I just put these in and they work great. At night, they just iluminate the shifter and the audio controlls, similar to BMW's.

Here is the toggle with LED...

Those are pretty cool! Very nice installation. Where did you get them?

I like the lights, hate the switch.

The 3 LED's came in a little package at AutoZone. Any toggle will do.....

so describe how you did this. How did you run the wiring? How did you wire the switch? Can you get a night shot so we can see how the red lighting looks with no white light around? Way cool touch.

Hey, one other question. since you're already running lighting up there would it be possible to put a red LED up inside the headliner to illuminate the sunroof switches from inside? It's bugged me that they're not illuminated and I'm always fumbling around in the dark to find those switches (plus the map light switches) in the dark.

All those interior panels are easy to get behind. I just ran the wires under the roof panel. If you reach up around the top of the windshield, you'll know what I'm talking about. From there, it's easy. Just run a line from the fuse box and ground.

I had to remove the center piece that holds the Moonroof switches and lights to mount the LEDs. That thing was tough to get off.

As far as lighting up the switches, it would be very difficult.

I took some pics. It hard enough photographing night lights let alone red ones, but these are the best I could do. The red light is actually a little brighter than they appear.....

The illuminated area is about 2 feet in diameter or so. It's definitley enough light to read with or choose a CD....

My hand in the light........

One more..

damn nice. I just got back from a quick nighttime run and it is so dark around the shifter like you said you can't read a CD, etc. the LED thing is way better than turning on the blinding white map light.

that looks sick!

could u post a pic without the led .. for comparison?

I took one but erased it, all you could see was the dash lights, sorry....

Cool

As someone said b4... not sure about the switch

Tori

cool ass install. love it.

ditto on the switch though... these look much better (more stock?)...

first pic (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12384)

I dont think he is going for the stock look
I like the install and switch

wooooooooah i gotta do that lol
thats frekin great

although i think i woulda gone with a more low-profile swtich, that switch seems just a little too big for me
________
ROLL BLUNTS (http://howtorollablunt.net/)

I love it!!!

question - can you get nailed by the police for it? I know you can get nailed (at least in PA) if you have any blue or red exterior lights because they say your impersonating a police officer... but can they get you if its inside the car?

i would say its illegal
cops give tickets for everything in ca

Originally posted by pr0ber
can you get nailed by the police for it? I know you can get nailed (at least in PA) if you have any blue or red exterior lights because they say your impersonating a police officer... but can they get you if its inside the car?

Just make 'em blink and add a siren. You'll get busted but have some fun in the meantime. :D

CHRIST!!!!!!!! Fine, I change the freakin switch....



Here, this better.........

LOL!!!!!!!

way ta go! that'll shut up the critics (not). :)

Mucho bettah

CHRIST!!!!!!!! Fine, I change the freakin switch....

Make sure though to spray paint it black.

like the lights alot.

Originally posted by rxeightr
Make sure though to spray paint it black.

and move it a little to the right...

Nice, very tasteful

Hat's off to ya. Nice work.

OMG :eek:

You guys making too much fun out of this ... it is just lights... it looks good from the inside... it will be even better if you hide the light from people directly seeing it

Have a cap on it or something - so only the panel is illuminated

Tori

That was exactly what I was thinking. The trick that Audi uses is they make it seem like its coming out of nowhere. You really dont want to see those beams of light. Put a piece of trim in front of the lights themselves.

looks good !

how do you see beams of light?

He means conceal the LED lights with a trim strip and all you will see is the illumination on your lower console panel.

That's why they are where they are, you don't even notice them when they are on because they are on the other side of the console drop down.

That's why they are where they are, you don't even notice them when they are on because they are on the other side of the console drop down.

Wow, that's sweet... Come do mine! hehe

me too

Originally posted by mikeb
me too

C'mon mike, get off it. these little one-liners are for no reason other than to push up your post count. Are you trying to go for some kind of record or something?

I have a buddy who also installed this type of lighting for his alarm system. When he gets out of the car and sets his alarm there are three LEDs right behind the shifter that blink from left to right. I guess it would help keep people away from your sh%t.


I will try to get PICs next time I see him.

Holy crap Mikeb!!!!! You have how many thousand posts???

Originally posted by Dugless
Holy crap Mikeb!!!!! You have how many thousand posts???

Yeah, but do a search of his name and see what he posts. At least he's not a troll but about 80 percent of his posts consist of "I agree" or "No kidding" or something equally pallid. One should judge contribution by content, not quantity.

Originally posted by Dugless
Holy crap Mikeb!!!!! You have how many thousand posts???

Most of his posts are "post pics please" or something to that effect. :)

Originally posted by mikeb
i would say its illegal
cops give tickets for everything in ca

I should hope they are not illeagal. My Audi A4 came with those same red lights (2 instead of 3) installed in the same position.

But a great install job Dugless! You reminded me of something I miss from my previous car.

thats the funny thing
if the car comes with it stock its ok
if you add it to your car its almost always illegal

like is 300 lexus taillights legal
apc taillights I put on my civic that look the same illegal

Red light doesn't dilate the pupil like other colors of light and thus unlike normal interior lights won't hamper your driving.

It should be legal.

-Mr. Wigggles

Once again, thank you Steven Hawkins, I mean MrWigggles!!!!:D

Ditto w/Wiggy....As long as it doesn't 'broadcast' the light outside of the car, it can not be considered illegal. If you have the light 'broadcasting' to the front, back, or sides of the car, it's another story. But from the looks of it, I'd say it's fine , (at least in TX).

Those lights look great. I understand how you ran the wires, but how did you actualy mount the lights? I've never worked with LEDs, so I'm a total noob when it comes to this stuff...

Originally posted by IWANTMYRX8
But from the looks of it, I'd say it's fine , (at least in TX).

Well hell...if it's legal in TX, it's legal anywhere. :)

Another thing...would blue LEDs look all right? It's my favorite color (I've got a winning blue also). I know that the console is mainly red, though, so don't know if they will clash. What do you guys think?

My key chain from the dealer included the little 'bulls-eye' LED in red. I switched that out with an ultra bright blue. Starting small on the mods, then working my way up lol :)

I think it would look ok
my 8 is red and I changed all the interior lights to red and added two footwell red lights but I put 2 hyper white bulbs where the reading lights are next to the sunglasses holder and it looks fine

I didn't use red there because you wouldn't be able to see anything

I was looking at the mirror on the RX-8 and thought... the mirror (if you have homelink/autodimming) has power, and the auto-dimming comes on with the ignition.

What would be neat would be to build a LED or array of LEDs which would be powered of the connector on the mirror. That would allow it to easily be added to any RX-8. If the LEDs were in in front of the mirror, you would not even see the addition from the seats in the car.

My wife's G35 has the same mirror, and I could buy two and put one in each car.

Originally posted by mdmaclean
I was looking at the mirror on the RX-8 and thought... the mirror (if you have homelink/autodimming) has power... Someone actually had that idea too but instead used it to power his radar detector.

cheesy

Rice, where are your underbody neons?

Originally posted by LightEmUp
Rice, where are your underbody neons?

I am actually making a non-rice suggestion. My post was not clear, but I was looking for the LEDs to point down to provide gentle red light around the radio and shifter. That would provide a similar effect to what an earlier poster has photos of. My BMW which I traded in had this kind of interior lighting when driving, and it was quite pleasant.

If you pointed the LEDs forward, that would be rice.

Dugless, I think it looks great. Very subtle, functional, nice clean install. I think I may do it myself, but with a twist: 2 red leds, and 2 blue or white. Red when you want low light, Blue/White when you want more. Oh, and a different switch, 2 way, lower profile.

Question for you though... can you see the LEDs when they're on from the front of the car, through the front windshield?

Also, can you take a closer pic of the lights when they're off, during the daytime?

Great ideas, here's my two pennies' worth:
I think the auto-dimming mirror comes on only when the lights are on, so the LEDs could run off that wire from the mirror, viola no switch needed !

You can't see them from the front.

Anyway we can have a SoCal OC meet so we can view these lights in person? Also if possible all the mods on mr Mikeb's car...

lets do it

Since it's going to rain pretty much this week.. and the next week most of us have work, want to all roll together up to the Auto Show on the 10th? :P RX-8 roll call!

BTW, I'm in Cerritos.

Dredging up an OLD post. My 04 that I bought in February has this "mod" done to it, in BLUE LEDs, but doesn't have an external switch. They turn on when you push the passenger side reading lights. I would also assume this made the install MUCH easier as I figure whoever did it just spliced into the switched wires for the existing lights.

It's a VERY nice looking install, for a while I thought it was stock until I saw other cars that didn't have them. :)