JD101b

I have an ML350 without the ambient lighting package. There are ambient lights in the rearview mirror, all four door pulls and the front footwells only. The footwell lighting is so dim that it's almost impossible to see. Are there brighter bulbs I can swap in to the front, and is it possible to install in the rear? Is there any way I can install brighter bulbs (and perhaps different color) bulbs in the door pulls?

Thank you.

we47b1me

LED's.

JD101b

Do you know what LED bulbs I would have to use, and is it possible to install them under the rear seat (ML's with the ambient lighting package have footwell lighting in the rear seat too...I'm wondering if the wiring for those bulbs is present in non ambient lighting vehicles)

we47b1me

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17x-LED-lam...-/273168822507

Ambient lighting pre-wiring does not exist in ML's without the 876 package. If you want lights in the rear footwell, you can do an exhaustive and expensive retrofit. See my other posts where I did this.

JD101b

Is the ambient lighting in the footwell just a regular footwell light on a dimmer switch?

we47b1me

You mean in the front footwells?

JD101b

Yes. In other words is there a bulb that lights when the door opens and a bulb that stays on continuously for ambient light or are both functions covered by a single bulb?

we47b1me

Stick your head under there and look

It's one bulb.

JD101b

lol.

I remember reading that certain Mercedes had two bulbs in one housing (one for ambient and one for door lighting) so I wasn't sure. In your experience do the LED's make a notice improvement in light output, and how hard is it to wire for the rear lighting? I looked through your other thread and while I am not technically proficient enough to install new trim pieces (nor do I have the time!) I am think I might be able to pull off installing lights under the front seats for rear footwell ambient lighting.

Also, thanks for your help.

we47b1me

I didn't swap mine for LED's -- I find them to be too cool, temperature wise, and harsh at night for my taste, so I have all the original incandescent bulbs plus installed this for just the footwells:

shorturl.at/gWX08

I used just the footwell lights in the kit

**update, this site sucks and won't let me paste the link to the kit I'm referring to above. Go to google, type dmp car design ambient light car atmosphere and it should be the first result that shows up

JD101b

What is is like to wire these up? I’ve looked at similar kits in the past but it always seems like it’s either a nightmare to wire or the controller plugs into the cigarette lighter.

Also, is there no way to just run the footwell and overhead lighting at a low wattage so as to create an ambient lighting effect?

AZN Optics

You'll want to make sure the LEDs are two stage LEDs so they have dim mode (for when driving) and torch mode (for when door open). Also, although canbus is not required for interior error cancelling as there's no error handling with interior lights, the added resistance will help with power leakage and lingering energized lines. As LEDs really require very little power to light up, any sort of leakage can result in LEDs being lit up when they shouldn't.

we47b1me

Take out the center console and tap into the 12v going into the cig lighter. There's 4 bolts to get it out. Takes 5 minutes. Can either hide the wiring under the center console, or up behind climate control panel (which is where I wired all my ambient light connections to).

I will say though, it's cool to add the 4 footwell lights (or the fo strips that come with the kit) and be able to control it via an app in terms of changing the colors and all that jazz, but it does feel like a half done job without the rest of the ambients in.

​​​​​​The other way to do this is just order the light p/n from the front footwell, and splice into the power there and run it back for rear footwells, but if your big gripe is the dimness of the front's then it's a bandaid solution.

JD101b

I get what you're saying about the half done job bit, but from what I have read it is tough to get the strips under the paneling on the door without them being exposed in daylight, and I can't imagine that looking good at all. Is there a guide on how to disassemble the front console and wire the system up? This would be relatively uncharted territory for me.

we47b1me

Oh god no -- the aftermarket strips are terrible and will never fit/stay underneath the wood trim, that's not what I'm suggesting at all. When I did my retrofit, I used all OEM trim pieces that had the ambient light in them and swapped out.

Front Console -- take out two T30 or T25 (can't remember which size) bolts behind rubber piece below climate control panel. Then take the bottom cover out from the center compartment and you'll see two more bolts. Take those out, pull back slightly, and lift. Voila. Study wiring underneath, and don't yank. Several wires under there depending on options on your truck. Go slow, don't yank, study. There's a WIS pdf I can probably pull from my shop laptop if you need it but this one's very straightforward.

**actually here you go, here's the pdf

JD101b

So when you say tap into the 12v, I just attach a wire from the kit to the bare wire that leads to the lighter?

we47b1me

2 wires -- positive and negative. Use a t-tap connector.

JD101b

Okay. Thank you. Anything else I should know?

we47b1me

Just take your time.

buratinio

I'd recommend you install the led lights because you will be shocked by the visibility at the night. And they are not so expensive. I have a Mercedes ml w164 with simple halogen light and it was really annoying me because I couldn't see well at night because as everybody knows this type of light is a very poor one. I found the https://www.ltprtz.co.uk and ordered some Led lights from them for my truck and w164. I was really surprised of the quality. I can see know for 100meters without any difficulty.

we47b1me

what are you responding to? This is a thread about ambient light.

drwolf

yea was going to say @we47b1me is the guy. Additionally, package 876 is like the top 3 retrofit options most MBZ drivers want, the BEST thing to do is to do your homework on what you need to look for if you want it. Similar to what i did was looking for the Logic-7 sound system. Good luck with your retrofit, please paste pictures once your done