This is such a beautiful and unique mod! I am still debating what colors to go with... Everyone's MINIs on here look so much better! I love all the pics everyone has posted also. Thanks once again ImagoX for this great idea.

 

How did you notice that (does your OEM incandescent boot lamp normally dim)? The factory boot lamp in the cabrio does not dim. LEDs do have capability to dim.

 

ok so quick update, after driving around and using the boot i decided i didnt like the stock light there so i took the bulb out and DIDNT put a resistor in the lense, and i havent had any flickering at all. I also replaced my rear license plate blubs with LEDs from Autolumination.

 

Paging ImagoX (aka Dr. LED), love the look of the light thru the hood scoop, however just a tad intense for my tastes. Thinking about mounting a strip under the IC for a softer glow; do you think enough light would pass thru the fins to be visible?
Or maybe some way to hide the strip within the scoop so that you don't see the hot spots from the individual LEDs?

 

After thinking about it you may be right, i dont recall if my boot light ever did dim, i just notice all the interior cabin lights dim so i assume they all did. I already order some more to do the foot well lights. And im trying to decide what i want to do about the doors.

 

Mine are mounted under the lower lip of the intercooler scoop pointed back towards the IC. The glow you see is actually the light reflecting off the IC and block - the LEDs themselves are not directly visable (I don't like to see the LEDs themselves, just the glow). I'll take better photos when I can - my folks are in town for Xmas and I haven't had the time to shoot photos, I'm afraid.

I'm not sure about mountng insode the IC - it might get too hot in there... but you can try it. I'd put something plascic in where you mean to mount them that you wouldn't care if it gets mangled or partially melted first. Of course, the IC cover itself is plastic and IT doesn't melt, so...

 

I gave my dad a Boot Light Mod package for Xmas, it had 2 white strips, a plug and recepticle (from the same place YoDaddy got his) and a coupon (that i created in Adobe Illustrator) for installation of this "kit" I also bought a few more strips for me (for the foot well) and im thinking about what i want to do for some other locations.

Also as i mentioned before, i have a 06 MCS and i removed the festoon bulb completely from the stock boot light and didnt replace it with a resistor and im not getting any flickering, but i did replace my rear lic plate lights with festoon LEDs from Autolumination and they flicker when the interior lights come on until i turn on the parking lights.

 

OK, I think I'm going to try this. I love the look.
A couple of questions first.
Where are you guys getting the 90* headphone jack to plug the boot light into? Can I get it online?
Also, I see that http://www.oznium.com/ has Orange LED's...how close do they match the dash color?
What size/length are you putting in the footwells?
I see that you guys are putting two 9.5" in the boot...could or would I have enough room to use one 19"?
You guys rock
Thanks

 

Looks like you answered your own questions. The length is 9.5 i believe, when i bought mine they didnt have all the length options they have now. Just one size but i think i measured it and it was 9.5". I bought my 90 DC power jack and recepticle from Shield Elec. in Tennessee but i live in Texas.

 

You should be able to get a 90° plug and jack at any decent electronics supply store (not RS). In case you can't find one, call the boys as Shields in Knoxville. They have a $15 mail order min, so you might pick up some other stuff, like solder, heat shrink tubing (up to 36" long) or anything else you can think of in the electronics world.

Their contact info is from an earlier post on this thread

The brand is:

Philmore
LKG Industries
Rockford, IL

6ft DC Power Cord
2.5mm x 5.5mm DC plug No. TC250

DC Power Jack
2.5mm x 5.5mm No. 248

The store is:

Shields Electronics
Knoxville, TN
865-588-2421

I just did a google for Philmore TC250 power cord and got a lot of hits. Here is one of them

http://www.minute-man.com/acatalog/O..._Cord_203.html

You'll find a hefty min at most of these stores.

Good luck

YD

As for the length question, I haven't measured, but you can install anything you want as far as length, just measure and decide what you want.

YD

 

Yes, there is plenty of room for a single 19", and it would have the advantage over two strips in that you only have to connect one set of wires. See my posts and pictures for how I ended up installing three 9.5" strips (I originally intended two), so I have over 28" of LED strip and it still fit very nicely. My setup may be a bit extreme for some -- at night it's almost like opening a refrigerator door in a dark kitchen!

 

The fact that so many people are doing this mod makes me so happy....

 

And it should its a great mod, and you sir are an innovator, now if we can work on the LED taillights that would rule!

 

Thank you for inventing this mod and sharing it with us. I had been annoyed by the pathetically poor boot lighting ever since I owned my MINI. The mod completely solves the problem and gives a very satisfying feeling of DIY accomplishment every time I open the boot.

 

We need to make this thread sticky!

 

Thanks a lot for the info Thats everything I need.
I'm going to try to order stuff today, if I get chance.
The New Year is going to put me back a couple days...have to go to the mother inlaws for the weekend ... anyway
Have a great New Year guys.

 

Ok so after about a week i still wasnt getting any flickering in my boot and i still hadnt put a resistor in the stock light housing but then yesterday when i was putting stuff from target in there it started flickering, so i soldered a 1k ohm resistor to the stock housing and it no longer flickers when its off but i did notice and maybe this was something i never paid attention to before but the LEDs when there on also tend to pulse/flicker a bit its hardly noticeable cause its not an on off flicker or pulse just a change in the brightness. But its livable.

On a side note i put LEDs from autolumination on my license plate and they flicker when the interior lights are on but if i turn them on or the interior lights go out they stop, and its a noticeable flicker, how would i go about putting a resistor on that to stop them?

 

They are festoon type bulbs. You should be able to put a resistor between the bulb holders (stick them through the holes) and bend the leads so that the bulb can still fit.

 

Matt - where exactly did you mount your lights for the rear footwells? Are they actually on the bottom of the seat, or between the plastic back panel the the seat (where there seams to be a nice space...)?

I'm going to tackle that next for my cabrio...

Thanks

 

Mine are attached inside the plastic seat back protector:



I did it this was because one, it was a nice, solid attachment point (less important if you use the same LED strips as the boot - in my case I used cathode bars which are a bit fragile since the strips weren't released yet) and, two, because when the seat is back in the driving position, about 90% or 95% of the light is blocked. It's nice - almost like they "come on" when the seat opens forward, even though they're actually on any time the rest of the cabin lights are on.

If I had it to do again, though, I'd use LED strips and silicone. I'd remove the plastic seat backs and cement the strips just inside the lower edge of the plastic sheild (pointing down towards the floor). In fact, I still might do that one day.

Good luck with it and if you try andf tackle it, remember to take pics!

 

Do you think the same 1k ohm would work? and do i need one for each LED? Its a pretty tight space but i think its possible to get both the resistor and bulb in there.

 

Thanks Matt - that's exactly the placement I was thinking about. Now I've just got to decide on color - I have white in the boot, but I think that's too white/bright for this location. I'm still using stock footwell lights and dome light (GASP!) and am happy with them (DOUBLE GASP!). So any other color is going to be a bit odd... oy vey.

 

Since you have white in the boot, I think that an all-white set of LEDs would be very nice (especially with your car color). They'd be intense, sure, but the white color is sort of blue-tinged which I think it very nice. If you fear they'll be too bright, set them up a bit higher in the seat sheild and that should help cut the intensity a bit, I'd think...

 

is there a function to the rear passenger foot well lights? or is it more for looks? its cool for sure but im not sure if i would do it or not on my hardtop.

 

You're venturing into unknown territory and it will be a matter of trial-and-error. My guess is that 1K ohm will work and the two bulbs are probably wired in parallel so you only need to do one side.


The LED strips have a nice feature in that if they are too bright, you can cut off LEDs off the end in groups of 3. It is described on the Oznium website.