Hey everyone, I picked up a '19 Forester Sport in Dark Metallic Grey. Loving it so far, but there a few things I want to change/add already. Won't be a steady stream of updates with work/life being busy, but hopefully I can get some stuff done every week.
https://flic.kr/p/2gNMHze
https://flic.kr/p/2gNNtHa
I've got a couple thing done off my list already, full interior & exterior bulb swap, RGB footwell lights (front & rear), and vinyl wrapped the orange accents in the interior.
LED Bulb swap:
The entry lights in the doors are easy to swap, just get a plastic pry tool and pop the cover off. Pull out the light, replace with LED bulb, if the LED doesnt work, remove and rotate 180 degrees. The bulb size is 194, I got a pack of 10 of Amazon.
https://flic.kr/p/2gNNswc
For some reason the map lights are LED, but the dome light isn't. This wont do. Same as the entry lights, just pop the clear cover off with a plastic pry tool. BE CAREFUL, before you take the bulb out make sure it isn't hot, I burned my fingers.. I replaced the bulb with a DE3175 LED bulb, I had to bed the tabs holding the bulb out a hair to fit the LED in (not to much, it still has to be a tight fit). Another size LED might fit better, but this is what I had on hand.
https://flic.kr/p/2gNNrW4
The License plate bulbs are also pretty easy. Get your plastic pry tool again, pry the plastic cover inwards (to the center of the car) twist the socket out, remove the stock bulb, replace with a 194 LED. Again, if it doesn't work, remove and rotate 180 degrees and reinstall.
https://flic.kr/p/2gNNsZg
I really don't like the orange trim and I'm working on changing it, I vinyl wrapped the 2 interior AC vent trims and the center console trim, just waiting on the 3M knifeless tape to get started on the exterior
So far the drivers side vent and peeled up in one corner so ill have to repair that, but the passenger and center console are holding pretty good so far, we'll see if they continue to hold. Perhaps I'll have to think of something else.
Install on the footwell lights is pretty easy and straightforward. I started my mounting the LED strips in all the locations, then ran the wiring. The LED strips are held on with 3M double sided tape (the good stuff)
Drivers side LED mounted
Passenger side
Drivers side rear
You'll want to make sure the LED strip is as far forward as possible. Make sure to wipe the side of the seat rail clean before sticking the LED strip on. I popped the trim off over the seat rail to hide the connection, takes a little fiddling to get it back on. Passenger side is just reverse of the drivers side.
As for wiring, for the rear seats I ran wire under the center console and popped it out under the seat to his the wire for a clean look. You don't need to remove the center console for this, the wire is easily pushed underneath with your fingers. When the wire pops out under the seat, make sure it goes under the seat rail and not over it.
The passenger side wiring (front and rear) can be passed through to the drivers side behind the stereo, there's a small opening that the 2 wires can be pushed through.
I made the connections by the fuse panel under the drivers side console, I pulled the radio 7.5A fuse to put the 'add-a-fuse' circuit in, I didn't have the proper size fuses at the time, but I've ordered some and will replace soon. I spliced the add a fuse to the LED driver, grounded the negative, then just plugged in all the connections.
Here's the final result, there's so many different colours, modes, etc. But these are the basics.
Took the driver and passenger air vents off last night and removed the orange trim to re-wrap it. So far it's holding pretty good, but I'll keep and eye on the corners. I also ordered a set of "F" overlays for the front and rear emblems. I've got an older Thinkware dashcam that I've been holding off on installing until I decide if I'm going to get a new front & rear dashcam.
I reached out to OEM Audio Plus to see if they'll be making an upgrade kit for the '19+ Foresters, hopefully they do. I don't have the HK or Rockford speaker upgrades, and a little better sound quality would be nice
Fosgate kit is like 360 and really worth it IMO, the amp has a built in DSP and powers all 6 speakers. The RF 6x9's that come with it are very impressive.. it's a max 2 hour job at home the first time kit has everything you need. Just added the CerwinVega spare tire sub in mine as well.. now were talking! lol I'm going to play around with the 3.5 and rear door speakers but honestly this is pretty sweet now. That tire sub has crazy bass, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't hear it.
Fosgate kit is like 360 and really worth it IMO, the amp has a built in DSP and powers all 6 speakers. The RF 6x9's that come with it are very impressive.. it's a max 2 hour job at home the first time kit has everything you need. Just added the CerwinVega spare tire sub in mine as well.. now were talking! lol I'm going to play around with the 3.5 and rear door speakers but honestly this is pretty sweet now. That tire sub has crazy bass, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't hear it.
Fosgate kit is like 360 and really worth it IMO, the amp has a built in DSP and powers all 6 speakers. The RF 6x9's that come with it are very impressive.. it's a max 2 hour job at home the first time kit has everything you need. Just added the CerwinVega spare tire sub in mine as well.. now were talking! lol I'm going to play around with the 3.5 and rear door speakers but honestly this is pretty sweet now. That tire sub has crazy bass, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't hear it.
@TheOtherStig no problem dude! I like to share haha.
You're right, in Canada the Sport comes with the 8" infotainment (no NAV) and the base 6 speakers. I believe in the US the HK system is an option package on the sport? Not 100% certain though.
I might go to the dealer to see if I can swing some sort of deal for the RF upgrade
I recall looking at the Kelley Blue Book site when I was checking prices and it listed all the accessories with invoice prices - this could be helpful in your negotiations.
Which 194 LED bulb brand did you order off Amazon?
I recall looking at the Kelley Blue Book site when I was checking prices and it listed all the accessories with invoice prices - this could be helpful in your negotiations.
Which 194 LED bulb brand did you order off Amazon?
Thanks I'll have a look at KBB, haven't made it in yet, pretty busy work week. The brand was AUXITO, not sure if they're still available on Amazon as I got them last winter but I haven't had any issues with them. Was a pack of 10 for $20-25
Been a crazy work week, but have a few updates. I ended up getting a new dashcam, the Thinkware FA200. Little better then the F50 I had before. Install is pretty straight forward and similar on all vehicles. This camera has a live view in the app so positioning is made fairly easy.
Start by finding a fuse that has constant 12V power and a fuse that gets 12V with ignition on. Connect your add-a-fuse to the camera wiring harness, plug the Battery wire into the constant 12V and the ACC wire into the ignition 12V.
I used the 7.5A Backup (red) fuse for constant 12V and the 7.5A ACC (Blue) fuse for ignition 12V
Next plug in your camera and turn the car on. Position your dashcam to where you want it. Then peel the back off the 3M tape and stick it on the window.
Now you can get to running the wire to make it pretty. Pull the rubber seal off the door and pop of the A piller trim (just grab with 2 hands and wiggle, should just pop off with minimal effort)
BE CAREFUL there is an airbag behind the trim.
Because there's an airbag you don't want to run the wire infront of the airbag, in the case it goes off, it could end badly. So grab the DC plug and pull it behind the airbag (see picture, wire highlighted in yellow)
Once you get the wire behind the airbag, pull enough length to plug it into the camera. Because I didn't want to use any plastic clips on the window, I tucked the wire into the headliner out of sight. If your car is equipt with eyesight, make sure the wire is not blocking the eyesight cameras
Now run the cable underneath the rubber door seal and poke it through the fuse panel opening.
Now you can push the A piller trim back into place and push the door seal back on. Make sure the wire isn't pinched as you're doing this. Now you can bundle up the extra length of wire with a zip tie and connect your add-a-fuse circuits if they aren't already connected.
I tired to re-wrap the orange trim vents, and although possible, I knew the corners would fail again. So I opted to use Plasti Dip. It came out way better then I thought it would
I also took my key apart and wrapped the silver pieces on each side of the key matte black. I was bored one night. I like the look of it, but I like things blacked out. Wasn't to hard, just took some time and patience.
I picked up the Forester "F" emblem overlays as well and I'll put those on sometime this weekend. That's all I have at the moment until I can decide what I want to tackle next on my list
Thanks! It's actually a pretty straight forward install, I'd say it took me 30 minutes with clean up.
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