Wiring in the door

[Fender2004]

I was looking at eBay the other day as you do, and I saw some down lighters that go into the bottom of the Z3 doors. So that when you open the door the light turns on and then off when the door closes, also it did say it would fit the Z3!
I looked at the bottom of the door there are some round holes with rubber grommets in, so my question is if anyone knows, will there be wiring in the door to supply power to a down light, or would I have to feed new wiring to enable the lights to work at described above? Just to save taking the door card off unnecessarily.

 

[petecossie]

Although I can't shed any light (Sorry Alan for the pun ) on this subject I'd come across these down lighters earlier this year and wondered how they could be fitted to any Z3 model. I'll be interested in any feedback/input on the subject as I'd like some of these myself.
I believe T- Tony installed something similar on his Z4 a while ago.
Presumable they would need to be tied in to the light switch in the door shut panel which activates the interior lights when you open the door ?

 

[t-tony]

If you have footwell lights you can connect into them.
If you don't, there will be no wiring.

Tony.

 

[Fender2004]

The advert for the down lights states that, you can simply unplug the wiring from your existing light and then plug the new down light in, but they do not use a Z3 it is another BMW. I just wondered if there was any wiring in the door to enable you to fit these lights, as they may have been on the M models? Looks like I'll have to remove the door card to find out?
I did purchase a kit for the lights in the footwell, and they work great getting the power from a wire in the A pillar. But if I have to find a wire to power the down lights I'm not sure where it will come from, so that the light only work when you open the door.
If I sort anything out I'll let you know how I did it.

 

[Fender2004]

If you have footwell lights you can connect into them.
If you don't, there will be no wiring.

Tony.

Thanks Tony I did buy a kit for the footwell from somewhere, so maybe I can tap in this wiring?
Alan

 

[t-tony]

If you have working footwell lights Alan it’s fairly easy to fit puddle lights. And, as they’re LEDs with very little current draw you can use speaker cable to connect them. Have a look through my E85 thread.

Tony.

 

[t-tony]

I bought some for my VW Touareg a few years ago and they were “plug and play” as originally fitted. Dead easy. 2 minutes per door.

Tony.

 

[Fender2004]

If you have working footwell lights Alan it’s fairly easy to fit puddle lights. And, as they’re LEDs with very little current draw you can use speaker cable to connect them. Have a look through my E85 thread.

Tony.

Ok Tony many thanks, I do have footwell lights but it was a kit I installed myself so I'll check the wiring out and see if I can connect into that. I'll check out the E85 thread too.

Alan

 

[t-tony]

You can either run a double cable through the door jam, or, just a live feed for the puddle lights and earth them inside the door.

Tony.

 

[Dado]

I fitted some puddle lights a while ago and just ran a double wire through the rubber flexi between door and frame, up the screen piler and along to the interior light, can't remember if the light works switched live or switched earth now but if you use a twin cable you can swap to whichever is relevant, and as t-tony says you don't need that big a cable.
Sounds involved but the trim is not difficult to remove and refit without trace of fiddling with and the end result is very good.

 

[t-tony]

The new "oil burner" has puddle lights already fitted, so we may invest in some replacements with the BMW logo. It has lots of toys for us to investigate.

Tony.

 

[Fender2004]

I fitted some puddle lights a while ago and just ran a double wire through the rubber flexi between door and frame, up the screen piler and along to the interior light, can't remember if the light works switched live or switched earth now but if you use a twin cable you can swap to whichever is relevant, and as t-tony says you don't need that big a cable.
Sounds involved but the trim is not difficult to remove and refit without trace of fiddling with and the end result is very good.

I have installed some lights in the footwell, so I maybe able to get the power from these, then they will come on when the door opens

 

[t-tony]

That'll be the best way to do it Alan.

Tony.

 

[Fender2004]

That’s what I was thinking as I have already spliced into the wire in the A post, when I attached the lights in the footwell.
Thanks everyone for your advice.
Alan