Effing brilliant! Nice!

 

Can you take a picture of the inside switch mounted? Where in the firewall to run the wires through? Did this require removing the bumper to run any wires?

They look great!

 

Great job! Thanks for sharing. Waiting to see the quad set-up.

 

Just picked up a set of Hella 500s a little while ago and got some hardware at Home Depot. I'm going to give the installation a shot this weekend. Mine is a non-S, so it will be a little different, but I hope I get the same amazing result.

 

It will be interesting to see how well they mount thru that non-S grille. Post a pic or two when you're done? I may yet follow your lead on this one.

 

Will do. I'm curious too, FWIW. If you look past the silver bars on the non-S grille there is a black grid, so in that respect, it will be similar to the S grille. The difference is that my grille is deeper due to the bars, so I got fairly long (75mm) bolts to hold the lights on. I'm also going to paint the grille black while I'm at it.

 

With Xenons which wire to tap so the lights only activate with high beams on?

 

That's a good question. Mine has the halogens, but I think I'm going to wire the lights so that they work independently of the headlights.

 

I assume the wiring kit from this eBay seller includes the relay similar to hella etc.

All the treads on this topic that go in depth to wiring are for older Minis. Lots of threads but didn't see newer models with wiring to interface with high beam. I did find one integrating into fog light switch.

 

No keen on mounting big flat things that will experience many miles per hour of wind to a plastic grill... I'll stick with actual lounging brackets. Good luck long term though.

 

Another brand is wipac. they make driving lights just like what MINI uses. In fact if you look on ebay they sell a lot of them for MINI and they come with the hardware and mounting brackets. But I think they run about $145.for the kit. check it out! If someone is looking for a factory looking driving light kit but with out the in sane cost..this might be for you!

 

And here they are on my non-S. It was a little more complicated on my car, since the grille bars are so wide. I had to fabricate some blocks out of vinyl moulding to go behind the brackets. I painted the grille black at the same time. I think it gives the car a more aggressive look, expecially since I'm adding 19" anthracite wheels in a couple of weeks. Lights still need to be wired, but that's next weekend. I need to find a good wiring diagram for the Hella 500s.

 

I really like what you folks are doing here, your driving lights look great.

 

LOOKS GOOD BRO.. I like being a trend setter

 

And that you are (a trendsetter)! Definitely easier with the S, though. I had to fabricate some spacer blocks out of vinyl trim to allow the lights to fit properly. The deep bars on the grille are a challenge to work with. Also, on the back of the grille, the sides are solid, which makes for more secure mounting, but the sides are not symmetrical. I had to engineer a solution for the left side to securely bolt the light to the grille. The right side was much easier. I'm going to fine tune them a bit, and I still need to hook them up (I need a better wiring diagram), but overall, I'm pretty happy.

 

dam if u were closer i would have helped along with some beer!,,, my family owes a auto repair shop, so i pretty much grew up around this stuff

 

Thanx's ASKtheteach, I see another spring project for my non-S. I was already going to Pasti-Dip the side scuttles black, and after that will be the grille. I'm going to follow your lead with the driving lights. Looking forward to how you figure out how to wire them up.

 

The grille is actually quite sturdy and the lights don't weigh much. I don't see any issues with long-term reliability of the mounting. I drive 35 miles each way to and from work on a daily basis and most of it is highway driving, so I'll keep an eye on them to see what happens and if there are any issues, I'll go with a more traditional bracket, but for now I'm happy with the results.

 

Just wondering.....

Would the grille from a CM-S fit the opening of the non-S CM? From pix's they appear to be the same general opening dimensions. My thought is if it fit, I could fabricate a mounting bar to fill the space were the S grille has that rise along its lower edge. Then I could mount some tabs to this mounting bar in whatever position I want the driving lights and not have to worry about the plastic grille & spacers/etc.

 

How long of a bolt did you end up using?

 

to be honest i never measured the bolt, just measure it

 

In theory, it should work. The bonnet is the same for both S, non-S, and JCW. Only the bumper is different. I suppose you could try two approaches: Order one and give it a shot or if you know someone with an S, try borrowing theirs for a few minutes. The biggest issue that I can think of is that the bottom edge of the grille is held in place with clips that fit into slots on the bumper. There are two big ones at each lower edge and four (I think) across the middle of the bottom. With the gap at the bottom using a non-S bumper, I don't know how you'd attach it.

 

I don't think that both grills have the same shape

S and JCW have a "mouth" opening at the bootom of the grill, that is part of the bumper.

Non-S don't have that

 

Yea, on the R56 series grills the S, JCW, and Justa grills are not the same.

I went ahead and got the VIP brackets after trying to fab some up. I just couldn't stand to make a simple "L" on the grill. I'm sure its fine, but the VIP brackets fit perfectly.. and allow you to fit any type of light (versus the Mini brackets that only fit their lights..).. I had to do a bit of trimming, VIP sent a template, it was close.. not perfect.. but good enough.. turned out fine.. still have to bolt the lights on...

 

Or you could buy that grill:
http://www.outmotoring.com/r60-r61-grey-slat-grill.html

Look on this image, you'll see why a OEM CM-S grill won't fit on a CM non-S
http://www.outmotoring.com/led-drivi...t-r60-r61.html