I read Shawn's post about the after market reverse lights he installed on his 300td. I we have a steep driveway and both stock reverse are smashed out on our 300td wagon. I bought the Northern Tool lights which are 55watts each and I am going to hook them up with a relay and using the reverse light switch in the shifter as the trigger. The question I have is where does the 12volts positive power come from to power the lights if you are bypassing the shifter switch? I am thinking about running a dedicated heavy gauge wire to the battery with an inline fuse. The only problem with that is where to run the wire through the body or is there a suitable power source in the rear of the car? I am planning on mounting the relay in the rear compartment on the passenger side.
Any thoughts on this scheme would be appreciated.