Surely we can put are heads together and find some city lights to match the fog lights. Or at least find a way to run a resistor to the city lights so there will be no bulb out warnings.

 

GOOD NEWS!! I got one of the 25 SMDs to fit!!!! don't know if it will ever come out.

the bad news...the smd on the end does a slow blink....WTF!?!??!?!

follow-up...since the 13 led and the 25 led both fit loose...I took needle nose pliers to the base of the bulb and just tried to put a little kink in the wires which made them fit tighter into the socket....result....no bulb out warnings on my commute this morning....I'll see how it goes after about a week.

 

another follow-up ---- still no bulb out warning and the 25 smd bulb works perfectly.

I think the key here is to take needle hose pliers and put a kink in the wires for a good connection.

 

This sounds like a good fix. Do you think it is all possible that you could take a picture of this? because i would really like to get rid of the bulb out warnings. Also, did the slow blink ever go away?

 

bad news....bulb out warning is back....and the 25 smd front led is still slow blinking....I may try to pry it out and go back to the 13 SMD with the wire fix.

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

my hoen bulbs are throwing bulb outs multiple times in a drive. not happy with that. i had emailed to ask them for advise and they said the bulbs were likely just fine, they're not made for a mini though. kinda a b.s. answer though i think as a w5w bulb is a w5w blub. i didn't think bulbs were make dependant. we better all check to make sure each bulb is made for our car regardless of size....
the guy was nice i just didn't like that his bulbs only work on cars their "made for" however that is


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
do those work?

 

I wonder if I just litely spray the original bulbs with hi temp silver paint if it will take most/some of the yellow away?

 

Your Hoen bulbs are likely defective. I have the same bulbs and do not have a bulb out warning with these.

Send them back after switching left and right and ensuring that the bulbs are properly installed with no wires on the bulbs out of place.

Hoens customer service was top notch for me when I had a defective bulb. They sent out a replacement without me sending in the defective bulb.

 

perhaps i'll email the guy again and see about getting them. i like the light they make, and none of this flicker drama the others have. but mind are throwing more bulb outs by the day. a few times per drive. i'd be happer if the error just stayed up and i could cancel it out like when i have snow's on without tpms.

 

They kinda work. They usually give me a bulb out warning when I start the car, but not while I am driving. Though, when I was driving tonight I got one for some reason. As Bagwell suggested, it has to do with the wire connector on the LED not having a good connection which causes bulb out warnings. Bagwell is trying a fix which is putting a kink in the wire so that it has a better connection. I am waiting for his follow up post because if it works I will do the same thing.

 

after still receiving bulb out warnings with kinks in the wires for a tighter fit, I removed the 13 SMD bulb and replaced with the std bulb and left the 25 smd in ---- still got the warning. I removed the 25 smd and of course no bulb out warning anymore.

I may try just one 13 smd again with the kink in the wire...but it doesn't appear to have had any effect on stopping bulb out warning

 

pictures of this kinking would be good. i'm not sure i follow. the hoen doesn't have wire's i don't think?

 

basically I take needle nose pliers and first straighten the wire completely...then about halfway down the wire I bend it slightly then fold the wire back over like it was..the result is its not sitting 100% flush against the base which makes for a much more snug connection.

as I said I may try just one of the 13 smd's again -- this will be my final attempt.

 

does the 13 smd work?

 

ok...........re-installed 1 (only) of the 13 SMD bulbs, other bulb is the OEM....will report findings tomorrow.

 

my final report....even with the modded wire for a super snug fit in the base, the 13 SMDs = still getting bulb out warning; I can get rid of it by turning on the parks lights but to be honest I'm sick of farting with it...I might try painting the OEM bulbs with hi temp blue then silver paint to see if that looks any better (since I have 4 spares bulbs laying around).

 

Krim
are you getting any bulbouts with the 9 SMD LEDs?

I had a row burn out of my 13 and I started getting a bulbout after about 5 months of usage. The 25's are too wide just like in your pic, and do not fit in the housing. I swapped the 13's I had under the dash and the bulbout is gone. The geometry and materials of the under dash housing traps heat so it is a much tougher environment than the eyelid housing. Will see how long these last. If the 9's work I think that is the ticket.

 

the 9-SMD does give the bulb out warning, and they weren't bright enough anyways. I have 9-SMDs in the fotowells and the puddles and they've been holding up good. So have the 5-SMD's in the sidemarker housing.

my friend has a trick looking 16-SMD module coming in from china in a few weeks. i asked for a pair to test, but this shipment is all amber. Basically, it's the same as a 13-SMD except with 4 of the slim SMD on the tip instead of a single in a jigsaw pattern for correct diameter. the china ppl might already have them up on ebay.

I also asked about putting a 1w module in but it's forward facing. Adding radial SMDs would create too much heat, so he nixed that idea.

 

putting a kink in the wire on the bulb or on the socket?
i'm about done with the hoen stuff. looks good but bulb our all the time. and it doesn't stay on, so driving along. noise and graphic...not cool at all. does blue sort it out? maybe i'll look for blue w5w bulbs at auto zone.

 

actually just had an idea. what about buying another socket from mini and putting the led in it. then tap that off the existing line and tape the old one off with electrical tape so you can't see the light. then you have led (hoen) and not out as you're already pulling power with the existing one you tape up and onto some trim?

 

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...69&hg=63&fg=15

8.67$ in parts plus whatever splicing thing you'd need. i'm not electrical or a mod person but this would be good for someone to run with

 

so im trying to figure out what lights to use,

I did not get fog lights and really regret it now so i wanted to know is there something that is bright enough to light up the whole are enough to kinda look like i have fog lights?

 

Got the Hoen fogs and city lights the other week and installed them today after I detailed my car. The fogs are a huge improvement over the stock ones and pretty close match to the xenon headlights. I know some people aren't totally satisfied with the color match, but they're good enough for me and more than what I wanted. No more yellow/orangish fogs.


Fog Lights Hoen H8 xenonmatch:
http://www.hoen-usa.com/fog.htm

City Lights W5W:
http://www.hoen-usa.com/city.htm

The installation took me 5 minutes. Turned the wheels, popped the cap off, unclipped both lights. City light has one pressure clip and the fog light has two pressure clips on the sides. (Note: I don't think it's possible to get the bulb mounts out without unclipping the harness. There just isn't enough room to twist.) Once both wire harnesses are off I just twisted the bulb mount counter-clock wise. City light I just swapped the bulb in the mount, fog light I replaced the whole mount, which has the bulb in it. Plugged everything back in and so far so good. No bulb out warnings or flickering.

I would say it's a pretty nice mod, and not too expensive either, and extremely easy to do.

 

w5w lights are for the city lights, aka the eye lids on your fogs. They come on when your main lights are on.