I recently bought one of these for testing purposes and it is quite nice:

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-T10-G4-Bulb-Spot-Light-Circular-Plate-Lamp-5050-12-SMD-LED-DC-12V-Warm-White-p-66142.html

It has the chip that corrects the polarity so you don't have to worry
about that.  You can unbend the leads from that plastic connector and
have 2 nice wires to attach to.  The light spreads out nearly 180
degrees and is nice and soft as long as you cannot see any of the
actual emitters.  I think this would work well in the AT shifter
housing.  The only concern is that it may not be bright enough for
maximum daylight visibility.  Of course you could put 2 in there.  I
hope to use some of these for vanagon interior lighting at some point.

Edward