Cadillac Owners Forum banner

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 ;)
 

Attachments

See less See more
4
#47 ·
those are exactly what i put on the car, and yes they took some time to get to sit flush, but working with my mechanic friend they came out really nice.....I must admit however I'm contemplating giving these to a friend and taking his brake duct covers and installing a different more expensive solution..... I am on a wife mandated toy buying freeze at the moment, due to a speeding ticket, and $1500 mad money i'm going to spend in Austin next month at the USGP formula one race i'm going to. but i'm thinking these new ones are hideous but if i take them apart and paint/plastidip the grill to match the duct, they could look really really nice, and i like the voltage sensing relay switch the kit comes with compared to my vibration activated one, I had trouble with the lights turning off all the time at stop lights because the car is too smooth and quiet...lol, i had play with different mounting locations till i found a spot that vribrated enough to keep them activated
 
#48 ·
I have been looking almost daily at those exact covers from E&G. I can't find any other product on the market other than the D3 option which has yet to be developed. The problem is that I have not been able to find any 'real' photos of them installed. Also wondering what it looks like on a black ATS. Do you think the air blowing into that area might add extra drag?
 
#53 ·
Haven't seen the LEDs in person. Not sure what you mean by "...deal with the angle, etc?" At this point I can only assume that as these were recommended by a custom shop that will insert them into the brake duct so that they will not edge over the duct's lip, they should fit nicely???
 
#54 ·
Oh, I get it. The custom shop will fit them...interesting that they recommended them too. I was thinking you are going to lay them on top of the brake duct cover which meant they were going to point slightly left and right...ah nvm, you got it covered. Send tons of pics once you get it done man!
 
#55 ·
They looked so nice I ordered a set off of ebay and installed them a different way. I shaved the bolts off the back to give it a flush fitting. I also used a vibraton DRL switch which works great. I used 3M double sided emblem tape to secure to the bezels and whola! Please give feedback. This is my first post.
 
#61 ·
Hey Calzone, those DRLs look good. I've got a pair of Phiilps Daylight 8s sitting in my garage for a couple of months because I'm fearful that their light will shoot off at an angle even if I were to tape them in. Although they will fit flush, they will still angle out because of the duct's angling out. I'm interested in knowing at what point one doesn't see the lights head on. Yikes, this is difficult to explain! In cars that have factory DRLs, one sees the full brightness of the lights head on, but as you move to the side of the car, that brightness either disappears or is much dimmer. So, if you were stand in front of your car. let's say about 15' away and keeping that distance as you moved around to the side of your car, at about what point would the DRLs no longer be shining directly into your field of vision?

You see, my problem is that my DRLs are configured such that they will be quite bright during the day (400 lumens)-they do dim at night to 100 lumens, and I don't think they will look good if they cover too broad an angle to the side of the car.
 
#65 ·
if anyone has an extra base model air duct cover, i can model it up in 3d if i have it with me. this will alow me to modify its geometry and design a place to mount an aftermarked LED inside and make it look factory. then print this and put the LED in. i wanna do it with my duct covers but idk how long ill need to keep them off.
 
#69 ·
Hey, Donavo, 3D printing a duct cover can't get any cooler than that. What would be the cost involved?

----------

Hey. Sorry Guys. Thanks for the comments! I got busy with other things for a little. You are right. They do follow to the sides but I did it more for looks than for functionality. I will take a video at some point here so everyone can see what it looks like from all angles. I used a motion sensor as a switch 17.00 from e-bay and I also got the lights from there also. I drilled a hole at the bottom corner of the cover and ran up to the switch and then to the battery junction post. I hid everything under the radiator cover. They do fit flush which I was looking for. Here is the link for the lights. http://www.ebay.com/itm/370741651210?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Thanks for getting back. Yeah, I think I have a problem in that my DRLs will be both functional and accessory. Its the functional part (400 lumens points out somewhat sideway) that has me worried. I await your pictures.
 
#68 ·
Thanks for responding
A motion sensor to turn them on?
Wont they turn off if your sitting at idle or at a long light or stuck in traffic?
Just wondering cause i dont mind if they turn off while in my driveway but stuck in traffic turning on and off would look ridiculous
 
#71 ·
I installed mine with a motion activated relay and it gave me fits......it turns out we have a really smooth and quiet car with very little vibration....it turns out that part of this is coming from our active variable engine mounts ....stop at a light and the mounts go soft killing body vibration which would make my LEDs turn off I had the relay mounted to the body under the radiator cover ..... I then tried the air box .... fail.....I ended up zip tying the relay to the tube feeding the intake manifold....it was the only thing that vibrated enough to keep the lights on......ultimately I didn't like the vibration relay and if I ever need to do it again I'm going with a voltage sensing relay, these work by sensing use of the car by power draw..... the vibration relay would activate if a big truck drove by my parked car, every door open/close and when the coolant would burp into the reservoir for a few minutes after you turn off the car
 
#72 ·
Yes. A motion sensor. I placed I placed it in a perfect spot next to the radiator. I used velcro strips to attach it to a perfect spot. It does work well and If I'm at a light it will turn off if i don't bump the brakes lightly. I am planning on playing around with its sensitivity on Monday. Ill let you know how I make out.
 
#73 ·
Cool thanks

I was thinking that its new to me but i barely no its idling so i was wondering where one would mount the relay to.I think i would rather have Them come on when the DRL's are on but then how would they stay on when the headlights go on.
The voltage sensing sound like it might be the way to go.
On when car is on, off when car is off
 
#75 ·
Very nice job. Do you have any close-ups of the bottom led lights? Trying to see how far they stick out or not. Also how did they install the plasma glows? Did they go between the light and fender vertically on the lights? Also, do you have a source for the HID's kit?

Very nice post as I'm looking to install these plus put a new grill in my 2014 ATS.

http://www.carid.com/2014-cadillac-ats-grill/eg-classics-grilles-2154275.html

thanks much, Todd
 
#77 ·
swgetz said:
This is the kit I just installed in my wife's ATS. Came with everything you need. I did the install on my own, and have never done an HID install before. If you have some general mechanical skills, you got this.
Just want to confirm that your wife's car has regular halogen lights to start with? Also, where did you mount the harnesses? Did you go in thru the wheel well to get to the lights? Thanks.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top