noregret4life

Seeing how nice the Brabus puddle lights look, and being young, broke, and persistent. I decided to start my own little project.

I found a set of cluster LEDs (white), wired them, and installed. Currently they are wired through my main fuse box under the hood into the interior of the car. Current expenses = $35 for all led clusters (with about 20 spare sets) + $5 wire = Grand total of $40

Now i need to somehow tap into 2 sources for power.
1. Doors open/close - easy enough using the puch button door switch (similar install to the door sills.

2. During lock/unlock - this is where i need the help.

Is there a source i can use that will activate during lock and unlock? Other then door locks themselves. I was thinking i could use one of the "ambiant" lights that i have in the footwells but they stay lit (just dimmer) when the doors are closed.

I was thinking of adding a relay that would activate at a full 12v of power, but stay open at the dimmed setting on the ambiant lights?

Any help will be great.
Thanks.

noregret4life

Didn't get any responses here, but i found a solution.

For those of you who have the Brabus side skirt puddle lights, or any other type of lighting that you need activated when doors unlock and unlock from remote below is the solution.

You would require the "ambiant lighting" to be installed.

1 relay - 12v standard automotive relay
The relay i have has 4 points. |::|
Relay:
|12|
|34|

From left to right,
Point 1 = (+) of the light you are connecting.
Point 2 = (Ground)
Point 3 = (+) Constant
Point 4 = (+) Activating

- After connecting Points 1,2,3... connect Point 4 on the relay to the (+) terminal on one of the ambiant lights in the footwells. There should be one on each side in the middle. And you are done!

-Why it works: The ambiant lighting has 2 working positions, #1 Full power [12v] (when someone opens a door, and when the car is unlocked via remote while its dark outside) and #2 [1.5v] to provide ambiant light in the footwells while driving and will only be in this position while it is dark outside and all doors are closed, or key in ignition.

The 12v relay only activates when it senses current at around 6v on Point 4, so when the ambiant lights are in #1 Full power, the relay is activated and passes current to the puddle lights. When the ambiant lights are in #2 [1.5v] the relay stays open, no power to puddle lights.

Not really sure if anyone cares, but i figured i would share this anyway.

Pictures will come soon, raining here like crazy.

etyu

Good work noregret4life. Pictures are very much welcome. Thanks. If you don't mind, please post your location.

noregret4life

I couldn't wait till the rain cleared up because that would defeat the purpose of "puddle lights" So i went ahead and wired everything up just as described above. The relay was set up under the hood so i don't hear the click to turn on.

Let me know what you think. I can post instructions and parts list / pictures if anyone is interested in putting one together themselves.

Puddle lights activate only when its dark and I unlock the car, open a door, take key out of the ignition. Turn off when locked from remote or when all doors closed. Also can be activated when you turn on the interior dome light.

And Yes, those are actual puddles under the lights

noregret4life

Here are the install details.

Parts:

Cluster LEDs: Ebay link below (You get 30, the reset you can use during the holidays) Reason why i picked them is they are sealed waterproof, in hard plastic, and are mountable with the 2 screw holes on the sides. Also can be connected in series and are wide angle.

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-Pieces-3-LED-...QQcmdZViewItem

Spray paint: I taped up the leds and spray painted the outside of the cluster black to match close to my car's paint. (you may not need this. you really can't see them either way)

Wire: home depot (home store) sells 16g wire 25ft for $2.50, you will need 2 of them.

Cloth tape: to insulate the wires that will be under the car, and engine bay.
1 x 12v relay: ($5 at local parts store) can be either 4 point or 5 point doesn't matter

Piece of strong copper wire: needed to guide a wire into the interior of the car through the fuse box.

Small screws: Take one LED cluster with you to the hardware store to make sure the screw fits through the moutning hole

STEPS:
*You may skip steps 1-2 if they look ok unpainted*
1. Tape up LEDs, make sure the clear little bulbs are well covered.
2. Spray paint to black and after they dry, peal off tape.
3. Fold the cluster LEDs side by side so that exactly an even portion of the wire is left on both sides. and cut 8 like in the image below
4. Measure off the spots where you want to place your LEDs
5. Extend the wires on both sides of the LED clusters. **Make sure you connect the same collor wires in series, else the LEDs won't work**
6. Use cloth tape to weatherproof the wires for safety.
7. Once you have a a string of LEDs spread to the desired lengths appart, mount them using the small screws.
8. Route wire through the engine bay down to the led clusters. Do this starting from the engine bay, this will make it easier to wire.
9. Connect wires to the Relay as described in my previous post.
10. Attach constant Fuse wire to the battery, then to relay.
11. Attach the "blue" turn on lead that you routed into the interior of the car via the fusebox to the Ambiant light in footwells. (i left it exposed in pics to see clearer)

You're done!
Sorry i couldn't get the pics to line up with the text for some reason. But if you read through the above, you should be able to pic up on the steps. Feel free to ask any questions about the install, i think i made it a bit condensed.

noregret4life

Part 2 of install pics