car interior illumination at night
Discussion
jsp56 said:
Hi,
I've just been doing some further research on this and the new corsa is quite good. The light in the dash board does not dim at all in the normal setting. However this is only because the car knows that it is daytime and sets the lights to super bright. If you cover up the light sensor in the back of the rear view mirror by slapping the car instruction manual on top of it on the outside of the windscreen, then the car thinks it's night time and then the dash can be dimmed very effectively - right down to blackness. Bonus.
The new Leon does the same, so I think it must also apply to all VAG households... ehmmm sorry cars I've just been doing some further research on this and the new corsa is quite good. The light in the dash board does not dim at all in the normal setting. However this is only because the car knows that it is daytime and sets the lights to super bright. If you cover up the light sensor in the back of the rear view mirror by slapping the car instruction manual on top of it on the outside of the windscreen, then the car thinks it's night time and then the dash can be dimmed very effectively - right down to blackness. Bonus.
Triumph Man said:
I like the BMW orange backlights, and in later ones (well E39 on anyway) there were LEDs in the main interior light cluster that bathed the cabin in an orange glow.
I loved this in my old E39. It was the best interior lighting i have had, not bright but just enough to eliminate the cabin. 
Hi,
I just wanted to come back to this thread and update it as I have finally chosen and bought a car and I thought my research might help others.
I was looking for an ultra-stable car that wasn't emblazoned with LED lights on the dashboard and I was having epic trouble finding one that did all we needed. Basically I was looking for something exactly like our 2006 Ford Mondeo hatchback and there just wasn't anything that I could find that was half as good.
Well in the end we've chosen a BMW 3 series estate 218i with 17" wheels. It has a dashboard just like the Mondeo and drives just like it too, with a bit of adjustment. I changed the runflat tyres to standard ones and I have to put into something called "Eco pro" mode to make the ride super-comfortable like the Mondeo, but now I've figured that out it's great. The car is a 1 year old one with very low mileage and was a little under £20k. I hope that might help others who are looking for something similar.
Thanks for all of the helpful advice while I've been hunting. It really helped a lot.
Ta!
I just wanted to come back to this thread and update it as I have finally chosen and bought a car and I thought my research might help others.
I was looking for an ultra-stable car that wasn't emblazoned with LED lights on the dashboard and I was having epic trouble finding one that did all we needed. Basically I was looking for something exactly like our 2006 Ford Mondeo hatchback and there just wasn't anything that I could find that was half as good.
Well in the end we've chosen a BMW 3 series estate 218i with 17" wheels. It has a dashboard just like the Mondeo and drives just like it too, with a bit of adjustment. I changed the runflat tyres to standard ones and I have to put into something called "Eco pro" mode to make the ride super-comfortable like the Mondeo, but now I've figured that out it's great. The car is a 1 year old one with very low mileage and was a little under £20k. I hope that might help others who are looking for something similar.
Thanks for all of the helpful advice while I've been hunting. It really helped a lot.
Ta!
My Passat has a brightness control which basically does sod all, going from very bright to slightly less very bright. My missus's Mazda OTOH lets you turn it down to practically zero, which I think is great but she prefers it a bit brighter. Although the VW is not as bad as a something or other I had as a temporary company car that had such an insanely bright LED on the stereo that I had to stick a bit of blu-tack over it.
As someone earlier in the thread mentioned, if you struggle with dashboard lights how do you get on with oncoming traffic?
Mines a TFT display so no LED's although it's not dimmable.
The civic at the top of the page is very good with a dimmer and goes very dim and is set to the light mode however if you require lights on during the day suddenly you lose all dials so have to re adjust. Not perfect but still good.
Mines a TFT display so no LED's although it's not dimmable.
The civic at the top of the page is very good with a dimmer and goes very dim and is set to the light mode however if you require lights on during the day suddenly you lose all dials so have to re adjust. Not perfect but still good.
I love dimmable interior light. They're essential on my wife's Civic, where they cast a reflection on the screen at night due to the shape of the binnacle. I also do a lot of driving in rural areas at night, an on unlit roads you can see a lot more detail from the headlights when the bright dash intensity is turned down.
I had a jeep Cherokee for a while. You twisted the light pull switch to dim/brighten the dash. It also had an excellent? Feature that if you turned it up full it clicked and the interior lights stayed on.
That took some head scratching, door button checking, fuses, earths , wires, aftermarket alarm...
Then finally Google which made me feel a bit of a tube!
That took some head scratching, door button checking, fuses, earths , wires, aftermarket alarm...
Then finally Google which made me feel a bit of a tube!
My Chimaera confused the absolute hell out me when the dash lights seemed to go out for no reason.
Turns out there's a button for them - underneath the dash, just above your left knee.
Merc 124 had a switch like the odometer switch on the binnacle. Was disconcerted when I wanted to reset the odometer after filling up and the dash lights went off.
E36 3 series had a dimmable dash. Enjoyed that touch. Kept it about halfway.
Enjoyed the Night panel in my Saab 95. Disproportionately happy our it turns out our new Peugot Partner Teepee (I know, I know) has a similar feature!
Didn't realise I had so much to say about interior illumination.
Turns out there's a button for them - underneath the dash, just above your left knee.
Merc 124 had a switch like the odometer switch on the binnacle. Was disconcerted when I wanted to reset the odometer after filling up and the dash lights went off.
E36 3 series had a dimmable dash. Enjoyed that touch. Kept it about halfway.
Enjoyed the Night panel in my Saab 95. Disproportionately happy our it turns out our new Peugot Partner Teepee (I know, I know) has a similar feature!
Didn't realise I had so much to say about interior illumination.
jsp56 said:
I'm not that keen on the very bright new headlights, but I never drive after dark as I'm a stay-at-home-Mum so it's hasn't been a major issue yet.
Why was there headscratching? Did I get something wrong in explaining the spec of the car?
If you don't drive in the dark, why does it matter about the level of brightness of the dashboard?Why was there headscratching? Did I get something wrong in explaining the spec of the car?
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff