Since I bought my Z4 I always thought that the lighting in the boot is really inadequate, especially if you got some things in the front part of the boot near the opening it blocks the single original light fitted and the rest of the boot is then very dark!
So I decided to add some more light. I had some LED neon strips lying around so fitted one of them. The process is really very simple and easy which anyone can do in about 15 to 30 minutes. I opened the roof so the boot would open upright and that way you have access to the rear bulkhead panel and fitted the led strip to the top of this:
I run the cable from the LED strip down behind the trim panel that usually hides the amp and from there below the trim on the boot floor, you can do this without actually removing any trim, just lift it little and tuck the cable in:
From there I ran the cable alongside the car's original cables and tied it with zip ties. I connected the cable from the LED strip to the cable coming from the existing boot light using a t-splice quick connector. I used expanded fabric sleeving (can't remember the actual name for it) so to keep it looking neat and almost OE!:
And this is the finished results, with the boot partition up and with it down. As you can see regardless of where the boot partition is it illuminates the entire boot area quite well. From normal viewing angle / height you cannot see the LED strip at all. It is only really noticeable if you crouch down on your knees and look up into the boot.
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
2009 sdrive30i auto Sapphire Black / Coral Red
- MrPT
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
Fantastic.
2008 Z4MC: heavy wheels | crap suspension | skittish rear end | wobbly engine | not enough induction noise | underwhelming turn in | inconsistent braking | lardy battery | chubby steering wheel
2006 Z4 2.5si: gone
2006 Z4 2.5si: gone
- enzed4
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
I like that - well done .
Do you have a link to the LED strip you used?
Do you have a link to the LED strip you used?
Gone: 2010 35i DCT
Gone: 2008 2.5Si Sport
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
I used the ones in the ebay link below. I bought them quite some time ago but didn't do anything with them, as you can see from the link they are actually flexible DRL dual colour led strips. Since I had them lying around I used them I just didn't bother connecting the yellow indicator wire. Maybe I should have done that and make the boot flash yellow with the indicators
https://www.ebay.es/itm/2-X-60CM-FLEXIB ... 4d5b90b363
https://www.ebay.es/itm/2-X-60CM-FLEXIB ... 4d5b90b363
2009 sdrive30i auto Sapphire Black / Coral Red
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
What a great idea!
E89 Z4 2.3i
E85 Z4 2.0i (Sold)
F10 523i Touring
E82 125i M Sport Edition Plus
E36 Z3 2.8i widebody
R65 ‘Airhead’ (Restored and sold)
E85 Z4 2.0i (Sold)
F10 523i Touring
E82 125i M Sport Edition Plus
E36 Z3 2.8i widebody
R65 ‘Airhead’ (Restored and sold)
- Singapore stag
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
How did you secure the lights onto the back?Silverstar wrote: ↑Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:54 pm I used the ones in the ebay link below. I bought them quite some time ago but didn't do anything with them, as you can see from the link they are actually flexible DRL dual colour led strips. Since I had them lying around I used them I just didn't bother connecting the yellow indicator wire. Maybe I should have done that and make the boot flash yellow with the indicators
https://www.ebay.es/itm/2-X-60CM-FLEXIB ... 4d5b90b363
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
Those light strips are generally self adhesive on one sideSingapore stag wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:56 amHow did you secure the lights onto the back?Silverstar wrote: ↑Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:54 pm I used the ones in the ebay link below. I bought them quite some time ago but didn't do anything with them, as you can see from the link they are actually flexible DRL dual colour led strips. Since I had them lying around I used them I just didn't bother connecting the yellow indicator wire. Maybe I should have done that and make the boot flash yellow with the indicators
https://www.ebay.es/itm/2-X-60CM-FLEXIB ... 4d5b90b363
Rob
e89 Sdrive 20i, plenty of mumbo & good economy-the thinking bears z4
e89 Sdrive 30i, this ones busted, pass me another...
e85 3.0si sold
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Extended Boot (Trunk) Lighting
Singapore stag wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:56 amHow did you secure the lights onto the back?Silverstar wrote: ↑Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:54 pm I used the ones in the ebay link below. I bought them quite some time ago but didn't do anything with them, as you can see from the link they are actually flexible DRL dual colour led strips. Since I had them lying around I used them I just didn't bother connecting the yellow indicator wire. Maybe I should have done that and make the boot flash yellow with the indicators
https://www.ebay.es/itm/2-X-60CM-FLEXIB ... 4d5b90b363
These strip lights don't have self adhesive on the back but they come with little clips with tiny screws, you can just about see them in the photo I posted. So I just screwed the clips to the felt / fabric panel and then mounted the strip to it. That panel being made of some sort of fabric I am not sure how well self adhesive tape would hold or if for any reason I wanted to remove it, if it would make a mess of the panel. This way I can revert back to original without any visible damage to the panel.
2009 sdrive30i auto Sapphire Black / Coral Red