Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

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GRNSHRK
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Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by GRNSHRK »

I've been wanting to do this for some time now and finally got to do it, thanks to having to work on the sunroof mechanism as well for other reasons :-?

Adding this light in place of the sunroof motor access panel requires removing the front header panel as well, so it was one of those "while I'm in there" moments :roll:

The light assembly that I used is actually an interior light for an E21, probably others as well, and fits exactly in the access panel cutout as if it were made for it \:D/

I ran the wiring from the existing interior light that's over the driver's shoulder (doing not much of anything :-({|= ) which included a always hot power lead and a ground lead from the door switches, so that the new light would work just as the existing one does =D>

One other ground is required, which I tapped into underneath the header panel, as there's a groundling point for the power sunroof motor right there :-"

The photos show how I ran the wiring, fitment (which I admit is very tight due to the height of the light assembly versus the sunroof motor) and the final results, which I think are stunning and a HUGE improvement :lol:

lemme know what you guys think [-o<
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:mrgreen:
Bobbo
1980 633 CSi Cypress Green/Pearl Beige
2017 X5 M Sport Xdrive 35i Carbon Black/Ivory White
2005 330 Ci ZHP Cabrio Imola Red/Bone/Black
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GRNSHRK
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by GRNSHRK »

Shots of the wiring process :wink:

Forgot to mention, the actual light is an LED (obviously...) from Superbright LEDs =D>

It's a 6 LED festoon bulb P/N 4210-CWHP6-V2
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:mrgreen:
Bobbo
1980 633 CSi Cypress Green/Pearl Beige
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Tommys 89 635
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by Tommys 89 635 »

Nice work! I may have to explore that.
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1989 635 CSI (Second owner since Jun 1995, driven daily and retired in 2013 with 295k to occasional driving)
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Slownrusty
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by Slownrusty »

Looks great!

Bright idea!
(I'll be here all week folks...ALL WEEK!!)
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sharkfan
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by sharkfan »

I am struggling to find the pictures but I am sure I posted them at some stage but for my Series 2 car I utilised the pop-in plastic cover for the sunroof motor. I drilled six holes in it and in the centre four I put four bright white LED's which come on when the 'B' pillar lights come on and in the outer 2 holes I put two amber LED's that come on when the lights are put on so you get an slight amber ambient glow over the centre console area like you get in an E39.
2001 Alpina B10 V8 Touring (1 of 12 rhd)
1997 Alpina B12 5.7 L (1 of 2 rhd)
1995 Alpina B10 4.6 Touring (1 of 1 rhd)
1985 BMW M635CSi (1 of 524 rhd)
1982 BMW 635CSiA (1 of 100's left from the 1000's made and still valiantly fighting against a rusty grave)
GRNSHRK
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by GRNSHRK »

Sharkfan, that would be awesome if you could dig them up [-o<

I know that Tommy is looking into this upgrade for his '89 and could use some assistance :-"

And keep the jokes coming Yasin :lol:
:mrgreen:
Bobbo
1980 633 CSi Cypress Green/Pearl Beige
2017 X5 M Sport Xdrive 35i Carbon Black/Ivory White
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sharkfan
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by sharkfan »

GRNSHRK wrote: Sun Nov 20, 2022 9:17 pm Sharkfan, that would be awesome if you could dig them up [-o<

I know that Tommy is looking into this upgrade for his '89 and could use some assistance :-"

And keep the jokes coming Yasin :lol:
Here you go - sorry for the crappy pics

White LEDs, on with the b-pillar lights...
white leds.jpg
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Orange LED's (washed out by the flash), on with the ignition...
amber leds.jpg
amber leds.jpg (87.09 KiB) Viewed 2257 times
To narrow the field of the orange LED's I mounted them about a 1cm up inside a short electrical grommet...
led wiring.jpg
led wiring.jpg (139.33 KiB) Viewed 2257 times
2001 Alpina B10 V8 Touring (1 of 12 rhd)
1997 Alpina B12 5.7 L (1 of 2 rhd)
1995 Alpina B10 4.6 Touring (1 of 1 rhd)
1985 BMW M635CSi (1 of 524 rhd)
1982 BMW 635CSiA (1 of 100's left from the 1000's made and still valiantly fighting against a rusty grave)
dlvad
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by dlvad »

Great cabin/maplight Mod Bobbo!
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GRNSHRK
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Re: Adding an interior light to an otherwise dark place

Post by GRNSHRK »

Thanks Dug :wink:

Quite the PITA, and I'm still not happy with the fit, as it's not quite "flush" with the header panel, due to the big honkin' manual nut on the sunroof motor :-({|=

Still looks great though, and I can see \:D/
:mrgreen:
Bobbo
1980 633 CSi Cypress Green/Pearl Beige
2017 X5 M Sport Xdrive 35i Carbon Black/Ivory White
2005 330 Ci ZHP Cabrio Imola Red/Bone/Black
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