Hey guys, brand new owner of an es350 here, got a great deal on a beautiful 2008 with only 35k miles on it from a private party (9k).
Love the look and feel compared to my old es300 which was rendered significant cosmetic damage by a truck.

I know I'm late to the party here, been reading through all the threads to catch up, and decided the number 1 mod is to improve the subpar interior lights.
The chief culprit are the 2 tiny overhead map lights which are silly dim.
I haven't been able to find any pics or videos on how to swap those out - can it be done? and do they take regular 194 bulbs or are they soldered on?
Any recommendation for bulbs - I want bright but not crazy bright - is 100 lumens the right amount?

 

Think you mean the personal lights above the dash, in the roof console assy, not the dome/roof lights which are also useless!!! I just use the light in the vanity mirror when I want to see something for real. Have not seen any swap out done on CL for those.

Check para 66 for how to get at it.

 

Thanks - That PDF is quite useful!
Any reason why no one has upgraded the personal lights? Are they soldered on or easy to replace 194 bulbs?

 

Does anyone know how to replace the bulb inside the rear dome/interior lights ?

 

I switched all my internal bulbs to LED, they are very cheap.

I paid US$9.5 for 11 of those.