Super white gauges like a Lexus!

[TBrack]

Sorry for the bad pix but my cell phone takes better night pictures than my cam



Also I did my old style clock with leds!

[Jesda]

OOOOH! I love it!

[CrimsonQ]

Damn that looks nice.

A lil dim on the upper part of the speedo, but looks great.

You have alot of time on your hands no?

[DrewQ45]

Nice look man! I gotta try using my cell phone camera more often.

Any trouble getting to some of the cluster bulbs? I notice a few are covered by stuff you gotta remove.

[sijoko]

How about using some of those "Angel Eyes" lights behind the gauges to get a more even distribution of light?

[3Q Jay]

looks good, man. did you use the common white LEDs?

not to hijack, but since you have a '95 i see that the 'serenty matte' (i know that is not the correct term, but best i can describe right now) is not present. no surprise that my 94 has it, and my 95 does not. has anyone retrofitted a 95 to add this feature? i kinda like it.

[TBrack]

Nice look man! I gotta try using my cell phone camera more often.

Any trouble getting to some of the cluster bulbs? I notice a few are covered by stuff you gotta remove.

just had to take off a couple screws and the bulbs were easy to get out.

How about using some of those "Angel Eyes" lights behind the gauges to get a more even distribution of light?

I didn't see any way to get inside the backside.

looks good, man. did you use the common white LEDs?

not to hijack, but since you have a '95 i see that the 'serenty matte' (i know that is not the correct term, but best i can describe right now) is not present. no surprise that my 94 has it, and my 95 does not. has anyone retrofitted a 95 to add this feature? i kinda like it.

They were called 5-LED Wide Angle bulbs, $4 per bulb.

Almost bought these 3-watt bulbs but they are $25 per.

As for the clock I used...

[elwesso]

Could you link exactly to what you bought?? I want to do this mod sometime, it looks amazing....

Hows come the rest of the cluster isnt lit up around the guages like Q's are supposed to?

[superuber]

Could you link exactly to what you bought?? I want to do this mod sometime, it looks amazing....

Hows come the rest of the cluster isnt lit up around the guages like Q's are supposed to?

Probably got on ebay. Give us the link.

How many bulb did it take?

[Miyabita_Y33]

All this LED stuff makes me want to convert everything to LED's

Looks great is it hard to pull a cluster? I know on a s13 its kinda a *****.

[Q451990]

Hows come the rest of the cluster isnt lit up around the guages like Q's are supposed to?

I think that's the "Serenity Matte" that 3Q Jay was referring to. Maybe it got deleted at some point for cost cutting? Mine eventually died on "Q1" and I missed it.

3Q, for getting it back it might be easier to just buy a cluster from a '94 on eBay and swap the odometers out.

Heath

[Jesda]

Wait, serenity matte? Are you guys just referring to the bulbs glowing on the gauges from above? Did 95-96 just have backlit gauges?

[CrimsonQ]

Yeah its a small feature that I love

[lino]

First of all, I really like what you did.

Could you link exactly to what you bought?? I want to do this mod sometime, it looks amazing....

Almost bought these 3-watt bulbs but they are $25 per.

What makes this bulb so special compared to the one you used?

[Ozzie]

I think I have linked to them a few times before......

The ebay sellers store....

Search for "T10" on his online store there....(top left corner, is a search bar)

I saw 10 seperate auctions for these bulbs on the first page...

A link to one of the said auctions

After all the lighting I have replaced, I think I am going to have to do the cluster too now! (That, the sunvisor lights, and the shift indicator are the last things to do....)Then we will see what the serenity matte looks like when it's converted to white
Modified by ozzie! at 3:15 AM 4/27/2007

[qship96]

I think the "serenity mat" lighting was deleted sometime in 94 to make gauges appear to be "floating" in darkness,like the lexus.-I remember reading that somewhere years ago

[DrewQ45]

After all the lighting I have replaced, I think I am going to have to do the cluster too now! (That, the sunvisor lights, and the shift indicator are the last things to do....)Then we will see what the serenity matte looks like when it's converted to white

All I have left to go are the cluster and three window switches. With the window switches, I wanted to keep that very dim OEM look, albiet in red light so I cut a circular patch of black electrical tape and taped on the end of the LED from where most of the lights emits.

As I said in another post, I'm not going to use LEDs in the cluster, just switching out OEM to red gel caps on the bulbs. With such a wide area, to light, I can see shadowy/bright spots being an issue. I've thought cutting the current bulb covers to fit leds... that should diffuse somewhat but decided against it.

[StarPD]

Anyone know if there's a relatively simple way to illuminate the steering wheel controls on F50s?

[sijoko]

Wait, serenity matte? Are you guys just referring to the bulbs glowing on the gauges from above? Did 95-96 just have backlit gauges?

The front of the instrument cluster has an EL glow panel, which spans the complete width, that is painted matte black which gives a soft diffused light at night. Is that what is meant by the "Serenity Matte"?

[DrewQ45]

Do you mean change the color of the illumination or light up what's not already lit? If the latter, the answer is no.

[StarPD]

Do you mean change the color of the illumination or light up what's not already lit? If the latter, the answer is no.

The steering wheel controls for Cruise, and Audio on my 2005 Q 45 are not illuminated, and impossible to see at night. Not sure if this is the way they are supposed to be, or if I have an electrical problem causing it. At any rate, I'd like them illuminated when the dash lights are on so I can see what's what, as there are a number of them in close proxi,ity to eqch other, and trying to operate them from memory and/or feel sometimes results in me hitting the wrong control. Since they are in separate clusters that should be removable from the wheel itself, I'm wondering that if they are not supposed to be illuninated, if there's a way to do so. Perhaps they're not designed to accomodate illumination, but I suspect that may not be the case.

Does anyone have any informed insight?

Also, just like in my '94 Q45t, the clock illumination isn't bright enough to read the clock at night. I know there have been threads addressing this, but can someone point me to one that provides a simple and hopefully easy to do way to replace the bulb with a brighter one that won't overheat the clock or the wiring, but won't be so bright as to be distracting?

Thanks.

[DrewQ45]

Also, just like in my '94 Q45t, the clock illumination isn't bright enough to read the clock at night. I know there have been threads addressing this, but can someone point me to one that provides a simple and hopefully easy to do way to replace the bulb with a brighter one that won't overheat the clock or the wiring, but won't be so bright as to be distracting?

Thanks.

To brighten, remove the clock's bulb covers (rubber gel caps) or replace with superbright LEDs as seen in initial post.

[StarPD]

To brighten, remove the clock's bulb covers (rubber gel caps) or replace with superbright LEDs as seen in initial post.

Thanks. I think I'll go with pulling the bulb covers. I'm good with mechanics and electrical work, but not with trim stuff. I'd end up ruining the dash, pulling the clock or trying to get at the bulb covers, so I think I'll let my tech do that for me, even if it costs a little.

Every time I try to save a few bucks, I screw myself and end up costing myself many times over what I saved.

[Ozzie]

The steering wheel controls for Cruise, and Audio on my 2005 Q 45 are not illuminated, and impossible to see at night. Not sure if this is the way they are supposed to be, or if I have an electrical problem causing it.

Because I am currently suffering insomnia, I read this, and went straight to work on finding out! (I was keen to fire up my soldering iron! )

I started disassembling the switches, taking photos, ready to post a success story in a matter of minutes.... (All this at 5:30AM)

Once I got the switch assembly down to its component parts, I discovered that, unfortunately.... there is no accomodation for lighting in the steering wheel mounted cruise switches.

No mounting points, no old burnt out bulbs there, and the switches are completely black on the inside so there is no way for the light to get out (Yes, I got them right down to their individual pieces)

I am going to study it further and see if I can rig something up anyway
Modified by ozzie! at 6:39 AM 4/27/2007

[StarPD]

Because I am currently suffering insomnia, I read this, and went straight to work on finding out! (I was keen to fire up my soldering iron! )

I started disassembling the switches, taking photos, ready to post a success story in a matter of minutes.... (All this at 5:30AM)

Once I got the switch assembly down to its component parts, I discovered that, unfortunately.... there is no accomodation for lighting in the steering wheel mounted cruise switches.

No mounting points, no old burnt out bulbs there, and the switches are completely black on the inside so there is no way for the light to get out (Yes, I got them right down to their individual pieces)

I am going to study it further and see if I can rig something up anyway

Thanks, great information, even if it's not what I wanted to hear.Please keep us posted if you learn a way to do this. I suspect I may not be the only one who would like to pursue it.

[Ozzie]

I really wanted them to have a bulb/s there too.... as I found that annoying after the first 2 days of ownershipOnly way i can figure at the moment is to make replicas of the individual switches in a slightly white/clear plastic, and then paint them black.Then have them engraved with their functions. (So they will appear black, with white writing)Then rig up an LED to back light the whole combination switch....

[DrewQ45]

Because I am currently suffering insomnia, I read this, and went straight to work on finding out! (I was keen to fire up my soldering iron! )

I started disassembling the switches, taking photos, ready to post a success story in a matter of minutes.... (All this at 5:30AM)

Once I got the switch assembly down to its component parts, I discovered that, unfortunately.... there is no accomodation for lighting in the steering wheel mounted cruise switches.

No mounting points, no old burnt out bulbs there, and the switches are completely black on the inside so there is no way for the light to get out (Yes, I got them right down to their individual pieces)

I am going to study it further and see if I can rig something up anyway

Modified by ozzie! at 6:39 AM 4/27/2007

LOL Oz, I would have saved you the time had you asked. Starpd was asking about a 2005. What made you think a 90' would come that way? I was hoping that the main cruise control on/off buttons in the corner of the dash would light up but even those have the lettering painted on.

[StarPD]

I really wanted them to have a bulb/s there too.... as I found that annoying after the first 2 days of ownershipOnly way i can figure at the moment is to make replicas of the individual switches in a slightly white/clear plastic, and then paint them black.Then have them engraved with their functions. (So they will appear black, with white writing)Then rig up an LED to back light the whole combination switch....

Too complicated, time and time consuming to do myself, and too expensive to have special parts made. Too bad Nissan didn't think about being able to see these controls at night. After all, they ARE car manufacturers. It's not like they are primarily in the pizza or shoe business, and have no familiarity or experience with the needs of motorists. Maybe they don't drive themselves, and take the bus to work.

Lemme give you another example of oversight. My wife has a POS $15,000 2000 Ford Focus (I call it something else) wagon that I hate. It automatically locks the doors when the car moves forward. In my $58,000 Infiniti, which has automatic headlights, automatic headlight leveling, automatic rain sensing wipers, automatic shutdown of the lights at night, automatic positioning of the seat and mirrors, automatic tilt down and inward positioning of mirrors when backing up, along with automatic climate control, Nav system, and CD changer, I have to remember to look for the inconveniently located switch which is especially hard to see at night, to lock my doors when I leave a parking space or garage.

Despite Nissan's other wise well displayed brilliance in car design and production, I cannot help but be astounded that they could miss somethng as obvious as illuminating ALL of the control switches, and of a simple convenience like the automatic door locks found on a cheap piece of crap car.

Even the usually astute Japanese can sometimes screw the pooch.Sigh!

[DrewQ45]

Lemme give you another example of oversight. My wife has a POS $15,000 2000 Ford Focus (I call it something else) wagon that I hate. It automatically locks the doors when the car moves forward. In my $58,000 Infiniti, which has automatic headlights, automatic headlight leveling, automatic rain sensing wipers, automatic shutdown of the lights at night, automatic positioning of the seat and mirrors, automatic tilt down and inward positioning of mirrors when backing up, along with automatic climate control, Nav system, and CD changer, I have to remember to look for the inconveniently located switch which is especially hard to see at night, to lock my doors when I leave a parking space or garage.

What do you call the Focus? Do you substitue the "o" with another "u"?

Hate to say it, but my 90' locks automatically when I drive off. The design team must have been slacking off that day and forgot.

[goody90q45]

I was hoping that the main cruise control on/off buttons in the corner of the dash would light up but even those have the lettering painted on.

You must be talking about the 05Q because I'm sure you know that there is a green light on the cruise on/off switch on the 90Q. Mine was burned out when I bought my Q and I had to replace the microlamp.