Interior lighting questions

[tomnan24]

Hi all, I bought my 2008 M35X used 2 months ago. I have a few questions about the interior lighting especially the backlighting.
1. I have no issues with the lighting in the driver's dash pod, speedo, tach, etc. It's bright enough. side note: love the purple/blue color.
2. There is no lighting/backlighting in the gearshift area, park, reverse, D etc. There is on my 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, the gear positions are backlit. Is there supposed to be on my 2008 M35? If so, is there a way to fix this?
3. The backlighting on the steering wheel, door armrests, center pod around Dest, Route,setting buttons,CD drawer, clock, etc. are extremely dim(I can see them at night but just barely). All of these controls on my Pathfinder are almost too bright. I couldn't find anything in the owners manual about adjustments. Are there any adjustments? Are yours very dim also?
4. The backlighting on the driver door unlock button on the armrest is out. The lock button backlight is working. Is there a way to fix this?
5. The is a light on the driver door that shines down on the window controls on the armrest. Is there supposed to a light on the passenger door? If so it's out also and is there a way to fix it? Thanks.

[stm37s]

did you do a search on the forum here, might be a fuse issue then again might not be, some of the other bruh's will chime in.

[GQM45s]

Hi all, I bought my 2008 M35X used 2 months ago. I have a few questions about the interior lighting especially the backlighting.
1. I have no issues with the lighting in the driver's dash pod, speedo, tach, etc. It's bright enough. side note: love the purple/blue color.
2. There is no lighting/backlighting in the gearshift area, park, reverse, D etc. There is on my 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, the gear positions are backlit. Is there supposed to be on my 2008 M35? If so, is there a way to fix this?
3. The backlighting on the steering wheel, door armrests, center pod around Dest, Route,setting buttons,CD drawer, clock, etc. are extremely dim(I can see them at night but just barely). All of these controls on my Pathfinder are almost too bright. I couldn't find anything in the owners manual about adjustments. Are there any adjustments? Are yours very dim also?
4. The backlighting on the driver door unlock button on the armrest is out. The lock button backlight is working. Is there a way to fix this?
5. The is a light on the driver door that shines down on the window controls on the armrest. Is there supposed to a light on the passenger door? If so it's out also and is there a way to fix it? Thanks.

the answer to a few of your questions. I am currently at work right now so i can't really look at my car to let you know.

2. yeah there is no backlight
3. you might be able to adjust it with the lighting knob that goes for the brightness of the gauges, can't exactly remember at the moment
5. that is correct - only the driver side has it

[tomnan24]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes I did a search here and on google. No help was found.
2. That's a disappointment but at least it's not broken.
3. I tried the brightness control for the gauges. It had no effect. Do other owners think they're kinda dim?

[quinner49er]

I have a 2008 M45X and just went out to the dark garage and turned on the car's interior lights to be able to answer your questions. My M is fully-loaded, so not sure if there are any differences between the 35 and 45 or between trim levels, but for interior lighting I would suspect they should all be the same in the same model year.

Here is what I found with mine:

1. +1 on the purple/blue lighting scheme. Cool!!

2. My PRND indicators in the strip to the left of the gearshift do in fact have backlighting, contrary to what GQM45s indicated. In fact, I remember reading a very recent topic on here that deals with how to pull off the console section to be able to replace the bulb (or you can have the dealer do it).

3. All of the surround lighting you mention here, including around the buttons (and the symbols on the buttons themselves) in the upper centre console, the stereo, CD and other controls in the area of the analog clock, the lights for the PRND (mentioned above) and the row of buttons in front of the cup holder, as well as all other dash lights, are controlled by the dimmer wheel, which is the one I assume you tried. To be clear, it is the wheel on the far left of the dash (to the left of the mirror control button). Turn it up to brighten, down to dim, or you can even turn them off by turning it all the way down until it lightly clicks. Mine adjusts them all at the same time, including the main driver's dash pod (speedo, tach, etc.). If you turn it up all the way until it clicks, you will further brighten the main driver's dash pod lights, but it does nothing further to the other lights. This last feature can be used, for instance, to turn on the main driver's dash pod in dimmer daylight conditions where the automatic lighting system has not yet done so. If your dimmer only operates some of the lights, then it would seem that something is broken. It might be that your lights are currently locked in at their dimmest setting, since mine are fine and easy to read in all lighting conditions (and I have old, dim eyes!).

4. Your lighting on the driver side door lock/unlock button is working fine. I questioned the dealer on this when I got my car, since the lock symbol is backlit, but the unlock is not. This is apparently normal. The thinking is that they only need one of them lit to let you find the button and then you can easily toggle it for either function.

5. Yes, this mini light is only for the driver side door panel (similar to the one in the overhead console that lights up the cupholders). There is no corresponding light on the passenger side. However, all these controls (on all four doors) have backlit symbols, in any case. The driver door overhead mini light just provides a little extra light for the driver, since these are the main controls.

Hope this helps, but it sounds like at least part of your dimmer system is not working. Good luck!

[M35xTO]

^ The response above is very thorough, and should be quite helpful. One quick addition: The brightness control in the instrument cluster (the little button to the left of the speedometer) only works when the lights are off (from what I recall; someone correct me if I'm wrong), either when it's bright outside in auto mode, or when you have them in the off position. The other brightness control, which is next to the mirror controls (as mentioned above), will control brightness when the lights are on (when it is dark outside in auto, or when you have the lights in the on/parking lights position). I hope that helps.

[tomnan24]

Replies to both quinner49er and M35xTO: Many thanks, all of my questions have been answered.

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups; I assumed that since my 2013 Pathfinder gauge and instrument panel brightness control was all in one, that the M35X would be the same. WRONG!!! My only adjustment was done to the gauge brightness control, which I did slowly learn only worked when off.....etc. Since I never use my mirrors(use preset) I never noticed that there was another brightness control located there as it's blocked by the steering wheel in my driving position. The control was all the way off which left very little through the instrument panel and none for the gear shift positions(gear shift backlights do work by the way).

Sorry for mistake but I thank you all for replying.

[quinner49er]

Hey tomnan, glad to help out!

At least you found the solution without having to spend a whole lot of money. That is what this forum is all about.

Enjoy your ride, now that you can actually see the controls in the dark