Since the TLX doesn't come with footwell LEDs, I figured I'd try to install some myself. I bought 2 blue LED strips on eBay (for about $10). The installation was very easy. I was able to power them using the "Parking Light" fuse - #27 and grounded to a nearby metal bolt. By using the parking light fuse, the LEDs turn on with the headlights, when it gets dark. Today I finished the driver's side since that was the easy part. I will do the passenger's side another day (too hot outside). I will splice the wires I used for the passenger side and run them through the bottom of the center stack (I confirmed today this will be easy to do).

Here are some pictures:

WIRING





BEFORE



AFTER

 

Very nice. It would be nice to see it at night.

You're right. It too hot outside. We need an air-conditioned garage.

I live close by in Sunrise.

 

thanks! yea I'll take some night time pictures later. I'll hopefully finish the passenger side sometime this week.

 

Here's a much better night shot...

 

they're pretty bright as you can see... Maybe a little too bright. I think I'll cut off 3 LEDs (strip can be cut after every 3 LEDs).

 

Neat, but yeah a bit bright.

 

Being so bright makes it easier to tell where your feet are, or indeed if you have not left them at home. My TSX has these lights, though they are very dim. I never really understood the point, apart from it being a feature (feeture?) cheaper cars didn't have. Maybe the light should be red - might make your feet fell warmer.. And give the interior that submarine feel.. I sold a Fit once with optional multi-colored LEDs. I think some Fords have this still.

Nice job though!

 

Lol...yea I had a TSX with the dim ones as well, and I installed similar LED strips, which is what inspired me to do the TLX since I was so used to having them. Definitely going to cut a few LEDs off...these are really bright!! Other than that, they look great! Thanks for the feedback.

 

Actually, they should be red. Red is the only color that our eyes can easily perceive that does not detract from our night vision by looking at it. That is why tactical flashlights are often red, and why BMW interiors and gauges are all an orange-red color (including BMW's ambient night-time interior lighting).


Acura uses white dials and blue ambient lighting because it seems more techy/futuristic, but the reality is that red makes more sense. It's not a huge deal since we are talking about very dim lights, but you definitely don't want to have bright blue interior lights at night, for safety reasons.


Given the choice between a color designed to actually work better vs a color that just happens to look cool, I'd personally choose what works better every time --but I couldn't afford a new 3-series so here I am.

 

Would you please post a link to where you got the LEDs? I really like the matching blue.
Thanks in advance!

 

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=200819040219&alt=web

 

Curious, How many LEDs will you have in your final cut?

 

There's actually 15 LEDs in the 9 inch strip I got...no wonder its so bright! I'll cut 3 and see how that does but will probably end up cutting off 6 in the end.

 

Very true! Also the only interior lighting that's safe to use in aircraft at night as well. Even a short burst of standard lighting adversely affects your night flight vision.

 

So I made a mistake and cut the led strip while it was plugged in... Then it shut off and now my taillights, license plate lights, door handle LEDs and other "night time" LEDs don't work. I assume I blew a fuse but the question is which one... I checked the parking light fuse I had the led wired to and it looks fine . I even swapped for a new one with no luck. Any one know which fuse controls all this or is it something else?

 

Not my cup of tea. But good luck getting that thing fixed.

I would install something more useful like a dashcam.

 

OK I found the fuse that covers the night time lights it's called "small". It was blown... Changed it now it's fine. However my DRLs are not working. Headlights and high beams work but not DRLs. Checked all the DRL fuses they're fine. I'm assuming there's another that controls them both like the night time lights... Hmmm...

 

nevermind... Parking break was on that's why DRL weren't turning on. Quick check in the manual pointed that out. Glad I ordered the paper manual... So much more convenient! Problem fixed.... Just a simple blown fuse as I expected

 

Wow! What a scare and learning experience you are having.

How many LEDs did you finally go with and can you post a pic?

 

Lol yea. The fuse part I expected but the DRL part had me worried. Luckily just a simple oversight on the parking brake. I cut 3 off... Still have 12... going to check it out when it's dark and go from there. Based on the original brightness I'll probably cut 3 more. I'll post pics once I'm happy with the result.

 

"We built this for ourselves but you can have one too... now guess where we put the fuse box !"

(why the heck did they put the fuse box that low?)

 

I ended up sticking with 9 LEDs (I cut 6 off) and I'm happy with the result. It's not as bright...but pictures from my phone don't show the difference, I'll try my DSLR camera when I get a chance. Hopefully this weekend I'll have time to do the passenger side.

 

Very good. I am curious to see how it looks now.

 

It's strange, I wonder why Acura hasn't offered the illuminated foot well option kit for the TLX? I was able to get it in my 2013 Accord Touring.

 

I finally had time to finish this project today... I connected the passenger side using the same connections... Not hard at all. I just had to move the LED strip a bit since the underside of the dash is more curved on the passenger side... So the LEDs wouldn't be visible when sitting in the rear seats. I'm very happy with the results... Especially since is was relatively easy to do. Here's the final result...

 

WoW. That looks great.

I've been looking forward to your results and pictures.

Personally, I like what I see. How much do you charge for installation?

Sunrise from Weston:
Straight line distance 10.02 mi
Driving distance 15.18 mi

 

Thanks!! I'll send you a PM

 

I plan on installing footwells this weekend. I have a couple of questions. Did you run both the passenger and driver footwell to the same fuse? And I plan on using an add a fuse. Do I just need to use the parking light fuse from the box or do I need to add a different one for the the lights also?

 

yes I connected both to the same fuse... The parking light fuse. No need to add another fuse... LEDs are very low power. No issues at all with the way I did it. :-)

 

Okay thanks. Did you try wiring it so that they would turn on and off with the dome lights? I'm wondering if I could just use the "small" fuse that runs the nighttime lights. Or will I actually have to run wires from the actual dome light to get this affect?

 

by connecting to the parking light fuse like I did, they only turn on at night, same as the "small" lights. The small fuse is under the hood. The parking light fuse is way more convenient under the dash.

 

Ah yeah you're right. I'll just wire a switch into the circuit then.

 

Update - After a couple weeks of driving with the LEDs at night, I realized they were still too bright (with 9). I cut off 3 more so now I'm down to 6 and it's PERFECT! Nice blue glow...not too bright and not too dark, just right

 

Would you know if 2017 TLX base has the same location of fuse #27 for parking light? Thanks

 

Also, would you recommend fuse tap instead of warping wire to fuse? Or where can I fuse info on fuse label for 2017 TLX base?

 

This looks good. I am interested to do similar mod for my 2018 TLX A-SPEC.

Would you share how you transferred the cable from passenger side to driver side?

 

I think I didnt a write on this as I did red ones on my A-Spec TLX but I tied directly into the light atrip[ on the glove box so the glove box override switch controls them as well as the Dimmer on the cluster. Works as if it was OEM this method and I just used a pair of VLEDS footwell strips as they draw the least and had the highest brightness and color.

 

How did you tied each strip, driver and passenger, to glove box switch? do you have a picture or provide some type of a guide?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

This will help. Thank you.

I have 1 more question: you have connected both drive and passenger side LED strip together. So how did you transfer LED strip wire from driver side to passenger side? I just can't find a way to transfer driver side LED strip wire to passenger side so it comes out underneath glove box.

if you can assist with this, it would be great.

Thank you.