LoFox

I've been playing around with the idea of trying to replicate the interior ambient lighting now available in all Mercedes models in my 2010 W204 C63, I wanted to start this thread with the hope of getting some useful feedback any suggestions of approaches that I haven't considered.

I'm visualizing something like this (minus around the gauge cluster since I don't know if that would look all that great on the shape and size of the ones in the 2010 c63)



Overall I tried a few products so far, starting with everyone's favorite:

• Generic single color LED strip
  • Pros: easy to use, cheap, low voltage requirement
  • Cons: somewhat large and I found it difficult to get a clean look around uneven surfaces in a way that gives the illusion that the light is just emanating from an 'unknown' source (ie. I just want it to look hidden, think S550 illumination)

• EL (electro-luminescent) Wire
  • Pros: flexible, cheap depending on model/brand, also easy to use
  • Cons: beyond annoying high pitched whine due to required use of an inverter to change the DC input to AC, somewhat low lumen output based on required 12V input (subjective.) Inverter appears to require solid 12V so it can be problematic to use existing wiring

• Laser Wire
  • Pros: very flexible, clear and transparent, very small diameter of fiber optic cable ~1mm, 5V DC requirement (I was able to get it to run on as little as 2.5V)
  • Cons: pretty expensive, requires laser emitter module (5" x 1" x 1") in size, custom USB mini power cable.

Out of these 3 options the Laser Wire seems to be the way to go; the emitter module is small and light (weight) enough that it can easily be hidden away either within the door(s) or in/under the dash and the light that emits from the optical cable is amazing. The mounting location of the module(s) is still up for debate but I'm considering the following with outstanding questions for each:

• In the dash
  • Knowns/Assumptions: presumably easy to get to for any maintenance and as close to the center of the dash of ease of installation and routing of fiber optic cable
  • Unknowns: Ideal way to route the fiber optic cable with the least amount of laser emitter modules. Realistically I think I would need 2 emitter modules at minimum, 1 for each half of the car taken lengthwise (since I can't make a >=180* tight bend in the fiber optic cable. This has a few challenges in itself, mainly how do I snake the wire across the dash through the font door and adjacent rear door. (It might not be possible to go from the front door to the rear door, without doubling back through the front door also I'm unsure of the laser intensity loss across such a long wire, it might be minimal as I've tested a 5 meter wire and wasn't able to see any visual loss in intensity.)
• 2 modules in the dash and 2 modules in either of the rear doors
  • Knowns: should allow for more straightforward wiring and easy access to 5V power in each door
  • Unknowns: Nothing comes to mind, obviously I'm not thing of some scenario here

Activation and deactivation

• If the two front modules are in the dash I would need to use a AC line which has power when the lights are on (since I don't want the ambient lighting to be on 100% of the time) ... currently the location of such a line is unknown but it shouldn't be hard to find since the center console lights up according to car light status
• If the two front and rear modules are mounted in the door there is immediate access to 5v power which becomes active when the car light turn on (the power line for the door handle illumination slit.)

Ideal solution would allow for proper automatic activation when the car light turn on and also user controller activation and deactivation regardless of car light status. For this I was considering retrofitting one of the dead switches on the lower part of the dash (next to the rear sunshade button) and using that to control the on/off functionality of each emitter module. Naturally the initial issues are the obvious fact that all modules would need to be wired into this circuit and I would need an auxiliary 5V line to each module which is always live and could be switched to on demand at the press of the button (since I won't be able to override the power line within the door.)

Your thoughts and comments are very welcome, obviously this won't be a quick DIY but I do want attempt it and I'll be sure to write a how-to for any future adventures C63 owners who want to attempt something similar.

The one laser wire and emitter that I have for testing looks like this:

bentz69

I really liked the lighting package in the new e300 (when I had it as loaner). The ability to change the color to basically anything was very cool. Hard to say how the light would relfect off the surfaces without actually trying it. If I was trying this, then I would run the wire along each side of the center console and under the foot wells.

How does laser wire work? Simple as running/mounting the wire and finding a switched 12v source (probably the same one that powers the lights in the door handle/footwells?) Does the wire have the ability to change color?

Ludedude

I'll echo what bentz said: I had an E class loaner recently and as silly as it was, the ambient lighting was one of my favorite features. Looking forward to seeing your results.

LoFox

How does laser wire work?
[LoFox] - The laser module emits and unfocused beam (similar to a laser pointer but a wider beam) the wire is basically fiber optic cable which focuses the light and carries it across the cable.

Simple as running/mounting the wire and finding a switched 12v source (probably the same one that powers the lights in the door handle/footwells?)
[LoFox] - Correct, the doors have very good access to power, I wasn't able to guarantee 12v but since the wire requires less than 5v that type of power is almost assured in any + line within the door paneling. (I've done some work with electrical within each door as part of a separate project to replace the door handle illumination lights, which can be found here.)

Does the wire have the ability to change color?
[LoFox] - Unfortunately not, the module I have has a single color, red. However, the company that I purchased the kit from has come out with a multi color solution but it requires two laser emitter on either end of the wire and I think it blends to color together, or they somehow flow from one color the other. It might look kinda cool but requires 2x the hardware and is even more expensive, the best solution here would be a single module which can emit more that a single color that can be toggled between. (Seems like a likely next step for that company, so I imagine something like this might be available within 2018.)

LoFox

Has anyone disassembled or removed the button cluster that the rear shade button is part of? I'm trying to find out what the electrical on the back of the cluster looks like and maybe a quick answer of how to remove it.

I haven't tried yet, but looking at the diagrams in the EPC software it appears to be a separate unit which might just pop out, the only suspicious part was some kind of screw which goes from the top module, see item 110:

TPete19

I've dug into that button panel. Basically requires you to disassemble from the top down. It is attached to the bottom of the headunit by two torx screws. The electronics in that panel is a single circuit board with a small wire harness coming out of the lower-passenger-side corner.

LoFox

Hmm, interesting, I've speculated that it was attached to the top part of the dash.

Infiniti

id be all over this if you can make it look oem and super clean. rooting for you!

TPete19

The console is extremely easy to disassemble in our pre-facelifts. It's a 5-minute job.

This video will help.

LoFox

Wow, yeah that comes apart in no time, I'll try to take a look at that button cluster this weekend and post some photos of the assy for reference.

agp423

Am I the only find who finds these interior lighting around panels, inside door handles, under headrests and all distracting? I mean, they're cool, but distracting.