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Reversing light bar

joneardley

joneardley

Active Newbie
Premium Member
E51 Owner
Wales
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Location
Abergavenny
First Name
Jonathan
Elgrand
E51
Region
Wales
Wondering if anyone has fitted a light bar or similar to back of their Elgrand for visibility when reversing. Appreciate it may be extreme but there must be someone who's had a similar thought...
 
Parentalnightmare said:
Hi ya Everyone,

I was asked recently how I fitted my LED Strip light, well here's how.

I fitted an extra light because when reversing at night the light that my one reverse light gave off was inadequate being my FOG Light had been placed in the reverse light on the right hand side. So reversing was a nightmare as the camera really didn't show much at all in the dark and also the where I live there isn't much light around from the street lights.

So I purchased this from Ali Express for around £14.

View attachment 18575

I then I went about sealing the whole light with black silicone sealant.
I did this just to weather proof it, as it will be battered with water, because it's under the rear bumper which is where I intended to put it.
So I plastered it with silicone.

I then looked to where to mount it.
On the inner rear bumper are two ribs that give the bumper strength near enough in the middle.

View attachment 18576
View attachment 18577

So I made a metal bracket to fit here and be long enough to incorporate the light too.

View attachment 18578

View attachment 18579

And this is how it fits behind the bumper.

View attachment 18580

I spray painted the bracket 3 or 4 times to give the metal protection also with a £1 tin of silver paint from poundland.
With the bracket in place I drilled the holes in the bumper and fixed the bracket in place with small bolts and spring washers so it wouldn't vibrate loose.
Then I fitted the LED strip light to the bracket.

View attachment 18581

Now for the wiring.
Before installation I soldered an extra 2 meters of single black and red 10 amp wire to the light as it only came with a pair of short wires. I also put shrink wrap over this and electrical tape to make it as weatherproof as possible. Sorry No Pics Of This.

I threaded the wires through a grommet on the underside of the boot area after dropping the spare wheel and threading the wire over to the right ahnd side of the boot and behind the extra 12v cigarette socket.
I intended to use the feed from the 12v socket but mine had no power to it at all,so in the end ran a live wire from the battery all the way to the back of the car so the light had its own power source.

View attachment 18582

I used a 4 pin relay to set up the light. So the red in the diagram cable was from a redundant reverse light cable when they fitted the fog light. I used ths cable for the switch in the relay to turn on the reverse light. So as I put the car into reverse (obviously), the switch kicked in to let power from the battery through the new light.
I stuck the fuse holder onto the relay itself so that it was easy to get at and stuck the relay to metal inside the car (see last picture)

View attachment 18585

View attachment 18587
As you can see before someone says I put the fuse holder the wrong way round so I can't see the fuse. Can't all be perfect aye. lol

The light is really bright at night. I can see everything on the camera and I can see out my mirrors too because it lights it up that good.
I'm not sure it would be OK for the MOT so I might take the fuse out for the MOT or put in a Switch so I can turn it off when not needed.

I must add that all wire to wire joints were soldered and shrink wrapped for best contact.

Any questions, please ask.
Click to expand...

Parentalnightmare said:
Here are some night pics from the rear camera but it dosen't do it justice, I mean you can see a lot more, It's great.

View attachment 18588

View attachment 18589
Click to expand...
 
You know I brought it off Ali Express and till this day it's been great. If you're putting one of these lights in remember to plaster all the little gaps with silicone and let it dry a few days.
It's a brilliant reverse light.
 
Wouldn't it be easier/quicker to replace the remaining reversing light bulb with an extra bright LED one? Might give it a try myself since I have the same issue.
 
joneardley said:
Wondering if anyone has fitted a light bar or similar to back of their Elgrand for visibility when reversing. Appreciate it may be extreme but there must be someone who's had a similar thought...
Click to expand...
I installed a COB LED light so it shines through the gap at the bottom of the door, works pretty good and is invisible from outside.
 

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It's_a_thing said:
I installed a COB LED light so it shines through the gap at the bottom of the door, works pretty good and is invisible from outside.
Click to expand...
I did similar but on the inside of the rear window. I've since changed this... I've put 2 white drl rectangle lights at the bottom of the window , still on the inside. Works well... Especially the rear reverse camera. A lot brighter than just the reverse lights.
 
It's_a_thing said:
I installed a COB LED light so it shines through the gap at the bottom of the door, works pretty good and is invisible from outside.
Click to expand...
Where did you connect the wires to for this to work
 
Yes the wires from the original reverse light were put to the relay to turn on the light bar. The light bar has its own power supply.
And it's still has good today has when I fitted it.
 
Marshall1 said:
Where did you connect the wires to for this to work
Click to expand...
Just to the wires for the reverse lights. Just don't tap into it too close to the bulb. Go a bit down the wire.
 
 
Last edited:
Just fitted mine in the bumper, ready to wire into the main loom. I am also going to use these as fog light also, but now I've tried them I don't know if they will be bright or red enough, has any body else used them as fogs and passed MOT okay?
 
If they’re same as mine in the picture @BrianH they have 2 red feeds, one lower and one higher intensity, you may need to use the other red feed. Although it’s not passed an MOT with them installed, I’m sure it will because they’re really bright on the high intensity feed, reverse is also excellent
 
BrianH said:
Just fitted mine in the bumper, ready to wire into the main loom. I am also going to use these as fog light also, but now I've tried them I don't know if they will be bright or red enough, has any body else used them as fogs and passed MOT okay?
Click to expand...
I've got the red versions of these in the recess. Smoked black lenses. Single LEDs wired to main lights and the brighter LEDs are wired up as my fogs. Been through last 3 MOTs fine. They are brighter than they first look. I think as long as there's a difference between the 2 sets of lights, MOTs should be fine.
 
Thanks for the info both of you, I did try both red feeds together to see if they got brighter but the LEDs are no brighter than the single brightest feed, its good to know they pass the MOT.
 
Yes...I wired them in parallel with the existing reverse lights and directed the rear fog wires to them as well.

Passed 2 MOT's no problem.

Only slight problem is if you are reversing when in fog light mode as you get both illuminated to form a pinky colour...but I suppose the MOT tester wouldn't check that
 
As already posted, these are great paired up with some good LEDs in the original place, and wired up as a fogs too - MOT passed with no issues
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