I have a bunch of LED bulbs lying around, left over from playing with LED lighting in my old car. And in my G37, I swapped in some plug-n-play 194 Wedge bulb LED's in the front door courtesy lights, as well as the rear license plate lighting. But that's about it. No, wait... the trunk light, too.

Just for kicks, I tried a white LED bulb in the back seat dome lights. I wouldn't use LED in the front domes, because the white light really isn't practical. (Just try reading something in the car with LED white lighting, and you'll know what I mean.) But I thought it would look OK in the back seat area. And it did for a bit... but that splotch of light behind the lens was too awkward looking. So this week I purchased a couple of SMD panels that (just barely) fit inside the rear dome lens.

And it looks fantastic, IMO. Two sets of Made in USA panels for $8.95 free shipping through an eBay retailer. Turned out much better than I was hoping.

Anyway, at approximately 35mm x 28mm, these are the panels:

 

fuhhhhh im really interested in doing the foot well under dash board lighting = pure zexxxxx

 

any pics installed?

 

I have similar lights...but got mine in a kit. I swapped out the front domes, though. I know what you mean about the harsh light, but honestly, do you really think you will do much reading there? I prefer the matching lights. I did the rear domes, the front domes, the "make-up" lights and the puddle lights. I also did a panel led for the trunk for some added brightness. Really, the trunk light was the one that was actually practical vs just to look good. It is WAY brighter than the incandescent bulb.


Interior package

Trunk Light

Adapter for trunk light

(Note: the adhesive on the trunk light did not stick the to carpeting, so I used the hook part of some velcro tape from home depot...it has stuck for six months now.)

 

You got that right! Putting a white LED in the trunk is a big improvement.

And you may have a point there, about the practicality of front dome lighting vs. matching colors. All this stuff is pretty cheap and easy mods, and I'll likely explore options for the front domes.

Nice "package" deal find, BTW. Although I think I prefer the larger SMD's over the smaller ones.

 

One word of warning on the front domes (although your cooler climate may help)...I have trouble getting the lights to stick to the top of the enclosure...the lights fall down to the dome itself and you can see the individual LEDs. Once it is not 10000000000 degrees in the garage I am going to experiment with some adhesive tapes to see if I can find one that sticks better. When stuck to the top of the enclosure, the individual LEDs are much less distinct...looks way better.

 

Another good tip, brizey. Thank you.

The panel I used in the back seat lights... I didn't have that option of tucking them back as far into the housing as possible. It was a tight fit, and I just barely got the plastic lenses clipped back in.

 

I bought mine from Diode Dynamics I only got the stage one cus anything brighter is retarded. So I have them all in my interior lights, trunk and plates I also got the Fog lights from them. It works well cus the interior lights will not blind you at night. The fog lights are awesome looking at night bright as day. lol! The pics won't do it justice so I won't even bother posting any but trust me it's bright.

 

are these panels preferred over just replacement LED bulbs?

 

I think so, yes. Which is why I created this thread... to share that opinion and see if there was any value-added discussion on it.

Unlike filament bulbs, LED's are flat, directional lights. You can mitigate that somewhat by designing a tiny refracting lens over the LED, or by arranging them to point in multiple directions, but by and large they're straight light. Therefore, most drop-in wedge bulbs have a small array of forward facing LED's (individual LED's lenses notwithstanding), and you end up with a splotch of light in the middle of your plastic, frosted dome-light lens.

But by using a panel of LED's, you create a more consistent light source behind the lens.

Plus it looks cool.

 

Picture doesn't really capture the direct observation of 24 individual points of light, which you certainly can make out with the eye.

But what it does show well enough is the light. It's very white.

 

Same here on the back and the puddle lights. I was afraid I was going to break the plastic on the puddles.

Also, I have the rear plate lights and reverse lights done as well. Might do fogs at some point. They look kind of tough.