superjoey

iTrader: (1)

Here’s an easy and fun mod for your G’s interior. Blue LEDs! Well, you can choose your own color. I’ve seen them in yellow, red, green, purple pink, and of course white. I tried white at first and they were good, but then I saw some pics of other cars with all these different colors.

At first I simply swapped out the old bulbs for LED bulbs, but then went with LED panels for the map and trunk lights to get more brightness. Some companies sell packages with just enough bulbs for your coupe or sedan. I haven’t seen any of them with panels, though. Also, I wasn’t interested in getting blue license plate lights. That’s a ticket waiting to happen.

I used these white LEDs for clear corners on another car and had two leftovers to put in the G’s map lights.



A much whiter light compared to the factory bulb! I’ve circled the points where you want to stick your flat head screwdriver and pry.


But blue is way cooler! So then I ordered these blue ones.



The bulbs have 5 little LEDs mounted on them. They were pretty cool, but not very bright. They work great in the door courtesy lights. So I’m using two in the doors and I have a bunch of leftovers.

Then I found these LED panels with 24 LEDs. There are smaller ones and bigger ones. I got a 48 LED panel for the trunk, which you’ll see later. First I had to measure the space so I could order the right size.





Then I got these from Amazon.



They come with several adapters so you can use them in other vehicles. There is 3M tape on the back of the panels. I think they were supposed to be permanent but they kept falling off. When they did, you could see the individual LED dots, which I didn’t like.

So here is what they look like installed with the cover off. You can see that the 3M tape isn’t holding very well, and the panels are starting to fall down.





To solve the problem of them falling off, I used these Velcro dots I got from Target for a few bucks. They are way overpriced on Amazon.







Now if I want to change the color, I can just peel them on and off!

As for the trunk, I got these from Amazon.



The panel was mounted outside of any housing, so there was no size limit. The 48 is plenty bright!

You have to get on your back and slide into the trunk to get a good view of the dome light in there. Use your fingers or a flat head to pop open the cover, then pull out the bulb. Plug in the adapter and LED panel. Stick the “hook” side of the Velcro dot on the back of the LED panel. The trunk liner is Velcro friendly so you can stick that panel right onto it. You won’t be able to close the little dome, but that’s ok since it’s out of view. Just remember to be careful when loading stuff so you don’t hit it.

Here is a picture of it mounted but unplugged.


Here it is lighting up the trunk in the daytime.


And here are some more pictures.






I hope you enjoyed this post. Please post pictures of yours with colored lights! Oh and don’t turn them on when driving. They’re distracting to other drivers and I believe only cops can have blue lights on while in motion.

2008G-Man

Not a fan of blue .... ricey, but to each his own. Most of us that do LED mods get them from either DD or V-LED. Both vendors are top notch with top notch products.

GeezerB

I bought a kit from Amazon but it didn't come with any bulbs for the vanity mirror. What type does that take?

2008G-Man

Is that a Samoyed or American Spitz? Had a Samoyed for 13 years, sweet dog.

2008G-Man

The '08 uses a small festoon type bulb

superjoey

iTrader: (1)

Yes, it's a festoon type of bulb. It's a skinny tube. Not sure how long it is, though. I popped the cover off mine once to check it out. On my coupe, the vanity light strip runs horizontal along the top of the mirror. If you want to replace that bulb, make sure to get a skinny festoon, not the ones with the wide panels in the middle. It won't fit for the coupe vanities.

I think the vanity lights on the sedans are placed vertically next to the mirror. There might be more room in the sedan vanity housing. So there may be room for the bulbs with the wider panels in the middle.



Make sure to measure the length of the bulb first. Then when you search, include the measurement, for example "led festoon 28mm". Your results might say the bulb is for a Mazda, but as long as the length is right, it should fit.

And I'd stick with white for the vanities. Blue would be cool, if you were a smurf.

superjoey

iTrader: (1)

He's an American Eskimo. Sometimes called a German Spitz or Japanese Spitz.

2008G-Man

Great picture!