I had the idea that these would throw discreet spots of light onto the rear seat, further assisting people into the rear area, however, the construction of the rear headrests makes that impossible shy of cutting into the actual padding (which I didn't want to do).

Still, it makes an interesting accent. These are wired into the passenger side footwell light circuit (currently unused since I disconnected that light). The wires are run inside the door sill trim and then under the rear seat, then inside the roll bar covering. All in all, this took about 30 minutes to install.

Parts used:

6 pre-wired blue 5MM LEDs from Oznium.com
Red/black wire
6 LED holders (from Radio Shack)
Drill and 1/4" drill bit.

The headrests come off by removing the rear screw. 3 holes (1/4") were drilled in each plastic housing, and the LEDs were secured with LED clips.



Since each LED has its own resistor pre-wired courtesy of Oznium, all positives and grounds are connected together, simplifying the wiring process. Connections are secured with simple wiring nuts.



Testing the LEDs... they work!


.

Shots of the "spot effect" on the tops of the rear seats. These dim on and off with the rest of the cabin lighting since I wired the circuit into the old footwell bulb wires. Since the LEDs draw so little current (much less than the OEM white bulb), no additional fuses were required.





You can see them from the back as well! With the top down, this is a very striking accent (IMHO) - simple yet unusual.



Well, that's it for a while... Unless I figure out something new, I think my next MODs will be invisible: 15% pulley, USB system, maybe a front splitter, etc.

 

cool mod, i like it cause its functional and useful for ragtop owners, although i dont think it will work for us hardtop users. I have a few mods i will be posting as soon as i get the money to finish them.

 

Very nice.

Can you add a "mind control" feature to those lights?



Makes you want to drive around in the dark more.

 

Very cool

 

Yeah, right.

I'm hoping to install badly needed interior rear lights in my cabrio soon -- rear footwell and rear reading lights. The problem is that I want to do a proper job of permanent wiring, and all of the seats and interior side panels would have to come out. Not difficult, but a big hassle and puts the car out of commission until everything is put back together.

 

Do they change color and flicker to the beat of the music?

Looks cool.

 

You are obsessed with LEDs Matt! Looks good! Oh, and do a pulley next!

 

Well now - that is pretty neato!! Good job...

Donna

 

That looks great.

 

thats awsome!!! if only i had a cabrio....

 

cool!

in chicago, that might be borderline getting pulled over.

 

Actually, I hit my goal, so it't time to quit. Anything more would be overkill (I know that to probably 95% of NAM I passed that mark weeks ago but... ) I feel good that I did everything I wanted to do. I learned a whole hell of a lot and had great fun, and that's all anyone can ask. Plus, I think the car looks fantastic when I turn everything on, and MY opinion is all that matters in this particular case.

I have plans to possibly add in undercarriage lighting later on (it's the reason I added in a switch box after all). People tell me that's the sort of thing that "teenaged Hispanic kids do, not grown men" (actual quote, BTW - plase don't flame me) but you know what? Screw 'em. People have been dissing me for biger things for all my life, so I'm sort of past doing what people think I "should do". Even if I only turn the bloody things on at MOTD and at the occasional meet-n-greet, its the DOING of the thing that's important.


Running blue lights on a moving vehicle is a pulling over offense in ALL states as far as I know, but these are CABIN lighting and only come on when I open the doors, so I should be good to go. Thanks for thinking about that though.

 

I dont think its overkill, infact im probably just as obessed with LEDs, i just dont have much extra room in my pocketbook.

 

See that's why I love LEDs... At only about a buck apeice for the pre-wired ones and like $.35 for the ones that need to be wired with resistors, you can put a lot of them in for not a lot of money. I was looking and I've spent less than $100 for all of my interior lighting including wiring and other supplies. Cathodes are inexpensive as well (but have some drawbacks, such as fragility and not being able to dim with the rest of the cabin lighting) at about $6 for two 12" sticks.

 

VERY smart!

i know a few people that were pulled over for LED's that were
shining from the ceiling switch box (not MINI's) ...so it seems
any color visible from another driver that is distinct enough (bright)
could be a violation, exterior or not. might depend on the cop too,
but just a hassle. i believe white light is okay though.

 

Yeah cheap and easy to work with, so DIY is easy to come up with custom ideas.

 

Any one else curious as to how the pulley will be lit w/out comprimising the structural integrity of it?

 

I have plans, my friend... Of course, I'll also need to mount a MIRROR to let people see the %$#@! thing.

 

LOL Maybe it only lights up above a certain RPM?

(OK, OK, I'll stop, we don't want to be giving him TOO many ideas!)

I do like the headrest lights though... another idea would be to put a "noodle" tube below the headrest (with an LED in the end) so the blue light shines forward. Kind of like a macaroni-and-cheese noodle, only in black, and something sturdier than macaroni. Got the idea from looking at the V-brakes on my cyclocross bike... an ideal "noodle" right there...

 

Can these l.e.d.s shine into the edge of glass? Would it be worth it? Imagine the door glass lit from the edge.

 

so when are you adding the neon under the car?
CAn you make them blink to the beat of music?

 

Maybe in the spring...

I CAN (it's a simple accoustic controller that functions as a voltage regulator) but I won't...

I don't see why not... Ideally, I think you'd need to attach the LED on the bottom edge of the glass facing up. I'd certainly grind off the tip of the round LED "lens", both to spread the glow and to make attaching it easier. There's plenty of room inside the door to work. I'd need to check and see how much of the lower edge of the glass is exposed inside the door with the window rolled all the way up. Attaching the LED to the glass is also problematic as well, of course... You can't realistically drill a hole to serve as an attachment point, so some sort of adhesive would be called for. And you'd have to REALLY moisture-proof the LED(s), as water can and will roll down the glass and soak the light.

It's possible (if there's enough glass exposed at the bottom edge with the window rolled all the way up) that a simple blob of silicone could do double duty - sealing AND cementing the LED al in one stroke. This is something I've never seen done anywhere else and having it come on with the cabin lights WOULD be pretty unique...

 

Yep - the glass is a cool idea - I agree with Matt - you'd want to light it from the bottom so the visible edges of the window "glow" - you'd probably have to grind and polish flat "spots" on the bottom of the window for this to work (as most window edges are ground rounded for safety...). But I'm just guessing...

 

It might be sufficient without grinding that (presumably) rounded edge - LEDs are pretty bright. And you'd need sufficient extra slack in the wire to allow the window to roll up and doen hundreds fo times without rubbing or fraying. It's a design challenge, that's for sure...

 

Hmmmm... but one could theoretically light the rear wing windows on the coupe without worrying about wires moving at all... though the glass edges are kind of hidden. Wonder what that'd look like?