BMW LED Courtesy Lights on the CX-7???

[07LiquidCX7]

I am in the process of doing this now, have 2 doors done (minus final hookup to dome light) and hope to have the rear doors done in the next couple of days. Looks amazing. They light up just like the dome lights when you unlock the car and fade off when the dome fades off. I did this to my BMW (shown below) and the wife wanted something like it. I LOVE it and so does she. I was thinking of doing a DIY, but this is very tedious and time consuming (this mod). Would anyone be interested in it? It involves drilling holes in your door handles and grinding areas of the door down to allow wires to pass through. Also requires soldering prowess (minor) and patience to run wires. Has taken about 10 hours so far to do 2 doors. Here's what it looks like on my BMW. Pics of how it looks on the CX-7 to come tomorrow. (2thumbs)

 

[StealthWyvern]

what does it look like during the day? Can you see the LED from outisde of the car?

 

[07LiquidCX7]

what does it look like during the day? Can you see the LED from outisde of the car?

You don't see the LED at all during the day. Courtesy lights are to help you locate your door handles at night and prevent you from scratching your paint while searching for the keyhole in the dark.

You don't see the LED's from outside of the car as they are installed on the inner /rear portion of the door handles. Only way to see them is to look intentionally behind your door handles. At night you see the light VERY well, especially with the super bright LED's I used. Will post pics tomorrow.

 

[StealthWyvern]

You don't see the LED at all during the day. Courtesy lights are to help you locate your door handles at night and prevent you from scratching your paint while searching for the keyhole in the dark.

You don't see the LED's from outside of the car as they are installed on the inner /rear portion of the door handles. Only way to see them is to look intentionally behind your door handles. At night you see the light VERY well, especially with the super bright LED's I used. Will post pics tomorrow.

Thats what I figured but wanted to be sure. Sounds like a good mod and it does sound time consumeing to do.

 

[MrEous]

Courtesy lights are to help you locate your door handles at night and prevent you from scratching your paint while searching for the keyhole in the dark.

Why not just use your remote fob to open the doors?

Don't get me wrong, this is a nice mod.

 

[StealthWyvern]

Why not just use your remote fob to open the doors?

Don't get me wrong, this is a nice mod.

Not everyone has a remote fob.. I do for my car but not my truck. I also only have one fob for the p5. To me this is a better mod then the air soft gun in the mazda 3 that someone did. lol

 

[Seminole]

Not everyone has a remote fob.. I do for my car but not my truck. I also only have one fob for the p5. To me this is a better mod then the air soft gun in the mazda 3 that someone did. lol

All CX-7's come standard with remote key less entry.

 

[StealthWyvern]

All CX-7's come standard with remote key less entry.

I was looking at this mod as a mod that can be done on any car and not just the CX-7 which is why I made that statement.

 

[MrEous]

It's a cool mod regardless...I moonlight doing valet and see the BMWs with the courtesy lights. Pretty nice.

 

[07LiquidCX7]

I was looking at this mod as a mod that can be done on any car and not just the CX-7 which is why I made that statement.

You are correct it can be done with any car... some harder than others. The CX-7 was a PITA and fought me the whole way. Finished it today and wow the results are awesome. Total mod time was about 20 hours due to mixups and learning the vehicle. I could probably do it again in about 10 hours.

The remote does indeed open your doors but the handle is still dark, you'd have to search for it in a pitch black area. Besides that, it looks awesome and turns a $25000 CX-7 into a $40000 luxury SUV look a like. It's just a nice feature... like dual climate control... do you need it? no... but still nice to have. Anyway if you are asking why? then I'd avoid this mod as it involves alot of stuff you might not be willing to do.

Ok enough buildup on with the pics.

 

[tviera]

So how do these magic lights light up if you don't have keyless entry to activate the dome light?

 

[07LiquidCX7]

They come on anytime the dome lights on. So if you hit unlock on the keyless, then they turn on. Or if a door is opened (car unlocked) then they come on with the dome light too just like any courtesy light would. It's actually a really nice feature that I think all manufacturers will start doing in the future, like HID headlights and mp3 cd players.

They work just like the interior courtesy lights... so they fade on with the interiors and fade off too. I would take a video but I don't know how to host vids to post them. I'll post if someone can tell me how.

 

[StealthWyvern]

So how do these magic lights light up if you don't have keyless entry to activate the dome light?

most cars that i've owned aI can just pull the door handle and the dome lights will light up.

 

[Seminole]

They come on anytime the dome lights on. So if you hit unlock on the keyless, then they turn on. Or if a door is opened (car unlocked) then they come on with the dome light too just like any courtesy light would. It's actually a really nice feature that I think all manufacturers will start doing in the future, like HID headlights and mp3 cd players.

They work just like the interior courtesy lights... so they fade on with the interiors and fade off too. I would take a video but I don't know how to host vids to post them. I'll post if someone can tell me how.

You can always post a video to Putfile and then link it here.

 

[tviera]

most cars that i've owned aI can just pull the door handle and the dome lights will light up.

Thats the point. If I can pull the handle to turn them on then its obvious I know where the handle is making these lights form over function. Don't get me wrong, they look nice. I just don't think its worth the time. Carry a small flashlight on your key ring. If it so dark you can't see the door handle, I'd be more concerned with my surroundings.

 

[Dalton]

The remote does indeed open your doors but the handle is still dark, you'd have to search for it in a pitch black area. Besides that, it looks awesome and turns a $25000 CX-7 into a $40000 luxury SUV look a like. It's just a nice feature... like dual climate control... do you need it? no... but still nice to have. Anyway if you are asking why? then I'd avoid this mod as it involves alot of stuff you might not be willing to do.

Ok enough buildup on with the pics.

(cool)

 

[CXheaven]

Coolness !!

 

[Luded]

AWESOME MOD I really love seeing owners do DIY's, have to admit not everything turns out so well but this is a really great MOD (IMO)

Great job 07LiquidCX7(2thumbs)

 

[StickShiftCamry]

I'm thinkin of doin this, mine will have a cut off switch, i'll situate it by the TCS button, where i'll have it on during driving at nite just cuz it looks hot, U LEARNED THAT HERE.

 

[07LiquidCX7]

I'm thinkin of doin this, mine will have a cut off switch, i'll situate it by the TCS button, where i'll have it on during driving at nite just cuz it looks hot, U LEARNED THAT HERE.

I very rarely drive with it on at night... just as kind of a showoff thing. And when I want them on I just hit the dome light on. Not quite as cool but still pretty tight for short bursts.