Robin_GTS Posted December 11, 2021 Report Share Posted December 11, 2021 I hope that this guide is ok with the admins on here, I have asked for permission but haven’t had a reply yet but I am hoping that others can benefit from the guide. This guide will hopefully help fellow 981 owners who have no footwell lights fitted, Porsche deleted them around 2014 onwards and made it a part of the interior lighting package option. The wiring loom/harness in this guide has been made by myself (I have a company producing harnesses / kits for retrofitting to VAG vehicles) and the lights I have used are Audi parts but I will give more information at the bottom of the guide. The footwell lights are powered by the BCM (body control module) located in the drivers upper footwell, the power wire is fitted as standard and is routed within the main vehicle harness to the passenger footwell behind the passenger side footwell panel. The wire goes into the a brown connector but on the other side of the connector there is no corresponding wire – this is where the wiring ends and where Porsche deleted the footwell harness. In order to retrofit the footwell lighting it’s a case of populating the mating connector in the corresponding pin and feeding the footwell lights. Parts Required: 1 x Footwell wiring loom/harness 2 x Footwell Lights The footwell harness used has the correct terminal which plugs directly into the mating brown connector, a earth loop which is fixed to the body of the vehicle and then 2 connectors which plug into the passenger and drivers side footwell light units. There are 3 options for the footwell light housings: 1. Genuine Porsche Halogen Light Housings 2. Genuine Porsche LED Light Housings 3. Genuine Audi LED Light Housings Prices of the light housings vary significantly, genuine Porsche housings are very expensive for what they are (halogen are about £12.50 each and the LED versions are about £45 each and the Audi LED ones are about £12.50 each). The hole which the light housings fit into are ever so slightly too small for the Audi LED light housings so plastic has to be removed however this is hidden away and is quite straight forward to carry out with a sharp knife with the added benefit of a big saving over the Porsche LED lights. Now onto the fitting guide: Firstly remove the side panel in the passenger footwell which uncovers the fuse box and the connectors. Check that you have a red and black wire on the lower brown plug – this is the feed wire from the BCM. If you do have this wire you’ll notice that there is no corresponding wire on the top part of the plug. Unclip the top part of the plug remove from the mating connector and using a flat bladed screwdriver push the pink locking tab across – you’ll feel it click. Insert the red wire from the harness into the corresponding slot which is pin 2. Push the pink locking tab across back into position, replace the brown plug. Pull back the carpet to reveal the 2 earth studs, undo the nut to the stud furthest away and fit the earth loop from the harness. Refit the nut and replace the carpet. Remove the cover underneath the glovebox which is a foam held on by 4 plastic fixings, feed the connector for the drivers side footwell light across from the passenger side to the driver side behind the PCM (I used a piece of stiff wire to feed it across). Fit the driver side footwell light and plug in the wiring and repeat for the passenger side. Refit the foam trim and the passenger side footwell side panel. ***Please note that some owners may be tempted on splicing into the red/black wire to add aftermarket LEDs - from experience this is not something that should be carried out as the wire is not rated for higher electrical loading and the BCM may throw a fault if overloaded*** 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted December 11, 2021 Report Share Posted December 11, 2021 Nice write up. Thanks for sharing. @Araf move to “how to” ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JurassicBGTS Posted December 11, 2021 Report Share Posted December 11, 2021 Brilliant write up thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz05 Posted December 11, 2021 Report Share Posted December 11, 2021 (edited) I've just read all of this with real interest and realised my car has them already 🤣 More interested in the door lights but don't want logos. Edited December 11, 2021 by daz05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T24RES Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 13 hours ago, daz05 said: More interested in the door lights but don't want logos. I have plain red/white lamps. I think they were less than a tenner from ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz05 Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 @T24RESI remember you posted this, you just ran your wires to the footwell lights didn't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T24RES Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 11 minutes ago, daz05 said: @T24RESI remember you posted this, you just ran your wires to the footwell lights didn't you? I did, couldn't get them to work correctly off the door control module, without coding the car as a 911 cab. Then the door windows didn't drop properly. Perhaps the OP has had better fortune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin_GTS Posted December 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 The door lighting is wired into the door module and coded as well as per factory standard. The puddle lights are powered separately from the door ambient lighting but on the same harnesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelin Posted December 15, 2021 Report Share Posted December 15, 2021 On 12/11/2021 at 9:00 PM, daz05 said: I've just read all of this with real interest and realised my car has them already 🤣 More interested in the door lights but don't want logos. I'm sure you could just get a pair of standard VW red puddle lights Daz 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hamilton Posted January 13, 2022 Report Share Posted January 13, 2022 I bought one of these footwell lighting kits, and fitted it to the car just after Christmas. (How can you spec. adaptive cruise on a car, and not the interior light pack is a bit of a mystery, but it takes all sorts I guess). No dramas with the fitting, but it made me realise I am getting too old for DIY-ing! Mine is a 718S, but the wiring in the area of the LH fuse panel is identical. I think I would have preferred to run the loom around the front of the footwell, rather than over the top, but it was too short for that. I was a bit knackered by the time I got to putting it back together, and the loom ended up by being tacked in place by a couple of pieces of duct tape. In retrospect, I should have taken a few photos, as the above photos don't show everything you need to know. Getting the panel surrounding the fuse box off had me scratching my head, until I read the workshop manual. The Porsche LEDs aren’t as bright as I was expecting, but they are a hell of lot better than nothing! Maybe the Audi ones are brighter, but like I say I’m getting too old to be grovelling in the footwell shaving the brackets to suit. Doing it in the winter doesn’t help either, although it is the time of year you get most benefit. Overall though, I’m happy. The price of the Porsche LEDs was a bit OTT, but that’s not Robin's fault. I know how long these things take to knock up in small batches, so I think that it is good value for the parts he manufactures, the quality is very good, and I can't fault the service. The Audi LED kit is much better value for someone with better agility than me though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin_GTS Posted January 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2022 Thanks for the feedback on the kit Richard. As always we are grateful for the feedback and it’s all taken on board. The Audi light housings are a lot brighter than the Porsche led lights housings and are half the price but they are ever so slightly larger so it’s a choice whether the owner would be happy to shave some plastic off the trim to accommodate the Audi light housing - personally I think it’s worth the effort due to the light output and also the cost savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Daniel Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 Finally ordered the footwell light kit after 2 years of deliberating 😆. @Robin_GTSdoes the kit come with bulbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin_GTS Posted February 29 Author Report Share Posted February 29 1 hour ago, Tony Daniel said: Finally ordered the footwell light kit after 2 years of deliberating 😆. @Robin_GTSdoes the kit come with bulbs? Hey Ant Just seen your order come through so thanks for that - yes the kit comes with the genuine Porsche footwell LED's, we only supply the genuine Porsche LEDs as the Audi housings are too big and customers didn't want to chop plastic trims up. The Porsche lights are a bit dim but it is how Porsche intended. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Daniel Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 Fitted the interior light kit yesterday and the install went smoothly thanks to the instructions above. They didn't come on when opening the door at first but found that was a due to the box not been ticked in settings- interior light. Cheers @Robin_GTS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin_GTS Posted March 3 Author Report Share Posted March 3 Thanks for the feedback Tony and glad you fitted it all ok. I had the same issue when I fitted the kit, its very much hidden away in the menu which is annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermot Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 Anyone have the part no for the Audi LED Light Housings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Daniel Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 2 hours ago, Dermot said: Anyone have the part no for the Audi LED Light Housings I would imagine @Robin_GTScould supply you with them but I don't know if I would want them super bright, I like the subtle lighting effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin_GTS Posted March 15 Author Report Share Posted March 15 14 hours ago, Dermot said: Anyone have the part no for the Audi LED Light Housings We can supply the Audi housings however you will need to trim the plastic panel for them to fit as they are about 2mm wider than the Porsche housings and also you'll need an adapter harness as they use a different connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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