And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
As you may know e28 got engine bay light.
It look like this (bottom picture)
#17
(image sourced from bmwfans)
Now the bad news. It was an option and the part is no longer available. The worst thing – not so desirable by first owners of our beloved cars. (If you are first owner – cheers, if you don’t have it – shame on you) So pretty much they are like Halley’s comet – shows up on ebay once in every 76 years.
But …
I came up with an idea and the idea was awesome.
There are factory openings on both sides, just above the air ducts on the bonnet.
And guess what ? Registration plate lights with oem connectors from e34 fitted like a glove.
If it fits – it sits. ( If you have sound insulation layer, some cutting might be required. e34 lights got wide outline and could cover almost any mistake if you mess up.)
Give that hollow a screw. Hollows love screws.
Circuit breaker (switch from parted out e36’s trunk is just fine) .
I had to drill the mask to fit it.
Wiring is same like factory one for engine compartment light on e36 (yep i got it on mine- 63318350554 for e36 owners, if you are with e36 saloon, you will need 63318353436 too. )
There are 2 wires coming from the lights. Positive and negative, ja ?
Negative goes straight to the circuit breaker’s leg.
Positive goes to the white/gray wire on the headlights connector (parking light).
How it works.
Switching on parking lights (or headlights) – positive becomes hot.
Opening the hood – releases the switch, it closes the circuit and …
No matter if you need to change a fuse / check the oil / refill wiper’s fluid at 2 a.m. or showing haters what just smoked them out – this mod pays off.
Thanks for looking.
We got some kits for sale, in case you can’t source anything local. You just need to do the wiring as described above.
George the Lighbringer.