The Best Ambient Lighting for your Car

A look at the best ambient lighting for your car that can provide an exciting experience, better passenger lighting, or just a fun change in looks.

We will take a look at car ambient lighting for a change to your car’s interior to give you an easy-to-install custom look that you can be done in 30 minutes or less.

By Maurice Rodriguez
November 14, 2021

There are several reasons why you would want to update your interior lighting. The first is it can dramatically increase visibility over the OEM lighting to provide superior lighting when entering or leaving your vehicle. Lastly, you can change the mood with a variety of colors that can pulse with the music for a fun look or give your car “expensive” looking features like puddle lights for very cheap.

Best Car Ambient Mood Lighting:

Govee Interior Lights for Car

The GoVee Interior LED light for your car is our pick for the best ambient light out of the three top LED interior lights on Amazon. The GoVee unit felt like the most thoughtfully manufactured of all. It had a very nice sturdy handheld controller that let you control the lights, sound, and presets. The lights are powered via your cigarette lighter, which makes it hard to charge a phone if you want the lights going. The power button is on the cigarette lighter adapter and looks like a big red button. The actual LED lights are very well made of a plexiglass-like tube to protect them from the weather. They are supposed to be waterproof but I don’t see a need to put that to the test. I’m sure small amounts of water won’t harm the products but not sure when they would need to be submerged. The lights are easy to install with either method included. Either double-sided tape or small zip ties that attach easily to the ends of the LED’s tiny hoops for attaching to anything underneath your dash. The lights also come with the GoVee home app for Android or iPhone that uses Bluetooth to control the lights from your phone as well. The app works well and you adjust the colors, presets, and sound mode from the app as well.

Pros:

• Universal installation for any car
• 16 million colors to pick from
• 72 LEDs in 4 light bars
• Bluetooth App for Android or iPhone
• Controller Box
• Built-in Mic syncs to music
• Waterproof
• Easily installs in 30 minutes or less

Cons:

• Uses the cigarette lighter making charging devices difficult

Best Fiber Optic Ambient Lighting for your Car:

LEDCARE Car LED Strip Lights

LEDCare Car LED Strip Lights is a fiber-optic ambient lighting kit that is installed using a small wedge tool that allows the LED strips to be attached to the gap in your console, dashboard, and doors. It gives your car a futuristic look that can be customized to any color (16 million colors available) using a Bluetooth app available for Android or iPhone. You will also find a music mode that LEDCare calls ‘Sound Active Effects’, which allows the lights to synchronize with the music. The fiber optic unit is powered through the cigarette lighter just like the GoVee so it will fit any car. But, because of how it’s powered you will not be able to charge your phone when the lights are in use. LEDCare includes 236 inches of fiber optic cable which is just under 20ft. of cable. 

Pros:

• Universal fit on any car
• 16 million colors
• Bluetooth app control for Android or iPhone
• Includes 236 inches of Fiber (Almost 20ft.)
• Comes with a gap tool for ease of installation

Cons:

• Uses the cigarette lighter making charging devices difficult

Budget Car Mood Lighting:

Goodream Ambient Lighting Car Interior Atmosphere

The Goodream Ambient Lighting LED lights are the cheapest unit we reviewed if you’re on a tight budget and still want that custom look. While it is cheaper than the GoVee unit (by only $6) it is a hassle to install properly without looking cheap and poorly installed. You have to disassemble your door panels and thread the wire lead to your power window wire harness plug and tap into the 12V power by inserting the leads. Also, the lights are attached via double-sided tape which seems like it would detach in hot weather.

Pros:

• Inexpensive
• Universal fit on any car
• Lights up door handles
• 6 colors to pick from

Cons:

• Must be spliced to power window wire harness
• Double-sided tape may not last in the heat

Best Interior Lighting to Enhance visibility in your Car:

SIRIUSLED 194 LED Bulbs Extremely Super Bright

The Sirius LED bulb is a replacement bulb for your OEM Courtesy, Map, and Dome lights but is 200% brighter than your factory-installed bulbs. These only come in one color (White) and last up to 50,000 hours. They are easy to install and just pop into the existing receptacle but, make sure you check the fitment guide to ensure they fit your specific car model.

Pros:

• Up to 200% brighter
• Easy to install
• Lasts up to 50,000 hours of operation
• Non-polarity installation – means you can plug it in any position

Cons:

• Only come in White color
• Non-Canbus LED Buld (does not warn you when the bulb is out)

iBrightstar LED Bulb for Car Interior 

The iBrightStar interior LED bulbs are also LED upgrades for your car’s interior courtesy, map, and dome lights. They claim to be 300% brighter than your OEM bulbs and come in Red, Gold, Green, Blue, Purple, and Xenon White. The estimated life of these bulbs is also 50,000 hours and is also a non-polarity install you can plug it in any direction.

Pros:

• Up to 300% brighter
• Easy to install
• Lasts up to 50,000 hours of operation
• Non-polarity installation – means you can plug it into any position

Cons:

• The LED board is thicker than OEM bulbs and may be tight to install
• Check the fitment guide first before ordering

Yorkim 194 LED Bulbs Blue Super Bright

The Yorkim LEC light was included in this list because of its unique design that seems to be superior to the other two bulbs which are LED’s on a microchip board design. The Yorkim has 5-sided LED’s for a 360° light output. The bulb also has a 50,000-hour lifespan and comes in 7 colors (Red, Green, Blue, Gold, Pink, White, and Ice Blue). The bulbs are polarity specific so if the bulb doesn’t light up you can turn 180° and it should work. As with all these bulbs check the fitment guide before purchasing.

Pros:

• Up to 200% brighter
• Easy to install
• Lasts up to 50,000 hours of operation
• Polarity installation – means you can ONLY plug into in one position

Cons:

• Slightly larger than other on-chip designs

Best Fun Lighting for your Car:

KESS Car Emblem Wireless Universal Car Projection LED Projector

The KESS LED projector is a small battery-powered LED unit that attaches (with double-sided tape) to your door and can display your car’s logo on the ground when you open your door. Other than the cool factor the general purpose of the lights is supposed to be puddle light so you don’t step into a puddle at night.

Pros:

• 7 choices including a Mazda – I own a Miata so I had to include this one
• Easy to install – double-sided tape
• Does not require drilling into car or wires

Cons:

• Kind of cheap
• Battery-powered

Loweey Super Hero Car Door Lights Logo Projector

We are including Loweey’s Car Door logo projector because unlike the KESS projector this one manufacturer has 40 choices from Superhero, Manufacturer Logos, Sports teams, Political, and Transformers if that’s your thing. No matter what you’re into these are a cool addition.

Pros:

• Lots of choices – Sports teams, Superheroes, Manufacturer logos, and Transformers
• Easy to install – double-sided tape
• Does not require drilling into car panels

Cons:

• Kind of cheap
• Battery-powered

FAQ

What is ambient lighting in a car?

Ambient car lighting improves your car’s interior visibility by enhancing OEM bulbs. Other color options allow you to customize the look of your car’s interior.

How do I add ambient lighting to my car?

Changing the look of the ambient lighting of your car is very easy to do yourself in about an hour with very simple tools. You can update your existing OEM bulbs, add additional ambient lighting kits or fiber optic lights to enhance the mood in your car.

Is ambient lighting bad or illegal?

Ambient lighting is used for improving visibility at night in your car’s interior. Upgrading your car’s interior lighting can dramatically improve visibility since LEDs are much brighter than incandescent bulbs that most manufacturers use. Check your State, local laws but most jurisdictions do not permit interior lighting while driving at night. Especially colored lighting other than white.

You can check your state laws here: https://www.oznium.com/blog/what-are-the-us-lighting-laws/

Do you need ambient lighting?

Yes. Ambient lighting can help you see in your car’s interior if you are trying to see at night.

How do I install Fiber optic car ambient lighting?

Most kits like the one reviewed here, include detailed instructions on how to use the wedge tool to attach your fiber optic lights to your dash or center console. You simply insert the fiber optic cable into the plastic sleeve and using the wedge tool attach it to the gap in your dash, console, or door panel.

What does Non-CAN Bus mean for LED lights?

CAN Bus stands for Controller Area Network which allows small devices to communicate with a car’s microcomputer to provide information regarding the status of the device’s functionality. In other words, is it working?

Conclusion: We hope this guide into ambient lighting has been helpful in finding an ambient lighting kit that will meet your style, look, or upgrade needs. We liked the GoVee ambient light kit the most as it seems to be the most polished product, is easy to install, and looks the cleanest. For the price, you can’t beat the GoVee.

We are all things cars.