Installation Guides / Door Lights
Door Light Installation Guide
Installation instructions for Nuro Performance LED door light projectors. These replace the factory courtesy light in the bottom of the door card. This is the simplest installation we sell: no wiring, no tools beyond a pry pin, and around two minutes per door.
What you are replacing
Modern BMW, Mercedes and Audi models have a small courtesy light set into the bottom edge of the door card, pointing at the ground. It lights the kerb when the door opens.
A door light projector is a direct replacement for that unit. It uses the same aperture and the same factory plug, and projects a logo onto the ground instead of a plain white pool of light.
Nothing is cut, spliced or drilled. The original light is unclipped and kept, so the change is fully reversible.
At a glance
- DifficultyEasy
- Time per doorAbout 2 minutes
- ToolsPry pin only
- WiringNone
- CodingNone
- Error codesNone
- ReversibleYes
Check fitment first
Your car needs a factory door light slot
Door light projectors fit into an existing aperture. If the car was built without one, there is nothing to replace and no kit will fit.
Most BMW models from 2006 onward have the slot. The known exceptions that do not:
- 2023 onward G20 LCI 3 Series
- G90 M5
- G60 5 Series
If you are unsure, open a door and look at the bottom edge of the door card. If there is a small light lens there, you are fine. If the panel is solid, you are not. Send us your model and year before ordering if you cannot tell.
Mercedes and Audi
The Mercedes and Audi kits fit the same way and to the same principle: unclip the factory courtesy light, plug the projector into the original connector, clip it back in.
The aperture position varies slightly by model, but it is always in the lower edge of the door card facing the ground.
Confirm the lens diameter
Door light units are not all the same size across generations. The kit is matched to your series, but it is worth a ten second check before you start prying.
Compare the diameter of the new unit against the old one once it is out. If they clearly differ, stop and contact us rather than forcing it into the aperture.
Choosing your kit
How many lights
Order one light per door that has a factory slot.
- 2 door coupe — 2 lights
- 4 door sedan or SUV — 4 lights
The four light kit is the more common choice. Rear doors on most sedans and SUVs have the same aperture as the fronts.
Logo choice
The logo is fixed in the unit and is not changeable after purchase, so choose at the point of order.
Options include M, M Performance, M Track, the BMW roundel and 50th Anniversary, with the range varying by series. Mixing logos across doors is possible if you order accordingly, though most people run the same logo on all four.
What you need
Tools
- The pry pin supplied with the kit. Most kits include one. If yours did not, a small plastic trim removal tool does the same job
- A strip of masking tape or a microfibre cloth to protect the door card where you lever against it
- Nothing else. No screwdrivers, no sockets, no wire strippers
A metal flathead screwdriver will work but will mark the trim if it slips. If that is all you have, tape the blade and the surrounding panel.
Before starting
- Park somewhere you can open all doors fully
- Do the job in daylight, then check the result at dusk
- There is no need to disconnect the battery
- Keep the original lights. They go back in if you ever sell the car or return the kit
Fitting procedure
Per door
- Open the door and locate the light. It sits in the bottom edge of the door card, facing down at the ground. Look for the small lens and the fine gap running around it.
- Find the release notch. There is a small slot or recess on one edge of the lens, which is where the retaining clip sits. Protect the surrounding trim with tape or a cloth before levering.
- Ease the unit out. Insert the pry pin into the notch and lever gently until the clip releases. It is held by a spring clip, not by screws, so it should come free with light, steady pressure. If it will not move, reposition rather than increasing force.
- Support the unit as it comes out. Do not let it drop and hang on its wire. The loom behind the door card is short.
- Unplug the factory connector. Depress the tab and pull on the connector body, not the wire. Set the original light aside somewhere safe.
- Plug in the new projector. It uses the same factory connector, so it should click straight on.
- Test before you clip it in. With the unit still loose in your hand, check it lights and see which way up the logo projects. This is the whole reason to test now rather than later. If it does not light, unplug and reverse the connector. If the logo is upside down or rotated, turn the unit in your hand until it reads correctly.
- Clip the projector into the aperture. Line it up in the orientation you confirmed in the previous step and press until it seats flush. Check no wire is trapped behind it.
- Repeat on the remaining doors, then close everything up and check all lights together after dark.
Troubleshooting
It does not light
Unplug the connector, turn it around and refit it. LED units are polarity sensitive and will simply not illuminate if the plug is the wrong way round. This is the most common cause and it is not a fault.
If it still does not light with the connector both ways, try that unit in another door to establish whether the problem is the light or the socket.
The logo is upside down
Unclip the unit, rotate it, and clip it back in. The housing determines which way the logo projects, so the fix is mechanical rather than electrical.
Check the orientation while the unit is still loose next time. It saves unclipping it twice.
The projection looks soft
These project a fixed focus image at roughly door height. The logo is sharpest on flat, level ground.
On a slope, a kerb or loose gravel it will look distorted, and that is the surface rather than the unit. Check the lens is clean and that the unit is sitting fully flush before assuming a fault.
It seems dim
Projector logos read best at dusk and at night. In direct daylight the image will always look faint, on any brand.
Judge the result after dark before drawing a conclusion.
It will not sit flush
Almost always a trapped wire behind the unit. Unclip, tuck the loom back into the cavity and refit.
If the unit is genuinely too large for the aperture, stop. Do not force it. Contact us with the model and a photograph.
Warning lights
These kits are built to draw the same as the factory unit and should not trigger a bulb failure warning or any dash message.
If a warning does appear, do not clear it and continue. Contact us with the message and your model.
Questions during installation
Send your model, year and a photograph of the door aperture and we will advise.
