Trunk lighting – an upgrade

[shipm_8]

I know the 1972 BMW 2002tii has trunk lights because…

(a) The Owner’s Handbook makes mention of them on page 16 (“When the headlight switch is on, the luggage compartment lighting is also switched on”)

( The Repair Manual makes mention of them on page 63-0/3 under Specifications (chapter on Lights)

© My 02 Elders have told me the car is outfitted with trunk lights

(d) I have actually sighted the lights after I searched for them, armed with the above assurances, an inquisitive disposition, and a bit of imagination. For those who might be as skeptical as I was at the beginning of this journey, here is proof of their existence:

Lower outboard corner of rear light assembly

Unfortunately, the stock trunk lights did not provide the luggage compartment lighting experience I wished for on my beloved Tip Top….daily driver, primary means of transportation, adventure platform, meditation temple, source of continuous joy and occasional humbling frustration, and topic of conversation with total strangers.

I just couldn’t get (no) satisfaction out of those lights. I yearned for more. It's not that I have impossible expectations, I mean....this is the way the lighted trunk looked with the trunk lights on....:

Whazzzup wit dat, BMW Engineers? Never mind, the soul of the car resides on the pointy end, up front, I know.

I picked up some LED lights from a source who meant to use them on an experimental aircraft, a project that never….how would I say it…the project never took off. I assured my pilot-builder source that the lights would travel at flying speed, just a bit closer to the ground and perhaps even in ground effect, if topography and enthusiastic driving converged just right.

To activate the lights, I considered the options, which ranged from on-off switches, to mercury switches to bearing-based tilt switches. Nasty stuff that mercury, so I scratched that idea. I scratched the on-off switch idea on the grounds that, if I have to do too much thinking about a task, it may not get done, so best to automate. I grabbed two of these lights and one of these tilt switches.

Positioning the switch took some experimentation. First, I had to overcome the usual agony of where to install it, and the hand-wringing despair associated with any possibility of drilling. I overcame that emotional rollercoaster by picking the driver side trunk lid hinge, and two-sided foam tape, after getting rid of the metal tab on the light, and trimming the rear of the plastic case with a Dremel. And then the calibration.... Because I was running the positive wire to a constant-on outlet on my Fuzeblock under the dashboard, I wanted to avoid the possibility that the lights would remain on after parking the car on an inclined street.

Ball bearing tilt switch

Light positioning, one on each side

fuzeblock up front

And final result. Now I can find stuff at night.

William

Where they anticipating 02 luggage compartment lighting when they came up with their song in 1965?

[Guest Anonymous]

I love the conversion. Can I get a source for the lights and switches?

Many Thanks

[shipm_8]

Thanks. The switch is a Directed 8623 Ball Bearing Tilt Switch from Sonic Electronix http://www.sonicelectronix.com/. The lights are LED cabin lighs model 11-05522 from Aircraft Spruce http://www.aircraftspruce.com/. You might also consider browsing through the Susquehanna MotorSports site http://www.rallylights.com/; they carry a few surface mount lights that would also work.

William

[mo's72tii]

Light me up!

[shipm_8]

outstanding! Man, that pressure switch of yours would have saved me some angular tweaking!