I added some ambient lighting to my interior door handles. I don't have any pictures (didn't have the time since rain was on the horizon), but i'll try to describe it as best as possible.
I went and bought a pack of 3 blue LEDs. These LEDs are 1/4 inch and have a little black trim ring that holds it to the door handle plastic. They're also pre-wired with a positive (red) and ground (black) wire. I picked these cause it made for easy work. 1 LED for each door...and one extra (that I have planned for something else).
1. Take off the door panels (not too hard...there are other DIYs around here that tell how to, so I'll skip that). To do this "mod", you don't need to disconnect the door handle cables.
2. The inside of the door handle has a plastic cover to cover the screw and plastic clip. You have to take this cover off to take off the door. Thats where you can install the LED. They're numbers 5 and 22 in the pic below.
3. Take each plastic cover and mark a spot to drill a hole near the upper front (as if you were looking at it from inside the car facing forward). This is the thinner part of the cover. I suggest drilling from the outside in (so you can file off the excess plastic on the inside and keep the outside looking clean). The hole to drill will be 1/4 inch...try to make sure you don't drill near the plastic ribs on the inside part of the plastic cover...that will make it more difficult to install the LED and will the LED in that position would probably show too much light and not be as "ambient".
4. Start drilling with a smaller drill bit and work your way up to the 1/4 inch bit. Trim away the excess plastic with an exacto knife. Once you have a 1/4 inch hole, trim away the excess and file away any burrs. You can now put the LED in the hole. The hard part is done. :) lol
5. Buy some t-connectors to attach the wires to the car's wiring. I used 16/14 gauge t-taps with male connectors. That allows me to disconnect the LEDs if I ever need or want to and not affect the wiring of the car adversely. You'll need 4...one for the positive and one for the ground for each door.
6. Attach the male connectors to the ends of the LED wires.
7. Take everything out to the car now...you're almost done. Thread the two wires through the front slot in the door handle (it is right next to the round hole that the plastic clip goes through...the slot you thread the wires through is rectangular. There is a little tab on the front part of the plastic cover...the tab goes into the slot).
8. Attach the other end of the t-tap connector to the wires leading to the window controls in each front door. I wired it here because I could always have those LEDs on and they would stay on when the car was turned off and take advantage of the accessory power. I used the following wires to tap into. Note that on the driver's side door, the window controls are part of the larger connector.
- Driver's side - green = positive
- Driver's side - Black = ground (note that I used the black wire closest to the green wire).
- Passenger side - Green = Positive
- Passenger side - black = ground (note that the wire is a smaller gauge than the others...and again, it is closest to the green wire)
**Note: I suggest you verify these wires for your car before attaching the connectors...they may end up not working for you (i.e. your preference maybe).
9. Connect all the connectors and position the door panel on the door. Pull the wires tight behind the door panel and then attach the door panel. After installing the door handle clip and screw, pull the wires for the LEDs tight while installing the plastic cover and LED. Then finish putting the door panel back together and turn on the car to see how it looks.
See page 2 for pics and a How-To on how to do the rear doors.
Hope I didn't miss anything (except the pictures)...feel free to ask about it if I have!
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So, I decided to use the dremel to grind down the LEDs in front to fix the beam pattern. With the normal rounded bulb, the beam is too focused. When you grind it down and make it flat, it disperses, making the light more "ambient". I strongly suggest doing that. Here are some pics of the two front doors (before I did the rear doors...thats a whole process in itself).
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see post 16 for more info
DIY: Ambient lighting in door handles