TriggerFish Posted September 4, 2013 Report Share Posted September 4, 2013 (edited) Spilt into two parts as there's too many photos for one post. Following on from this I've put together a guide on how to fit these. This guide is based on a saloon. The door cards and mirror connections are different on a coupe, so you'll need to find guides/figure that out for yourself. As ever, this is a guide, I take no responsibility blah-blah-blah. Anyway, onwards! The finished result looks something like this: but with a more diffused light output, rather than specific beams: The step is to order the parts. LEDs are these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110963516764?var=410142779054&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 These hold them in place: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221272951537?var=520166223864&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 And this I got as it's neater than tape and I'd run out previously: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400558200426?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 Solder/iron I had already and the wire was just some mutlicore stuff from Maplins. Personally, I'd rather the LEDs were a little more white, so you might want to change those. On with the technical stuff. There's four main parts to this really: removing the door card/mirror, running the wire, fitting the LEDs, finally reassembly. First up, removing the door card and mirror. I started by removing the mirror glass/cap while the mirror was still firmly afixed to the car. Firstly, remove the glass. I just levered it gently. Once it's off, make sure the highlighted parts are still clipped in. Without this, you'll loose adjustment in one direction. Next, remove the mirror cap. There are four plastic tabs holding this on, as highlighted. Two are by my fingers, the other two on the right as easily visible. The second photo shows where the holes are from behind. To get the door card off, there are five torx bolts. Two under the plastic trim strip (pulls out, start at the end), two under the lower arm rest, and one behind the wing mirror switch (or blank on passenger's side). The mirror switch levers out from the front and revels a final screw. After this, I used a blunt knife (or similar) to lever the door card away so I could get my fingers behind and pull it off. Next up, mirror removal. Firstly, you'll have to remove the tweeter cover (which runs around the window frame). Start by unclipping it from the end of the door by the B-pillar. It then just clips/pulls off. It won't come all the way, but we just need to get access to the tweeter. To remove the mirror there are three larger torx bolts (T45?). Two hold the tweeter on, the other where the socket in the photo is stuck. Be sure to support the mirror when undoing the last one! Then just gently pull the mirror away from the door, feeding the wires through the hole. Next, we need to start running the wires. For this, I had about 4 meters, 2 per side. I followed the OEM route for the wiring, starting by feeding it into the top of the mirror. The wire then comes out below, and will need either a long hook (or something), or patient twisting/pushing to make it come out the end. After that, carefully pull the rest of the wire through leaving about 15cm spare by the mirror (you'll need less, but spare is good). Be careful not to strip the wire on the internals of the mirror by pulling too fast! Once the wire is through, you can feed it through the door again and screw the mirror back on. Next, and here I was lucky, I pulled the black foam away from the door enough to feed the wire in. When I did this it was warm, and the glue was plyable enough to let me pull it off and restick it without any issues. A hairdryer might be useful in colder weather! Once you've pulled it off far enough, you'll see the route the OE wire takes. I feed mine so it followed that. The next stage is the hardest part of the job, getting it through the door into the car. Here, I was very lucky again. Previous butchery (I think that's an insult to butchers tbh!) to the door meant there was a nice (and razer sharp) hole I could hep feed the wire through. My wire's route looked like this at this point: To make getting it through the door as easy as possible, I unscrewed the door stay to give an extra few mm. If you do this, you'll need someone/thing to hold the door open. Next, it's an 8mm nut to remove the rubber boot housing the wiring. Once this is off, you can then undo the block connector for the wiring. This allows you to hold the wiring straight which makes feeding the new wire much easier. I used a stiff and long cable tie to feed through the sleeve and into the door. I then taped this to the new wire and feed it through. Once it was through the rubber boot, the hard part is done. Without the hole in the door this would have taken me ages, so I'm not sure how others have gone about this in the past. continued. . . Edited March 6, 2014 by TriggerFish momo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted September 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Next, you need to feed the wire through the a-pillar. On the passenger side, this requires taking out the glovebox (easy, and covered multiple times elsewhere) and the small kick plate. Once these are out you can pull the sound proofing back and feed the wire through. On the driver's side, you'll need to remove the small cubby hole. There's four screws on this, two up top, two below: You'll then need to remove the panel above the pedals. There's a small plastic rivet by the centre console. Pull the middle pin out and the outer part should come freely. There's also a screw above the bonnet pull: There's also a large rubber-y screw by the clutch pedal. I don't know where this came from, I just found it in the footwell after pulling the panel down! It doesn't come out fully with the OBD port connected, so I just pushed it to one side. From there, you can move the foam/sound proofing and reach through to hole in the a-pillar. Once you've got the wire through, you can safely put the door card back on. I checked the wire was intact with a multimeter before reassembling though! Next, you'll want to connect the wire to the footwell lights. Mine is connected by cutting the existing wire, and then soldering both ends of that and the new wire together. After doing this, check that's there's voltage at the other end - it should be 12v. Now comes the final stage, fitting the LEDs to the mirror. I started by marking the holes to drill. I went with 2.5, 5 and 8cm from the end, and 5mm into the middle. I then drilled the holes using a pillar drill for stability: Slightly wonky - oppps! Next up, you'll want to sand down the LEDs. If you don't do this, you'll get a series of spots of light, like the first photo above. After this, the light given off is nicely diffused, as in the second photo. Before: On the linisher (faster than sanding!): After: If you do this well, the LED will fit flush in the holder: I found it easiest the feed the LED through the hole, then put it into the holder, and then clip this combo into place. That's pretty much all the technical stuff done! Now you'll just need to solder the LEDs to the wire in the mirror, secure the LEDs and attach the mirror cap. After having done one side first, I realised it's best to wait until dark, make sure the LEDs are aimed well, and then glue them in. I used a hot melt glue gun for this. Then it's just a case of putting the cap on. I found it easier to trim a couple of cm off the foam, and take a bit off the corner by the hinge. Depending on your wiring/LED size this may differ. That's it, you're done! Assuming everything's back together you're now finished. Time to enjoy not getting wet feet in the winter/dark! Any questions, please ask, but hopefully it's clear? If anyone attempts this I'd be interested to see your results. momo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cos01 Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 nice write up mate...but links dont work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted September 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Cheers, links fixed now. Not sure what had happened there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilwharton Posted September 8, 2013 Report Share Posted September 8, 2013 just ordered the led's TriggerFish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Xen Posted September 8, 2013 Report Share Posted September 8, 2013 Nice write up matey!! ..... Good on ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilwharton Posted September 9, 2013 Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 Did you disconnect the battery to take the door car off mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted September 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 (edited) Cheers Pete! Nope. On a saloon (not sure on coupes) all you're doing is disconnecting the speakers and the mirror, nothing to worry about. There is a live airbag behind it, but it's not going to go off just for being looked at! Edited September 9, 2013 by TriggerFish neilwharton 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilwharton Posted September 9, 2013 Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 Cheers Pete! Nope. On a saloon (not sure on coupes) all you're doing is disconnecting the speakers and the mirror, nothing to worry about. There is a live airbag behind it, but it's not going to go off just for being looked at! Thanks mate I've had an air bag go off in my face and it bloody hurts lol I'm just asking with having to separate the plug in the door don't want any error codes showing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted September 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 Yeah, I bet it does! Ah, that's a good point. I didn't use the ignition at all (I've coded my windows to work without it) so I could move them up/down to check the cable wasn't caught without turning the car on, but I have not had to worry about resetting it. neilwharton 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilwharton Posted September 9, 2013 Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 Cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilwharton Posted September 15, 2013 Report Share Posted September 15, 2013 Well all the bits have turned up just need to have some time off work and where its not flipping pissing down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey_P Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 I've just done the passenger side on my cab and followed this guide! Top marks!! TriggerFish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted September 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Thanks Good stuff! Any photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellybob2 Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Sick write up mate, only concern would be that these must light up whenever you turn interior lights on?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19ryanh93 Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Sick write up mate, only concern would be that these must light up whenever you turn interior lights on?? Only when you have your main light on. When do you switch that on when your driving? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted April 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Cheers They do, yeah, but i use the map lights if a passenger wants a light as it doesn't shine in my face, so doesn't worry me Edited April 11, 2014 by TriggerFish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leemus Posted April 11, 2014 Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 nice lil mod, good write up aswell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
