I would really recommend this mod as its possible in any car out there
Bhpian Battle recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
About the mod
Greetings viewers, todays mod topic is going to be about how one can install a vanity light in a car which only comes with a mirror. This mod is not that significant but can upscale the interior of your vehicle by a small amount, also its a nice creature comfort feature to have.
Backstory – My vista is a 2011 VX variant which did come with a vanity mirror on the passenger side sun visor, but it felt quite incomplete in my opinion as a vanity light would have added a nice touch to it. Now officially am not sure even the highest ZX variant of the vista ever got a vanity light, but I was knowing that the Manza did get a vanity mirror and a light in some variants.
However the price of the OEM visor with light is definitely quite high, plus even if I get this the passenger and driver visors wont match (as the one manza one is much thicker than the vista). Adding to that finding this exact version of visor in beige is quite difficult, as my vista is the refreshed variant with black beige interiors.
This was my cars stock setup, the picture is taken from Faisal Khan’s Vista tech review video, I actually forgot to take a before picture
So I decided to carry out this little project in the least cost possible, and here is how I did it.
Acquiring parts and installation
Recently I came across a reel regarding a person fitting his base model fronx with a boot light. While seeing it I noticed that Maruti Suzuki makes a boot light with an added switch. The boot light had the same proportions as the boot light that Tata sells but it had a little switch to turn it on and off. This caught my attention and it made the perfect light to make a vanity light out off. So I went to my local market to get that boot light, and luckily within 3 hours I got my light on the same day, so the modification was on.
Here are all the parts one would need to carry out this mod
1. Boot light with a switch from MGP (Part number – 36210M75JA0)
2. The connector for the boot lamp, if unable to find there are universal pin connectors also available in the market
3. Some wires
4. LED bulb (optional), the light comes included with a halogen bulb.
This is how the proper connector for this light looks like, I had one laying around but I had kept it for a different project so did’nt use it. If you find one definitely use it for a clean OEM finish.
So with all the parts gathered now it was time for the mod. Firstly open up the sun visor and mark the area with a pencil on the head liner to make the cut. Make sure that the light placement is centered to the mirror location of the visor. Once the area is marked, start cutting the headliner with a box cutter, be careful!. Now rather than cutting directly on the marked line, cut on the inside edge of the line, this will make sure that the fitting you get is a snug fit. This is a mistake I did, I cut the liner on the marked line as a result my light wiggles a little bit, its snug enough that it stays in place and cannot be pushed in, but since headliners are just a piece of cardboard its much better to cut inside the line to get a better fit.
Next step is the wiring, the most convenient place to get power for the vanity mirror is the roof lamp in your car. Gently pull down your roof lamp assembly, usually most of the cars would have 3 wires running to the light
1. Power
2. Another power wire, but from the door switch
3. Ground
Use a multimeter to figure out which one is the full time power wire and locate the correct wire, same for searching the ground. Now splice into both the power and the ground connection and run a separate wire to the cutout with the connectors for the lamp on the other side. Make sure to wire it securely and tape all of the wires down with electrical tape to prevent any shorts. If any beginner is going to attempt this mod, Ill highly suggest disconnecting the battery first. Do not cut the factory wire, just splice it in the middle!
And now its time to install the light, but here comes a catch. This particular lamp comes equipped with a diode, probably to protect the LED (if you swap the bulb out) from reverse polarity protection. Now in a normal light it wouldnt matter which of the pins you connect but here since a diode is used the light itself has a polarity.
So when you attach the wires make sure that the positive pin in connected to this gold colored pin on the right, and the negative goes to the silver pin. This configuration is quite interesting since the switch actually disconnects the negative side rather than the positive. Make sure the wires are connected as mentioned or otherwise the bulb wont work. Plus if you are using an LED bulb also make sure that the positive side pin is on the right since LEDs also have polarity. (Filament bulbs don’t have polarity it can work both ways)
Once the wiring is sorted connect everything together and quickly test the light before putting it in.
Voila! you just now got a vanity light for very cheap and it really upscales the interior of the car, plus its a decently useful feature to have.
Here is a cost breakdown of the mod
1. Light – 96Rs
2. LED bulb (optional) – 25Rs
3. Connector wires – 20Rs
4. Extra wires – 0Rs (I had some laying around)
Total cost – 146Rs, much better than the 3000+ Rs for an actual visor with a light from Tata.
I would really recommend this mod as its possible in any car out there. If you have read this far I really appreciate it. Thanks for reading, have a safe ride.
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