Several weeks ago I ordered a couple LED bulbs for my reverse light on my ATS because I absolutely loved the way the reverse lights looked on my old CTS. The new bulbs don't quite match the CTS but it's definitely a nice improvement. So a couple days ago, I ordered a set of 10 LED bulbs from Amazon to replace all of the interior bulbs and the license plate lights. I CANNOT believe the difference that such a small change has made. Everything looks so crisp and clear at night and I feel like I'm driving a brand new car.
I've driven the new XT5 and CT6 which use interior LED lights and my ATS now matches those cars perfectly. Installation took about 20-30 minutes total and was nothing overly difficult.
The front map lights require that you pull the plastic trim out of the headliner but theres only about 4 clips that hold it in place. Once out, you just unscrew the bulb housing for each side, take out the old bulbs, pop in the new, and then go backwards to reinstall everything.
The rear map lights were a little trickier, you have to pull the handles down and pop off two plastic tabs on either side of the handle to reveal a screw holding each side in place. Unscrew and pull out the handle, which is held in place by a plastic piece. Then you have to pull the trim piece down which was honestly probably the hardest part, as it took quite a bit of maneuvering to pull each one out. Then you just unscrew the bulb housing (same way as the map lights up front), swap the bulbs, and work backwards to put everything back together.
The license plate lamps were enigmatic at first because I thought you had the change the bulbs via the clear lens cover. DO NOT TRY TO PULL OFF THE CLEAR LENS COVER. You will damage it. Instead, use a flat head screwdriver to push in on the small indentations in the black piece surrounding the lens. The housing will pop out and you can swap out the bulbs.
The trunk, driver/passenger floor, and glove box lights were all similar and very easy to swap out - just use a flat head screw driver to pry the housing open, pull it out, disconnect it, swap bulbs, then work backwards to reassemble.
I actually found that my driver side foot-well light was not even connected. Not sure if it's something the dealer did during the multiple times I've had it there (maybe during the A/C repair?) but this gave me an opportunity to swap the bulb and fish for the wire and get everything connected too.
The reverse lights were easy as well, but you have to lay on your back and go under the car with a flash light to unscrew the housing for each bulb (there are two).
All in all, I replaced 12 bulbs in and outside of my car to LED and I am floored by the results. The LED interior lights, coupled with my Cadillac logo-projecting courtesy lights, illuminating door handles, and signature light blades make my car stand out in such a classy way. Could not be any happier! Hopefully my notes above help anyone out trying to do the same, I had to search a few different places to figure out how to do everything in one go.
Here is a link to the 10 piece kit I purchased. There are enough bulbs to swap out the front map lights (x2), the rear map lights (x2), the front floor lights (x2), the glovebox light (x1), the trunk light (x1), and the license plate lights (x2).
And of course, some pictures:
Attachment 420225
Attachment 420233
Attachment 420241
Attachment 420249
These pictures were taken in my dark garage with the door closed and no other lights on except for those from the car. The flash was turned off on my iPhone. That's how crisp and clear the lights are.
I've driven the new XT5 and CT6 which use interior LED lights and my ATS now matches those cars perfectly. Installation took about 20-30 minutes total and was nothing overly difficult.
The front map lights require that you pull the plastic trim out of the headliner but theres only about 4 clips that hold it in place. Once out, you just unscrew the bulb housing for each side, take out the old bulbs, pop in the new, and then go backwards to reinstall everything.
The rear map lights were a little trickier, you have to pull the handles down and pop off two plastic tabs on either side of the handle to reveal a screw holding each side in place. Unscrew and pull out the handle, which is held in place by a plastic piece. Then you have to pull the trim piece down which was honestly probably the hardest part, as it took quite a bit of maneuvering to pull each one out. Then you just unscrew the bulb housing (same way as the map lights up front), swap the bulbs, and work backwards to put everything back together.
The license plate lamps were enigmatic at first because I thought you had the change the bulbs via the clear lens cover. DO NOT TRY TO PULL OFF THE CLEAR LENS COVER. You will damage it. Instead, use a flat head screwdriver to push in on the small indentations in the black piece surrounding the lens. The housing will pop out and you can swap out the bulbs.
The trunk, driver/passenger floor, and glove box lights were all similar and very easy to swap out - just use a flat head screw driver to pry the housing open, pull it out, disconnect it, swap bulbs, then work backwards to reassemble.
I actually found that my driver side foot-well light was not even connected. Not sure if it's something the dealer did during the multiple times I've had it there (maybe during the A/C repair?) but this gave me an opportunity to swap the bulb and fish for the wire and get everything connected too.
The reverse lights were easy as well, but you have to lay on your back and go under the car with a flash light to unscrew the housing for each bulb (there are two).
All in all, I replaced 12 bulbs in and outside of my car to LED and I am floored by the results. The LED interior lights, coupled with my Cadillac logo-projecting courtesy lights, illuminating door handles, and signature light blades make my car stand out in such a classy way. Could not be any happier! Hopefully my notes above help anyone out trying to do the same, I had to search a few different places to figure out how to do everything in one go.
Here is a link to the 10 piece kit I purchased. There are enough bulbs to swap out the front map lights (x2), the rear map lights (x2), the front floor lights (x2), the glovebox light (x1), the trunk light (x1), and the license plate lights (x2).
And of course, some pictures:
Attachment 420225
Attachment 420233
Attachment 420241
Attachment 420249
These pictures were taken in my dark garage with the door closed and no other lights on except for those from the car. The flash was turned off on my iPhone. That's how crisp and clear the lights are.