interior lights
 

i thought i would do a little mod and see what it looks like with all my interior lights changed to "LED".
why did i start ? does anybody have any idea of how many bulbs there is to change and how many different types there are. i thought maybe 6 or 8.
i was nowhere near. as well as the standard interior lights front and rear i found map reading lights front and rear, footwell lights front and rear, red open door lights front and rear, puddle lights front and rear, vanity mirror lights and all with different sizes and shapes. just going to wait till it gets dark and take some pics.

Wow, thats a time consuming mod...

There was a guy with a PF 2.8 that changed all the red for blue.... Now that would take a while...

I'll be interested to see the results.... +++

Me 2. Plus a list of lamps needed.

I wanted to put in bright leds in the doorcard lights, look forward to pictures.

Can't wait to see the results +++

I love the ambient lighting of the new A8

http://image.automobilemag.com/f/315...n-at-night.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vd3wMXEFEL...00/3108714.jpg

http://img.worldcarfans.com/2009/12/large/5594479.jpg

I could only find this thread...


http://www.audifans.net/ftopic-23272...rderasc-0.html

i thought about doing this, then we started counting....

theres glovebox, boot, rear ashtrays too.

This looks interesting, but a bit vague...

http://www.cens.com/cens/html/en/new...ner_26973.html

I know, I have waaaaayyyyy too much time on my hands :ROFL:

Guy on ebay does a EL kit for the S2. Looks good quality, if a little expensive.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audi-S2-80-90-...-/130389185850

Sit over existing, so you don't have to pull the instrument pack to pieces +++

Personally, I prefer EL due to the glow and uniform light output; it is easier to install from behind the instrument pack if you are going for backlight sheets, rather than what the chap has produced on the ebay link above. The only downside is the unknown with regard to longevity.

That is just horrible. The red is nice and classy that belongs in a cheap 1.0 french car not a quality German saloon. Erghhhhhhhhhhh. I wouldn't do that to my car if someone paid me a grand, I'm serious.






It looks crap, is the gist of what I was saying. :rolleyes:

I agree; very Barry Boy! :ROFL:

I just wanted to illustrate blue LEDs on the Audi.

I would stick my neck out by saying the ebay EL ones look nice as you have a contrast, and a proper "glow".

As you can see from this thread I have been busy scouring the net! Some weird and wonderful stuff on youtube... look up EL gauges...

Found this thread... I'm inspired now +++

http://www.germancarforum.com/pit-ge...-lighting.html

Some ideas for your map pockets me thinks ;)

Me too, but then I started doing it - just lights, not instruments.
(PS I know this is an old thread)

Anyone else made any progress, I have...+++

Well I now have quite a collection of spare filament festoon bulbs and I'm nowhere near finished.

And I also have a problem without an obvious solution - see next post. :Confused:

Did the boot a while back (last winter) - 3 bulbs - finding really bright ones that fitted was the only problem. Shows up my CarBox fitted boot mat nicely. :D
Front footwell lights were easy too, as were all 4 door "puddle" lights.
Didn't bother with the red "open door" lights as they are fine as they are.

And that's how far I got until quite recently when I decided to see if I could finish the job.

Glovebox I'm ignoring for now as I never sit in that seat. :ROFL:
Out of interest how easy is it to pop the light out to swap the bulb (and what type is it)?

Rear footwell lights were a PITA; they're standard wedge bulbs but the holder is really tight on space so most LED replacements won't fit. Found some eventially that were just 2 small unenclosed bits of PCB with surface mount LED's that fitted. +++

Rear interior lights are normal wedge type (2 each side), I've got some on order that I know will fit and are suitably white and bright.

Front interior light I found a festoon replacement that had a sort of closely-spaced 4 by 4 SMD LED panel that fits well and looks good.

Sun visor lights are normal festoons; I have suitable LED replacements on order.

Which leaves the problem - the map lights, which are BA9S bayonet fitting with opposing pins. :(

These, as I guess you D2 owners all know, come on with the main courtesy light as well and still being yellowish filament bulbs look odd beside the main central LED. :o
Having had a similar problem on my other car (solved with a method not useable here) I suspected these would be "difficult" due to polarity issues.

And indeed they were, LED replacements just don't work as the polarity is reversed and I don't imagine it's easily fixed by modifying the light unit.

So has anyone solved this problem, or not?

I'm going to try using a very small LED panel (about 20mm square to fit in the space) with a lead to a bayonet adapter that can be switched in polarity and see what it looks like. Given the cover is carefully shaped with prisms to focus the light from a bulb I'm concerned it will not be focussed enough for use as a reading light.

If somebody came up with "a complete D2 FL upgrade kit of LED's that were all sourced and correctly supplied as a package I'd sure buy it - could be another opportunity for A8 parts? +++

Does the FL have many (any?) more lights compared to PF?

This is the glovebox light out of the car

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...8/d40b05d2.jpg

Didn't note bulb type but guessing easy enough to tell?

It unclips at front and has 2 tiny plastic hinges at the back you have to be careful not to damage. A mirror may help! Hinges should be on the right in the pic but are missing from this one

Thanks for that, very helpful. Mirror is a good idea. +++

When you say "hinges", is it actually attached at the rear or are they more like lugs that just go in place first over the edge of the hole?

Looks like it takes a bayonet bulb, but if the polarity is wrong it's probably easily fixed by swapping the leads over on the spade terminals.

And if the whole unit comes out easily then fitting an LED panel instead of a bulb would be dead easy.

Yep, just a couple of l shaped lugs at the back - crap design!

The spade connectors were pretty tight on the old one and had to be careful not to wrench the metal bits out of the plastic housing - they had to come off as was changing the broken one for a used replacement! That needed one of the hinges glueing back on after snapping in transit so they are pretty fragile

Led would give a nice even light in there I reckon :)

Link to my LED upgrade.... Might help you ... http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3374

Ask away if U need any other Info... :)

I'm still trying to fathom how to get the bulbs out of the Rear View Mirror Housing..... If anybody can help as these are the only two I still need to replace...

Ah, did a search but missed that thread. :o
Though yours is FL, so subtly different to PF.

Did you not have a polarity problem with the bayonet bulbs for the map lights?

Number plates is something I was thinking of, but when I looked that state of the hex-headed screws holding them in decided not to bother; as noted in your thread, with UK yellow rear plates it's not vital.
(Though I have done it on my Focus and it definitely looks better)

Nope.... No Issue with Polarity on Map Lights.... Plug n Play +++

Different design then to PF as polarity is definitely wrong for them.

But I don't have a problem with bulbs on the mirror mount - that whole area is clearly different (PF mirror mounted on windscreen for starters).

Eish.... zeez Germans... why change things like that from PF to FL...

The issue I have with my mirror is getting access to remove the bulbs... can't fathom out how to get them out....
or how to dismantle the mirror without breaking something... :Confused:

I have mailed the guy who supplied my LED's to see if there is a way around
the Polarity issue..... will let you know.

Why don't I ever learn to leave well alone. :mad:

It looked so easy, so I went to investigate.
Emptied the glovebox and popped the light cover out.
Which broke at the back, just like yours.:(

The wires were short so I couldn't get at the bulb, so I decided I might as well try to disconnect it, which I did - they were on fairly tight but not too bad.

Got the bulb out and put in an LED replacement then went to see if I could get it back in, maybe with a bit of tape to secure it?
And there was only one wire, the other had totally disappeared back through the tiny hole in the metal sheet above the glovebox. :o

Someone on here (Oli I think) recomended I use a pair of thin nose pliers with insulating tape round the ends to avoid breaking the bulbs, worked a treat for me+++

It's never easy is it.... especially with our older cars... :(

Response from my supplier

" We've had that before with certain cars where it seems the vehicles polarity is different to the norm.

The only way we got around that was to actually open the LED and swop the polarity with the wires on the bulb. There really is no other way. It's not a difficult thing to do though, so anyone who has any kind of electrical experience can do this.

Hope this helps. "

Best you get assistance if you decide to go this route.... :ROFL:

Thanx Mate +++ I'll give that a bash.... seems a pretty simple solution...

Are they Bayonet or Wedge type bulbs .... just so that I know wetehr to twist or pull..... Tx.

Thanks for that, I've seen that sort of response elsewhere for similar problems.

As I noted earlier I'm going to try a small LED panel (rather than a bulb) which has a bayonet adapter on a lead where I can swap polarity easily.

mine just pulled out, so guess that means wedge type?

And the other really annoying thing is that I've tested the remaining wire (it's the earth) and the way the holder is wired up my LED bayonet bulb (that DOESN'T work in the map light) would have worked. :-(

So, does anyone know where the switched live lead for the glovebox light actually comes from and whether I can find and retrieve it. If the glovebox is taken out (how easy is that?) would I find it even with my big clumsy hands?

Looking on the wiring diagram one wire goes to the Glove Box Compartment Light Switch which in turn runs to ground/earth....

The other is the live which should be a Grey/Green....

Glovebox removal is supposed to be a handful of screws and pull it towards you - did warn you the clips are like chocolate :( you might get lucky and find them if you pull the glovebox. I glued 1 of mine back and it's been fine :)

A8parts sent me a glovebox light for cost of p&p so worth asking if they've got one if you can't repair

It's the live one I've lost I think.

Presumably it's only live when the lights are on and there "must" be lots of places to tap into around the passenger footwell if I really can't find it.

Duplicate post, system seemed to hang. Please ignore....

Already available.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-D2_A8-...LED/ES2215298/

I have it, it is excellent. I switched out the footwell lamps for red though, and have them wired such that when the key is switched they remain on, to provide further ambient interior light at night.

Thanks for that link - excellent! I like and I want lol does anyone else want to do a group buy over here so we can get bulk shipped over here? +++

See here, page 7: http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/edoc/...tsAudiD2A8.pdf

did you see -

"The LEDs are polarity sensitive. If they do not work
when initially installed, remove and rotate them 180
degrees in the bulb holders to get them working"

Did I see?

My problem is with bayonet bulbs (not wedges). :ROFL: