I think with such a delay on the AliExpress shipment I will install the SUMK as best as I can, then I will install the other one when it arrives. Is there any inherent harm on installing the SUMK dashboard kit (in the crappy location) with the tape/adhesive? Or should it be easy to uninstall once I need to?
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Model 3 DIY Light kits: Review and installation tips, with pics
- Thread starter GreenHokie
- Start date
Definitely no harm in installing/using SUMK’s dashboard lights while you wait for the other light strips from AliExpress to arrive. SUMK’s tape/adhesive can easily be removed without leaving any residue or stains on your trim.
A bit of an update, and maybe you're interested since I know you made an Amazon review for the SUMK kit.
I got my kit in the mail today, some how it was an Amazon Warehouse order, it arrived with a part which says "BROKEN", I actually got the one with the doors for some reason (I think these need batteries and not controlled the same way, do you have any experience?).
Anyway, I went to go "re-order" but no 2021 kits are in stock, so it's possible they've been pulled, or they may be creating a newer kit potentially based off some of your feedback (long shot, but who knows).
Now I need to ask myself if I return this and hope to see the kit come back in stock, or just eat the cost and ignore the broken part
Hey there. Thanks for the update. Sorry, I do not have any experience with the SUMK kit which contains the door lights. So, not sure how those door lights are powered. It would make sense that they use batteries, since that would eliminate the need to run wires from the door all the way back to the main control box in the center console. Either way, I don’t see the door lights being a very easy or clean looking install.
A little surprised Amazon shipped you a product from their Warehouse area. I’ve never ordered anything from that particular site, but assume everything from there is either used or returned products. Did you intentionally order from Amazon Warehouse?
Personally, I would return the used product and wait for new stock to arrive. However, if you intended to purchase from Amazon Warehouse and got a good deal on the kit, then you may be OK with keeping it. I would be very surprised if SUMK ever updates/changes their kit with any of my suggested improvements.
The rep told me that I paid for a "new" item, but they must have given me that since it may have been last in stock. As of now, it's still not back in stock and I have not found anywhere that sells it otherwise, so a bit of an annoyance for me right now. Only the 2017-2020 versions are in stock. I have a month to process the return so I might just wait it out.
I see. Well, I would ask the Amazon rep to at least give you a discount/credit, since the item you received was indeed used.
Hi Everyone,
I recently purchased the Nestour Lighting Kit for my Model 3, while I like the lights, I have found their app to be very clunky.
I also experienced some issues with the connectivity. Has anyone else experienced this?
I found this power adapter online that allowed me to control the lights via a touch sensor button (on/off works beautifully).
This works so much better and I'm pretty happy with it so far.
I did a review on it here:
I recently purchased the Nestour Lighting Kit for my Model 3, while I like the lights, I have found their app to be very clunky.
I also experienced some issues with the connectivity. Has anyone else experienced this?
I found this power adapter online that allowed me to control the lights via a touch sensor button (on/off works beautifully).
This works so much better and I'm pretty happy with it so far.
I did a review on it here:
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
At the 6:00 time on the video, only the front driver interior floor is shown.
I am only looking for a way to add some lighting to the rear passenger floor,
something which is missing and could be very simple to have by having an LED
at the botom of the console holding the two USB plugs.
I am only looking for a way to add some lighting to the rear passenger floor,
something which is missing and could be very simple to have by having an LED
at the botom of the console holding the two USB plugs.
That's a great point. They have another lighting kit that add the lights to the rear passenger floor.
While I didn't purchase that kit, the power unit would still work great with that too.
PauliePucks
3rd Party Accessory Junkie
So I I ordered both the basenor kit and the sumk kit to compare, and ultimately install.
Sumk is way better quality, the steel line in the fiber carrier is a great plus too.
As everyone concurs, the dash piece(s) on the Sumk is a disaster as are the directions.
I have a tilt installed on my screen, so from my POV the break isn’t even viewable, but on the other side, oof.
Has anyone figured a way to run these similar to the nestour/basenor along the a pillar side trim? Those cable clips don’t even work with the screen tilt housing.
Sumk is way better quality, the steel line in the fiber carrier is a great plus too.
As everyone concurs, the dash piece(s) on the Sumk is a disaster as are the directions.
I have a tilt installed on my screen, so from my POV the break isn’t even viewable, but on the other side, oof.
Has anyone figured a way to run these similar to the nestour/basenor along the a pillar side trim? Those cable clips don’t even work with the screen tilt housing.
Hi again GreenHokie, I had a quick question, do you have any wire recommendations? I'm about to get 24AWG wire with 4 inner conductors, to extend the SUMK kit, I have enough soldering and wiring experience, but do you have any suggestions there or is this good enough? I also got some assorted heatshrink from Home Depot which should be sufficient. Other options are smaller like 28 awg, which should also work?
EDIT: https://www.amazon.com/22AWG-UL2464-Power-Yellow-Conductors/dp/B07TJG1T2H adding link
EDIT: https://www.amazon.com/22AWG-UL2464-Power-Yellow-Conductors/dp/B07TJG1T2H adding link
Hey @GreatGazoo, Yes, the 24awg wire will work just fine. Attached is a photo I took of the SUMK wiring when I cut/spliced it. I think the individual strands are 24awg but not 100% certain. The SUMK lights draw only 0.6W per head, so almost any wire thickness will work just fine without adding significant resistance/heat, especially at these relatively short runs.
Anyone have some suggestions on removing the trim around the center console on a 22 M3? I got everything up until the center crossbar which is between the wireless charger and forward center console storage. The trim that is under the dash feels loose enough I just cannot get the full thing to snap out!
Are there any clips on the center part I need to know about? I legitimately felt like I was going to break it and my fingers have rugburn from trying to get the damn thing off. I have seen one video (
). I'm definitely strong enough to pull it up like he says in the video but just want some reassurances there is no other/safer/less destructive way?
Are there any clips on the center part I need to know about? I legitimately felt like I was going to break it and my fingers have rugburn from trying to get the damn thing off. I have seen one video (
Just an update, I finally got the center console part removed, and I'll save some people some time here, you likely do not need or even want to remove the center console entirely on a 2021+ model if you plan on installing the SUMK kit. What you will want to do is trim down some the thin plastic part ever so slightly just for the corners, as that will not be able to "fit" into the trim with the full height. To explain in words, I cut just about where the wire is, then used a box cutter to trim out along the "wire" line, I did about a 1.5" section where each "bend" occurs. Doing so let it fit very flush and tightly with the trim without looking off.
Another note, as GreenHokie mentioned before, you will need to trim the plastic protection off the SUMK lines a bit as the light emitters get really hot and the plastic part which is a mix of what feels like heatshrink and hard plastic will melt and look dull, trimming off each end of the fiber tube to just expose about 5mm or so of bare inner "tube" will give you great results. Don't skip this step, you will regret it. I would also recommend getting some decent quality electrical tape, I used some cheap stuff to block off 2 of the emitters until I install my dash (will require splicing/soldering), and it's borderline melted already!
The kit I have to install the dashboard lights has not arrived yet so I am waiting on that before I install, curious if someone has some detailed images of the path they took from rear center console to dash and what trim the wires were run under before I get started, but it looks pretty simple. Splicing the cable went fine, but in retrospect I think even 26 or 28awg 4 conductor cables would have worked just fine for this (24awg is slightly thicker than the stock cable).
Another note, as GreenHokie mentioned before, you will need to trim the plastic protection off the SUMK lines a bit as the light emitters get really hot and the plastic part which is a mix of what feels like heatshrink and hard plastic will melt and look dull, trimming off each end of the fiber tube to just expose about 5mm or so of bare inner "tube" will give you great results. Don't skip this step, you will regret it. I would also recommend getting some decent quality electrical tape, I used some cheap stuff to block off 2 of the emitters until I install my dash (will require splicing/soldering), and it's borderline melted already!
The kit I have to install the dashboard lights has not arrived yet so I am waiting on that before I install, curious if someone has some detailed images of the path they took from rear center console to dash and what trim the wires were run under before I get started, but it looks pretty simple. Splicing the cable went fine, but in retrospect I think even 26 or 28awg 4 conductor cables would have worked just fine for this (24awg is slightly thicker than the stock cable).
I have the older console design, so not sure if the following suggestion will also work, but perhaps you can get away with a smaller triangular relief cut which would still allow the light strip to make/follow the sharper 90 degree bends found in the newer consoles. See attached photo. I used a pair of scissors to make this cut.
I sure do. It’s easy. See photos below. Red arrows indicate which clips/screw you need to remove. Yellow dotted line represents approximately where I ran my wires to keep them fully hidden.
Note, you don’t need to fully remove these panels. Removing the highlighted clips/screw should give you enough room to lift/shift these panels so you can get your fingers in there to run the wires.
Also, in the photo of the Driver Side, I did not need to remove that last clip on the far right side. But, depending on your situation/finger size, you may need to in order to fish/run the wires through that section of the panel.
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PauliePucks
3rd Party Accessory Junkie
Waiting on my Ali express kit as well still. When I get a free day I’m going to run the emitters after I splice the extensions in.
GreenHokie gave some great wire routing advice, I’ll just offer my planned route of attack as it’s slightly different but will
Yield same results:
I have my control box and feeds stored in the rear ac vent portion of the console. There’s a fairly large pocket in there that allows you to stuff the box and extra wire without issue. (I have V1 console fyi)
If you take the rear ac vent kick panel off, you can run the two long emitter runs out the bottom and under the carpet towards the bottom of the seats (NB: run UNDER the seat rails, not over) you should have enough room towards the center of both the driver and passenger seats to run the wire under the carpet and seat rails and come out on the B pillar side of the seat. There is a Velcro seam in the carpet that will allow you to conceal the visible wire.
You can then run the emitter wire under the door kick panel trim up along the door frame. Remove the end cap and triangle shaped panel from both sides of the dash and tuck the emitter wire up along the door trim until you have the actual emitter on both sides of the dash in the location where the fiber will be terminating on both sides.
Should be just as clean an install as GreenHokie’s, this is simply is anyone wants to avoid routing through the footwells…I’d say either are the same amount of labor time.
Just my .02, thanks for the tip about removing the ends of the rubber gaskets on the fiber runs from SUMK, that’s a crappy
Design flaw!
@GreenHokie do you mind if I bug you again for help and/or pictures? Were you able to remove the softer part of the dash that sits close to the windscreen? I want to be able to remove this to more comfortably adhere the lights. I have seen many videos on how to remove the actual dash hard pieces (wood trim, white, whatever), but nothing aside from that.
@GreatGazoo I did not remove the soft upper section of the dash, because I did not think there was an easy way to remove it. Of course, if it can be removed, then doing so would certainly make lining up and installing the light strip to the underside of dashboard much easier. Removing just the lower wood section of the dash does not help with installation, so I did not remove that part either.
I simply took it slow and installed/adhered the light strip starting from the left and worked my way to the right side.
Step 1: I applied the adhesion promoter to the underside of the dash in about a 8-10 inch length/section.
Step 2: I peeled away the double-sided tape from the light strip and then very lightly pressed 8-10 inches of the light strip up against the dash surface. It is important that you don’t press too hard because when applied lightly, you can still make minor adjustments to the position of the light strip in the next step.
Step 3: Check to make sure the position/alignment of the 8-10 inch section of the light strip you just applied from Step 2 is good by stepping outside the vehicle and look down onto the dashboard from the front windshield. Looking at your just applied light strip from this angle will enable you to make sure the position is perfectly straight and consistent across the entire dashboard. At this stage, you should still be able to make minor adjustments to the position of the light strip if necessary. When you’re satisfied with the position, go back inside the vehicle and apply more pressure to the 8-10 inch section of the light strip to make it stick more securely/permanently to the dash. I have attached a photo below, showing what you should see and aim for when looking at the light strip from outside of the vehicle. As you can see, you should try to position the light strip so that about 1 mm or so of the light strip is exposed beyond the edge of the dash. Getting the same consistent amount of exposure as you apply/install the light strip in these 8-10 inch increments will ultimately result in a light strip that will be straight/smooth (and professional looking) from all angles.
Step 4: Repeat steps 1 through 3 until you get to the other end of the dashboard.
Bonus Tip: The two ends of the light strip are where there is the greatest tendency for the light strip to eventually loose adhesion and peel away. So, be liberal with the adhesion promoter at the two ends.
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