BoldSharpe
Member
I've looked at 4 cars now, spanning from 2013 to 2015. All definitely have the wiring for rear seat, puddle lights and ambient lights. You need to be sure you get the puddle light wire, as if you use the ambient light connector (same type), there will be no power. The Ambient connectors seem to always have a purple wire whereas the puddle/red lights are both the same color, but it varies between a blue, red, or green wire depending on door and car year.
I recommend taking the door panel off for this work. It's not hard, but you need a 9mm socket and a T30 Torx bit. There is a plastic cover behind the door release lever that unsnaps, revealing the 2 T30 bolts, and a rubber cover down in the door handle pocket that pops up to reveal the 9mm bolt. Once those 3 fasteners are removed the door panel simply snaps straight off. It requires a lot of force, so I just start at the bottom with a big flat-blade screwdriver and pry until I can get my fingers in there then it's easy. Be careful once it's in your hand; you have to disconnect all the wires and the cable for the door release (front). There are connectors for the lights, the door release, and the power window control.
This is fantastic information - thank you! I do not have premium lighting on my March build 85D but am really interested in retrofitting the rear puddle lights (why? I'm not quite sure. :smile I see an indentation for where the light should be on the bottom of the door panel but am curious if there's any scoring on the inside once in the panel is removed? Of course, I can just measure the opening from the front puddle lights but this would make things a bit easier.
Has anyone else tried retrofitting the rear puddles without premium lighting?