a few months ago i got rr's interior led strips for the footwells. i got 4, 2 for the front and 2 for the back. i wanted 2 in the back to get a nice red glow throughout, but velcro-ing them under the seat back didn't really cut it. i've been mulling around for months to think of where to put it...on the side by the door, velcro to the rear seat bottom (it's just too wide for that lip!), pulling them back up front to get even more light. so anyway, got a DIY-ish bug today and thought of this! sorry for crappy pic, just took one with the phone in the garage. i can take better ones tonight maybe.

edit: you can't really tell from the picture, but the led strip is mounted behind the silver plastic of the console - drilled out 4 small holes to let it shine through.

what do you think?? i think it'll look badass at night!!

UPDATED with better pics. will still take night/outside shots, with a tripod so they're not so blurry! but for now.......

UPDATE #2 - a few night pictures on post 21

 

Some things you just dont do...

 

thats kind of cool.. much better than a led strip just stuck on the console sides. You should take some pics in the daytime, im guessing its not that obvious that theres a led under there.

 

hmmm idk. I get what you're trying to do, but not sure if it will have much effect.

A friend of mine has a bmw 5 series, and they have these very high powered orange LED's on the roof, like by sunroof controls, and above the window switches and such that you don't see unless you look directly at them(they are recessed a bit) but shower orange light over the cabin, very cool look. I feel like that was a bit of what you wanted?

 

need to see some more pics to make a decision but it could look nice.

 

^^i was kinda bummed when i saw "fail"...but then i realized it was from zum, so it doesn't really count.


^ thanks shake! i think it looks pretty cool. there really wasn't a lot of room back there so there's a slight bulge, but i don't think you can tell. you can't see of feel the bulbs, they don't stick out far enough. i'll take some more pics when i pull my car out of the garage and can open both doors fully. then some night pics with the front ones on too.

 

yeah, well kinda. i know exactly what you're talking about - they are perfectly done in bmw's b/c they planned for it and built a "lip" all the way around to hide them. like what we have over our window controls, only all the way to the back. i'd PREFER that in my car, but we really don't have the option (no where that faces "down" to make them more recessed). so really i just wanted some cool ambient light in the back, and putting the strips under the front seats didn't do much b/c our rear "footwells" aren't big enough for the light to show up. at first i didn't want the bulbs to show, but i think this is stealth enough that someone might look and say 'weird why are there holes in your console' and then BAM, red led's.

remember, i have them run to a switch, so it's not like they'll be on all the time w/ my headlights, just when i want them to be. i'll take some night pictures with the doors open to see if it achieves the ambient red i was going for...

 

Have you seen the lighting in the new camaro?


would you be interested in something like that?

 

^ ha ha, YES, that is porno!! i'd want red of course, but damn, that is sweet looking. i hadn't seen an interior pic of the camaro like that.

 

updated pics on post 1

will take some tonight too!

 

it's not easy getting the light to follow a line easily, for that kind of look would require all surface mount components on a flexible PCB

the top one in blue is only a rendering to get the idea rolling, the bottom is the end result (not as ****-like) but nevertheless

Edit: you've done well they're very nicely hidden, is it blinding?

 

not bad not my taste but unique and different good job

 

Thanks Lebren and rod! I figured some wouldn't like it but I think it's cool. Much better ambient light than having them in the rear footwells.

Lebren - no, it's not. They r angled straight out so it's pretty even light. I'll see tonight but I think it will have a nice glow. I thought of anothr idea, i'll pm u.

 

That's the brightest CEL I've ever seen.

 

The Camaro uses EL lighting. I'm planning to do the same with mine.

 

the updated pics look great actually, I like the 4 small holes considering to the amount of light theyre putting out. Good idea in my opinion

 

Wonder if it would have been better in the door sills pointing towards the center console?
Don't even know if there is enough room in the sills? Anyway.......A for effort!
Mine for the back are mounted underneath the front seats, angled slightly up and pointing towards the back.

 

Dude that is sweet... very clean an mostly unnoticable during the day but really lights up at night!

 

thanks!! i'll take some night pics tonight to really see how it looks.

 

hey maz!! umm, kind of - i actually had them "taped" down there for a while. couple things i noticed - yes it was cool, but that whole area is angled upward, so while driving the lights hit all the way up along the roof panel. it looks cool, but i was worried about being pulled over even with tinted windows. also, the seat belt bar is down there (what our drivers belt slides along) and sometimes it would get caught on the led strip. probably could have been figured out better consider i just had it taped down there, but it was a bit of a nuisance from time to time.

thanks by the way. so you have your velcroed to the "seat" of the driver's seat? that's a good idea - does it give off a good amount of light?

 

a few night pics - i was too lazy to pull the car out of the garage, so the tripod wasn't cooperating with me...but you can see it's not too bright, but definitely gets light higher than just the footwells. me likes.

 

that looks sweet, i wish i was not so lazy so that i could do that myself

 

whoa, I like it! You've taken my lights to the next level.

 

Alright,,, I think the intentions and concept are a start, but I think the ultimate itteration of this would for someone to make a mold, silicon, or otherwixw and cast these pieces in clear, then tint them with a semigloss to distribute the light evenly and place the LEDs behind the translucent pieces,,,, Now that would be sick,,,

 

I like. Good starting concept.