Just traded in my A4 2.0t for the 04 G coupe. I love it and was thinking about incorporating a small feature from the Audi...

The interior of the G is prettyyy dark at night, virtually no light except from the instrument panel and radio. I was thinking about putting in two LED's somewhere up on the ceiling panel to shine down on the radio / gearshift / center console... Nothing too bright or tacky, just 2 or 3 dim accent LED's or something..

How hard do you think something like this would be? Is it worth doing? Has it been done before?

Thanks!!

 

I'm sure someone has done this before. I know that the my wife's 08 sedan was one LED light that shines on to the center console to give a nice ambient lighting (like you are describing)

 

I have ambient lighting over my center console, it looks amazing. I used a prewired yellow 3mm led from oznium http://www.oznium.com/prewired-leds The yellow is a much better match than the amber, I had both.

It's attached to the back of my mirror with a plastic wire clip from heyco
http://heyco.com/products/sec_06/6-06.html You can request free samples of this part.

The 3mm clicks into the clip perfectly around the heatshrink tubing, its wired like the invisicord with computer pin connectors from radioshack. The clip has an adhesive backing, you stick it to the back of the mirror vertically and have the led shine down. Looks great shining on the metal trim.

 

Wow man, thats like exactly what I'm going for. Do you have pictures of it installed? I'd love to see the look. I was going to go with red LED's because I had them in the Audi and they looked awesome. Just a really dim but noticeable red glow to the center console / radio.

I'd imagine it looks awesome with the metal trim.

Also, how did you wire it? I'm not a total newb with running / connecting wiring and electronics, I usually self install my head units and stereo systems, but I'm not too sure how you would go about powering the LED, and where to run the wiring..

Thanks for your help guys!

 

bump. I'm really interested in how to power this set up also.

 

Bump - interested as well...

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

 

Guys, I forgot that I already found and purchased some pre-wired Amber LED's from Radio Shack. I'll try and post pictures (w/ item number/bar code) later this week.

I'm thinking all we have to do is pull back some of the wire cover off the back of the mirror and tap the red wire from the LED to (hopefully red wire from the mirror) and the same for the black wire from the LED to (hopefully black wire from the mirror).

I hope we can all figure this out - b/c like most of you, I've been wanting to do this in my coupe since I was in a Jag with a friend (mom's car) way back when and noticed a nice ambient light coming down and not understanding where it was coming from until I traced it to the overhead. It's soooo nice looking and would look fantastic in our coupes.

Let's get it done!!

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

 

check out www.clearcorners.com

 

Hey Guys, I have an update.

Go into your local Radio Shack and ask for Part Number: 276-0272
Name of Product: "Orange LED Assembly - Built in Resistor".

Or go online: www.radioshack.com

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062570

I tested the Amber LED this evening. Since it's pre-wired with a Positive (RED) and Negative (BLACK) wire, I simply touched the red to the (+) end and the black to the (-) on a energizer 9V battery that I had in a remote control.

The light is excellent for ambient lighting!!! (ie, not too overpowering bright).

I'm thrilled and can't wait to hook this up (maybe this weekend?).

I'm also planning on installing one on each door handle (will have to be a summer project since I'll have to take the interior portion of the doors off to access wiring and to cut into the door handle to 'house' the led's. They will face downwards @ an angle towards the window switches and door lock switches. Will be killer!

I'll try and take pictures soon!

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

 

Where are you going to connect them in the car? It says those are used as indicator lights, which I wouldn't imagine will light up the cabin at all... but post some pictures

 

It's not meant to light up the cabin - if I wanted that, I would put Amber LED's in the Dome Lights and run them as I drive.

I'm (and some others here, I think) are focusing on Ambient light.

I have a JDM lighting kit for the floorboard that "LIGHTS UP" the bottom (flooring) of the cabin - so this will just be added ambient lighting to shine down on the MT gear shifter. Should look killer. If (1) is not enough, it will be simple to add (2) on the mirror.

I've got to run to my son's last soccer game of the season and then when we get home I'll try and post pic's. Actually will be best to take them tonight since I have some light coming into the garage that will take away from what it will look like while driving at night.

Be on the look out guys!

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

 

-Update

I went downstairs to the car (sitting in the garage) late last night to take some pictures.

I couldn't get the camera to pick up the ambient light the way I see it with my own eyes. I'll have to monkey with the settings more later.

The light is definitely a fantastic addition to the cabin, as when I held the LED up behind the rear view mirror and taking in the look of the cabin, when my hand slipped and one of the wires fell off the battery and the light went out - I immediately said - WOW, that is a massive difference in the "warm feel" of the cabin. It's extremely hard to explain in words and I surely hope I can find the correct setting on the camera to express in pictures, but I'm going to LOVE this mod - and trust me, so will you, if you choose to do it!

I'll try my best to mess with the camera again tonight. Hard to hold the LED to the battery and up behind the rear view mirror and take a picture with the other all at the same time. Maybe would be best to do the mod and then take pictures. LMAO!

Will update soon!

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

 

Still awaiting instructions for DIY. My aunt's BMW and Lexus have this feature and it's really cool.

Land Rover calls these moonlights.

 

Hey Buddy,

I'll try and get this done in the next few weeks. Maybe start on this weekend!

Keep a subscription to this thread and you'll be updated when I can produce the DIY.

Thanks Guys!
-WoW

 

Assuming you are you planning to tap into the mirror's power?
I'm very interested in seeing the results. Thanks for taking this on.