kidwhiz

Anyone willing to post step by step instructions on adding footwell lights? I'm trying to figure out the best way to light up the footwells that would turn on with the map lights when the doors are opened/unlocked and when the map lights are just turned on.

I found the connector under the right side of the passenger side dash. It's a two wire connector--a white/blue and a green/yellow. You can see it lead upwards and into the a-pillar. I assume you could tap the green/yellow somehow, maybe in series with another harness and wire two 5 watt bulbs in parallel with each other into the circuit. I think the green/yellow is on when the map light switch is in the middle position and the doors are opened/unlocked. The wire is hard to reach, even with the dash panel insert removed, that's why I was thinking of using another harness that would plug into the existing one instead of tapping the wires (it's also more reversable to use a twin harness).

Some questions:
1) is that the right wire
2) will there be significant changes in the map lights' brightness from the change in current/resistance
3) where can you get parts like the two-wire harness/connector?
4) when the wires are in place, what mounts should I use and where?
5) I have two spare side marker bulbs and sockets left over from clearing my side markers, are those bulbs ok for this application

jerrypeterson

You could use vampire taps to save the headache of cutting the wires. Be sure to use a larger fuse for the lights. Also, pay attention to whether you wire the new lights in series or parralell. Since the under side of the dash isn't visible, I wouldn't stress too much about where the lamps are mounted. The bulbs for the side markers might be a little bright for this application. I'd use replacement bulbs for dome lights or something dimmer.

bayarea408

interesting,...

taylor01

I did it with some basic interior lights that you can buy at Autozone. Cost is about $6.00 total. Lights work very well. I just have them tapped into the ground leads coming off of the doors and a dedicated power to them.

I attached them to the AC ducts underneath with two self tapping screws.

kidwhiz

thanks for the replies. I'll post the results with pics if I get around to doing this soon...

kuni

Hey Kidwhiz where did you get that idea from?

If you want I have the lights that I used for my car at the house and I can show you how I did mine. Maybe after the run on Sunday we can have a tech day?

kidwhiz

kuni, yes, you are the source of my footwell light envy! Actually Anna and I both noticed cause after we got our S2K we were both surprised by the dark footwells... I'm on vacation this week--are you around?

kuni

I am working this week.

Jason B

Any pics?

tkeedy

Ok, not to hijack your thread, but.....

I've been wanting to do this to my car ever since I got it, I'm not sure why it just seems better to have light at your feet when you get in but it does. But also my sister got a new 3series BMW and I noticed that there are (I assume) a couple of red high-intensity LED's hidden, mounted up behind the light over the dash. It's not something that calls out to you, or is really noticable but there is a faint but distinct red glow over the shifter area.

So, some of you (modrify) really cool people, how would an enterprising person not unfamiliar with general automotive wiring and tinkering go about getting some of these LED's and what would that person have to wire onto the LED's to hook them to 12v?

Travis