Has anyone installed interior LED trim lights?

[HuntingPudel]

I actually don't remember if it came with instructions or if you go to a link they supply. I do remember it was a pain getting those strips in the door panels. Much more so than the ones I used when I did my own kit. The wiring was very easy but then I am doing electrical in cars and homes all the time. I know Eric did not want to use quite a few of the lights it came with and neither will I. Just the rear door storage areas, all four door panel and dash accent lighting.

LOL If I did it I'd just be into the rear door pocket lighting. Too much cash outlay for just those two. ??

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[markboris]

LOL If I did it I'd just be into the rear door pocket lighting. Too much cash outlay for just those two. ??

You could do this.
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/adding-ambient-lighting-in-the-rear-door-storage-area.4856/

 

[HuntingPudel]

You could do this.
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/adding-ambient-lighting-in-the-rear-door-storage-area.4856/

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that. Too much work work to do right now, so probably later in the year. ??

 

[markboris]

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that. Too much work work to do right now, so probably later in the year. ??

Seriously though, who sits in the back seat? I rarely ever have anyone back there and at night that’s even more rare. I bet the same for you. I just like tinkering so that’s why I installed the lights in the rear door storage area. And also because in the ‘21’s they were supposed to have them back there until the last minute they removed it like several other items that were removed before the first Mach-E came out. ?

 

[HuntingPudel]

Seriously though, who sits in the back seat? I rarely ever have anyone back there and at night that’s even more rare. I bet the same for you. I just like tinkering so that’s why I installed the lights in the rear door storage area. And also because in the ‘21’s they were supposed to have them back there until the last minute they removed it like several other items that were removed before the first Mach-E came out. ?

Nobody sits in back. I was trying to get something out of one of the rear door pockets the other night and… Well, you know. Not likely to run into that situation on a regular basis. ??

 

[markboris]

Sounds good. Look forward to seeing the results and hearing your feedback on the install. I'm in AZ, so worst case maybe I'll take a trip to San Diego and have them installed at the EV Vida shop.

I ended up having time last night and did a partial install of this kit:
https://ev-vida.store/products/mustang-mach-e-ambient-lighting-kit

They did modify the main control box to work when you have the headlight switch in "Auto". That was one of the things I did not like about this kit when I installed it in prior Mach-E's. I installed the ambient lighting strips in all four doors, storage lighting in the rear doors and footwell lighting in the rear. I did not have time to install the dash lighting. I'm not sure if I have to take the speaker grill across the dash off to install the LED strips and need to work on the tweeters at the same time. They are crossed over way to low on the '24's compared to the two 21's I had and the sound is very harsh. I don't care to have the speaker grills back lit so won't be installing the LED lights they supplied for that. Hope to tackle the dash lighting and tweeters today.

 

[markboris]

Had a bit more time yesterday and after thinking about it, I did not like the fact that the lighting I installed in the rear door storage pockets were brighter than the OEM front door storage pockets. So.... I replaced the OEM ones in the front doors with the ones from the kit. Now they all match. Then after it was all together, decided to pull off the doors again and install a light in the grab handle of each door to light the door release lever. Also added a light in the glove box. The kit comes with all of these in case you want to use them. So now the only lights I did not use out of the kit is for behind the speaker grills which I will not be installing.

Front door

Rear door

Glove box

 

[doubled520]

That looks amazing! Thanks for sharing. I'll definitely have to pick up the light kit.

 

[Dan the Man]

Had a bit more time yesterday and after thinking about it, I did not like the fact that the lighting I installed in the rear door storage pockets were brighter than the OEM front door storage pockets. So.... I replaced the OEM ones in the front doors with the ones from the kit. Now they all match. Then after it was all together, decided to pull off the doors again and install a light in the grab handle of each door to light the door release lever. Also added a light in the glove box. The kit comes with all of these in case you want to use them. So now the only lights I did not use out of the kit is for behind the speaker grills which I will not be installing.

Front door

Rear door

Glove box

Looks great. Could you also send a picture of the dashboard.
Thanks

 

[markboris]

That looks amazing! Thanks for sharing. I'll definitely have to pick up the light kit.

Drew, it's time consuming installing this kit. Not that the kit is a problem but there is a lot of work to do. Wiring, mounting, modifications, knowing how everything comes apart on the car, making sure no wires or connectors are up against hard plastic or metal so they won't rattle, etc. For the amount of time it takes to install these kits, EV-Vida charges a very reasonable price to do the install.

I'm 70 and work a bit slower these days. On Monday, it took me about two hours to install the two front door LED strips, rear footwell lighting (under the rear of front seats) and connect the main controller. Then Tuesday morning another 90 min to do the two rear door LED strips and storage areas. Then Tuesday night, decided to pull off all four doors again and install an LED in the grab handle area to light up the door release levers. At the same time replaced the OEM front door storage area lighting with the ones from the kit so they would match the rear ones I installed plus added a glove compartment light. Doing all of that was another 2 hours.

So far I have at least 5 1/2 hours into it and have not installed the dash lighting but I have the connection wires up there ready to go. Just need to figure out a good way to mount those lights. There install video does not show anything to do with the dash lighting. In '21 when I installed my own ambient lighting, I used EL lighting and glued it to the under part of the speaker grill that runs along the entire dash and it looked great. The strips supplied with this kit have no adhesive and I can't seem to find an area I can force them into a gap like the ones you have to do on the door. By the way, those LED door strips are a real pain in the butt to install. My thumbs are still hurting.

 

[markboris]

Looks great. Could you also send a picture of the dashboard.
Thanks

Have not installed the dash lighting yet. Hopefully can get to it today if I figure out a good way to install the supplied LED strips. I will post photos of it once done.

This is what mine looked like that I made up back three years ago and I hope to make it look similar.

 

[Dan the Man]

Have not installed the dash lighting yet. Hopefully can get to it today if I figure out a good way to install the supplied LED strips. I will post photos of it once done.

This is what mine looked like that I made up back three years ago and I hope to make it look similar.

Thanks!

 

[markboris]

Update.... The reason I left the dash ambient lightsing to last is I also needed to FIX the horrible harshness of the '24 B&O sound system. I spent all morning on that project and it's now done and started working on the dash lighting. The dash LED strips supplied with the EV-Vida kit are not the same as the ones on the doors. Therefore however you try to mount or attach those lights, they will not have the same light effect. The door lights are very very thin and the dash lights are very thick. Like I had done before on my own ambient lighting on my '21, I want the dash and door lighting to be seamless across the front. I have ordered a second kit so I can try to use the door lighting on the dash. If this does not work out, I will use the thicker light strip and just shove it up under the lip of the dash trim. In this way, you will not actually see the light like on the doors but it will have a glow of light from under the trim shining down on the dash. Some may prefer this as that door strip tends to be fairly bright and I have mine dimmed down quite a bit.

A short video of the thick white dash light strip and the thin door strip.

 

[Dan the Man]

Update.... The reason I left the dash ambient lightsing to last is I also needed to FIX the horrible harshness of the '24 B&O sound system. I spent all morning on that project and it's now done and started working on the dash lighting. The dash LED strips supplied with the EV-Vida kit are not the same as the ones on the doors. Therefore however you try to mount or attach those lights, they will not have the same light effect. The door lights are very very thin and the dash lights are very thick. Like I had done before on my own ambient lighting on my '21, I want the dash and door lighting to be seamless across the front. I have ordered a second kit so I can try to use the door lighting on the dash. If this does not work out, I will use the thicker light strip and just shove it up under the lip of the dash trim. In this way, you will not actually see the light like on the doors but it will have a glow of light from under the trim shining down on the dash. Some may prefer this as that door strip tends to be fairly bright and I have mine dimmed down quite a bit.

A short video of the thick white dash light strip and the thin door strip.

Thanks for the update looking forward to seeing the finished product. I'm also thinking this is a job I don't want to tackle.

 

[markboris]

Thanks for the update looking forward to seeing the finished product. I'm also thinking this is a job I don't want to tackle.

Ok Dan, here is your update ?

After working on a few modifications to get the dash light strip to look like it is a continuation of the door, I think I finally got it. I had to glue a thin support across the back where I would be mounting the LED strip light so that it is angled down to match the position of the door lighting. Then glued the light strip both on the support and dash trim. I used a hot glue gun. It was all kind of tricky. I tried different supports, adhesives, epoxies, etc. Took me most of a day to figure out the best solution.

While I got that in and done, I am not finished yet. The LED strip lights for the doors and dash are much brighter than the other lighting supplied with the kit. Even though you can dim the lighting using the Sync controls, if you dim the LED strips down to an acceptable level, then the door storage, floor lighting, etc is too dim. I am working on finding the proper resistors to dim only the LED strip lighting to more closely match the intensity of the other lights. Should have that figured out in a day or two if time permits.

First you have to make sure the lip under the trim is completely flat and there are areas that protrude so you need to flatten them down. I am only showing one area here but there were several and the one under the drivers display is thin and difficult area to work with.

Before and after

The plastic supports (white tubes) glued to dash trim

Different angles of the LED strip lights glued to the dash trim and supports

The strip lighting in on the doors and dash in the photos below are the same deep blue color as the rest of the ambient lighting. They just show up much lighter (more white) in the photos but they aren't.

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