[C5 X7] Spec check and parts swapping feasibility?

[the-termin8r]

Ok, so I think not all is lost regarding the LEDs. Swapped the driver's seats today and the LED works on the driver's seat but not the passenger seat. I'll probably end up picking up a seat connector from AliExpress, pillaging two of the pins and fitting them onto the passenger seat and then just running the wires as inconspicuously as possible (maybe under / through the centre console?). Regarding the best method to remove the seats, it's the same as the passenger side, except you have to retract the steering wheel as far as possible. Then when you unclip the locator pins, slide the seat forward on the floor and then rotate it towards the centre console at about 60 degrees such that the back is pointing at the door opening. Then it's just a matter of picking it up by the bottoms of the back bolsters and lifting it out. Do the reverse to put it back in.

[the-termin8r]

Sorted the LEDs today at lunch the quick and dirty way. I piggybacked the passenger seat light from the passenger footwell light then ran the wires under the sill trim and under the seat rail. The rear lights use the same module as the saloon boot and the glovebox (minus the sprung switch), the fronts use the same module as the number plate lights. I just soldered a JST RCY connector to each module and then connected them with a 2-wire loom. I had to drill a pair of small holes in the top of the front module, but other than that there was no destruction. The way the contacts are designed inside the modules actually allows for some fairly easy and non-destructive soldering.

[mickthemaverick]

Nice one Rob!!

[the-termin8r]

So I just had this video randomly recommended to me. It's from some Polish maniac who did the ambient strip fitting somewhat properly. I didn't understand a word of the video but got the general gist. I'm super glad I bodged mine. There was no way in hell I was going through that effort on two cars.

[the-termin8r]

Ok, final update on the ambient strip retrofit. It's not perfect, but it's close enough. As mentioned in the last post, these unfortunately don't sync with the headlights turning on, they turn on with the ignition. Thankfully they're dim and unnoticeable in broad daylight. So it achieves the same effect.





__________

Parts list:

- At least 1 male and 1 female (I'd order 2 or 3) connector. I recommend DIY-ing the wires as I don't know what AWG the seller puts on. I'd also recommend finding a seller with faster shipping times if possible. These took three weeks to get to me.
- 17 AWG wire for the main 12V and GND lines and 18-19 AWG for the LED 12V line. About 500mm for each line should give you enough to work with.
- 2x 3m of thin wire (~22AWG?) to make a pair of extensions, one 1m long, the other 2m long. Ideally, each 3m length would be a different colour.
- 5 pairs of JST RCY connectors.
- Heat shrink tubing.
- 12V orange COB strip. I went for 3m in case I made mistakes
- Diffuser strip of your choice. I went for 3m of T-1010 black. The black washes out the orange glow a bit but it's not too bad.
- A buck converter module of your choice. I went for an LM2596 I had kicking around from an old project.
- Superglue and activator of your choice. I'd recommend superglue gel as it gives you time to work and adjust.
- Double sided tape of your choice. I'd recommend something good like 3M VHB tape. I went for 5952 which is 19mm wide and 1.1mm thick.
- 4 strip channels. These are 3D printed, I printed mine in PETG, but you can probably get away with printing in PLA. You might be able to do this without the channels, but they'll make life a lot easier. File attached below.

__________

Procedure (strap in, it's a long one):

The block diagram of the system is as follows:


1 - Go out to the car with the diffuser a pair of scissors, a tape measure, a marker and paper. Measure out your strip lengths by slotting the strips in and cutting them to size. Keep in mind, the passenger side one goes in farther than the eye can see.
2 - Look in the groove for the long strip. You'll see holes at several intervals. Measure the intervals between the holes. This is important for later.
3 - Go back inside and cut your COB strip based on the diffuser length. I made a the strips slightly longer than the diffusers. Note, the strips can only be cut at specific intervals!

4 - Take your thin 3m wires and put one end of each in a cordless drill simultaneously. Put the other ends under something heavy or in a vice or ask someone to hold them. Twist them together with the drill to keep them neat.
5 - Cut the loom such that you have a 1m long segment and a 2m long segment.
6 - Untwist both ends of the looms and strip all the ends of the wires.
7 - Solder and heat shrink a male and female JST on the end of each loom. Watch your polarity!
8 - Take your buck module and solder a male and female JST to either end of the module. It's up to you which side you put each connector on. Watch your polarity!
9 - Take your longer COB strip and solder a pair of JSTs to it and heat shrink the joints. It doesn't matter which end each connector goes on. Watch your polarity!
10 - Plug the short loom into the output of the buck module, then plug the long strip into the short loom. Now plug the long loom into the other end of the long strip. Note which connector is left unplugged on the long loom.
11 - Solder and heat shrink a single JST to your short strip. The connector you solder will the the opposite of what's on the end of the long loom. I.e. You want to be able to plug the short strip into the long loom. Watch your polarity!
12 - You can unplug the whole chain now.

13. - Take your lighter connector wires and strip both ends off all of them and crimp the terminals on. DO NOT slot them into the housings yet!
14 - Take the two thicker wires and strip a ~10mm segment of the MIDDLE of each wire. DO NOT cut the wires. You can use a hobby knife or other sharp blade for this. The result should be a pair of wires that have most of their insulation except for a segment in the middle.
15 - Below is the existing connector on the car, the middle wire is +12V and the bottom is GND. Solder your last JST connector to the stripped segments and heat shrink the joints. Watch your polarity!

16 - Now you can slide the crimps into the housings. Watch your polarity!
17 - You should now have what looks like an extension of the loom for the lighter with a random JST sprouting out of it.

18 - Print 4 strip channels.
19 - Take a channel and do a test fit of the short strip without peeling the backing. Align the channel such that the end of the strip without the connector is flush with the end of the channel.
20 - Mark where the other end of the channel lands on the strip.
21 - Gently make an incision in the backing where you marked it.
22 - Peel the backing up to the incision and stick that portion of the strip into the channel.
23 - Take your long strip and fit the remaining channels such that the channel positions match the positions of the solid intervals you measured in the groove on the car at the start. Again, only cut and peel the backing where the channels will be on the strip.
24 - Take your strips and diffusers and go back to the car to do a dry test fit. You're not mounting anything in place yet. The connector of the short strip should be pointing at the door. For the long strip, the connector that plugs into the long loom should point at the door. If you're happy with how everything fits go to the next step. Otherwise make adjustments until you're happy.
25 - Carefully superglue the channels to the diffusers. If you lay the channel into the diffuser (with the strips pointing into the diffusers) you'll notice that the top of the channel isn't flush with the diffuser. That's because that difference is where you'll be putting the glue gel. Do it in segments, put some gel on, spray it with activator and move on to the next spot. You can do 3 spots per side per channel. So one at either end and one in the middle on each side of each channel. It won't look pretty, but it doesn't need to.
26 - Take your VHB tape, cut it to size and apply it to the tops of the printed channels. DO NOT peel the backing yet! This is why the channels need to be aligned with the intervals on the car. You're using double sided tape to stick the channels to the car.
27 - Add VHB tape to the sides of the short diffuser where the grooves are as well. The grooves won't allow the tape to stick well, so use some blobs of glue. DO NOT peel the backing yet! The short channel needs this extra tape because most of the groove has a hole in it on the car and the available solid bit doesn't have a big enough surface area for the tape to hold long term.

28 - Go to the car and this time bring all the electronics, spudgers, head unit removal keys, a small flat head (to turn the knob on the pot of the buck module) and a T20(?) screwdriver.
29 - Open both front doors and both gloveboxes and pry off the trim on the sides of the dash. That will reveal a big and handy metal pipe. This pipe is empty, run your long loom through it. The orientation of the loom is determined by the connector on your short strip, keep this in mind!


30 - Remove your head unit.
31 - Remove the cubby under the head unit (unless you have an NG4 and have no cubby).
32 - Remove the fascia panel with the screen. To do so pry off the silver trim strip and undo the 3 screws. Then pry the whole panel off. Careful when pulling the panel away as the screen and button for the hazards have short cables
33 - Remove the plastic panel around the gearstick. The process for this depends on your suspension and gearbox.
34 - With most of the dash torn open, do a final test fit of the strip/diffuser assemblies. Make sure your wires are threading correctly! If you're happy, peel the backing off the VHB and stick them in. With the long strip, I'd recommend starting at the end nearest to the centre of the car and peeling the VHB segments one at a time.
35 - Connect the long loom in the pipe to the strips and tidy the excess loom away. DO NOT close the sides of the dash yet in case you need to make adjustments.
36 - Plug the short loom into the other end of the long strip and route it through the dashboard such that it comes out at the very bottom at the transmission tunnel. When you get the connector to just behind where the head unit would be, stop.
37 - Surrender your hand into the hole where the cubby lives. If you feel around in the very back, there will be a VERY thin slot at the bottom that leads down to the next section of the dash. Feed the connector through there.
38 - Pull your hand out and stick it back into the lowest opening in the dash where the ash tray lives. You will feel the connector come out as you feed it through the slot. Pull the connector through as much as you can, be gentle.
39 - Take your lighter loom with the spliced JST and plug the buck module input into the splice. Plug the short loom into the output of the buck.
40 - Plug the lighter loom between the existing loom in the car and the lighter socket itself
41 - Turn the ignition on. If your strips light up, good stuff. If they don't, don't panic.
42 - If the strips don't turn on, keep the ignition on and use your flat head screwdriver to turn the pot on the buck module until the strips come on. Turn them up to max brightness then turn the ignition off and go home. You're done for the moment, now you wait for nightfall.
43 - Once night has fallen, go back out to the car and turn the ignition on again, use the flat head again to adjust the brightness to your liking. If there is a good spot, you can zip tie or VHB the buck module somewhere in the transmission tunnel to stop it rattling if you want. You can now either go back home and wait for daylight or continue into the night.
44 - Reassemble the trim around the gearstick. Do this first before anything else. Make sure the cables aren't getting tangled in the gearstick or handbrake if you have a manual one and don't pinch them either!
45 - Put the head unit back in. DO NOT pinch any cables!
46 - Put the cubby back in. DO NOT pinch any cables!
47 - Put the fascia panel back on. Remember to plug the screen and hazards button back in!
48 - Put the dash side panels back on.
49 - Turn the ignition back on and make sure everything is working.
50 - Job done.

Re-adding the files since zips are no longer allowed. I've put them on my Google drive instead.