Hey guys just wanted to share some info. I have been waiting for a set of chrome projector headlights from Spec-D. They were out of stock for a few months but finally they got them back. The black headlights have been in stock. They look really good but I just prefer the OEM-type chrome.

My R55 came with Halogens but I got rid of them right away. I installed OEM bi-xenons and they seemed to be working fine. Had the custom wiring done. Everything was working nicely until the error lights came up on the dash, its a little annoying but didn't stop them from working. I just bought a R56S that came equipped with Xenons but the car was hit in the front so I figured I'm better off swapping the ones on the R55 onto the R56S.

Anyway, they are about to be installed. Here are some pics of how they came and a couple of shots of the OEM projectors (FYI the amber lenses were popped off but there are amber bulbs) for comparison.

I will have some pictures installed including some at night plus a review sometime in the next few days.

 

Interesting will be watching for further updates

 

Great info and thank you for bringing up this topic with Spec-D to share with us. Will have a puch of questions soon but the first one is about aiming the lights.

Do you need to aim the lights after installing them or did they fit without needing to aiming them.

How are the wiring for the spec d.. Did you need the relay harness or just direct wiring to the OEM.

 

After handling them for a bit the quality looks pretty damn good. A lot of OEM cues on it. Will let you guys know how the install goes. I noticed in the instructions it said to wire up the halo with a pos/neg separately and then simply pop in the plug and you are done. The plug cosmetically looks a touch different to OEM but it has the same exact hook up. These are supposed to be Halogen replacement. I will update you guys soon. The same aftermarket 6k HIDs I had before will stay, it has the wattage resistor built in. Hope everything goes as easy as possible.

 

I'm definitely subscribing to this. I have the Spec D projectors for my R56s and my high beams won't stay on, and they're a pain in the *** to aim correctly. Let me know if you have either of these problems. I've yet to find an elegant way to aim them without removing the entire light. Let me know if I'm just a moron .

 

UPDATE: I decided to go take another look at what was going on with my high beams and I realized that there was a warning canceller that was plugged into the housing of these headlights that was preventing the high beams from staying on. Yes, now I get bulb out errors, but I'm just going to use NCSexpert to hide those.

Also, in order to adjust these, you need a tool similar to the following:


It's just a tiny 4mm ratchet wrench. That explains why I couldn't adjust them before, I don't even have a 4mm socket! A socket definitely won't fit though, as there's barely any room to wiggle it in.

Sorry for the threadjacking! Let us know how you like the lights.

 

^ Thanks for the pointer. We just test fit the lights last night to make sure everything lined up. Didn't have enough time to finish it then. They will go on today. When they were on there I thought the same thing to myself, gonna be a real pain to align the beam without the proper tool. Its like the old T tools. I'll let you guys know how it goes later today. I believe I saw a horizontal adjuster on there too.

 

The horizontal adjuster just requires a stubby philips driver. Good luck.

 

so it was mentioned that the high beams do not work w/ these lights? They look pretty cool, i like the black ones they sell.

 

I am going to get one of those tools that you recommended for the adjustment, but where is the nut/bolt that I need to adjust on the light? I put mine in a couple of days ago and did not see where they could be adjusted. I thought that I just had to tighten down the two bottom mounting bolts and maybe put in larger spacers on the two upper bolts to get them to aim lower as mine aim too high causing me to not be able to see the road except for my fog lights.

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

On the back of the light towards the outside, you'll see a longer, thin bolt sticking out. This adjusts the headlights up and down. It looks as if there isn't even a head on the bolt because it's only a 4mm head. On the inner back side of the light is a phillips screw that adjusts the lights left and right.

For the record, I hate these lights and I'm currently debating on doing the full OEM conversion. It's just so damn expensive! I need to start a fund raiser so I can afford them! In return, I'll make an awesome detailed how-to. NOW TAKING DONATIONS lol

 

Does anyone know if these lights will fit the 2012 R56?

 

I popped in the OEM part number of a standard headlight into RealOEM for Cross-Referencing and the OEM light is the same from 2007-2012 models R55/R55 LCI/R56/R56 LCI/R57/ R57 LCI/58/59. So these should work on your 12' MINI.

 

Thanks further quick response. Also I wanted to know if I bought the lights and just plugged them into the existing wire harness what would work and what wouldn't? What are the extra wires on the headlight for?

 

The harness is just plug and play. If you just plugged right in, you should have low beams and turns signals. High beams were a bust for me, but it might be because I have HID bulbs.

I'm still not 100% sure about what the extra wires are for. I know one set is for the high beam warning canceler (which didn't work for me, it rendered the high beams useless). Two other sets are for the LED Halo rings and the LED beads around the turn signal lens. As far as the other few sets of wires, I'm not sure.

 

Ok so wen you just plug the harness in the high beams don't work at all? Or you can only flash then with the lever but they won't stay on? Also is there and CELs that come on with the plug and play or when you connect the other wires?

 

With the HID kit purchased along with these lights, plug and play works for low beams and turn signals. High beams flash, but do not remain on in the 'ON' position.

I do not have any experience with halogens and these lights. I would imagine that it would have similar problems, but I don't know for sure.

 

So the projectors don't come with xenon bulbs. What exactly does it have? You have to buy additional stuff for them to work?

 

Spec_d says they come with single-filament bulbs (H11?), which would mean no high beam, OR maybe there's a shield that is activated to flip up if high beams are commanded.
But I doubt it - that comes with some HID, but I've not heard of it with halogen.

 

So I'm not sure why your saying they do or they don't come with hids? Also can you run them as is? Does anyone have any pics vids of the light output of the spec d on an r56? And of how they look when installed and halos on? Would greatly apreciate it.

 

The way I read it, the spec-d's come with halogens, I think single-filament H11 (instead of the OEM dual-filament H13). The OP converted to HID; either way, no high beam.

 

I got mine from protuninglab.com. They sold these lights optional with HIDs preinstalled. The projector does have a cutoff that raises for high beams. This is true for the version that comes with halogen as well.

P.S. I do not recommend buying from protuninglab. They have stopped responding to my emails about my lights being damaged during shipping. They do not answer their phones and constantly ignore emails. Terrible company.

 

OK, NOW my understanding is Spec-d designs them wth halogen bulbs and a motorized high/low beam shield ( I did not see those details on their site). Then, some vendors bundle them with HID conversion kits.
8889, I hope things work out, keep bugging them.
Does anyone have pics of the beam pattern shining on a wall, or garage door?

 

This is correct. The beam pattern is similar to this, but not as crisp:

 

That's what I'd like to end up with...