Auto dipping mirror/ red lighting under mirror

ross27 said:

I couldnt for the life of me get the map reading lights out of the ceiling!!! So i opted for this instead.

2x Plastic LED mounts - £0.90 (Maplin)

Click to expand...

Could you post the Maplin part no. please.

The complete mapreading lights etc. unit should just come out by levering front and back left side and front and back right side,
this is how the map reading lamps are replaced, may even be in the handbook

Yeh Nath, i will do, no problem.

The Leds seem very bright to be honest, afraid they may actually be too bright, but i will soon find out when i try them out in the car. Should get round to dismantling the mirror again on tuesday, will take step by step photos.


The part number on my recipt is UK15.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=2071

They look like the one on the top left of the photo. 5mm Concave.

Ok, here all my photos. Added some descriptions, but if theres any questions just ask.



Ok, so take a plastic card and slide it along the gap releasing the clips.



Continue round the edges.



Get the top half free.



Work along the bottom of the mirror.



All the clips will become free, Ignore the cable in this photo, i had previously ran the cable in at an earlier date.



This is the cover that you have just removed, this holds the glass.



Get a flat head screwdriver and begin to prise off the metal clip.



Work around each side.



The ring will then pop off. The mirror housing will simply pull off with little force.



Keep hold of the metal ring.

I suggest putting the clip back on now. When putting the mirror housing back on, it will take some amount of force. I have had mine on and off around three times and and have not caused any damage.(incase anyone is scared of applying too much force)



Next get the cover off. I used a card again to creat a gap, then got my fingers underneath.



You can see the clips that hold this in place.



To remove the ball mount, you give it a firm tug to one side, it will unclip.



Get your cable down as i have.



To get this mount back in, you have to do the following. You need to press in each end of the mounts, one at a time. Press in where the red arrow points, untill the metal clip (Blue arrow) fills the gap (green mark). Basically, the metal clip (blue arrow) hold the side in around 2mm. This allows you to get the mount back into the ceiling. This will become obvious when you come to do it. When putting it back in, do one side at a time, applying a fair amount of pressure.



Its very hard to explain and photograph.



As you can see, the mount is hollow, and you can feed your cable down the middle.



Feed your cable through, exactly as i have.



Now clip it back in. As i explained a few photos above.

Now reclip in the plastic trim.



I measured out and marked the location of my holes. I then drilled a 5mm hole.(No photos of this! Sorry)




For the next part, i never took step by step photos as the camera's battery died.
Basically, i put the mirror housing back on, and then positioned my mirror to suit my driving position. Held the led mounts in position, so that they illuminated the gear surround, and then dabbed them with hot melt glue. Once happy with the positon, i applied a fair amount of glue.

In some parts i drilled holes inside the mirror housing to feed the cables through.










This is how it looked once i had it all put together and connected the cables up.



This shows one of the back holes i drilled to feed the cable through.



Pluged in and illuminated.



This is how it looks from the underside. You cannot see them when driving, unless you dip your head down.



Now, down at the fuse box, i drilled holes again, to create a route for my cables.



This shows my live wire with inline fuse (3amp).



This is the slot i have plugged into. It is a switched live, so comes on with ignition. Note that depending on the spec of your car, this slot may be occupied by a fuse, so you will have to just try and find an empty one.



I earthed onto the chassis, using an 8mm bolt and a nut on the other end. The wire has a crimped ring connector on the other end.







Hopefully this is of use. I do not have photos of the results yet, as i my phone camera was not up to the job of night photos.

I would say my LED's are a tad bright. They look good shineing onto the gear stick and dark surround, but when you hand goes underneath, it appears too bright. Brighter than my dads Audi.

I suppose resistors or something could be used to dim the brightness. Will give them a go and see how they go for a week or two.

In all, im happy with the result. Although i may change them to come on with my sidelights, just as my dads Audi does.

Good pics......can't wait for the "words", I took my mirror unit off a few weeks back to investigate and it was pig getting it back on, which involved
a bit of upside down lying down on the front passenger seat
Until I sat back and thought about it!!!!! which only helped a bit

Nath. said:

Looks good mate, why didn't you make the holes big enough for the LED holders to pop through from the outside as they are designed to do? like this>>>>>>>http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/2774/3241/6934120033_large.jpg

I'm not dissing your mod, just curious.

What does the red light look like at night?

Click to expand...

Then the led would be visible when driving. The last thing i would want is red leds catching my eyes.

I wanted them sunken in, so nothing was visible. This is how the standard ones on the auto dip mirrors are.




I added some desciptions, so have another look.

ross27 said:

Then the led would be visible when driving. The last thing i would want is red leds catching my eyes.

I wanted them sunken in, so nothing was visible. This is how the standard ones on the auto dip mirrors are.




I added some desciptions, so have another look.

Click to expand...

Yes, as you say the standard ones are recessed.

They aren't visibly unless you look from underneath and only shine down.

Good work, looks like the factory fit.

great post i'm going to get around to doing mine soon

Cant wait to do this One for when Im at home at christmas I think. Daunted by routing the cable .

Did I miss the Size / rating etc of the LEDS?

Good work!

**EDIT

Does an auto dimming mirror already have the LEDSs in? If I was to buy a mirror and supply 12v would that work??

Should be made a sticky or put in quides

Cheers

Bump!

Never got round to taking decent interior photos of the results. Took a couple photos to try and show them, although crap camera and difficult lighting make for not great photos!

The brightness of the LED's is slightly to bright, but you only notice this if you compare to standard cars such as the Audis etc. Its a nice glow, and i have had a few good comments from people who seen it. They do seem bright when you stick your hand underneath at night, or a piece of paper.


The pattern is focused on the gear surround area, as you can see from where it shines on my arm.

Looks like a great guide but all your pics have been dropped

Useful info Nath. Thinking of just fitting an auto dimming mirror.

For anyone is interested, i have updated the links to the photos. Not been on here in ages!

I would say the Exeo bit is a no go for fitting in the mirror after having a go this morning