Brighter LED roof spotlights

[v70stu]

I'm not sure if the facelift cars have the little LED downlighters in the overhead console but, if you have them and feel they are not very bright, here is an easy mod.
I felt they were doing very little to light the gear lever area and wondered if they had actually been pushed back inside the panel by accident by a previous owner. It turns out that the LEDs were fine but the holes in the panel were just very small. A quick drill through each with a 3mm drill bit and, at night, the light output is vastly increased. It is subtle and not bright but gives a soft green glow across the centre console. It's not as bright as the light behind the floating panel, so causes no distraction.
The panel in which the holes are - the long narrow black panel - unclips separately from the roof console and, unless you have a sunroof, has no wiring. Sorry for the poor photo:

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg87/roadsterstu/20150128_145211_zpshcqjybiw.jpg (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/roadsterstu/media/20150128_145211_zpshcqjybiw.jpg.html)

[roundyuk]

Thanks for this, was thinking the same thing the other night - useless compared to the same idea in an Audi for example. Mine look like they're not centre, will get the panel off!

[Tony500]

Seen this post today and had a look at my v50 and I have them on my 04 plate. They are not bright at all and going to give your mod a try :)

Mind the old mad bought a new skoda superb years ago and it had the lights in the same place but red :P

[v70stu]

BMW used to have a similar thing that bathed the console in a soft red. It makes a subtle but nice difference, just enlarging the holes. The LEDs are angled differently to broaden the pool of light and then they mount them behind tiny holes. I also noticed they don't dim with the instrument panel dimmer, unlike the light behind the centre console panel, which does.