Installed my rally lights today. It was more a PITA than I expected. The directions are less than stellar due to them being more for the MINI tech than a DIY'er. The instructions that are available are for 02 and early 03 models. No major differnces, but enough to slow you down and second guess some of the steps.
Here are a couple of tips that might help someone else.

The inline fuse threw more of a curve to me than anything. It is nothing like the instructions refer to. At this point, I hope what I did was right as I connect the short red wire in main harness to the inline fuse then connected inline fuse to fuse box under the bonnet.

The other difficult item I ran into was getting the trim piece away from the control module. Take your time and gentle pry the trim piece back from the door sills. MINI uses the typical BMW clips but they are more sturdy than BMW (or seems to be aleast).

Be very careful drilling the holes for the brackets. If you go to far over you will drill into one of the plastic post that is in the grill. Also, be VERY careful drilling the top rivet hole. In both instances, my drill bit got into the hood and caused a slight bit of damage. I am sure no one else would notice it..but if you are like me...my eye will go to it everytime.

One last bit of information. When installing the light kit yourself, downloand the instructions on removing the radio head mount. It will save you some time and keep you from coming back in to print another set of paperwork.
All in all, I saved a butt load of money, and I would do it again. For me, this was about a 5 hour job.

 

Great post! I've been eyeing the Driving Lights forever. Need to dive in like you did :-)

 

Have you still got those instructions? I just got my driving light kit from outmotoring but it came with no instructions whatsoever and definitely nothing as helpful as a wiring diagram for them! I'm in over my head here!

 

OEM instructions can be found here. Just go slow, read everything in advance, and be sure to wrap tape around the drill bit so you don't mar the bonnet!

 

Thanks for the advice - those instructions are gonna be key! Can't believe the kit came w/o them!

 

Where's the inline fuse for the lights? The Mini I just bought came with them, but in Ohio where the original owner lived they were not legal for use so the dealer apparently pulled the fuse.

 

It may vary a bit depending on model year and who installed it, but according to the instructions in Eric's link, you're meant to install the in-line fuse in its own holder just foreward of the cowl on the driver's side by the airbox.

Assuming that the car you bought had them installed using the same OEM kit, there should be a thin red lead (maybe 18 ga.) coming off the battery terminal at your main fuse box and going rearward in car toward the firewall. If you follow this lead, the in-line fuse should be right on it. Use a 15A fuse.

The kit I bought is OEM but a few years newer than those instructions, if you want I can post some pictures of my install later on once I finish tidying up the wires. Got 'em on though and they're looking great!

Good luck!

 

I still can't believe they actually cut the grill. The grill is plenty strong enough to support my 4 hella 500s just by turning a couple metal brackets into clamps.

 

I think I've located what you're talking about. It doesn't look like your typical inline fuse holder but instead is an actual aux fuse box with room for about 4-6 things. There's a 15 amp blade fuse in there and it appears to be intact. I'm going to try swapping it out. Hopefully that's all it is.