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Hey all, I did some searching with no results so has anyone installed led lights overhead in the boot area? That one little light just ain't cutting it.
Nah, that little one is pretty useless. I'm not sure if I'd place this up top. Maybe mounting them on the side would be a better idea, keeping the headliner undisturbed?
I have a R56 but I installed a second light in the boot.
The OEM light fixture is only about $10. Then I went to a junk yard and they cut the connector out of a car and I spliced that into the original light.
The main problem with the stock location is that it is to low. You put some groceries or gear in there and it is blocked.
I'll post a write up on this when I have time to address it.
I like the look of having two lights but I am gong to try something higher.
Boot LED and other Ziza LEDs here. When you put the grpocey in try to put them to the left side. When you use the flat level floor and put them on the right side the stock light is blocked , The LEDs do help , have them in both my MINIs.
I installed some LED strip lights under the cargo area cover.
I got the lights from superbrightleds.com (select top-emitting strip lights, then filter by "suitable for vehicles"). You'll also need some two-conductor wire (I used 24 AWG), a DC barrel connector and socket (got those from Radio Shack), and a couple of wire taps. I like the Posi-Tap kind.
Of course, you'll need a soldering iron and the knowledge of which end to hold.
Measure out how long each section of lights should be and cut the LED strip, making sure to cut at a marked location (every 3 LEDs on the kind I got).
Link the strips together with some of your wire, + to + and - to -.
Solder a strip of wire to the end of the lights that'll be to the right once installed in the car. Unscrew the cover from the barrel connection and feed it through the wire (or be stupid like me and forget to), then solder the barrel connector on. + to tip, - to sleeve. If you're stupid like me, now's when you swear and put some heat shrink tubing on instead of desoldering and putting the cap on.
Solder some wire sufficient to reach from where you're putting the socket to the existing light to the DC socket you got. Again, + to tip and - to sleeve.
Now here's the scary part: Drill a hole in the side panel where you want the socket. Here's mine:
The material is fairly flexible, if you don't have the right drill bit I'd just go smaller, you'll probably be able to force the socket in place.
The socket will probably have a nut on it. Remove the nut, then install the socket in the hole you drilled. Remove the plastic access panel from the side panel, grab your wire and feed the nut through, then tighten it onto the socket.
Pop out the side light and feed your wire through the hole. Use the wire taps to connect this wire to the wires for the side light, + to red with purple strip, - to purple with brown stripe. Reinstall the side light.
At this point, either you'll have light or a gigantic mess. Good luck!
I installed some LED strip lights under the cargo area cover.
I got the lights from superbrightleds.com (select top-emitting strip lights, then filter by "suitable for vehicles"). You'll also need some two-conductor wire (I used 24 AWG), a DC barrel connector and socket (got those from Radio Shack), and a couple of wire taps. I like the Posi-Tap kind.
Of course, you'll need a soldering iron and the knowledge of which end to hold.
Measure out how long each section of lights should be and cut the LED strip, making sure to cut at a marked location (every 3 LEDs on the kind I got).
Link the strips together with some of your wire, + to + and - to -.
Solder a strip of wire to the end of the lights that'll be to the right once installed in the car. Unscrew the cover from the barrel connection and feed it through the wire (or be stupid like me and forget to), then solder the barrel connector on. + to tip, - to sleeve. If you're stupid like me, now's when you swear and put some heat shrink tubing on instead of desoldering and putting the cap on.
Solder some wire sufficient to reach from where you're putting the socket to the existing light to the DC socket you got. Again, + to tip and - to sleeve.
Now here's the scary part: Drill a hole in the side panel where you want the socket. Here's mine:
The material is fairly flexible, if you don't have the right drill bit I'd just go smaller, you'll probably be able to force the socket in place.
The socket will probably have a nut on it. Remove the nut, then install the socket in the hole you drilled. Remove the plastic access panel from the side panel, grab your wire and feed the nut through, then tighten it onto the socket.
Pop out the side light and feed your wire through the hole. Use the wire taps to connect this wire to the wires for the side light, + to red with purple strip, - to purple with brown stripe. Reinstall the side light.
At this point, either you'll have light or a gigantic mess. Good luck!
Before:
After:
Nice write up! This is what I was thinking. I don't use the boot lid so I'll need to integrate into the rear headliner.
