I"ve tried Hikari and Cougar Motors and lastly OPT7 Flux Beams and have returned them all! I have the OPT7 in my FJ Cruiser and love them but was hoping to find a less expensive bulb for my 2009 R55. The Cougar Motor pins in the socket were too large to engage with the MINI's receptacle so never had a chance to evaluate their lighting quality. The Hikaris fit fine but their lighting pattern was terrible.

So I finally bit the bullet and ordered the OPT7s. I was disappointed to see that they used an intermediate cable to connect to the MINI harness and it was a price of junk. It uses the old style 3 blade connector that is used on sealed beams and then the connector that mates to the MINI isn't the right connector and has been modified to fit. As a result, it doesn't lock in not is it waterproof but that's a small matter since the connector on the other end is that old style 3 blade!

I still wanted to give them a try and discovered they only worked on low beam! So back they went.

So what have other MINI owners found to be of good quality?

 

I'm surprised that no one has answered, isn't anyone using LED bulbs in their older Minis? I just tried two more brands and neither provide decent lighting. It's apparent to me that the Mini housing/reflectors are the problem, at least if you're using a two sided LED bulb. The original bulbs provide 360 degree illumination within the reflector so lighting is uniform but aren't really bright enough to satisfy me.

At this point I guess I'm going to try other aftermarket halogens but still holding out hope that someone has found a decent LED bulb.

 

Hi pdeinc,

I have just started doing research on adding LED to my 09 Cooper R56 base, looks like you are quite ahead of me in terms of research.

My headlight had been upgrade to the DEPO halogen projectors and now it utilizes the 9005 bulb. I have been reading up on exactly the 3 brands you have mentioned on Amazon (Cougar/Hikari/OPT7) and could not find any definitive answers on how they work in terms of flickering and error codes. The items always state their CANBUS ready system will not throw a code or flicker, but does not seems to be the case in some of the reviews by Mini or BMW owners.

If you don't mind I have a few questions for you. With your experience with the 3 brands, do they flicker on start up? Any warning code? Did you install the LED with capacitor/decoder? And lastly, you mentioned the high beam is non-existent with the OPT7, any idea why? Or is this by desgin?

As to waterproofing the connectors with the OPT7, would electric tape help secure them better? As I could tell from watching some installation videos, the entire setup should be able to fit inside the headlight housing, so it should be quite waterproof barring from moisture build up.

Aside from these 3 brands, I have also read from different places that the PIAA and SNGL Super Bright LED are highly recommended, but then again not sure how they are with our cars and they are much pricier. I have also chatted with Carid.com support and they said the Lumen G7S kit works best.

-Alex

 

I change my headlights from Halagon to LED recently. I never tried the mentioned lights, but have found canbus LED's to use. ( http://www.headlightexperts.com ) I did get the flickering when I turned the car on, but stopped it with the BimmerCode App. I coded it from bulb to LED, shut off the ECU checking the lights for hot and cold ... and no problems since. Works perfect. Could this be the issue your having ?

 

Thanks for the response Jim. I have not personally tried any of the LED kits yet, just doing the research first and want to avoid flickering/code issues. Was hoping the capacitor/decoder would do the job without messing around with the ECU, but seems to me that is the only way to guarantee error free LED lighting. I have no experience with BimmerCode/NCS Expert but looks like it's worth looking into when converting to LED. I already have the projector installed for my car, would be great to have the LED fitted as well.

Thanks again.

 

Hi Alex,

Since my last post, I've tested two more brands, both with disappointing results. To be fair, the Mini headlight reflector is the reason most of the bulbs I've tried perform poorly. I've looked at the reflector style in my FJ Cruiser and see little difference but the OPT7s work great in it. If they (OPT7) would answer my emails and offer a solution to the no high beam problem, I'd love to give them another try, poor cabling or not. As you noted, the Mini housing provides all the waterproof protection needed.

I'd also try the Cougars if I could get compatible connectors and perhaps I'll email them as well.

Since I recognize the Mini reflector as part of the problem, I began looking at bulbs that have more than two sides. The GPPOWER model is 3 sided and I had high hopes for it but the light pattern was equally poor as the two-sided models with very distinct bright streaks and dark bands. I've been driving nightly back from Orlando on a mix of residential and highway roads and it's doesn't take more than one trip to make a determination about light quality. Periodically I'll put the original halogens back in for comparison and while they are weak, their lighting pattern is uniform.

I next tried the H13 bulbs ( ) which are four-sided and I had high hopes for these. Sadly while the light pattern was the most uniform yet, they also were the dimmest. I frequently turned them off during my drive to see if they were really illuminating anything directly in front of me and they did not. It seemed all the lighting was directed down and to the sides and very little straight forward. And the difference between low and high beam was virtually indistinguishable. I'm still not certain the right-hand bulb has a working high beam because the only difference I could see was immediately to the left of the front of my car, nothing forward and nothing to the right.

As for flickering, they all do it! It does stop after less than a minute and I don't consider that a major issue. And some have resulted in an error code but I didn't note which and it seemed only to be the first time they were turned on.

Tell me more about your upgrade as I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on replacing the entire headlight assembly. Beside having driven professionally in past careers, I've always had high standard for my lighting and it's even more important as I get older. And I still drive fast (too fast probably) and insist on good visibility.

Ken

 

Hi Ken,

The set of projector I got are the DEPO made halogen projectors, had them since Oct of '16 and they are holding up very well, they look much better than the OEM headlights and are made after the style of the JCW headlights. Do a search on eBay for 2007-2015 MINI Cooper R56 R57 R55 Euro JCW Projector, I find them for $280 now but I was watching it for awhile back then and got them for $250. The installation is very simple and fitment quite good. The only issue I had was with one of the bolts that held the headlights were stripped while taking off the originals, other then that it was very simple. Another thing about these projectors is that they use 9005 bulbs, so I picked up a set of Philip CrystalVision Ultra (which also are holding up nicely), As a combo I am quite happy with them. Definitely brighter and nicer, there's a very define cut off with the beam as well and the adjustment is easy.

I almost went ahead to purchase the OPT7, but just would not be comfortable if the high beam function won't work. My wife also drives it from time to time and I have to consider that as well. As for the code and flickering, I am going to hopefully spend some time reading up on NCS expert in the next couple of weeks and at least take care of that first before installing any LEDs. If you found any that has working high beam I would love to know.

Attached a few pictures of the installed projectors, gotta say I love them. Happy and safe motoring!

-Alex

 

I installed these Morimoto's in my daughter's 06, and it worked pretty well. However, I'm not a lighting expert by any means.

 

Thanks Alex, your setup is looking like the direction I'm heading. As I said I suspect most of my dissatisfaction from various LED bulbs comes from the OEM reflector design as much as bulb design. And t
hanks for all the info and pictures, that's the push I needed to go in a different direction than simply LED bulbs.

As for the OPT7 bulbs, it's my recollection that only one of them didn't work on high beam although that's not what I wrote earlier. I also feel like what I found was a defect, not a design error. I'd contact them to find out more and especially ask about the cabling. I'm happy enough with them in my other car that when I change my MCS headlight assemblies, I'll probably try a set of them right off.

 

Alex, I ordered a pair of projector headlights and while I was at it, I did some reading on the use of LEDs in projectors and found this... https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/commen...lamps_and_led/
It's seems from what I'm reading that LED bulbs are present are not suitable replacements for halogens in projector headlights. I guess aftermarket projector headlights are based on halogen bulbs, not xenon but I haven't confirmed that yet. What do you know?

 

Am I to understand that you have high beams with your DEPO headlights? Do you know what bulb they are using?

 

Hi Ken,

The DEPO headlights actually utilize the 9005 bulb, and that is the only bulb you need for high and low beam. Right now I have a set of Philip CrystalVision Ultra bulbs in them, a hint brighter than the bulbs they came with (no name brand). I live right next to NYC so most of my driving is in brightly lit area. Took the car to upstate NY last weekend and drove in the middle of nowhere and wished for brighter lights, also some dark spots on the beam were also more noticeable, but only when you are looking for them. Good luck!

-Alex

 

I guess the DEPO projectors use a moving shutter like many OEMs since the 9005 is a single filament. Apparently the Spec D Tuning projector don't as they only have low beam. I'm debating returning them and going with the DEPO if I can get confirmation on the shutter. I was also considering going to a xenon bulb but the info I'm finding says don't as the internal coating will degrade and the light pattern is poor since the bulbs are shaped differently.

One more question, do the DEPO models have LED halos? It doesn't look like it just wanted to confirm.

 

I gave up trying to find a decent LED bulb to work with the OEM reflectors and bought a pair of Spec D models but ended up sending them back due to the lack of high beams. Then I purchased these - https://www.ebay.com/itm/2007-2012-M...72.m2749.l2649

So far I'm quite happy with them. I wired the LED surround to the parking lights so I could have DDL.

 

I am resurrecting this thread. I want to replace the halogen lights with LED. I read the thread and in 2018 there were not good enough LED bulbs, but I believe this technology evolve very quick and I found this website that compare LED for projector and reflector lights.
https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/chart/
I wonder if some one has try the DDM Tuning Saber prob55w . it is second position on performance..

 

I went with these Matrix 4 sided LED bulbs on my Dragon Slaying RaceR50. Seem better than my old bulbs, but do have 4 Hella LED drivings too!
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/grm-led-h7-4s

Hella LED Valuelfit spots in the middle, floods on the outer! Complete Dragon daylight at night! Lol

 

It would be great news if someone finally designs an LED to work well in a reflector housing. I tried 2, 3, and 4 sided bulbs and their illumination patterns were horrible and likely blinding to oncoming drivers. Please post before and after pictures.

 

I know this old but I would like to review this because, this results could be used to conclude that the LED are not good for the reflector . According with https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/chart/ the OPT7 performance is the worse in the category only scores 1 , the top of this group score 4.4 . , Hikari has several model, with scores 2.3, 2.9 and 4.4 depend what version was used. Cougar motor scores 1.5. I believe this test was performed with the bottom of the barrel. I would like to see results from bulbs that are ranked on the top of the list .

 

That's rather fascinating to me and all I can conclude is that there is wide differences in reflectors. Certainly the illumination pattern with the Opt7 in the FJ Cruiser housing is not as uniform as the OEM bulb but it was far better than any other LED I tested. I did have to re-aim the housings downward to minimize glare for oncoming drivers but the overall illumination is still far better than the OEM bulb.

For now I'll stay with the Opt7 bulbs but should one fail I'll try a set of the top rated versions from that list.

I'm remembering that years ago I replaced the yellowing headlight assemblies in a Toyota pickup with some identical appearing, non-OEM replacements and they were so bad that you could not see well enough to drive at night! I spoke to the vendor and disputed their claim that they were identical and met Federal guidelines but they would not accept a return. I polished the originals and put them back in and trashed the new ones. I briefly considered reselling them but could not do so in good conscience.

 

Hi Finally I installed the Hikari Ultra, top of the middle tier in bulfact.com.. see attached photos. appear that the cut off are ok, I have drive at night to verify. the light came with a decoder I think but , when the car start the lights fliker for about 10 seconds not an big issue, but the car is showing error for low and high beams . any ideas how to remove this codes.

thanks

 

I purchased the Carly app and used a ODBII Scanner I already owned to bypass the OEM bulb testing.

 

does the Carly app works with a generic OBDII?

 

Yes but if you ask the developers you'll probably get a different answer. I use this one with no issue, cost $20.

 

The very outdated version of Carly used to work with any generic ODB2 but the latest version doesn't seem to work with generic OBD2 (well not all functions, it will scan for codes but changing parameters with different settings can be problematic).

If the above adapter does work fully with the latest Carly app then it is cheaper than Carly's own OBD2.

Post some results if you do manage to get Carly to work fully with generic OBD2.

 

Carly works with my generic adapter... However, they do lock out collecting certain freeze frame data from retrieval unless you purchase their proprietary adapter. For general coding and diagnostics, a generic adapter works just fine.