thanks mate! you pointed me in the direction of the correct config file!!
to anyone else with the same question:
you need to edit /etc/DIR_COLORS and /etc/DIR_COLORS.xterm . i guessed this from looking at /etc/profile.d/colorls.sh .
there are complete instructions in /etc/DIR_COLORS and /etc/DIR_COLORS.xterm on how to get the colours you want.
http://www.fifi.org/cgi-bin/man2html...ir_colors.5.gz
cheers for help all
btw, white = dirty grey