Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area

markboris

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This is a very quick and easy way to add ambient lighting in the rear door storage area.

I had taken the door panels off to sound deaden the doors and thought of adding some lighting to the rear doors but had some other projects going so never got around to it. Then went to have the windows tinted and the shop wanted to take off the door panels to "make it easier" for them to get down to the bottom part of the windows. Took the car home and took off the panels and had the windows tinted. This time I figured before I put the door panels on again, I would add lighting to the door storage area in the rear doors.

Couple of things.... I only wanted to add Ice Blue LED lighting as that is color I like and keep my ambient lighting on for the rest of the car. I like to match the color of the switches and controls which are always Ice Blue. This lighting only comes on when the parking or headlights are on (basically nighttime driving) so it is not part of the ambient lighting circuit.

Removing the door panels are fairly easy and only take a couple of minutes. Once removed you lay it down on the front side and from the back, remove the 7 screws that hold on the speaker grill. Turn it back over and attach an LED light strip of your choice on the door panel just under the speaker grill lip. Depending on the intensity of the lights you get and how bright you want it, you move the LED strip either more under the grill to give less and defused light or more away from the grill to shine light directly down into the storage bin giving you more light. Run the wires through the already small hole in the door panel to the rear of the panel to the window switch just above the speaker. There are four wires on the plug for the switch. The two wires that are for the switch illumination are White/Blue for positive and Gray/Orange for negative. Tap into those wires and you are done.

I have a couple of photos below showing where the LED strip goes, where the wire for the strip goes into the door panel and the other side where I tapped into the switch. I did tape everything up and secure the wiring but wanted to show the photo without that so you can see where I tapped into the wiring. This project literally takes about 45 minutes to do both doors if you are familiar working with interior trims and electrical. Below my photos I included how to remove the door panel from the service manual.

This is the Ice Blue LED strip lighting I got from Amazon but of course many colors are available. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z3744P1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Again, this is not multi colored ambient lighting and there is no electrical in the door for ambient lighting that can be controlled from the center display. This will only light up when you have the headlights on, when all the other switches in the car light up.

Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area IMG_41611900


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area IMG_41621900


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area IMG_41661900


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.18.35 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.18.51 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.19.10 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.19.31 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.19.49 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.20.09 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.20.33 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E Adding ambient lighting in the rear door storage area Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 2.20.56 AM
 
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Brademcee

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Wow, thanks for posting this. Two questions: Where are you pulling the power for the lights? and do you think if I ordered the Ford ambient lighting parts, it can be spliced with the cars other ambient lighting where it is then controlled through the ambient lighting settings?
 
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markboris

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Wow, thanks for posting this. Two questions: Where are you pulling the power for the lights? and do you think if I ordered the Ford ambient lighting parts, it can be spliced with the cars other ambient lighting where it is then controlled through the ambient lighting settings?
I did state in my post above that I am getting the power from the illumination wires that are going to the power window switch and mentioned the exact wires you need to tap into. This is NOT the ambient lighting circuitry that is in the front doors that control the ambient lighting in those doors. There is no ambient lighting wiring in the rear doors. In tapping into the the window switch illumination wires, any LED lighting you install in that rear door panel will only come on when the headlights are on. This is all I wanted to do anyway is match the Ice Blue lighting in the rear door storage bins to that of the front door storage bins since Ice Blue is the color I keep the ambient lighting on all the time.

In order to have ambient lighting in the rear door panels, you would need to run wiring from the ambient lighting circuit from under the dash in the front all the way into the rear doors which would be very time consuming. Then there is the fact that the Ford part for the ambient lighting in the front doors is close to $100 and you can get LED strip lighting like the ones I got for only a few dollars.
 
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MachE-Iconic

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I drive a Mach-e RWD-ST and this car does not have ambient lighting.
I applied your idea in the backdoors and it works great. The drivers door has only 3 wires in the switch instead of 4. White/Blue for positive is present but negative is not. Could you help me which of the other colors I could use now.
Then I can also have ambient lighting on the front doors.
 
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markboris

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I drive a Mach-e RWD-ST and this car does not have ambient lighting.
I applied your idea in the backdoors and it works great. The drivers door has only 3 wires in the switch instead of 4. White/Blue for positive is present but negative is not. Could you help me which of the other colors I could use now.
Then I can also have ambient lighting on the front doors.
Hi Nico, all Black wires with a violet stripe are grounds. There should be some in that wiring loom that goes to the power window switches.
 


MachE-Iconic

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Thanks for your response. This is indeed what I had thought. Unfortunately, it is a bit more complicated with the driver's door. The ambient lighting does not go off then. The LED light of the central locking system then also lights up continuously. I miss the on-off function as for the button lighting in the doors. It works fine at the rear.

IMG_3303.JPG
 
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markboris

markboris

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Thanks for your response. This is indeed what I had thought. Unfortunately, it is a bit more complicated with the driver's door. The ambient lighting does not go off then. The LED light of the central locking system then also lights up continuously. I miss the on-off function as for the button lighting in the doors. It works fine at the rear.

IMG_3303.JPG
Nico, were you able to make it work in the front passenger door? If so, the only issue you are having is with the drivers door, correct? If you can find a blue wire with a green stripe, try that for the positive. Unfortunately, I am leaving today for a few days and will not be back until Tuesday so I cannot look into this into more detail until then but keep me informed.
 
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markboris

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Do you know if the Ambient light in our cars uses standard RGB controller technology? Like can i tap into the front ambient light cables with a rgb strip and get matching colors?
It does not use a standard RGG controller as far as I can tell. Here is an explanation from the repair manual on how it operates.

Ambient Lighting

The ambient lighting subsystem consists of the BCM and the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) located within the instrument panel, floor console, front door panels and front footwell areas. The ambient lighting is operational when the ignition is in any state other than off (the exception is when it is used in conjunction with the illuminated entry/exit features), the headlamps are on and the outside ambient light level is low. The BCM provides the voltage to the ambient lighting system, while the information and entertainment display unit (touchscreen) is used to cycle through the different color combinations or turn the ambient lighting feature on or off. A LIN circuit is routed from the BCM to all of the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). There are 3 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) (red, blue and green) within each LED assembly. By illuminating various color combinations, the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are able to produce different colors of ambient light.

The APIM uses software to monitor the user interface from the touchscreen. Based on the ambient lighting system selections made using the touchscreen, the APIM sends ambient light intensity request messages over the communication network for brightness settings. The BCM retains the last brightness setting between uses.

If equipped, the ambient lighting can be set in auto mode, which will change the color of the ambient lighting, IPC and touchscreen based on vehicle drive mode. The settings are adjusted on the touchscreen menu.
 

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It does not use a standard RGG controller as far as I can tell. Here is an explanation from the repair manual on how it operates.

Ambient Lighting

The ambient lighting subsystem consists of the BCM and the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) located within the instrument panel, floor console, front door panels and front footwell areas. The ambient lighting is operational when the ignition is in any state other than off (the exception is when it is used in conjunction with the illuminated entry/exit features), the headlamps are on and the outside ambient light level is low. The BCM provides the voltage to the ambient lighting system, while the information and entertainment display unit (touchscreen) is used to cycle through the different color combinations or turn the ambient lighting feature on or off. A LIN circuit is routed from the BCM to all of the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). There are 3 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) (red, blue and green) within each LED assembly. By illuminating various color combinations, the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are able to produce different colors of ambient light.

The APIM uses software to monitor the user interface from the touchscreen. Based on the ambient lighting system selections made using the touchscreen, the APIM sends ambient light intensity request messages over the communication network for brightness settings. The BCM retains the last brightness setting between uses.

If equipped, the ambient lighting can be set in auto mode, which will change the color of the ambient lighting, IPC and touchscreen based on vehicle drive mode. The settings are adjusted on the touchscreen menu.
sounds like rgb kinda. Do you have a wiring diargram by chance? wonder if it'll show how many cables goes to the lighting.
 
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markboris

markboris

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Top is the wiring diagram for the ambient lighting in the front doors, bottom is the ambient lighting for the rest of the interior.

Screen Shot 2021-09-16 at 4.48.45 PM.jpg


Screen Shot 2021-09-16 at 4.49.25 PM.jpg
 

krazieboy

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Thanks!. looking forward to playing with this once my gtpe comes in. maybe i should mess around with my stang one since i plan to sell it. lol
 
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markboris

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Thanks!. looking forward to playing with this once my gtpe comes in. maybe i should mess around with my stang one since i plan to sell it. lol
What year? My 2020 GT500 came with no ambient lighting. It’s not even an option. I added it in the foot wells, cup holders, door storage pockets and latch handle areas just like a GT premium would have. Unlike the Mach-E it does use a three wire RGB setup.
 

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What year? My 2020 GT500 came with no ambient lighting. It’s not even an option. I added it in the foot wells, cup holders, door storage pockets and latch handle areas just like a GT premium would have. Unlike the Mach-E it does use a three wire RGB setup.
2016 Ecoboost premium. Was standard on them
 

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Hi Markboris,
You helped me well last time with ambient lighting in the doors.
I want to try to connect ambient lighting under the armrest.
Removing the center console vent panel gives you good access here. I want to connect the lighting to the wiring loom in the front footwell passenger. See photo.
Can you advise me what color I can use for positive and negative? So that the lights turn off automatically just like in the doors? Or is there a better place to connect?

IMG_3936.JPG


IMG_3937.JPG
 
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markboris

markboris

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Hi Nico, I’m away on vacation (Hawaii ?) and while I can look at the wiring diagram, I always like to test my findings before I post to make sure it’s what you want. I won’t be back until this Monday the 11th. I’ll get back to you then.
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