talking about.

One thing you MIGHT try, is getting the shortest LED strip avaiable at Oznium (4.5" I think) and then coiling it around the inside of the OEM lamp lens, pointing downwards - the directional LED light can then shine down properly. You'll have to splice the LEDs into the existing OEM lighting wiring, but that's easy and completely reversable (the OEM lenses are designed to pry out of the door and the wires have several inches of slack). I would probably have tried this myself, however at the time I did the puddle light LEDs the short strips didn't exist... That's worth a try.

 

Yea that is true with Autoluminations bulbs, so if the bulb doesn't work try flipping it the other direction.

 

These may be worth checking out. They are high power (1 watt) 194's mounted at a right angle, available in several colors. I haven't used this particular one, but this type of LED emitter is extremely bright. v-leds also has very good prices -- $9.99 a pair for these. Here is the eBay store listing (it doesn't look like they've added it to their main website yet): http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/V-LED...3270QQtcZphoto

 

ImagoX and rkw, I like your ideas for the puddle lights. I was a little unimpressed with the amount of light that actually made it to the ground when I replaced my puddle light bulbs w/ LED bulbs. The first thing that came to mind were directional LEDs (like rkw's suggestion and the festoon replacement bulbs), but ImagoX, your idea is intriguing...

 

Not to pop in late or anything...

We have a Club member that went to the local Auto Place (I think it was Schucks, but could've been NAPA or AutoZone) and got replacement RED and AMBER LED bulbs to go with his Clear/White Taillight mod. They are a tad weak in daytime conditions (I recommend a third brake Blinker, like the one on WebElectrics or GoMiniGo), but the effect is stunning at night.

I've been looking at APC and AutoLumination for this type of MOD. I'm glad I stumbled on this one to guide me on my way.

Hope to see some of you at AMVIV!!!

 

Can I show my puddle lights again? One nine inch strip of 24 LEDs fluch mounted from the inside of the bottome of the door panel.
You can also see the hidden release clip to get the armrest pad off (thanks again to ImagoX for this tip)

YD