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MY ATS LED Conversion obsession

60K views 92 replies 36 participants last post by  Boostintech97 
#1 ·
It’s been 2 weeks since my ATS Purchase and am loving this car everyday more and more. Originally I came in to get a 2013 CTS Lease. I was SOOOOOO sure I was gonna get a Black on Black CTS Premium. It was the most bang for your buck. My first impression was this is a nice car, but something didn’t fit quite right. Thought it was an awesome car, great ride, good gps…but something about the styling…I just didn’t feel ready yet for that…(I am 34, married no kids yet) and just felt that maybe in a few years it would fit better. But I was still ready to do the deal. While waiting to hash out the deal I noticed this great ATS on the showroom floor. I had borrowed my buddies ATS 2.5 Standard a few months ago for a weekend to give it a try and loved it. I was so sure that the CTS was gonna be the bigger beefier brother. I sat down in the Morillo red interior, and was impressed how good it looked on the silver. This thing was loaded…sunroof, navigation, driver awareness, black chromed rims, etc. I was impressed because this was the 2.0 Luxury Turbo model.

When the sales girl came back she told me that since I didn’t have a lease already I could not qualify for the rebates and the monthly jumped up to $480.00. My company was only going to cover up to $400 per month so I had to decline the CTS. I did all of my research on the CTS and barely enough on the ATS. But man o man, when I sat in that Red ATS interior it fit like a glove. I told the girl to work up the #’s on that exact floor model. After deciding that the $2500 black Chrome rims were not a priority I was able to get the ATS down to $360 per month. I was psyched.

I did as much research in one night as I could and there was one main mistake that I overlooked because I assumed that it would be on there. LED headlamps and LED Fog lights. I am sure many people in my position did the same thing. When I got to the dealership and picked up my baby, I realized too late that this did not have the LED headlamps or foglights that made me fall in love. I figured someone on the internet or some Chinese company would have produced an OEM headlamp and foglight exchange (still hoping for it). I know it is not the end of the world and that this car functions the same without them…but I have to admit…I feel shallow…it doesn’t look the same.

So I have taken it upon myself and because of all the excellent advice and DIY posts…I am going to try and make my own version of LED head lamps and add LED Fog Lights…I am going to try and use this for the vertical LED headlamp :

http://www.carid.com/universal-led-lights/led-lighting-eyes-860497.html

and I am going to use Romanats Ford Mustang LED Foglights for the fog lights.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370741651210?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I know this is not going to be OEM standard but I am really hoping this will be a fun and cool DIY project. Will post pictures of the process. Both products are on its way.

2 more things I will be doing to ATS then I will call it quits:

1) Bought 18” stock Cadillac staggered 10 spoke forged aluminum rims
2) Going to do a medium tint
3) Installing an HID kit as per one of the sticky's on this forum

After that, I will be done. Hopefully it will come out nice. Kind of see it as a challenge. Wish me luck ;)
 

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#5 ·
OK i'm going to disagree with you, I think you're dead wrong.......Margaret Thatcher and Mother Theresa are examples of classy women, but could be argued not that good looking, the Morello Red, on the other hand, is pick your SI/Victoria's Secret Model HOT!!!... my next caddy WILL!!! have that color.

and Good Luck matthewmugar, I look forward to seeing your car when done
 
#8 ·
Hello matthewmugar,

Congratulations on your recent vehicle purchase! I can’t speak to the DIY lights you are installing but the vehicle looks great! Please feel free to reach out to Laura or I on this account if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you very much for posting and I am happy to hear that you are enjoying your vehicle!

Gregory W.
Cadillac Customer Care
 
#11 ·
Ok guys, Plans changed. I bought a groupon for window tinting and when I got to the shop the owner said, “hey you have LED fog lights in the trunk and LED plasmaglows..do you want me to install them as well?” At first I was like Nahhh, I want to do it because it will be fun, then I realized…this is what these guys do and if they can do it and get it finalized all at same time as tint why not? They happened to have the HID kits there as well for about $120 installed so I told them to price out everything…got everything for about $330 with tint, LED Foglamps, and HID kits installed same day. That included labor. I guess at the end of the day it saved me a lot of time, of which I do not have a lot of.

I ended up not attempting to do LED headlamps at this time but may try to do it one day if I find a wiring that will not look too messy.

Anyhow, man o man, HID’s and LED’s combined are amazing and you cant even tell by pics how bright and awesome they look. Thanks Romanats for suggesting these. Now all I am waiting for is for my 18” Cadillac ATS 10 spokes to come in and I will be done.

P.S. the last picture was a mini celebration for me not having to do too much work and it looking awesome ;)

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#87 ·
Ok guys, Plans changed. I bought a groupon for window tinting and when I got to the shop the owner said, “hey you have LED fog lights in the trunk and LED plasmaglows..do you want me to install them as well?” At first I was like Nahhh, I want to do it because it will be fun, then I realized…this is what these guys do and if they can do it and get it finalized all at same time as tint why not? They happened to have the HID kits there as well for about $120 installed so I told them to price out everything…got everything for about $330 with tint, LED Foglamps, and HID kits installed same day. That included labor. I guess at the end of the day it saved me a lot of time, of which I do not have a lot of.

I ended up not attempting to do LED headlamps at this time but may try to do it one day if I find a wiring that will not look too messy.

Anyhow, man o man, HID’s and LED’s combined are amazing and you cant even tell by pics how bright and awesome they look. Thanks Romanats for suggesting these. Now all I am waiting for is for my 18” Cadillac ATS 10 spokes to come in and I will be done.

P.S. the last picture was a mini celebration for me not having to do too much work and it looking awesome ;)

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Hello matthewmugar! Thanks for sharing!! Very nice!!
 
#15 ·
So Stoked this looks great, i'm waiting for my EBAY DRL's to arrive along with my HID kit from The Retofit Source (morimoto 3FIVE ballasts, XB35 bulbs, ad can-bus stand alone harness) , i just got the DRL relay today from iJDMtoy that automates the DRL like factory but this has a 10 second delay built in. i feel like its christmas...lol
 
#16 ·
Thats great Pissedoffwookie! CAn't wait to see pics. I am really impressed with the HID's and LED combo. Don't get me wrong I love the vertical LED lights of ATS...but for the amount of $ spent I am really happy with the lighting and it def satiates that need to have LED's. Didnt think it would be that big of a deal to get HID's but boy was i wrong.
 
#17 ·
I feel the same way, there were things I promised myself that I would not leave a dealership without on my next car. they were dual zone, sunroof, Nav, heated seats, HID, and remote start. well because of availability of cars at the time of my purchase I missed out on the last 4 items virtually all the cars that had those options had the V6 due to early unavailability of the turbo and I really wanted the turbo, I even convinced myself it was no big deal....NAV (I have my phone and onstar) heated seats (I live in San Diego), HID (the projectors are nice), remote start (I could live without that)

after the first truly hot day with leatherette, I added remote start so I could pre cool the car. HID I'm currently addressing, NAV I'm hoping the CUE App Store will bring BringGo to our cars, I could add heated seats I haven't priced it yet, but I think that would be sort of a waste of time and money.

but the car is great what its good at it does spectacularly, and what it's not good at is still better than most just maybe not compared to the tippy, top cars in the segment. and the reason I had to have the turbo was in case the tinkering bug caught me.

well lighting will be tinker #3 first was color matched license frame to opulent blue, in order to cut down glare from the license lights reflecting off the chrome frame every caddy dealer installs on the rear camera.. tinker #2 was frameless mirror upgrade.

BTW I'm looking at switchback led bulbs to get rid of the amber turn signal to complete the HID/LED look up front, just found out from dealer parts department they are 7444na
 
#19 ·
Hey PissedoffWookie,

That's great that you are doing all of this. I am really interested in the lighting aspect as well. I want to change the reverse lights to make them LED so they are much brighter. How does the frameless mirror upgrade work and look compared to the stock?

Will changing the turn signal to LED become kind of like a clear corner?

My 18" wheels are coming in soon, just have to select tires for all season, but I live in So Cal as well and wonder if that is necessary. But attached is the picture that has inspired the changes of my car and is on my current desktop computer at work ;) Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Luxury vehicle
 
#20 ·
Hey PissedoffWookie,

That's great that you are doing all of this. I am really interested in the lighting aspect as well. I want to change the reverse lights to make them LED so they are much brighter. How does the frameless mirror upgrade work and look compared to the stock?

Will changing the turn signal to LED become kind of like a clear corner?

My 18" wheels are coming in soon, just have to select tires for all season, but I live in So Cal as well and wonder if that is necessary. But attached is the picture that has inspired the changes of my car and is on my current desktop computer at work ;) View attachment 139449
that is so nice to look at, i'd do the same if i wasn't already using pictures from my trip to Circuit of the Americas for the US Grand Prix.... sometimes too many fun choices sucks...lol.

I want to change the reverse lights to make them LED so they are much brighter
I want to do this too, whats holding me back is i never like reducing performance for appearance in this case i worry about the performance of the backup camera i painted my liscence frame for this reason i wonder if a more intense backup light will blow out the image on screen, i need to ry it i guess.

How does the frameless mirror upgrade work and look compared to the stock?
it was cheap and easy all it took was a torx tool and 5 minutes mine is not auto dim the the mirror was $72 bucks i think the auto dim is $115 or $120, and it looks like the factory '14

Will changing the turn signal to LED become kind of like a clear corner?
yes, except by using switchbacks the will blink amber

i'm also looking into getting this kit

LED Interior Upgrade
 
#22 ·
let me know what you plan to do about the Amber signals/DRL lights. I want switchbacks as well but I dont know what size those bulbs are lol... can you pppplllleeeaaasssseeee :)post really closeups of those LED strip lights? I want to see the "Flushness" of them, I'm interested in doing this mod.

I'd LOOOVVVEEE to make my amber bulbs look like what this guy did
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...4-changed-out-drls-before-after-pictures.html

Oh and on the reverse lamp... I've replaced my reverse light with LEDS, looks really sharp when you unlock the car at night, bright white :D

I dont know what size those bulbs are either.... I went to a tuner shop here, crawled under the car in the parking lot, popped the bulb out, walked inside and said "I want 2 (yes its two bulbs for the reverse) white LED's of this" lol
 
#32 ·
Stevo, the LED's are almost flush. I have been having the same thoughts and am planning to cut the molding a bit so i can push it through so its completely flush against the grill. It's about 3/4 inch on top of the original housing. I am planning to call dealership to find where i can find replacement moldings in case the cutting doesnt work, I will be ok without the led's if need be...as long as i have the HID's i am good. I got new rims the 18" upgrades and they are awesome...so content either way.
 
#34 ·
Kalibr said:
Yes. It's pretty straightforward. The bulb housing slides out by prying from the right side with a flathead screwdriver. It uses a 194 T10 type bulb. I used a 4 SMD Canbus as in pic.

<img src="http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=140530"/>
Thanks a lot. On another note, can someone tell me how to get to the map lights so I can change them to LEDs? I'm not sure how to pry open the plastic console.
 
#35 · (Edited)
get your fingers under the whole upper console and tug firmly it's held up with clips, probably easiest starting at a corner

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ok found found a hyper flash fix cable and bought it night before last, then found a mounting plate for the resistor. so now will be fully ready for those LEDs going to try the plug and play cable first if doesn't work I'll splice in the resistors. actually more accurately my mechanic friend and I will not comfortable doing this without a babysitter.... lol besides it seems to me doing this on his lift beats wear and tear on my ass and knees (let the jokes begin)
 
#37 ·
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