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Got my car off the lot. It had everything I wanted except xenons. Is there an aftermarket conversion that will work? I know the sell HID conversion kits, but if I do it, I want it done right. Does anybody know if it's possible to install them after the fact and have it be as good as the factory ones?
It is possible. Not cheap if you pay for the retro and not too difficult if you do it yourself. I bought my projectors and HIDs from theretrofitsource.com from a guy named Matt. I will get my pics up eventually. It is worth it but not a fun project. It is worth the effort to not have crappy halogens. I will not buy another car without xenons/hids from the factory.
I spent $300 and it included the D2S projectors that slip right into the headlight with some dremeling, bulbs, ballasts, and all wiring required. Once installed (I took 1 day off of work) the lows and hi worked just like factory and no bulb-out warnings. The issues is cutting into your factory headlights to where they are no longer usable with the stock halogens to fit the projectors you buy, and making it look clean.
FWIW, aftermarket HID's or Xeneons, are not a good option, they are not set correctly for on coming traffic and are actually illegal in most states, and do not conform to DOT regulations. Not that thats ever enforced.
I spoke to a Mini specialist shop about this. The mechanic told me that in order to put the factory ones in, it will cost $2K in parts alone He said the entire wiring harness will have to be replaced, and that would most certainly void the warranty.
Self leveling adjustment is an additional feature I believe (thought I saw it on the list). You can do a set of xenons and make them look good for a decent price. Still 500 to get them from the dealer done and under warranty is the way to go, but since you have your car it is pretty easy to do.
I basically bought my car the same way you did and the lights are not bright enough. I had a hard time going to Park City the other night as I could barely see the road features.
Self leveling required, at least for new vehicle HID's
And no self leveling is among the big reasons they don't conform to the relevant new vehicle automotive standards. There were concerns they were too bright when they were originally allowed.
Besides this issue, just flip over to the endless posts on the gen 1 or gen 2 boards about retrofit this and that triggering bulb out warnings, variously as folks try retro HID fitments and LED conversions somewhere else on the car. Common threads there tend to be DIY and "today's special" off the internet for HID, and for LED's most anything since the system needs to see a certain current draw matched between the two sides of the car for any of the meaningful safety related exterior bulbs. Not new either; back to my 1985 Audi of yore these bulb out systems came into lots of upscale Euro cars.
Originally Posted by MINIdave
They won't have the self leveling feature of the factory units either, will they?
I spoke to a Mini specialist shop about this. The mechanic told me that in order to put the factory ones in, it will cost $2K in parts alone He said the entire wiring harness will have to be replaced, and that would most certainly void the warranty.
Insane amount indeed, but void the warranty, thats nonsense, at most it would just void the warranty on the head lights, but if Mini was doing the install and you were having them put them in I doubt even that.
They won't have the self leveling feature of the factory units either, will they?
Mine do not, although other cars produced do not have then either so no biggie for me. The self leveling requires much more as far as wiring and programming goes. You would also need the sensor and linkage on the driver's rear control arm.
FWIW, aftermarket HID's or Xeneons, are not a good option, they are not set correctly for on coming traffic and are actually illegal in most states, and do not conform to DOT regulations. Not that thats ever enforced.
I agree with that statement on drop-in kits. My first retrofit was probably the closest to legal as you can get. I used Infinity FX projectors and then adapted them into my Ford Ranger headlights. As the law reads that the light is fitted in a factory housing installed at the factory (paraphrasing of course) I met the requirements as the HID bulb was in a factory projector that just happened to be moved into a ranger housing.
This retrofit is less legal, I ordered manufactured projectors (made for a retrofit, threaded shaft and lock rings to tighten it down and not custom bracketry). They are mounted and aligned properly and therefor work in my book. If I get a ticket for having HIDs that are white (4300K) in a projector, not mis-aimed, I will then wonder why all of the numerous drop in glare kits are not treated the same or worse, with their extremely blue and glaring lights.
I asked MINI of St. Louis service if they would put the xeneons in and they said absolutely not. Whatever lights come with the vehicle once it leaves the factory are the ones covered by warranty otherwise a voided warranty indeed.
logically they could void it on the headlight units of course, but also the switch, the autocheck system (which checks bulbs), maybe ultimately all the lighting for the whole car or at least anything on the same fuse or subsystem, all of its wiring, anything tied to it like fuse box, relays, etc. There is actually a lot of stuff upstream from, or side by side with, headlights electrically if they are looking for an excuse.
Originally Posted by JudgeS
Insane amount indeed, but void the warranty, thats nonsense, at most it would just void the warranty on the head lights, but if Mini was doing the install and you were having them put them in I doubt even that.
Usually a repair done by MINI comes with a 2 year unlimited mile warranty. I know this is not a repair but just saying it might be covered if all the factory parts were used and swapped and they could reprogram the computer. IMO its not worth it to swap factory lights at a dealer after the fact. Maybe use OEM parts but rewire it yourself.
They could certainly try, but they would lose in court unless they could prove the Xenons caused or attributed to the cause of the actual failure being claimed under warranty. And again that's if someone else did the install, if they did it with genuine Mini parts I can't see them even trying to make it an issue. Although when all is said and done I can't imagine anyone having this done because of the cost, short of it being a colision that insurance is picking up part of the tab.
Yeah I agree, this is all assuming someone spend the ~$2000 in lights and wiring plus labor. You would take less of a bath to trade the car on one with HIDs.
Agree that the stock lights are awful. Something needs to be done. I'm in the same boat as the OP. Need something brighter.
OP- have you looked into replacing the bulbs?
A straight bulb replacement will not do much while keeping legal. I know my lights were aimed down a bit too much when I got my car so a check of aim and alignment of lights might help. more "premium" bulb like a silverstar will keep the same wattage but provide more lumen output at the cost of a shorter lifespan. Short of doing a full retro or trying replacement halogen bulbs there is not much you can do to make it exponentially better.
The 25w Xenon retrofit kit is available. I've had mine for about 2 weeks now and they are exactly like the factory lights in appearance and brightness. They are simple to instvall (4 bolts per light), but they do need to be programmed by the dealer or they will strobe. I got mine from Josh Kinneer at Flow MINI in Raleigh. I know ECS Tuning has them as well.
Allot of people have said the kit matched there 35 watt system. This is a number one upgrade for the Countryman and Paceman Halogen headlight owners and MINI went with a black housing, which is one of the most desired. Vs the titanium version of the R56-R59 owners.
Allot of people have said the kit matched there 35 watt system. This is a number one upgrade for the Countryman and Paceman Halogen headlight owners and MINI went with a black housing, which is one of the most desired. Vs the titanium version of the R56-R59 owners.
Exactly. Best money I've spent on my CM. The only discernable difference is that if you look closely at the projector lens (with the lights off, of course!), the lenses in the factory 35w units are totally smooth, while the lenses in the 25w units have small "dimples" in them. You need to look very closely to see this and the average person wouldn't even notice.
Just want to give you guys a heads up. We now have halogen => projector LED DRL headlights from spyder. These are in the F60 design for your R60/ R61. They are just like the halogen spyder ones fro the R56-R59 but these are for the R60 Countryman / R61Paceman. No Xenon to Xenon version yet.
But these take halogen H9 bulbs ( or if you want to do your own xenon/ led retrofit H9) Bi-halogen. This means they have 1 bulbs that has a flap like the Xenon factory system and when you use the highs, the flap moves up.
Bottom turn signal is standard P21 bulbs and this system is plug and play.
He said the entire wiring harness will have to be replaced, and that would most certainly void the warranty.
