Dash Illumination?

[Froggy]

I'm not exactly sure where to put this... I figure it counts as styling, and I didn't see an interior versus exterior section, though I admit to being intermittently blind too.

Has anyone replaced the lights in the gauge cluster to mae them a different color? I don't have a beetle yet, and I haven't seen if the gauges are colored plastics or colored bulbs behind it all.

If you can't tell, I'm partial to green and a dim green gauge panel would seem neat to have if it didn't mess up dark vision too much. My green glowy cigarette-lighter frog is a bit much, but he goes off to one side, so is usually alright.

[noR]

They're blue LED's embedded on the circuit board.

To say it would be "tough" to unsolder/resolder ... is an understatement.


But don't let that get you bummed.




Btw, nice name. Have you named your bug?

[Evanrude]

Soooo.. you want to go from this...



To this?



As far as I know, it's just a matter of switching LED's in the cluster... I think. I know each of those little warning lights around the cluster is replaceable, and I think the main light source is replaceable too. I think.

or... they are soldered on.... what do I know *heh*.

Take the cluster out , and an electronics shop could do it for you. Worth it in the long run no?

[SMG]

Gross that looks like an older GM or Toyota cluster.

[Froggy]

Hehe, I agree, not as appealing as I'd imagined. I forgot how nice the beetle is.

To answer a previous question- I don't have a beetle yet, but I'm hoping soon. I'm currently driving a saturn because it runs, and selling my two cars because they didn't- my husband is fixing them and will be more than happy to part with them also.

Hopefully soon. I dislike this car. A lot.

Oh, and I love that picture

[BEETLETHIS]

Originally Posted by SMG

Gross that looks like an older GM or Toyota cluster.

lol...........

you all for get that the older volkswagen were green lite dash clusters????

[Smileybug]

I was just going to post that! My '84 Jetta has green lighting. It actually works well for the car. We even managed to find an aftermarket headunit for it with green lighting. I still prefer the blue, but green is certainly not just for GMs an Toyotas.

[yoyorob]

unfortunately start to lose appreciation for the blue until you see some alternatives...blue is so much easier on the eyes....

[Toad]

As someone who's had all 3 vag dash light colors, i an say each color fits the car it came in.

The blue works well because its a rear illumination, but for the older vw/audis that had the front illumination the green/red works well, and probably works a lot better than blue front illumination, ow it hurts trying to even think of that

Also, if you change the color of the instrument panel, the radio and clock/temp display are also blue, and those will be even harder to change! Well, if you ant to keep the crappy factory radio just for the looks....

[Judee]

A Little Late... But Here's a How-To: Click Here.