Fitting footwell lights to your car

Bits you’ll need to fit Footwell lights if no holders are fitted.

Bulb holders-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pre-wired-Quality-T10-W5W-501-Replacement-Bulb-Holder-Adaptor-Wedge-
Capless-12V-/151071540643?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item232c90c5a3

There are 4 lugs on the holder to twist into the holes under the dash but the hole has only two lug points.
I recommend trimming back the two lugs near the body of the holders to allow them to lock in properly.

Bulbs-

The standard fitting bulbs are 501 (also known as W5W, wedge, T10, or capless bulbs) and are the same type
that will fit the new courtesy light too.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-GENUINE-LEEBRI-CANBUS-ERROR-FREE-501-W5W-T10-LED-BULBS-8-
SMD-BLUE-LED3B-/161032443683?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item257e481723

This is the type I use as they chuck out a really good spread of light (other colours available of course
depending on your tastes) and are snug in the holders.

These are standard 501 bulbs for comparison-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-501-T10-W5W-5w-OSRAM-Original-Bulbs-12v-2825-
/390677807347?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5af63640f3

Cable wise, this will do the job nicely-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Audio-Cable-Loud-Speaker-Cable-5-Amp-70-Watts-In-Lots-of-3-Metres-
/170710580188?pt=UK_Burglar_Alarms&hash=item27bf24bbdc

This is what I mean by choc block connectors if you haven’t got a crimp set-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5AMP-CONNECTOR-STRIP-TERMINAL-CHOC-BLOCK-12-WAY-5-AMP-
/310335582184?pt=UK_BOI_Materials_Supplies_Electrical_ET&hash=item4841712fe8

Scotchlock connectors-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-Mixed-Scotch-Lock-Splice-Connectors-10-Red-10-Blue-Scotchlok-
/261173370646?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Terminals_Cabling_ET&hash=item3ccf255f16

Available from Halfords.

Don’t forget the Torx screwdriver for various panels and very handy if you plan to do mods on your car-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stanley-0-70-885-35Pc-Screwdriver-Set-with-Torx-Hex-PZ-Bits-and-Magnetic-
Holder-/360697179303?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item53fb3a2ca7

Cable ties are also recommended to secure wires to the dashboard bracing frame at various places to stop the
wires drooping and pulling about, especially while fitting.

Insulation tape for wrapping around joins to stop the risk of shorts is a very good idea too.
 Fitting
The best way to fit them is to wire from the courtesy light to the driver’s side footwell first then take a parallel
feed off to the passenger side by running the wires behind the footwell kick panels from driver’s footwell to
passengers footwell.

Running the wires from the light to the driver’s footwell takes a bit of effort but is straightforward.

Pop out the courtesy light and let it hang on it’s wires for now.

Unscrew and remove the driver’s side sun blind to allow the headlining to be pulled about a bit.

Pull back the driver’s side rubber door seal near the door hinge from midway to up near where the grab handle
would be if they were fitted on both sides.

Using a Torx screwdriver undo the screw holding the panel below the headlight control switch and carefully let
it down so as to not pull the wires on the OBD socket.

Run a length of wire from the courtesy light housing across above the roof behind the headliner and down the
A pillar (easily tucked away now the door rubber is out of the way), leave a bit of cable length by the courtesy
light to allow for wiring and pulling the light out for removal at a later date.

Run the wire along the bracing pipe under the dash, putting a couple of cable ties in place to hold it steady
until you reach the first bulb holder position.

You can, at this point replace the sun blind, OBD panel, and door rubber trim you previously removed.

Cut the wire to length allowing spare for ease of wiring, and strip about 5–8 mm of bare wire for screwing into
a choc block connector and twist the exposed wire to make a nice firm tail for ease of wiring.

Cut a pair of choc block connectors off the strip and screw onto the twisted tails.

Strip and twist the end of the spare wire you cut off and along with the tails of the bulb holder wires screw them
into the other side of the choc block.

Remove the lower footwell panels on either side of the centre console at this point, one screw on the driver’s
side and two on the passenger’s side, all Torx and under pop out covers.

Run the wire from the driver’s footwell to the passenger’s footwell so that when the panels are replaced the
wiring will be concealed.

Run the wire to the passenger side bulb position and strip as before and again using another pair of choc
block connectors, attach the holder to the wire.

At this point I recommend plugging in a pair of standard 501 bulbs so that the wiring can be checked without
worrying about the fact LED bulbs are polarity specific and can confuse the next phase of the job.

Next bit is to power up the new circuit and check the wiring and connections.

Using a Scotchlock, attach one wire to the wire at the courtesy light with the single connector on the end of it.
You don’t need to strip the wire at all, just slip the Scotchlock over the existing wire, put the new wire into the
second channel of the Scotchlock and squeeze in the metal blade bit with pliers so that the blade cuts the
insulation bridging the connection between the wires, clip over the plastic cover to lock everything in place.

On the other side of the circuit you have two wires to choose from, one is the permanent feed for map lights
and position 2 of the main light switch, the other is the switched feed from the door latches and ignition, this is
the one you need to identify.
Bare the end of the wire so that you have enough to make contact with the inside of the connectors.

Pull off the double connector and touch each in turn until you can tell which one works only when the door is
open, if the courtesy light has timed out due to the door being open for a while just close and re-open the door
to reset the timer.

If you’re still not sure which is which then close the doors and try again, the one that does not activate the new
loom when all doors are closed and the courtesy light has extinguished is the one you need.
To speed up the lights going off, turn the ignition key to I to time the circuit out.

Cut the stripped bit off the end of the new wire to avoid the risk of shorts to any metal parts and attach the
loom to the correctly identified wire using a Scotchlock as before.

Locate the bulb holders into their positions (can be fiddly) by twisting to lock into place.

Cable tie where appropriate to avoid strain on the new loom and wrap some insulating tape around any joins
for strength and to avoid possible shorts.

Replace the footwell panels and courtesy light.

Once you are sure that the new footwell lights work ok then fit your LED bulbs, it’s easier to do when you know
that all circuits work properly.

Remember that the LED bulbs are polarity specific so if they don’t work first time just remove them from the
holders and rotate the bulbs 180 degrees.