How to install LED door mood (Video)

mjmmjm5 · Jan 8, 2012

Hey guys, just finished replacing the weak factory door pocket lights with bright LEDs. NilVlrod was the inspiration behind my mod in this thread, and I probably did mine in a very similar way.

I know I've seen several people asking for details on how to do this, so I put together a video tutorial.

You can see the video here:

securityguy · Jan 8, 2012

AWESOME JOB MJM...one of the best videos I've seen in a long time. You are a true asset to the forum my friend!

opTIM-A · Jan 8, 2012

Excellent DIY video! Heck I may even try it with instructions like that. Thank you very much for making this. Keep up the good work!

crystalworks · Jan 8, 2012

Very nice tutorial. I will be doing this later today and now it should take less time. Thanks again.

Optima>All · Jan 8, 2012

i dont even have intentions of doing this, but i went ahead and watched your whole video and its very well put !!

Typhoon Yoda · Jan 8, 2012

Nice video. Those light strips seem very cheap compared to other sites, what your thoughts on them? Can you cut them to length?

Socalman · Jan 8, 2012

Excellent video.

mjmmjm5 · Jan 8, 2012

Nice video. Those light strips seem very cheap compared to other sites, what your thoughts on them? Can you cut them to length?

You can cut them to length if you'd like. I think you can cut every 3 LEDs. But I installed mine at full length, and I'm using electrical tape within the cabin of the vehicle to cover a few of them. That way I have full control of how bright/dim they are. I know it sounds a little ghetto, but you can't see the tape as long as you put it on the flat part (rather than the curved part) -- and it gives me the option of making them brighter/dimmer if I decide I don't like them the way they are.

I've bought lighting from Autolumination before and they've been great. I got LEDs for my Acura almost 6 years ago, and they all lasted for as long as I owned the car. I probably could've gotten similar strips on eBay or maybe even at a local store, but I trust Autolumination to give me a good product.

fondupot · Jan 8, 2012

Very nice video bloke! Easy mod!

redhawk243 · Jan 8, 2012

Nice, thanks for the video...definitely want to do this soon.

Optima>All · Jan 8, 2012

And for all the users without this option, i think you can do it still because i looked under and i saw where you could put it.
Look VV

batch · Jan 9, 2012

Very nice. Super video tutorial. Thanks.

REDHORSE · Jan 9, 2012

Good job on the video. I may try for the RGB LED replacement for all the mood lighting.

iTQAN · Jan 9, 2012

Great video, thank you!

Munky · Jan 9, 2012

Great work on the video, but what's with the music? :lol: (I kid, I kid.)

Stickied!

mjmmjm5 · Jan 10, 2012

Thanks! The music is some royalty-free stuff that my company used for a conference. The last time I tried to upload a video to YouTube and Facebook with real music, it got flagged and deleted for copyright infringement. Rather than dealing with that again, I figured nobody's going to care about the music so I'll just throw anything in there.

Ironically, the name of the MP3 I used in the video is "Keys to the Beemer."

ezpaid · Jan 21, 2012

just curious. but i spotted that you have carbon fiber interior parts.
mind to ask where you got em? great video!

mjmmjm5 · Jan 21, 2012

They came from the factory. 2012 SX with premium and tech packages.

NilVlrod · Jan 22, 2012

hey, thanks for the shout out! Great tutorial. I hope you love them as much as I do mine!

Baja142 · Jan 26, 2012

Very nice !!! I am also planning mine with the RGB LED's as well. I'm also going to add some a LED's under the back passenger seats and have them wired together. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Southpaw32 · Mar 14, 2012

mjmmjm5, Do you know what the wattage of the lights you user are?

mjmmjm5 · Mar 15, 2012

No wattage listed.

rbosse · Mar 15, 2012

That looks pretty **** easy. I'm worried about pulling panels off the doors due to rattles...

mjmmjm5 · Mar 16, 2012

Wasn't a problem for me. I only developed one rattle from doing that -- the drivers door tab in the armrest, as described here:
http://www.optimaforums.com/forum/5-optima-general-discussion/1511-rattle-remove-door-handle.html
I just used a little electrical tape on the inside, then closed the tab down on the tape. Rattle gone. No other rattles from talking off the door panels.

K5 Optima Store · Mar 26, 2012

This is an awesone write up!

guardiannite · Mar 26, 2012

was super easy to do, and not much time, all I did was pull a little hard on the door and it popped right off

NewKiaSXOwner · Mar 30, 2012

Found a set of mood lights on this website.. Do u need to take the door off? Doesn't look like from the pics? someone chime in..

No.1

Milehigh5000 · Mar 30, 2012

NewKiaSXOwner said:
Found a set of mood lights on this website.. Do u need to take the door off? Doesn't look like from the pics? someone chime in..

No.1

Wow, from the pics, it really does look like you can get around taking the door off. Looks like the old ones pop out and the new one pops in. If someone does end up buying this, please write up a DIY for this or at least confirm that you went this route and they WORK! This would be awesome!

cskalski · Mar 30, 2012

****. Better than "How it's made". The never ending Joe Satriani guitar solo background music sealed the deal on this nicely put together You-Tube DIY.

How to install LED door mood (Video)

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