Hi. I have bought some after market spot lamps which I am looking to wire up without an oem loom. Reading up on the various forums most people seem to take the fused live to the relay directly from the battery. Seen as I don't want the light to come on without ignition would I not be better to take the feed from the switched live service terminal from the fuse box ?
Thanks
Wes

 

The relay hot goes to the battery. The relay trigger goes to the source you want to turn on the lights. Depending on the beam pattern, driving or fog, you can tie them into either the high beams or the parking lights, respectively.

 

Hi, thanks for reply. Why couldn't I run the relay hot to the switched fuse terminal in fuse box rather than battery?

 

You can, but then you would be possibly overloading that circuit. Best practice is to run the relay to the battery.

 

thanks. was looking at the OEM loom fitting instruction and that seems to connect to two service terminals on the fusebox. Terminal 30 and 31. One is switched and one is permanent live.
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From: Wes Shepherd <wesacosa@gmail.com>
To: North American Motoring <do_not_reply@northamericanmotoring.com>
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Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2017 21:53:18 +0100
Subject: Re: Reply to thread 'Wiring up spot lamps'
thanks. was looking at the OEM loom fitting instruction and that seems to connect to two service terminals on the fusebox. Terminal 30 and 31. One is switched and one is permanent live.
but not sure why there is a permanent and a switched live

 

You don't have to connect directly to the battery. You can connect to the main voltage input lead at the rear of the under hood fuse box. Use a relay and get your trigger voltage from the high beams (for driving lights). If you also want an interior switch, you can mount it on the knee bolster to the left of the steering wheel (the spot used for oem driving lights).

 

the OE 'loom' has extra connections to deal with two things:

switch illumination

and

system 'reset' to 'off' when the ignition goes off.

if wiring 'simple' you ignore this complication ....

if you understand the workings of a relay, things would fall into place. In simple terms there are two sides: the high amperage side, and the low. The high serves the accessory (lights) and the low serves the switch that controls the high side - keeping the high amp flow away from the switch .... cuz the high amps burn out simple switches. Still with me?

all you really need to know is here





'cept you want to alter the line between the 'battery / fuse' and the switch

this is the power line for the low power side

two options ....

run this line instead of to the battery, to a switched circuit (easy with an 'add a circuit clip) - this will turn the lights off anytime the switch is on but the ignition is off

OR

connect this trigger line to the high beam power line .... this is what is technically required in the US ..... in this way the 'driving lights' can only be on when the 'high beams' are on .....

{have I confused????? I've installed a bunch of both OE and after market sets .... PM me questions and I'll help }

p.s. if the numbers on the relay confuse you ... hire someone to install for you!!!!

 

Hi
thanks for the reply. I'm generally ok with wiring and relays so all ok there.

My big issue now is the trigger. I posted a different topic on this. Basically I realised its bi xenon headlights so I don't think there anywhere to get a trigger for tbe the main beam under the hood. I worry my only choice is tapping in to the footwell module
Wes

 

Sorry, I don't know much about bi xenon headlights. The Bentley wiring diagram shows wires going to the high beams on bi xenon headlights: red with a blue stripe to the right headlight and red with a white stripe for the left (09/2009 and later). Does your harness have these wires?

 

thanks. i will check, although mine is a 07/2007 so may not be covered by that diagram

 

so , no sign of either of those wires. I found a red and yellow wire to the drivers side headlight (rhd) which seems to go live with the main beams. Just need to make sure it works for both forward and back push of the stalk. Failing that I think it appears to be pin 4 from the footwell.module but looks like that will be a right old pain to get the wire out from the cabin to the engine bay

 

Hi All
the red and yellow wire in to the passenger (RHD) light cluster was the main beam trigger on the Xenon lights on R56 cooper S clubman and triggers my relay both for main beam and flash so no need to splice in to the footwell module. Not sure how I missed it the first time I was checking for a main beam live with my multimeter. I think because its a small wire on an end pin I just did probe that one

​​​​​​Thanks all for your help