I had a rented Punto awhile back and it had one of these red LED's that shines down from the roof light and lights up the gear lever/handbrake area with a sort of eerie red glow. I see the light fitting in the roof is exactly the same on my facelift 147 but I don't have the red glowing effect. Should I have it and its just not working? If not how difficult is it to add??
I dont think theyre fitted to 147's. i want it on my prefacelift one but other than nicking tge wifes one off her 159 i couldnt find a way to do it!!
Thanks for the punto heads up, that might be the way forward.....
I'd wager its very easy, standard fitment on BMW's and now Audi's, you could easily drill a couple of holes, pop a couple of LED's in there and wire it into the lighting circuit.
In my opinion they are worth it too, not distracting and gives enough light to work out where reverse gear is when swapping between cars in the dark.
It was a 2011 Punto. I should mention that it was the sedan version (sold as the Linea in SA) which is one of the most kitted out versions we get. I noticed that the cheaper ones don't seem to have it.
If it helps, I know my Mum's Golf (it's on a 57 plate, Mark V?) has LED downlighting and I recall that the first generation of Vauxhole vectras had them as well. Quite a wierd phenomenon when you first experience it as it's not always obvious where the light comes from!
Just had a look in the MiTo and found that the light has a little extra wiring. The car has blue&me so the set on the left is for the microphone I'd assume and the other small connector on the right is the LED's? Do you know what they are wired into? See the picture link below. (For some reason IMG code won't work and I can't upload it to AO)
I'd guess so? It's a 2010 QV but it was owned previously by a manager at Chris Variava Alfa Romeo and is pretty much specked out so it could be an extra.
In the MiTo/147/GT they are the same with regards to dimensions, they just look different. We also have a spider with LED down lighting but its a different unit so this would be the same for the Brera. Not sure what the Giulietta's is like though.
I think im going to buy the Audi part and drill two holes and solder the wires to the correct live and earth.Ive just seen it done on an audi forum look's dead easy. He put them in the front and back.
Same as the MiTo then I'm going to try and find one for sale and get it fitted. There is a MiTo breaking a few miles from me but the interiors been stripped completely, nothing left.
Part ordered, problem i have is when the Audi sidelights are turned on the roof switches glow in other words they have a current , now my 147 roof lights dont have this so im going to take a bulb out and use that particular switch to turn the ambient light on/off instead of the bulb its supposed to light,and use its terminals...maybe this will work otherwise its buy the original part at a high cost or wait for a second hand part to come up..and im very impatient or take a wire from somewhere that there's a current when the sidelights get turned on, maybe from the center console and feed the wire all the way up witch sounds like a pain.
... so im going to take a bulb out and use that particular switch to turn the ambient light on/off instead of the bulb its supposed to light, and use its terminals..
Thought this would do the trick finally but the LEDs go out after about ten seconds when they drain the capacitors. Its like they can't draw power through the circuit on their own. They go on when the bulbs are on and then for ten secs after but not on their own.
Thats a good idea using the light... I'd like to be able to have it come on with the sidelights or just always on off the switched ignition maybe? I've contacted a few people breaking MiTo's but no one has one. Might try autolusso.
Will be trying this weekend hopefully, parts been shipped.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Alfa Romeo Forum
7.1M posts
216.5K members
Since 2001
The friendly Alfa Romeo Club - If you are looking to buy or you are already an Alfa Romeo owner, join alfaowner.com today to get the most from your ownership