OMGosh! I just looked and YOU'RE RIGHT. Sheesh. Sorry. And I've washed her twice so i thought I "knew".

Correct, that is pretty straight forward. Orange on base model and clear on S & all4. And if you want to upgrade your base model to clear scuttles then just buy the $100 option. That much is certain.

Base...


S & all4....

Thank you for clarifying that. And congrats, you saved yourself $100. This is what I've been trying to explain the whole time... they come standard, you don't need to pay the $100. It appears to be an oversight on Mini's part and the salespeople don't realize it because they just go off of what their computer tells them.

Just trying to justify my "angry" comment from earlier. This is what I read from you this morning. Anger or frustration, call it what you want but it was sounding angry to me.

Either way my earlier response included some links for a few CMS' in dealer inventory that had standard headlamps without the clear lens option and by the pictures seemed to have a clear lens. Looks like you don't have to spend the $100 for an S with halogens which is actually a good tip.


Just trying to help.

Thank you. Your links confirm what I found with my dealer's inventory.

You can't depend on photos on MINI dealer websites. They'll use the same photos for more than one car on the lot. It says so right there below the photo: "Images are representative of this model but may not be of this specific vehicle."

^^^ You're welcome.
I hope your CM gets here quickly. The wait can be agonizing, especially for West Coast cars. It's along cruise from Bremerhaven to Port Hueneneme! It's all worth it in the end.

[Just came from my delearship in CA] My MA and I walked the dealership and inspected every Countryman. As stated before, all the base model Countryman have yellow side scuttles and the S and ALL4 have clear.

In addition, all the S and ALL4 have clear lens in their headlamps, whether halogen or xenon. For each car that had the clear lens in the headlight we checked the options list, and the clear lens option was not present.

This was a surprise to the MA - no one had commented on that previously.

I think you're on to something here.

I want my $100 Back!!!

Thank you very much ghamma, now I'm confident that I can go ahead and order the car without spending the extra $100.

Being a cheapskate finally pays off for me.

Are you ordering Xenon's? If so you will pay the extra $100 anyways!

No xenon. We got this...

2012 Cooper S Countryman
A48 Royal Gray Body Color
205_R56 6-Speed Automatic with Paddle Shifters
2GP_2RV 17" 5-Star Spoke Black
381 Body Color Roof/Mirrors
403 Dual Pane Panoramic Sunroof
473 Center Arm Rest
4AA Anthracite Headliner
4U4 Two-Part Center Rail
674 Harman/Kardon Sound System
6ND Bluetooth and USB/iPod Adapter

It added up to $30,550 and I knew you couldn't bargain much on these so I said "Make it an even $30k and I'll order it today" and the manager quickly approved it. I couldn't ask for an easier car buying experience. Now the hard part... I have to find a buyer for her Honda Pilot.

On the way to my ALL4 I cleaned up the Pilot, took some pictures, advertised it on Craigslist, and sold it the same day. I hope you have similar luck...

Stopped back by the dealer yesterday as we made a last minute change on the color of our car. My wife feels the Royal Grey is too brown, so we switched to black.

Anyway, I took a closer look at the headlights while there. As we've discovered, all the S & all4 come standard with clear signals, but there are actually two different shapes of the clear lenses. Halogen lights have a turn signal with a flat, clear lens and the xenon lights have a turn signal with a spherical, clear lens.


Flat lens...



Spherical lens...



And here is the orange lens of the base model...

I went with Xenons and replaced the amber bulbs with amber LEDs. The LEDs truly "clear" up the issue. Pictures later.

Here is a pic on the Xenons with amber LED bulbs. You can't see the amber until the LEDs light.

LED turn signals in action:

Hi Koopah - Did the led bulbs fit in without modification?

Thanks

Yes, the fit was perfect. However, MINI monitors the current drawn by a number of the lamps. When the current drops on a particular lamp, MINI sends a "lamp check" error and you are notified that a lamp is burned out. Thing is, the LEDs don't draw much current for a equivalent lumen level compared with incandescent lamps. Therefore, just popping in LED turn signal lamps will cause the MINI to think the lamps are burned out!

There are two basic ways around this: (1) install a resistor in the wiring of each lamp assembly, or (2) tell the FRM control module to ignore the lamp checks. I chose option (2) and used the NCS Expert program to code-out the lamp checks. You might also find an NCS-knowledgeable person to help you code-out the lamp checks in THIS thread.

There is much more detailed information about installing LEDs (and resistors) for the R60 in THIS thread. theta (and others) have done a brilliant job detailing how to the NCS Expert program to code-out the lamp checks in THIS thread. I would scrutinize these two threads before making a decision to move forward with LEDs.

HTH,

koopah - I have LED bulbs in my Hyundai and of course they caused the rapid blink due to their low amperage draw. What I found out is that there are two styles of flasher relays; one for regular incandescent bulbs and one for LED bulbs. I just replaced my relay with the LED type and the flashing is perfect. A lot of people do crazy stuff like splice resistors into their wiring, etc. but just replacing the relay is quick and easy without having to modify anything. About $14 at any auto parts store.

Here is what I used... http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...fier=6416_0_0_

Notice it says "LED compatible" in the description. Just about all cars use the same basic flasher relay, but since I don't have the MINI yet I can't check to verify that it fits. However, in this case, just replacing the front turn signal bulbs, it's easiest just to get the silver bulbs that flash orange and be done with it for about $11 total rather than having to deal with LEDs.

The only reason I had to go with LEDs is because my lights are dual filament, they are on dim when the headlights are on, and they flash bright when turn signals are on. I got "switchback LEDs" which mean the bulb has a lot of LEDs on it and half of them are white and half orange. That way they're clear with headlights on yet still blink orange when I put the turn signal on. The Mini turn signal is just a single filament so you don't need LED bulbs, a normal silver bulb is fine and you don't have to deal with fixing a rapid blink or bulb failure notifications.

The issue with the MINI's system doesn't have anything to do with the relay. LEDs flash just fine. Nowhere are switchback LEDs needed. If, however, you replace the turn signal lamps with the standard incandescent silver bulbs, you may find (as others have) that the light output is very disappointing.

Since you are new to the Countryman, it may be good to peruse THIS thread before you new addition arrives in your household. There are some pretty well-informed EEs out there who have contributed more than you or I will ever know...

I have replaced the standard (so-so) lighting of the Countryman with LEDs in the following locations:
- city lights (above the fogs, LEDs have a similar color temp as the Xenons and match really well)
- front turn signals
- side marker indicators
- tail lights (4)
- rear turn signals (amber)
- brake lights
- license plate lights
- puddle lights
- boot and dome lights

MINI and BMW don't use flasher relays. The turn signal is directly connected to the computer. The software flashes the lights. The software also senses the amount of current draw and decides whether the bulb is out.

Thanks, RKW!

I suspected as much since I was able to make the hazards double-blink by modifying the FRM module settings.

To me frankly orange ones look better and more original and distinct.