Folks,

I'm at the point where I'm ready to either retrofit Xenon to my '08 MCS, or sell the car and buy a replacement that has adequate lights.

Has anyone had any luck with any aftermarket Xenon retrofit kits?

Any feedback on the following, or something better ?
http://www.xenonsupply.com/mini-coop...xenon-kit.html
http://www.blindinghid.com/mini-hid-kits/
http://www.philipsxenon.com/mini-coo...ips-hid-p-1257
http://www.andysautosport.com/projec...oper/2008.html

?

TIA,
a

 

We've sold and installed several sets of the OEM MINI Xenon conversion kit lights. They work the best and fit like they are suppose to.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/xenon-h...7-r58-r59.html

I've driven a car recently that had an ebay kit in it, and it was worse than the stock halogen lights so I don't recommend them.

 

OP,

If Mini is selling a set of xenon "retro fitted" headlights, it makes me wonder if the xenon headlights are just plug and play with nothing proprietary in the housing making them different from the Halogens. I'll see if I can find any posts/threads of mini owners who have attempted to swap the headlights.

I'll do some research and update my post with any findings.

 

I did changed mine about couple weeks ago, yes they are plug and play and great fitment but you have to take in the dealer ship and reprogram your computer ($99.95),so the correct voltage will be supplied to the lights, otherwise will flicker like a strobe light. Good luck

 

 

+1 on the MINI Genuine Retrofit kit. 63102347698 KT . Mini Union , they look really good

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/63102347698KT/

 

...plus I can see.

 

Yes. that helps too

 

Way, ECSTuning,

Thanks for replying. I will definitely call you guys after the holidays and get a set.

Way, my '08 MCS is 02/08 production date vehicle, and I am about 846 miles from your shop Atlanta. Is there anything we can do to make your set work on my car?

alex

 

CornerCarver, the retrofit kits are the same as the stock Xenons, except they have 25w bulbs as opposed to the factory 35w ones. This eliminates the need for auto leveling sensors and washers. They ARE plug and play, but the car requires coding. The standard halogen lights use pulses, which will cause the Xenons to strobe until they are coded. In the US, the housings for the retrofit lights are anthracite gray. In Europe, they are black. I have a set that I just intalles on my Countryman. They have black housings and look exactly like the factory ones. I have compared. Them to the stock Xenons and you cannot tell the difference in brightness when they are on.

 

If you bring the car to our shop, or meet us at an event like the dragon we can do it there. If that's not possible we'll have to see what else we can come up with.

 

I was just about to pull the trigger with blackflames for a retro kit. I was holding back cause I didn't want the hack wiring job, but the halo's that change color are pretty cool
That being said I like plug and play better than being cool hacked up...lol
\
questions
ASKtheteach - I'm following some of this , 25w vs the 35w being the possible fix for this retro but not sure how the watts of the bulb would care about the leveling ?
Also , I would think if any light was setup to pulse it would flash/strobe. Can you explain better ?
I'm just asking cause I had a guy do some coding to make my sunroof and windows go up from the fob , my blinkers flash in eruo etc. So I was wanting some info before I contact him to see if he can do the "coding" as well.
He sent his Laptop out to our mini club and would code our cars, just wanting to see if this could be a means for me.

ECS- You state a dealer can code these lights in ??

 

Yep, MINI dealership can code the 25w retrofit MINI Xenon headlights. Give them a call and a headups so they know ahead of time. If they are not coded, you will get the strobe effect.

Thanks

 

Is the strobe something that's there all the time with the lights on, or is it just during bulb checks, etc.?

 

Based on what people said it strobes all the time on the LKM.

 

If you put them in a 07-09 MINI you will get the strobe and the dealer can't fix it. The dealer can only program them for 09+ MINI's. That is why our local dealer sends customers that have the earlier cars to us as we have a work around to make them work.

 

The stock halogen lights use electrical pulses tobwork properly, while the Xenons require a steady current. The pulses will cause the Xenons to strobe. Coding allows for steady current to the lights. Regarding the 25w vs. 35w question, I have had my car next to my friends (he has the factory Xenons) and there is no difference in brightness. The reason for the lower wattage is to avoid the requirement for auto leveling and headlight washers. The retrofit kits have manual leveling adjustment.

 

I got a quote from Black Flame customs and AAC style ( Advance Automotive) between 500-950 you can pick color , projector,intensity color range , halo,leds even color changing plasma halo's from a remote. There is some wiring needed is the only bad part.
I'm all about plug and play tho.... but I can't justify driving to WAY to get them turned on. I did ask the gent that coded my car so my fob will roll up my windows and close the sunroof and he said he would looking into it. He will mail his laptop to you and then code your car.
I wonder if you use a TDR (Time delay relay) with about 5-10 sec delay powered from the battery, the pulses would hit the relay every 2-3 sec but the relay does not drop out till there is no pulses after 5-10 sec. This would require wiring and not plug in play..I will try and find a wiring diagram

 

I have the BiXenons blacked out, and they do look great. Considering they were a $750 option on my car the upgrade for $1000 doesn't sound too bad to me.

 

MINI is the only car company to have a Xenon upgrade retrofit kit factory, I can think of like this , pretty much plug and play other then the coding flash. I surprised they were able to develop this kit.

 

Has anyone actually installed any projector headlamps that utilize a 35W system and experienced said flashing and flickering .. or is it just assumed that these things will happen because somewhere in the past someone said it would and now the rest of the world agrees before even trying?


My MINI came factory with halogens. I had my OEM headlamps fully retrofitted with projectors last year using an OEM (well, off a GT-R) 35W D2 system. I have never experienced any issues with my lights.

.. 1 year and 15,000 miles later .. still ..

No flashing. No flickering. No strobing. No additional components. No coding required.

Maybe I got lucky

 

who did your retrofit ? Did you have to run a power wire and add a relay etc to make it work ? or yours Bi-Xenon ( hi and low beams ) can you still flash to pass ( pull back on your lever to flash high beams )

I have been kicking around which way to go but from what I see if you want plug in play and ALL your functions to work the retrofit and dealer coding is the clean easy way....

I called the dealer in Vegas and was told. 1000.00 for the lights , 180 installed with coding included . It is a flash so any mods you have tune/other coding will be lost.

can you post a pic of your lights and any wiring mods you had to do ????

 

My full retrofit was completed with a company called HID Pro (www.hidpro.com), based out of Orlando, FL. There are no relays, capacitors, resistors, canbus ballasts, etc. involved in my setup. At this moment, I have no wiring-specific information, they'd be able to answer that better than I can.

I am using OEM 35W D2 system with aftermarket D2 6000k bulbs. My lows and highs ARE fully functional, including my "flash-to-pass" ability. Would anyone be interested in a video of the functions, including shots of my dash as I initiate each function? I could do that.

 

babysarah...that would be cool! But any idea if this setup will work on a 2011 MCS?
I HATE my halogens, but tried an HID kit and LED headlight "bulbs". Both caused either improper operation, or just plain scary crap on my ride. I thought I had burned out my footwell module INSTANTLY with the HID's! Thankfully, it somehow recovered. All the smoke went back into the black box. LOL.

 

I imagine this setup can work on any R56. If you're looking to just install xenons and don't necessarily want to go the route of new headlamps or a custom retrofit, I recommend a canbus HID system. BUT .. in my personal experience, our halogen headlamps are really crappy with HID's in terms of light output. I had "hotspots" on the road when I tried that - one really bright spot here and there - just doing what typical reflector housings do.

The retrofit would be my recommendation. It is pricey no matter what route you go, whether custom or purchasing the new headlamps from somewhere else. If you're in the market for a retrofit, I would definitely consider going with something custom. It works, and you can create a headlamp unique to your own personal style.

My 35W system works just fine. It is NOT 25W. I did not need additional components, nor did I need to visit my dealer for "programming."