helpful hints and tips

Domelight info

I wanted to add some accent lighting for my interior to match my boost guage. I found that the owner's manual is not always accurate when listing which types of bulbs fit where.

on my 2002 9-3 SE I wanted to change the dome lights and also the glove box. The owners manual says "6411". But I found what worked best for me were LED "festoon bulbs" in 42 x 11mm size. Also called 4211.

I found that cheap colored bulbs from the local auto store were too dim as the colored film/coating absorbs a good amount of the light. Instead, I purchased some super bright LED lights and I am very pleased. The darker colors like red, blue and UV purple are more for ambience than light, so I reccommend keeping the smaller side reading lamps white in case you really need to see something in the dark, you can switch those on!

Below you can see my UV blacklight/ultraviolet LED lights, and how nicely they compliment my UV blacklight boost guage. True UV light is difficult to photograph so I cranked up the brghtness a bit so you can get the general idea.

Despite what it may say in the owner's manual, I have found the festoon bulb in my trunk to be a different size. I never got around to changing that one as I use the white light to find things in the hatch at night.

Other modification ideas:

  • blue LED for a soothing mood lighting
  • green LED to match the factory dash lighting or a green backlit boost gauge
  • red LED for a jet fighter cockpit ambience or to match a red backlit boost gauge
  • orange or amber as an accent to the amber/orange on the factory dash
  • super white LED or "hyperwhite" for extra bright illumination.

-submitted by abdukted1456

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