Citroen C5 x7 ambient light retrofit

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Falka
(Donor 2022)
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Citroen C5 x7 ambient light retrofit

Post by Falka »

Hi

I'm trying to retrofit the original ambient lighting into my 2011 c5. I have the original button, a 12v neon led and wiring diagram. :-D

I ran into a strange problem, but first i have to point out that i sorta got it working.

The wiring diagram says:
BSI 40V BA pin 2 is the control wire
BSI 40V BA pin 9 is the lightbar +

Theres a connector in between all, but lets skip that fact.

Before hooking up the lightbar, i measured ~8v in the lightbar + pin
Then i connected the lightbar and the original control button (i found the original ground wire for the button)
I also turned on the "welcoming and ambient lights" under BSI -> Lighting and Signaling. Voala it was working. Light came on when i opened the door, i was able to turn the lightbars on and off with the button. I was very happy.
Strangely i measured ~14.5v in the lightbar wiring.

Went inside to eat dinner then came out again to tidy up the wiring (and add a voltage regulator) and when i opened the door, the lightbars wasnt turning on.
I rechecked the voltage, and it was 3.85v. (Same voltage as the cigarette backlight). Obviously 3.85v isnt enough to light up the leds. Button control wasnt doing anything either. Strange!

Next day i checked the bsi settings. The ambient light was still "present" and no errors in the log.
Then i checked all the pins for proper contact. I was kinda expecting burn marks, but nothing!
I put everything back together, connecter the battery - back, (used the proper BSI reinitialization) and i measured the lighbar + pin again. It was 8v. What? 8-[

It didnt not matter if turned on the headlights or covered the sunlight sensor or if the car was running or not. 8v and the lights wasnt turning on even a bit.
The lighbar was working with a seperate 12v powers source so that wasnt the issue.

Im very very baffled why it was working properly then without any reason it stopped.

The whole lightbar on full brightness is eating up about 0.7amp, maybe that was too much for the BSI?
I think the original lightbar using 2 or 3 small light diode, combined consumption about 0.07amper

Im thinking either the BSI doesnt "turning on" the ambient light feature or i burned something out in the BSI logic with that 14.5V/0.7amp. But again, if i burned out something, why is there 8v.
The same voltage i measured before my surgery. :|


I'm kinda giving up using the original wiring for the ambient light, but the mystery really bugging me. WHY...

Heres a picture how it looked with 14.5v. The RED is obviously overwhelming. I was planning to set it to pleasent 6.5v
Névtelen.png
IMG_20201220_145702.jpg
Falka
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 68
Joined: 01 Feb 2020, 20:43
Location: Hungary
My Cars: C5 x7 3.0 HDI V6 Carlsson
x 4

Re: Citroen C5 x7 ambient light retrofit

Post by Falka »

A bit of update. The 3.85 - 8v was because of the internal light brightness control.

In the end, i gave up using the original wiring and ledbars i made my own set, with a "smart" controller. Gave it two input voltage for "sensing scenarios". 1 for when opening the door and the other when the engine was running. You open the door, the ledbar lights up about 70%, and dims down to 35% when door closed and engine running.
Gives it a really nice autenthic feel.

I might change the red to orange or warm white.

Sadly a phone video doesn't do the full justice..
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Lenny
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Re: Citroen C5 x7 ambient light retrofit

Post by Lenny »

I like that.
Well done.
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Sloppysod
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Re: Citroen C5 x7 ambient light retrofit

Post by Sloppysod »

Falka wrote: 02 Jan 2021, 16:48
.................. i gave up using the original wiring and ledbars i made my own set, with a "smart" controller. Gave it two input voltage for "sensing scenarios". 1 for when opening the door and the other when the engine was running. You open the door, the ledbar lights up about 70%, and dims down to 35% when door closed and engine running.
Nice job, how and what parts?
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