LED ambient lighting

[GreenGrizly]

Hi all, I thought I would post some details of my ambient lighting upgrade. I found the MG4 interior a bit dull without any ambient lighting, especially at night.

This is the link to the kit I bought on Amazon:

Led ambient lights

It was pretty straight forward to fit the kit as I decided to keep it as simple as possible and go with one on the dash and then 1 above each of the four doors.The cables are completely hidden away by tucking them into the door surround rubbers etc and running them all to the controller which I placed at the back of the centre console. I then powered it by tapping into the rear of the 12v accessory socket in the centre console.

Each of the led strips can be cut to any length you require and they are so thin they can just be pushed into gaps in the interior trim.

They do a cool animation when you power on the car (when you sit in the drivers seat and again when you first put the car in drive) and then revert to whatever colour and brightness you set them to. There is an app for your phone to control them.

I have made a quick video to show what they do when you get in the car.....

Led light video

Let me know what you think of the results.

 

[mearle73]

I think they look really good,tempted to get some,I always liked the ambient lighting on my Mini cooper.

 

[ajhayden93]

How easy is it to tap in to the 12v? I've not got a lot of experience with that kind of thing

 

[GreenGrizly]

How easy is it to tap in to the 12v? I've not got a lot of experience with that kind of thing

TBH, that is the trickiest part. If you remove the kick panel beind the centre console - next to the drivers footrest, you can just about reach in to pull the plug from the back of the 12v socket. The wires are short so it's quite tricky to tap into them but it is doable. If you are worried though, the kit comes with a standard 12v cigarette adapter so you can just plug into the socket on the front and run the cable down the side - this is much simpler and it is what I did to make sure it all worked before permanently wiring it in.

 

[maverickz]

TBH, that is the trickiest part. If you remove the kick panel beind the centre console - next to the drivers footrest, you can just about reach in to pull the plug from the back of the 12v socket. The wires are short so it's quite tricky to tap into them but it is doable. If you are worried though, the kit comes with a standard 12v cigarette adapter so you can just plug into the socket on the front and run the cable down the side - this is much simpler and it is what I did to make sure it all worked before permanently wiring it in.

remove the kick panel
Just pull it? Would you mind to point where to pull?
Thanks.

 

[GreenGrizly]

remove the kick panel
Just pull it? Would you mind to point where to pull?
Thanks.

There is a single clip holding it in the centre which pulls out if you pop the pin in the centre out. Then the kick panel clips out from the front (closest to drivers seat) first. The panel takes a decent pull but it will pop out if you get your fingers under the bottom edge.

 

[AdyC]

Does it always power on with the multi colour effect or can you have it come on solid colour. Not keen on the strobing thats all. Other than that looks good. Any reason you didnt go for the USB version?

 

[GreenGrizly]

Does it always power on with the multi colour effect or can you have it come on solid colour. Not keen on the strobing thats all. Other than that looks good

The one I fitted always starts with the multicolour animation. There are other versions which just come straight on with a colour I seem to recall from when I was looking into them.

I know what you mean about the startup animation, it's not for everyone but I like it as it makes a bit of a show of the startup sequence like the mg bootup animation on the main screen.

It looks worse in the video I posted as the phone makes it look brighter and strobier than in real life. It is a perfectly smooth fill up and then empty animation in person.

 

[AdyC]

Do you think the strips would fit along the door line to continue on from the dash?
I was thinking of doing this and installing along this line taking the door panels off and wiring through the grommet.
Are the cables to each strip long enough though if i did the rear doors as well?

 

[GreenGrizly]

Do you think the strips would fit along the door line to continue on from the dash?
I was thinking of doing this and installing along this line taking the door panels off and wiring through the grommet.
Are the cables to each strip long enough though if i did the rear doors as well?

The cables are definitely long enough. I considered that idea but I'm not sure they can be squeezed into the gaps in the door cards as there doesn't seem to be enough of a recess where the sections meet. I also didn't want the hassle of taking all the door cards off, plus it could be tricky to invisibly get the cables through to the backside of the door cards without making a hole for them, which again I didn't fancy.

 

[AdyC]

The cables are definitely long enough. I considered that idea but I'm not sure they can be squeezed into the gaps in the door cards as there doesn't seem to be enough of a recess where the sections meet. I also didn't want the hassle of taking all the door cards off, plus it could be tricky to invisibly get the cables through to the backside of the door cards without making a hole for them, which again I didn't fancy.

I did think they may not go into the gap as it's more of a seam than two seperate parts. Thanks for that it's made my mind up now. Would have looked good if doable.

 

[salty]

Hi all, I thought I would post some details of my ambient lighting upgrade. I found the MG4 interior a bit dull without any ambient lighting, especially at night.

View attachment 17948

This is the link to the kit I bought on Amazon:

Led ambient lights

It was pretty straight forward to fit the kit as I decided to keep it as simple as possible and go with one on the dash and then 1 above each of the four doors.The cables are completely hidden away by tucking them into the door surround rubbers etc and running them all to the controller which I placed at the back of the centre console. I then powered it by tapping into the rear of the 12v accessory socket in the centre console.

Each of the led strips can be cut to any length you require and they are so thin they can just be pushed into gaps in the interior trim.

They do a cool animation when you power on the car (when you sit in the drivers seat and again when you first put the car in drive) and then revert to whatever colour and brightness you set them to. There is an app for your phone to control them.

I have made a quick video to show what they do when you get in the car.....

Led light video

Let me know what you think of the results.

Like that, looks great.

 

[Deleted member 14300]

I'd like the white light going across the bonnet. Be nice that.