I have a 2005 MCS Convertible, and have admired the illuminated JCW door sills for some time, but when I looked at the price of the sills plus installation I just couldn't justify coughing up the $$$. Plus, the idea that BMW/MINI found it necessary to price the illuminated JCW sills so much more than the other sills just makes me p-o'd. I have lots of Works items on my car, and I can justify the extra cost because they enhance performance - but door sills??

Although there are some fine write-ups on how to do a home install of the illuminated sills, whenever I read that an installation requires me to tap into the wiring harness of the car, I get hives...

Granted, this mod does not duplicate the exact look by any means. But, it is a far cheaper way of having illuminated door sills (that almost double as puddle lights - especially if you use the brighter ''cool white" lights), and can be used with ANY sill - not just the JCW ones! And, you can choose the color (or colors) that you'd like to use!

In addition, the installation is much easier, and can be used by extension for other autoilumination projects (see my other thread, "Girl's Guide to Autolumination")

I am going to give a shout out to Oznium.com here, because this was the first time I ordered from them, and their products were absolutely PERFECT for this application - if I had had to design a light for this job, it would have been just like what they already have!!!

The photos in this tutorial show the old Mini Cooper S sill plate cover, and three different lights - which was partly intentional, partly accidental. I had wanted to see what a center red light, flanked by warm white lights, would look like. Oznium sent me two "cool white" lights by mistake, and I did not catch the error until after they were installed! So the photos at the end of the tutorial show three different lights!

Once I informed the folks at Oznium of the shipping error, they sent me the correct lights, PRONTO!

I spent about 30 minutes, changing the lights all to "warm white", then removed the Mini Cooper S sill on the driver's side and installed the JCW sills.


Here is a photo of the completed job, taken in the late afternoon:






And another at night:






PART ONE - DRIVER'S SIDE INSTALLATION:

TOOLS NEEDED:

1. Measuring tape/yardstick and small ruler with mm. markings.

2. “Sharpie” marker or similar marking pen.

3. Power hand drill.

4. Titanium or cobalt drill bits – one each of the following: 1/16, 1/8, and 11/64, and 1/4 inch bits.

5. Center punch tool.

6. One square needle file (or small flat metal file, as is found on a nail
clipper), and round file (for smoothing metal edges).

7. Small needle-nose pliers, a flathead (slotted) screwdriver, and a couple of Q-Tips.

8. One “add-a-fuse” or similar product.

9. One 5 amp fuse.

10. LED lights of your choice. I used the small, prewired surface LEDs from Oznium.com, which are available in various colors and sell for $3.49 each. These are waterproof, and come with a built-in resistor and two feet of wire!

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-surface-mount-led

These are nifty lights and seem practically custom-made for the job. I used three lights per door sill for a total of six lights - I initially wanted two warm white lights, flanking a center red light, but now think I want all warm white lights - 3 per side. You can do whichever color, or color combination, that you'd like.

11. Electrician’s tape.

12. Wire stripper/cutter.

13. Four BLUE (the proper size) "twist-on" wire connectors - you will need two blue connectors per side.

14. Approx. 20 feet of 18 gauge wire. I ordered mine from Oznium – 10 feet of black wire and 10 feet of red wire - cost 32 cents/foot.

15. IF replacing existing sills: your new door sills. rubbing alcohol, dental floss, “Goo Gone”, a plastic scraper, and some paper/shop towels.

(ALTERNATIVELY – YOU CAN LAY THE NEW SILLS OVER THE EXISTING ONES.)

16. Your favorite after-the-job vice, to enjoy afterward as you admire your work!

Not necessary but helpful - a vacuum, to clean up the shavings.


Before we begin, a few terms that I will be using a lot, and a photo to reference them (OK, so my terminology may not be exact - but they are my terms and I will be consistent, so...)








STEP ONE:

Before you begin any work, disconnect the negative battery cable.

Remove the door frame rubber gasket. This is not glued into place, it is merely fitted onto the metal door frame – so you can easily pull it up and then press it back into place.

Remove the plastic door sill cover. This piece runs from the rear of the sill plate, all the way past the front of the sill plate to near the fuse box door, on the left underside of the driver’s footwell. This piece is held in place by plastic expansion rivets which are a pain to remove without destroying them. There are three rivets along the driver's seat and just rear of it, and one that is in front of the fuse box, which is located on the left side of the driver's footwell. The latter one was a royal pain, and I bollixed it trying to get it out. But replacement ones are readily available from the dealer, and cheap, so if you get frustrated as I did, just grab it with some needle nose pliers and rip it out.

You will find it easier to pull the front part of the trim panel away from the fuse box area if you also remove the knee bolster under the steering wheel. This just pulls off - grab the bolster under the steering wheel mount and give it a good downward tug - it will pop off. (BE CAREFUL if you have driving lights and/or - as I have - an accessory 12V lighter installed in the bolster - you don't want to yank the wires away from the switches!)

In order to completely remove the plastic sill trim, you would need a #50 Torx bit and driver for where the seat belt is bolted to the floor of the car behind the driver's seat. I did not have that large a bit, and found that I didn't need to remove it anyway - I still had plenty of room to work within by just removing the four expansion rivets and easing the front of the trim away from the car into the footwell.











(the water spots are because it began to drizzle while I was working!)













STEP TWO:

Using the Sharpie, mark off three areas as noted in the photo below: one mark 5 inches from Point "A", one 14 1/2 inches from Point "A", and one 5 inches from Point "B". Use the center punch tool to make a mark in the center of the plastic door sill lip at these locations.








If you are using your existing door sill plate covers, or if you replacing them but want to keep the old ones in good condition, be careful when drilling, so as not to mar them.


Using the 1/16 inch titanium bit, drill a pilot hole at all three locations. Follow this with the 1/8 inch and then the 11/64 inch bits. This will create a round opening slightly more than 4 mm. in diameter.


Using a thin file, smooth the edges of the holes. I did not have a square needle file, which would have probably done a bit of a neater job. However, the plastic shreds somewhat easily and it is hard to make it ultra-smooth. In the end, it won’t really show much, and unless you are SUPER ****, don’t get too caught up in it.






STEP THREE:

You are now going to drill a hole through the metal plates through which all of the wires from the sill lights will be routed towards the fusebox. The wires will be hidden underneath the plastic trim panel; be sure that you make the hole far enough forward that you will be able to bring the wires into the hollow space at the lower front of the trim.




Drill a 1/16 inch pilot hole through the metal plates. Follow this with the 1/8, and then the 1/4 inch bit. Use the round file to smooth the rough metal edges and remove any metal burrs.


STEP FOUR:

Carefully place the LED lights in the channel behind the lip of the plastic door sill, so that only the center, clear plastic covering for the light shows through the holes. Orient the “tail” of the circuit so that it lays parallel to the long axis of the door frame. Using the black electrician’s tape, make a small wad of tape about 3/8 of an inch square. Remove the red 3M backing tape from the light, and stick the back of the light on the tape.













Now, carefully, ease the light behind the sill lip so that the center of the light is visible through the hole. I used a Q-tip with the cotton off one end as a push. Be careful, you don’t want to damage the thin “tail” coming from the light. You can fold some of the wire a bit and tape it together, but leave enough of the wire so that you will have enough to pull through the metal hole into the space behind the trim piece. All of the wires will be covered by the rubber door gasket, when you put it back into place.





Cut a piece of heat-shrink tubing, about 2 inches in length. After you have all three lights into place, with the wires pushed into the channel behind the sill lip, thread the six wires (three red and three black) through this piece of tubing and pull all through the hole in the metal plates, towards the inside of the car. Be careful as you pull the wires through the hole, so as not to cut them on the metal edge – and position the heat-shrink tubing piece so that it spans the hole. This will protect the wires from the metal edge. Heat the tubing and shrink it around the wires.




I used the black electrical tape to run over the gap where the wires were run, in the space behind the plastic sill plate lip - don't worry, because all of this will be covered by the door gasket when it is put back into place:





STEP SIX:

Take the extra 18 gauge black wire, and strip one end of each wire about ½ inch; do the same thing for the extra red wire. The black wire will be the lead to the ground, and the red wire will be the one that connects to the add-a-fuse.

Take the three ends of the black sill light wires and the end of the 18 gauge black wire, and, using the blue twist-type connector, connect them together. Repeat the same procedure for the red wires.

Fold up the excess lengths of the wires nearest the sills, and tuck them down behind the trim piece into place.












STEP SEVEN:

At this point you should have:

Two red wires, one from each side of the car, each joined at one end to the three red wires coming from the lights on one side of the car, with the other end unattached.

Two black wires, one from each side of the car, each joined at one end to the three black wires coming from the lights on one side of the car, with the other end unattached.


First, attach the 18 gauge black ground wire to a screw, or bolt on the frame of the car. If there is nothing nearby to use, use a 1/32 titanium drill bit and make a tiny hole close by, somewhere inconspicuous on a metal part of the frame. Screw a self-tapping screw into place on the frame, and loop the bare ends of the wires under the head as you tighten it down. Now you have grounded all of the black wires.




For the "hot" red wire, I found the easiest way to tie it into the power of the car was to use an "add-a-fuse" (also called "add-a-line", or "tap-a-fuse" - costs about $ 3- 4 dollars at an auto parts store):








I had already used an add-a-fuse once, when I installed an accessory 12 volt lighter in the knee bolster, so you will see that one in the photos as well.
You will also need a 2 amp fuse, which should be more than ample to cover such a low-power circuit.


I chose fuse #14, which is on the circuit for the dome lights. I wanted the lights to come on when I unlocked the car, and otherwise be off. This circuit is protected by a 10 amp fuse.









STEP EIGHT:

You are now ready to power everything up and test it out.

Remove the 10 amp fuse from the #14 position (or whichever position you choose), and install the add-a-fuse. You will probably find that the unit works oriented in one direction only - most likely with the red wire from the device running away from the fuse block. The one that I bought used a ''butt" type connector - others may use a twist-on, etc. - in any case, you want to join the red wire of the device to the 18 gauge red wire coming from the sill lights.







Now you must add a fuse for this NEW circuit you are adding. I used a 2 amp fuse for this circuit. Be sure and put the 2 amp fuse in the spot in line with the red wire coming from the device. Connect the battery terminals, and leave the doors open while you turn on the ignition. The door sill lights should come on, but not the courtesy lights.


Once again, disconnect the battery terminal.



STEP NINE:

You must now make certain that the original circuit still operates as it should. Turn off the car. Install the 10 amp fuse into the remaining slot on the “add-a-fuse” device, and again, attach the battery terminal. Turn the key with the doors open. The door sill lights, as well as the courtesy lights, should all come on. Now, close the door and lock the car. All lights should be off. Unlock the car, open the doors, all should be on again!!!




This photo is pretty blurry - because I held the camera at night with no flash.
Again, I kept this photo to show you the "in real life" the difference between the warm white, cool white, and red LED lights. I chose "warm white" for all of the lights, and am really pleased with the results!



PART TWO - PASSENGER SIDE INSTALLATION:


NOTE: I did not repeat all of the small steps to take, because with the exception of the trim and running the wires towards the fuse box, everything else is the same!


First, pull up the rubber door gasket, as you did above:





On the passenger side, you will need to remove only two of those blasted plastic expansion rivets The center part with the head actually screws into the expansion rivet, but it is pretty hard to try and unscrew it. I just pried it up with a slotted screwdriver and then used needle-nosed pliers to pull it out.





The trim on this side is actually easier to pull out of the way - once the two trim screws are removed, you can reach waaaay back to the front edge of the trim (in the passenger footwell) and pull it away from the side. You will need to gently pry up the trim near the bonnet latch, so that it will clear it as you pull it away:





Now, you are essentially back to where you were when you did the driver's side. Using a tape measure or yardstick, mark out the three spots for the lights - be sure and measure from the FRONT of the car - it is a mirror image of what was done on the driver's side!
With a black Sharpie, mark a spot at 5 inches from "point A", 14.5 inches from "point A", and finally, 5 inches from "point B".




First, drill a hole through the two metal plates of the car. Use a 1/16 inch bit at first, and then use successively larger bits up to a 1/4
inch bit. File the edges of the hole and on the inside, to remove any metal burrs.

Then, drill holes into the plastic lip of the sill, as you did before. Strip the ends of the lights to about 3/8 inch. Make a small wad of black electrician's tape, and stick the back of the LED to it. Gently push it into the gap, so that the colored part of the LED sits squarely behind the hole. I used a second wad of tape, and pushed it behind this, to really "seat" the light into place. If it moves, don't worry, because it's very easy to push it back to where you want it. Run the wires in the gap towards the from of the car.






Gather up the wires, and thread them through a piece of heat-shrink tubing. Heat the plastic a bit, then pass it through the hole in the metal plates, so that the tubing protects the wires as they traverse the opening.




I covered the entire gap (where the lights and wires are) with black electrician's tape, as I did before on the driver's side.

Now, take lengths of 18 gauge red and black wire (long enough to reach the driver's side of the car) and strip the ends. Gather the three red (hot) wires from the LED lights, and the three black (ground) wires, and join them to the respective color of 18 gauge wire with a twist-on connector. Tuck the wires and connectors behind the floor trim piece - being careful to avoid the black snap-on rivet on the front inside of the trim piece:






Now, fish the black and red 18 gauge wires behind the trim, and over the top of the trim in the footwell of the car:





The red wire alone is shown here, but both the red and black will follow this route:






Now, tuck the red and black wires up under the back of the glove box, and tape them into place.
Next, you will need to fish the wires behind the center consoie area, to get to the driver's side. I used a long screwdriver, lightly taped the end of the wire to the tip, and used it to guide the wire through the space shown below:






The two wires will exit into the driver's side area, where you can tuck them up behind the trim and then guide them up along the top of the footwell (in the area behind the knee bolster) towards the fuse panel.

The rest is easy - you take the red 18 gauge wire, and join it to the red wire coming from the driver's side lights. Using a twist-on connector, connect these two wires to the red wire coming from the "add-a-fuse". The black/ground wire is connected to the same grounding screw that was used in the driver's side installation.

Hook up the battery, and the lights should come on! If they do, go back to the passenger side, push the trim piece back into place, and replace the plastic expansion rivets. Push the rubber door gasket back into place, tuck/tape up any loose or hanging wires, and you are done!

Here is a photo taken in late afternoon:





And one taken at night (sorry for the blurriness!):

 

how did you rustproof the holes drilled in the sill? looks cool but that part worries me due to folks have sill rust in northern/wet climates

 

http://www.ledlighteddoorstep.com will be satisfied.