Retrofit Ambient Lighting?
 

Well, I'm back in the Lexus family after 2 1/2 years driving a 2010 Buick LaCrosse (a very nice car, BTW). I previously owned a 2005 RX and a 2007 IS. I really missed the Lexus owner's experience, though, and I knew I would eventually be buying another one. I never was a big fan of the previous generation ES, but when I saw the gorgeous new one I had to jump on it. Took delivery of a Nebula Grey Pearl ES350 on Friday. Absolutely love it!

Now my question: The one feature my Buick had was ambient lighting around the dash and doors. It really added an extra touch of class to the vehicle. Since I took my new ES from my dealer's lot, I was unable to get one with the ambient lighting included. Can the OEM Ambient Interior Lighting be retrofitted to the vehicle I just purchased? I really do miss the ambient lighting; it would make my new ES just about perfect. I checked Sewell's parts online and didn't really see what parts would be needed to do the retrofit.

Does anyone know if this is even possible to do and, if so, how much I might expect to pay to get it done?

Jetman,

My U/L came with the ambient lighting and it certainly adds to the car. I would think that you might be able to duplicate "most" of it with 3rd party lights. However, the thin area at the base of the floating dashboard is lit as well and I figured that you would have to take the dashboard apart to get the lights in there.
Good luck with your project.

Mark F

A major issue would be the wiring as there is nowhere you can connect them to to dictate when they turn on and when to turn off. Perhaps the lighting from the clock

If I'm lucky the dash will come pre-wired for the ambient lighting. It might be more cost-effective for Lexus to use a standard pre-wired dash on every Lexus and then only install the actual lighting on those vehicles with the Ultra Luxury package.

Wishful thinking? Probably.

Did u ever figure out about adding ambient lighting afterwards ?

My dealer checked it out and told me that it couldn't be done. I didn't pursue it after that, although I still wish I could've gotten it. I might take the car to an aftermarket shop to see if they could do it, but I would rather have Lexus people working on my car.