So the stock halogen headlights on my R56 are terrible. I was out in the woods the other night and couldn't see a thing.

I'm thinking of trying the Helix projector headlights that ECSTuning sells. The problem is that all the reviews I've seen are people who bought them to retrofit with xenon HID capsules. I don't want to do that: I just want better halogen headlamps.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-helix-pa...ni07hl-oec~hl/

Anyone try these with the stock H7 bulbs who can compare to stock reflectors? I don't care about light color or looks, I just want to see down the road.

 

Try PIAA Xtreme White Plus Halogen lamps. They get a lot of good reviews.

https://piaa.factoryoutletstore.com/...iAAEgKobfD_BwE

Also, I've heard that eating blueberry jam improves your night vision.

 

No. Halogen bulbs with a blue-tinted envelope like that are a bad idea. The blue makes the light look "whiter," but reduces overall light output. So they need to overdrive the filament just to get the bulb up to DOT minimum lumen output. The result is a bulb that puts out less overall light and doesn't last as long.

But it gives a higher light color temperature and looks whiter. They sell a lot of 'em to folks who don't understand optics and think the xenon color is cool.

Nothing wrong with my night vision, I assure you. I drive a few other cars on a regular basis: the stock Mini reflectors are just pretty bad in comparison.

 

I think my oem halogen headlights are very bright, I don't think it's necessary to go to anything brighter.

I suggested the PIAA halogens because the high beam is 110 watts whereas the stock high beam is 60 Watts, low beam on both oem and PIAA are 55 Watts. I'm sure you could find lamps with 110 watt high beams without the blue coating.

 

Why not just invest in an inexpensive set of aftermarket driving lights?

 

Again, no. Overwattage bulbs are a good way to damage something: the wiring is not rated for the higher current and the headlight housing is not designed for the additional heat. Not to mention that they're illegal for on-road use.

I am trying to find something that will work well with standard halogen bulbs. Standard wattage halogens work perfectly fine if you put them in a good housing. The issue is that the stock R56 Mini halogen reflectors are really crap.

 

Thought about it, but unfortunately most of those are designed for rally car looks and not actual usage. Also I suspect it won't help with the problem at hand: I can't use them with the low beams as it'll blind oncoming traffic, and with the high beams it's going to be more light up close rather than down the road, which isn't what I want. I just want a better pattern with both low/high beams.

So: has anyone tried the Helix replacement headlights that ECSTuning sells and can give feedback on the light and pattern quality?

 

I have the spyder ones here, look good and I like the output. Good pattern.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ve-at-ecs.html

Helix halogen Headlights here: Some people don't like the stock output of the bulb it comes with from the factory and change the bulbs or convert to Xenon or LED. pattern is good. It has the correct cutoff and focuses the light.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...eadlights.html

 

Great, that's the sort of feedback I need, thanks. Are you using the Spyder lights with the halogen bulbs?

Do you know more about what people don't like about the Helix halogens? Just not bright enough with the stock bulb?

 

You're confusing driving lights with fog lights. Driving lights are essentially spot lights: you can adjust them as far down the road as you want.

 

 

Once you get the projector lights you will be pleased. Focuses the light much better.

 

So I tried two things and now it's bit better with the stock headlight housings:

1) Replaced the bulbs with Philips X-TremeVision H13. These are standard wattage bulbs with clear envelopes that throw a bit more light. Don't believe the "+100%" marketing speak but they're decent.

2) Re-aimed the headlights. After doing some searching, I discovered that many Minis have the light cutoff aimed WAY too low, and mine was definitely like this. I aimed them so they are about 3" down at 25' (-1%, which is the spec molded into the light) with a full tank of gas and me in the driver's seat.

I won't call them "good," but they're definitely less bad. I'll take it.

 

That's good you got a bulb upgrade, i noticed the big difference was when I switched out the whole housing.

 

It was as much correctly aiming them as the new bulbs, I think. No idea why they came aimed so low from Mini.

I don't doubt your experience: the patterns from the stock housings are still not great. But at least with better bulbs and the right aim I've cheaply upgraded them to "not as terrible."

I'll keep the idea of new housings on the back burner for a while and we'll see how this goes.

 

I had a very similar experience with them being aimed too low. I bought a 2009 Clubman and the first time I drove it at night I was stunned by just how poor the illumination was. Went through about 4-6 different LED bulbs and while all were brighter, none had any sort of uniformity to their illumination. It was at that point I realized how poorly aimed the relfectors were and after adjusting them was much happier but still not where I wanted to be. I could have probably changed bulbs as you did and been satisfied but I'd talked myself into going to projectors in the course of my experimentation. I tried the Spec D Tuning ones first but returned them when I discovered they had no high beam. I've since learned I probably could have solved that with a modification but didn't feel I should have to do that in the first place. Tried another brand of projectors off ebay and am much happier. I'll probably switch out their bulbs to get more into the color temp I want but will stay with halogens