Guide: B7 Passat footwell lights

[passat123]

Been wanting this quick addition to my car for ages! There are perforated areas for footwell lights in the B7 Passat range, I think the CC has provision too.

The installation including enabling the lights via VCDS should take under 1 hour.. The only tricky part is fishing from the passenger footwell to the drivers side..

[passat123]

DIY: Installing Front Footwell Lights in B7 Passat

There are a few different ways the cabling can be run and earthed for this job.
I chose to do it the easiest way which involves the least amount of panel removal and no cutting or modifying of any original panels, harness or brackets. It took around 1 hour including activation via VCDS.

I used a kit from BoldSport because it is plug and play.
Feel free to ask for more info on the install. It's really simple and looks amazing once complete.

Please read instructions carefully especially the ones in red typed on the photos.

Items needed:
BoldSport B7 Passat front footwell light kit
Electric tape
Nut, bolt and washer (for earth)

Total Cost: under $35.00

Tools needed:
VCDS (to activate the lights)
Torx bit (trim removal)
Phillips screw driver (for earth bolt)
Cable tie (or wire drawing snake)
Cable tie 4.8mm (for BCM Plug)
Torch
Side cutters


STEP 01
This step is not compulsory, I just did it for myself.
Wrap the wiring harness in electric tape. Just roll it along in a spiral motion (should take 2mins to do the lot).



STEP 02:
Remove the footwell trim, there are two hand screws which need to be released from the passenger side and 3 torx screws on the drivers side.



STEP 03:
This is the fiddly part. Fishing the route.
I used a thick cable tie because my cable snake/tongue was in my other car and I was too lazy to get it.
Feed from the passengers footwell.
There is a clear route about 3 inches away from the firewall, just poke your fingers behind the trim and feed the snake (cable tie) through until you feel it glide for about 30cm. Once it gets hard to push it would have gone behind the dead pedal, go over to the drivers footwell and push it back until you have the end of it and bring it over the trim.

The wiring harness will need to be taped to the end of the cable tie (at the drivers side) then simply pull the snake from the passengers side until about 40cm comes through.

Be sure to only tape the passengers side of the wiring harness (the plug with the least wires from it).

[passat123]

STEP 04
It should look something like this:



STEP 06
Run the earth wire (with the O ring) up the drivers side fuse box and screw it to the existing hole.

[passat123]

STEP 07
Now look at the BCM (J519) which is located above the drivers side footwell, to the right of the steering column.

The white BCM plug has a small tab in the middle of it, press that down then pull back the black latch. This will release the white plug (T52b).

Cut the cable tie which holds the factory wiring harness in the plug (T52b) - keep in mind, you will replace it soon.

The wire on the footwell wiring harness with the pin on it will simply plug in on position/hole #50 of the T52b plug.




STEP 08
Once the wire is in hole #50 put it back in the shell and replace the cable tie which was cut to prevent any chance of the factory wiring harness coming out.

Make sure when you re-assemble the plug you hear the clicks when the tabs are closed.

STEP 09
Connect the footwell lights to the wiring harness plugs which should be hanging out of the holes of the factory trim (perforated rectangles - just push them out).

Before cleaning up and putting the trim back the car should look something like this:

[passat123]

STEP 10
Once the footwell trim is screwed back on the lights should look like this (after coding)

[passat123]

STEP 11
VCDS Coding..
This must be done, otherwise the lights will NOT work, they won't be visible on the MFD and there will be no voltage detected at the pins on the light plug.



Once ALL 11 steps are complete the lights will be able to be controlled at the MFD and will have the OEM gradual off style switch off when the doors are closed.

Feel free to ask for information I may have left out.

Enjoy the quick mod!

[passat123]

If anyone else has completed this mod, feel free to upload photos or issues during the installation

[enixsr]

WOW ace. Thanks for sharing. Will come really handy when I'm getting mine done

[booba]

Will be installing this with the rear footwell mod. Will take notes and photos.

[booba]

I installed the front/rear footwell illumination today.

A couple of points to note.

With the ground connection, there is a much better location right behind where the bonnet pull is.

The procedure is the unclick the white clip that will flip upwards, it will be pretty straight forward then undo the bolt. connect the ground cable which will fit directly if you have the bold sport loom then do the bolt and place the white clip back on.

By doing this, you will probably disconnect a number of components of the car. There will be various modules showing malfunction and you will need to reset these in VCDS. My tpms complained along with many other modules, don't be alarmed as this is normal.

The second note is running loom to rear seats. I ran these under the door sill where it says passat, these just pull upwards. I found that loosening the seats to be the easiest way to run the cable under the carpet out around about where the factory cable comes out. You will need a 10mm triple square bit fo this. I have the schwaben ones from ecs.

Sorry about not taking photos, i was so keen to get it going and it looks mint! Wife loves the look as well and probably is now jealous as her golf gti only has factory fronts. I will probably find myself fitting them to the rears for her.