Looks good! And you've got them working as intended, separate brake lights, turn signals, and running lights, like the factory European/UK UJ lights?

 

Yep, I am always like... hey there is my MINI with some knock off MINI products we cant sell. Bad photoshop or stolen Genuine MINI picture from our site and we don't sell to them. I have even seen them use our pictures in the UK MINI reseller market from places we don't do business with..lol

All the hard work and being a MINI enthusiast place, they steal it.

 

Everything works except the horizontal turn indicator, the brake lights, running lights, reverse all work correct, but the brake lights flash when the turn signal is on. I havent figured out how to get the turn signal to separate. I wish I could compare them to Euro taillights in term of the wiring harness. It seem like on the US model, the wire for the brake and turn is the same wire and the BDC digitally differentiates what signal it sends through that wire. I used Bimmercode and did all the programming at the beginning of this thread and it didnt change anything.

 

Ah, so you’re in the same boat as the rest of us with factory UJ lights. Bummer.

 

Can you share link which version you bought? We're always interested on aftermarket UJ tail lights verified by our members. =)

 

Sure, it was from Amazon -

 

We have them all right here: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-helix-parts/v-mini/

Those are pretty much all the union jacks on the market. And i know they work per fitment. Some of those on amazon the fitment and what's works is not always correct. So watch out.

F60 Union Jacks here : https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ziza-par...il_lights-set/

Headlights in the new Omega patterns here: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-vinstar-...ng-headlights/

 

So ECS, you are saying that the HELIX lights work? They Euro style like they are supposed to with the amber horizontal turn bar? Mine are Vland brand and they dont so far.

 

Yes, The Vlands should be the same brand as Helix. They just rebrand them. The problem is so many people copy the Helix design and reseller that the pinouts or fitment might be different dependent on model/ year splits (some lost in translation from Taiwanese or Chinese to English). I know the fitment and what light goes with what option MINI is correct on our site. See below on the amber ones.

The other resellers on amazon dont know that and just throw them up on amazon and cross fingers. They are not MINI people.

The amber bar is the euro UJ genuine ( https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...63217435133kt/ ) MINI aka OLSA ITALY branded ones. OLSA is the supplier for MINI on the newer F56+ platforms and you will find their name on the back side of the lights that are Genuine MINI. They worked with MINI design teams to develop the UJ taillights which came from the Supperleggra MINI I saw at the launch at the Detroit Auto show for the USA back in the day. It was as launched at the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como in Italy 1st, which is funny as the OLSA is out of Italy] and I believe they had some [size=13px]influence[/size] ion the design with superleggera italy. https://www.touringsuperleggera.eu/en/ After discussion at SEMA our buddy Ant Stead was at the lunch party for the Supperluggera MINI and had some influence on the design for this MINI, they did not use the UJ design in the build https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ema-minis.html

Small world.












We carry some of the OLSA on our site. Not the euro version as they OLSA did not release that for aftersales, We have the other ones.

Most people don't know all these thing behind the curtain. I am glad to info my MINI people as that's what sets us apart from all the resellers.

 

Are you saying that the lights you have at that link will work on my US-spec LCI1 F57 that came with the UJ lights from the factory, and I'll have the separate brake and (amber) turn signals as they function in Europe and the UK?

 

For the amber to work in the USA MINIs it would have to be coded on the euro only UJ taillights linked. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ramming-4.html

 

Yeah, I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t know of anyone on any of the online MINI groups or sites who have been able to get Euro/UK tails working properly on US cars that have the UJ lights from the factory. If I’m wrong, please point me to a source as I’d really like to do this!

 

Yea, its the change in the programming is my guess. I don't have an F56 LCI to test them on here. We have a Pre LCI F55 non UJ. If i see anything will let you know.

 

I went looking through wiring diagrams from MINI, and there's a change with the rear lights that I think coincided with the 2018 LCI refresh. Not going to republish the diagrams themselves (don't want to abuse the resource), but here's what I see...

2015 Cooper S (non-UJ LED tail lights):
BDC pins 41/33 (left/right) --> tail light pin 6 [function: "dynamic brake light (USA)"]
BDC pins 32/10 (left/right) --> tail light pin 1 [function: "brake light"]
BDC pins 21/13 (left/right) --> tail light pin 4 [function: "reversing light"]
BDC pins 19/11 (left/right) --> tail light pin 2 [function: "turn indicator"]
BDC pins 42/42 (left/right) --> tail light pin 5 [function: "tail lamp"]
tail light pin 3 is ground

2023 Cooper SE (UJ tail lights):
BDC pins 32/10 (left/right) --> tail light pin 6 [function: "brake light"]
BDC pins 41/33 (left/right) --> tail light pin 1 [function: "dynamic brake light (USA)"]
BDC pins 21/13 (left/right) --> tail light pin 4 [function: "reversing light"]
BDC pins 19/11 (left/right) --> tail light pin 2 [function: "turn indicator"]
BDC pins 42/42 (left/right) --> tail light pin 5 [function: "tail lamp"]
tail light pin 3 is ground

So, it looks like if one is installing a UJ tail light on a car with BDC pinouts for non-UJ LED tail lights, pins 1 & 6 on each tail light are effectively swapped. If anyone out there is still trying to get this to work, maybe swap those 2 pins to mimic the installation on a pre-LCI car, and see what happens? (nope, don't do that)

I mean, I don't have high hopes that this will address "The UK lights basically behave like the US lights, just without the horizontal bar", but it's worth a shot.
-------
Just for reference...
Here's what the tail light connector pins correspond to on the pre-LCI LED tail light:

F56 pre-LCI(2018) LED tail light, USA

Here's what the tail light connector pins correspond to on the UJ tail lights:

(pin 1 does nothing on both... pins 2 & 6 both light up the full 'T' on the US version)

My 2023 Cooper SE (late 2022 build date) doesn't even have a wire at pin 1.
... kinda like how some earlier US models didn't have a wire at pin 5 [see post #130]

 

Thanks for that info. Youre right, I dont know if that would change the turn signal output, but it's good to know. My opinion (without researching it) is that the electrical signal from the body control module on the 18+ with factory UJs is a single wire or input that connects to the taillights and the LED cluster is one piece for turn and brake, its the control module that sends either a brake pulse or a turn signal pulse to that individual LED board since the brake light and turn light are 1 connected " T " shaped piece. But the Euro, just like the pre LCI U.S. are 2 separate LED boards with 2 different wires or inputs. So if that accurate we would have to find a way to tell the computer there is a separate signal or electrical pulse. I could be wrong.

 

I have a 2023 Cooper SE presently on a boat in the Atlantic. When it arrives, probing tail light pins will be one of the first things I do. Very curious to see how pin 1 behaves, in particular. So, check back for another update to that post in maybe 2-3 weeks.

 

I have a 2021 F55 with factory UJ tail lights that I am trying to wire a trailer harness and pin 1 is not used. Trying to figure out how to wire the turn and brake lights as the instructions wire diagram and the car don't match. I see from the above that pin 2 on each side is the turn indicator, but there are 2 brake wires. Since I don't have a wire in pin 1, I guess my only option is pin 6. Maybe no pin 1 info on the newer ones may help someone.

 

Its strange cause some cars have a pin in all six like my 2022 F56, but I have seen others that only have 5 wires and are the same model and year, I can only assume its the features or options that the car came with?

 

Just to follow up on my trailer harness install. I used the pre-made harness from mini mania for my 2021 F55. The instructions had the tail lights connect to pin 4, the brake could be connected to pin 5, not connected or grounded depending on your vehicle. The right turn signal to pin 2. The left turn signal did not line up with any of the wire colors on my car, so I figured I would try pin 2 like the right side. That caused both lights to flash together when the brake wire connected to pin 5 and nothing when disconnected or grounded. After looking at previous posts about what pins worked what part of the light, I connected the right and left turn signals to pin 6 with the brake wire disconnected and that was the correct configuration for my car. Maybe this will help others connecting a trailer harness or just modding their lights.

 

looking for any help or knowledge.

So I have a set of black Union Jack lights on my 2023 SE. I followed the coding below, everything works great however when I either depress hard or regen brake from a higher speed I get the error message about the taillight malfunction. It is mostly intermittent and happens most when I am going above 30mph. Normal slowing and braking is not a problem and works normal. When the error pops up what seems to be happening is that the blinker flashes as if in an emergency braking situation. I have tried to follow a handful of coding options with no luck. What I find causing the problem is that when I code the vertical light separate from the horizontal blinker the problem starts as listed in #2 below.

if I leave the coding per factory the red brake light and orange turn signal illuminate as if stock in the US see pic 1. The blinker works normal with no error messages.

Adjusting the coding in #2 below is causing the error. However this adjustment is what is separating the blinker from the brake light as seen in pic2 and what I am looking for.

1) Swap pin/wire 1 and 5 on your tail light harness

• Same as shown by @aottley on the first page.
• For me this was swapping a blk/ylw strp wire from position 1 to 5 on both sides, but the wire color originally on 5 was different per side.
• This will in itself make the horizontal amber section work for your turn signal/flasher. The catch is that it will also pulse as your brake light, and then go to nothing (not good).

2) Body Domain Controller -> 3064 LceLampMapping3 -> MAPPING_BREMSL_1_L_OUTPUT -> OFF

• Needs done on both sides, use MAPPING_BREMSL_1_R_OUTPUT for right side
• This will stop the same signal being sent for turn/flasher and brake light, so now when you step on the brake you'll get no amber/horizontal pulse, but also nothing all together

3) Body Domain Controller -> 3065 LceLampMapping4 -> MAPPING_BREMSL_2_L_OUTPUT -> FRA_H_L

• Needs done on both sides, use MAPPING_BREMSL_2_R_OUTPUT for right side
• This will send your brake signal separately to the inner vertical bar section
• When my tail lights are not on it actually turns on the vertical bar along with the UJ flag, but this is how my brake lights were with these lights before the these changes

If anyone has another way to separate out the light or anything else they think I might try, I am open to any input.

Without coding #2



With coding #2

 

I don't know anything about any aftermarket union jack tail lights... but those instructions look pretty bogus to me. Their harness pin numbering is backwards, and the first thing they have you do is swap the wires for the brake light and turn signal, which is completely unnecessary. Guessing it's the product of haphazard trial & error. I would not recommend following them.

I hadn't been able to work on this project for a while, but I did some digging this past weekend, and I think I have everything figured out now to get UK union jack tail lights working as replacements for US union jack tail lights. But I still want to get some road testing done to make sure everything is good. So, watch this space...

 

I figured it would be as simple as reprogramming the output signal for the turns but in my experimenting with Bimmercode, I have gotten it to switch to each part of the taillights, (the UJ section, the vertical brake section, and even the reverse light section) but not the horizontal light section.

 

It appears to be, yeah.

 

Ok, finally got these installed and did some actual driving with them (as opposed to basic pedal-pushing with them wired up loose in the boot), and everything seems to be working fine.

So here's what I have...

Basic problem:.
Step 1: Decouple the turn signal function from the brake light BDC output going to tail light pin 6..
Step 2: Enable the turn signal BDC output going to tail light pin 2..
The above changes get the job done. But my mild OCD wants to set everything with the “MAPPING_BLINKER_H_” and “MAPPING_BLINKEN_2_H_” prefixes to the proper default values for a car that came from the factory with the amber turn signal union jack tail lights. So, if anyone in the UK or EU with amber union jack turn signals from the factory is able to share, I’d greatly appreciate it.

For example, I don’t really know:

 

man thank you for figuring that out. This worked for me, hopefully we can compile the other changes. Once you go down the rabbit hole of other settings it can be trial and error.