Interior lighting lights cabin e30

[Aerton]

Anyone here has added lights to the e30 interior, on mirror, rear view mirror, doors, sills etc. I'm interested in adding some under dash,seat lighting in a clean tasteful manner. I heard modern cars like Porsche and BMW's E46's etc have them.

Anyone who can show me the e46 mood light in action please, location of bulbs etc. Pics Video, I would like to this this summer and the short warm months in the East Cost go by fast so I need to work fast and time is of essence.

[gearheadE30]

If you want footwell lights, run leads from the door switches to the center of the dash, pull the front part of the shifter (the part with the console in it) and cut holes in the lower part so that the lights can fit. I havn't had time to do this yet, but it is the easiest way to mount the lights.

I also have a silverado dome light in place of the check panel. I think the cabrio panel is a different size, though. My car also had the half-checkpanel thing that all M42 cars got. Here's a pic:

[Mtriple]

This is a mod I have been planning for a long time and I finally got around to it last night. I bought a dome light assembly from a E39 on Ebay last year and disected it just for the mood lighting. Not neccesarily for the LED's (common) but more for the little shrouds that the LED's are placed in.

Initially I was going to mount it in my map light mirror but after taking that apart and looking at it, there really wasnt a good spot. I ended up mounting everything in the access cover for the sunroof motor.

I'll post pictures when I get home.

[thull]

This is a mod I have been planning for a long time and I finally got around to it last night. I bought a dome light assembly from a E39 on Ebay last year and disected it just for the mood lighting. Not neccesarily for the LED's (common) but more for the little shrouds that the LED's are placed in.

Initially I was going to mount it in my map light mirror but after taking that apart and looking at it, there really wasnt a good spot. I ended up mounting everything in the access cover for the sunroof motor.

I'll post pictures when I get home.

that sounds awesome lets see it!

[Mtriple]

that sounds awesome lets see it!

Patience young grasshopper, I'm at work until 6am... :(

[george graves]

subscribed

[Mtriple]

Alright, here are some pictures that I took...

mood lighting portion of the E39 domelight:


looking down into the led shrouds:


LED's and resistor removed:


shrouds cut away from the rest of the housing:


Took apart the maplight mirror but didnt like what I found:


So I decided to go here:



Pretty simple wiring, just tied into the ignition power on the sunroof (the E39 is the same way, on with ignition):


Directly underneath, looking straight up:


I dont remember my E46 being this bright. We'll see how it goes, I may play with the resistor value to tone it down a bit.


Overall, I'm pleased with the results. I'm kind of a stickler for the factory appearance and it doesnt look out of place in my opinion.

[BeirBrennerE30]

wow nice result. This has been on my back burner for a while now too. I guess i need to get on the ball now.

[atomic]

Nice ... tone them down a bit and it would be perfect

[JasonC]

Someone get me up to speed on this mood lighting. Does it stay on all the time? Does it light up a certain area inside the cabin?

Sorry, i'm lost on most up to date things.

[atomic]

Someone get me up to speed on this mood lighting. Does it stay on all the time? Does it light up a certain area inside the cabin?

Sorry, i'm lost on most up to date things.

In most cars I have seen it in, you have the option to turn it on or off. And it usually puts a really soft faint lighting on the center console/center part of the dash to help aid you at night to see the dash controls and other things in general.


Pretty cool effect honestly

[atomic]

Actually I was talking about Bob's (aka SuperDuper) picture where his hand was really bright from the leds he retrofited into his overhead.

Sorry I should have clarified more which post I was referring too. :D

[george graves]

Got it....

[Aerton]

- it's a the modern little touches that make a car.

When you tap the turn signal switch to change lanes - it blinks 5 times for you. There are a hundred other things like that.

Great George more projects for you to work on, it sounds like a good idea, I'll take one of those...

[sheefo2k]

subcribed!!
i ll try to show my work down the road. working on it right now.