Hi and Happy Holidays to all!

I am wrestling with the idea of putting additional LED light on my Clubman's rear end. Last summer I install the hidden hitch, and a "swing away" plate holder (see photo):






As you can see, plate is away from OEM bumper plate lights when in "away" position, and even in "flat" position it is not lit by the OEM light because of the thickness of the swing away holder I installed.

My idea is to install following LED lights on the actual license frame:




or this one:





My question is if I can tap in to the wires of existing bumper plate lights? will it cause any unexpected error codes or not? Just the fact that I am adding more light "sources" on to existing power line (for license plate light), I am doing any harm to "fragile and temperamental" MINI electrical system?
I am confident enough to do the work by my self, I just don't want to do it if there is a chance of having error codes down the road.


Anybody had experience with this? Any tips?

 

I suggest that you use a license plate frame with built-in LED lighting. There are many on the market (Google "led license plate frame"). Here's one: http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Automoti...sim_sbs_auto_1

If you leave the existing lighting in place and tap wires for your new lighting in parallel, you shouldn't have any issues.

 

Thanks,
I rather use just additional LED lights, as my plate has a clear cover over it and any frame would not fit over it. Mu main concern is having extra power on one wire line...

 

If you're using LED lights, the extra power will be negligible and not a problem. Also, you won't get error codes if you wire in parallel and don't disconnect or remove the OEM bulbs.