ed21x

Greetings, just wanted to share a recent mod I did. The light is synchronized to the door cup light (lx460 lighted door cup mod), which is tapped from the footwell lighting. The lighting is way more subtle than these pictures make it appear and adds a classy touch

james350c

You should do a micro tutorial on it I’d love to replicate this

jj68jam

Wow this really looks sharp! What kind of strip light did you use? Would really like to know more on how to do the install! Thank you -Jim

imkIS350c

That looks stunning! You should definitely consider creating a detailed post or a video tutorial to showcase how you achieved it.

ed21x

Thank you! Yeah I'm out of the country for a bit but once I get back I'll try to snap a few pics of the interior panel and post a few part links.

ed21x

Greetings,
The supplies you will need are:

- A giant bag of Wire Taps/Disconnects
- Roll of 20-22 awg wire
- Light Source (5mm, white):
- El Light (6m is more than you'll ever need, with enough to mess up and do other projects): https://www.ebay.com/itm/314107204480
- screwdriver
- plastic trim remover

Instructions to follow...

ed21x

Removing the door:

Step 1: use a trim removing tool to pop off this corner plastic. It is only held on by clips.


Use trim remover tool to remove the door cup, footwell light, and window switch panel (all circled in red). Unplug as necessary. Remove the large screw (1x) behind door cup and (1x)underneath the window switch panel. After that, there is a slot around where I circled in green below. Reach for that slot and pull. This will disengage some clips on the bottom. Pop off all of the bottom. Then lift the entire panel up as it is hooked over the top. Disconnect everything underneath it to completely remove the door panel.

ed21x

Threading the El Light through the panel:

With the door panel off, you want to remove the following screws from the inside of the panel:


This will open up a crack between the panels, allowing you to thread the El light from the inside of the panel to the outside surface:

ed21x

On the outer surface, you can press the el light into the crease and follow it through to where it meets the handle. Then cut the el light as it hits the handle, and darken the end with a permanent black marker to prevent light from spilling out at the tip.

On the inner surface, you want to run the el light along the top of the door, and hook it up to the light source (trim the flap as necessary in order to get it to fit into the light source):

ed21x

Will finish the tutorial tomorrow with tapping the power from the footwell light...

ed21x

Tapping the power from the footwell light:

With the door still disassembled, remove the screws the keep the speaker in place:


Once that is removed, reach into the hole, and you should be able to feel where the bundle of wires lead from the door to the car. Your goal is to string a wire through the rubber hose from the door to the rest of the car:



Let me be the first to say that this is a very time consuming step as the rubber hose is oddly shaped. After many hours of trying using a bent paperclip/hanger, i was finally able to get a wire through. It does help to disconnect the hose, and also remove a single bolt on the door that is keeping it from swinging all the way open. This will give you more space to work with. It was a bit frustrating for me, but in the end, I used that line to power both the door handle cup light, this el light, and potentially the door storage compartment if desired.

Once the wire had made it to the car, you'll want to wire it to the footwell light:

ed21x

To access the footwell light, the tray can be pried down using your hand (it is held on by clips):


Once that is off, tap both wires leading to the footwell LED:


I have a light going in both directions because I also use this power source for illuminating my center console:


You can also use this power source for the door cup light, if you desire the dynamic fading effect.

primavera

Nice clean install that gives very nice touch. Thanks for the tutorial

ed21x

For back seats as well