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This looks really good. Would you mind sharing pictures of it in the daytime with the ambient light turned off? I've seen some that look super tacky when they are turned off. But this looks like a very clean install. Mind sharing details on what you're tapping into and what material you're using? Thank you.
I have been talking some pics along the way. The real secret is to tap into the existing ambient wiring to simplify things (if you have factory ambient)…. But I don’t know if all ES maybe have the wiring behind the panels?
Interesting. The strip really is hardly noticeable. Just curious, is the connection plug and play or are you having to splice some cables? Thank you in advance.
Interesting. The strip really is hardly noticeable. Just curious, is the connection plug and play or are you having to splice some cables? Thank you in advance.
I am tapping in to the power to the existing ambient lighting. It's nice because the power wires are already there, won't drain the battery by accident, protected by a fuse already, come on at the same time as the factory lights, dim when you put it in gear, etc. I'll get a pic to show what I did. I did solder the power wires from the existing ambient light strip to the power wires going to the little module.
There is a module for the dash light (and floor LEDs) and a separate module for each door.
Originally Posted by E46CT
What happened to the body module you said you shorted while attempting to tap power? did you fix that?
Indeed I did mess up earlier and the dash ambient lighting (stock) stopped working. The doors were not affected, just the one strip on top of the dash and the two tiny footwell LEDs. Nothing else was affected. I can't say for sure that I shorted the body module but I suspect that is what happened. I checked all fuses under the dash and they were all fine.
The workaround for that was I tapped into the ambient power wires going to the RR door from the trim panel behind the seatbelt and fed power back up to the dash for those ambient lights.
Here is the backside of the door panel. If you look closely you will notice the new small electronic box with the barcode on it, that is the box that controls the lights in the door. There is the main strip I showed before that sits by the wood strip and the wire is fed forward above the speaker. Then there is a small single LED that goes down to the storage at the bottom of the door, I had to drill one hole for that. Then there is one small LED that goes above the door handle on that white rectangle plastic piece.
The electronic box is held on with included velcro-style adhesive strips. If you look closely you will see where I soldered the wires to the factory wiring which I cut. Notice to the left of the speaker there is a white harness and a red/green wiring that comes out and then some white heat-shrink tubing.
The way I did it all of the wiring and controller is part of the door panel, so if a technician or anyone has to remove the door panel all this stuff is attached like factory. There is nothing special that needs to be done to remove the door panel.
The wiring tucks behind the panel but the light itself tucks in the crack below the wood strip.
That's Really a clean look! You can hardly even see the led/lights!
We just ordered the same interior and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then consider yourself flattered because there is a Very good chance that I'm going to copy your idea in our new ES when it comes.
Here’s what the backside of the panel looks like, all done. I used a few pieces of yellow auto body masking tape just as extra insurance to hold things in the right place.
The door only took about two hours, The other door took more but I’m really taking my time trying to do a very professional looking job.
I was surprised that everything on the backside was hard plastic. There really doesn't seem to be any sound deadening in the door panel itself.
Missing 3-4 of those tiny felt washers on the front panel and 1 on the rear panel? They will tend to fall off when removing the panels...
Yes, I noticed that too. I had all my windows tinted recently so I suspect they took all the panels off and didn't worry about the little felt washers that fell off upon removal. I don't have more so I'm just going with it, some have them, some don't. If I hear a rattle I will buy some new clips I guess.
08-08-22, 08:13 PM
