I have recently swapped all my interior switches with ones that have had LEDs installed. The switches were all done by forum member tstar who works in conjunction with supporting vendor JW Motoring.

I'm a big fan of white LEDs so I had Tim install them in my DIC HUD, HVAC, TC, fog/trunk and both window switches. I also had Tim change the indicator lights from orange to blue.

As it turns out, white is one of the most difficult colors to present on the C5. The HVAC that we use has a blue tint on the inside of the buttons. This blue tint causes the white color to skew towards the blue (obviously) spectrum. To overcome this issue, Tim has experimented with warm white LEDs vs standard and came up with the best solution possible given the inherent limitations of the HVAC button design. (for now)

Here's some pics of his work. Some of the images were hard to capture in the dark, but you get the idea.





















Al Swearengen approves



As you can see, there is a very *slight* greenish tint to the HVAC buttons. This is due to the buttons being tinted and the color of the white LED.

Tim is looking into other options for better white output in the HVAC. For me, my Kenwood headunit has adjustable color output to just about anything I want, so I was able to get the HVAC and it to match pretty close as you can see in the pic directly above.

Another thing not apparent in my pics is that Tim also changed the lights on the blue and red sides of the heat controls to blue and red LEDs vs the stock white. This makes the blue and red extremely vibrant and really pops out with color creating a sweet lighting effect.

The blue fog/memory/HVAC indicator lights look very cool. Something not obvious in the pics is how bright and blue those indicator lights are. I was going to do the indicators a bit differently, but Tim convinced me that the singular uniformity of blue and white would be a better choice and I am very happy that I took that advice.

If anyone needs to spice up the interior lighting a bit, be sure to check out the services offered by JW Motoring and Tim, it is some cool stuff.

 

Looks cool. Nice touch on the indicator lights.

 

It all looks really good. Did you have to take everything apart sent it to him and weren't able to use your car, or was it a core exchange and you simply waited for the parts to arrive to make the swap?

 

Whoahhh Dude, that is excellent looking....I love LED mods

As usual, Great Job Bro!!

 

tim has some cores available, but not all. you'd need to contact him for your particular application and needs.

for me, i sent him a window switch, traction control, HVAC and fog switches.

he sent me a core of the DIC, HUD and passenger switch along with everything i sent him previously. i have my old cores ready to send out to him shortly.

i was able to use my car without those items. you probably can't drive it without the DIC/HUD because you need to pull your speedo cluster and that's a pretty big job.

if you have a window valet, you can still roll the windows up and down and lock your doors without the door switches. i realized this only after keeping the passenger swich so i could have some air (no HVAC) in this summer heat.

 

Love the look, nice job! I know how much work that was

 

Looks good.

We do have some cores in now. Contact me and we'll get you set up.

 

Sounds like a good deal, I was thinking of doing the LED mod, because the AC light already stopped working, but right now have larger priorities like tuition, but im saving bit by bit for some minor non-performance mods in the future. Thanks for answering my question both you and JW.

 

Looks great!!! Me likey!!

 

Looks great.

How is it driving at night without the use of the dimmer switch? Could you take a full view pictures to give us an idea?

 

Im not sure where you get his. The dimmer should still work, it just doesnt have as much range as the regular bulbs. Mine still dims enugh for me to be comfortable with it. And Im pretty picky about bright lights at night.

 

It still works.

 

^ i hadn't noticed that, but i hadn't played with it either.

 

Yes everything still dims fine with the stock dimmer ****...

Man, the Fog Light indicator is a bit of a spot light isn't it?

Here's a little background on the problematic Blue film (BF) in the HVAC (and Stock Radio). This issue only arrises when using White LEDs, Blue, Red and Green LEDs do not present a problem, well not one that can't be overcome anyway...

GM has PERMANETLY installed a blue film in each button of the HVAC and the main faceplate for the "Driver" and "Passenger" scpript. The Stock Radio, Manual HAVC and Non HUD Dimmer switch also have this stuff embedded within the faceplates. I've tried removing it... no way!

The film is effective in removing the yellow hue that the stock incandescent bulbs emit, much like the blueish film on a GE Reveal light bulb. They have also installed Blue silicone bulb covers over the bulbs that are used in the various switches throughout our cars. Here's a pic of every bulb used in the interior lighting, the secong from the end is the bulb used in a Dimmer only (Non HUD, which has the BF embedded);



Here's a test of three different colors of White LEDs and how they react with this BF;





To date NO ONE makes a White LED that perfectly mimics the light output of an incandescent bulb, and it's very possible that no one ever can replicate the wide color spectrum of an incadescent bulb with a LED. I'll continue experimenting with different filters and pigments ect.

 

thanks for chiming in tim.


i must have to disagree with you on this one. it's a little off the topic in this thread but it covers the statement that there has not been an incandescent LED bulb made.

the CREE LR6 bulb emits a true incandescent color from an LED.

i bought one for my recessed can in my laundry room and it's awesome. you get the instant brightness of an incandescent and the superior energy savings of a CF.



i have no idea if they sell individual LEDs, but have you tried looking at CREE products for different whites?

 

WOW! Those look awesome - I know one day I'll be doing mine too

Thanks,Matt

 

White does look good as an LED mod

 

 

Looks great

 

thats is a mod. thats gotta be my next