I am thinking about replacing the blubs in my MINI (when it gets here) with LEDs. Not just cause they look cool but because of the better efficency of them and the safety of the quicker response. And i mean all of them on the exterior except the foglights and the headlights (factory Xenons).
Its too bad no one after market makes a LED taillight assembly. Those look soo cool! Do you guys think just replacing the blubs with LEDs will work ok? Has anyone done this? I dont like the yellowish look of the turn signals too so i thought having LEDs would give it a cleaner white look. Im looking for opinions and advice on this. Thanx

 

unless the lenses are clear, it will be too dim to make much light.

there is a company that makes LED tails, but they are rediculously expensive....

 

Check the search function. I posted an extensive description of all the bulbs you need, and really dn't want to do it all again

Basically you can change them all, but you have to purchase the clear taillight assemblies, modifiy these slightly to make them work on an 05 or 06 car, and get all the bulbs. The problem with LEDs is that they are bright during night, but in the day they can be very hard to see, especially the brake lights. Chris Tuls has had this problem on his car, and he walked me through all the LED conversion for my MCS, Thompson.

In summary do a quick search for "LED lights" and you will find what you need. I don't recommend the LED's for brakelights, but they work great for interior lights, reverse lights, turn signals(need "load levelers" to avoid the quick blinky effect though), and running lights.

Good Luck,
Joel

 

I did a search and i like the LED 02-04 ones i found but i want to keep the 05 taillight style. I wish i had my MINI so i can test this out.

 

You can use the 02-04 taillight assembly. If you are gonna go with LED reverse lights you would have to remove the bulbs anyway. They mount right into the factory harness and moutning points, all you have to do that is a pain is get the stock bulbs out. These are soldered in. The top most bulb in the 02-04 assembly is a red brake/running bulb. You take this out with your handy solder gun, and replace it with a clear/white reverse bulb. All the light will work appropriately then, including the middle yellow turn bulb and the red bulb at the bottom for brakes and running lights.

You can buy the factory assemblies from www.outmotoring.com for $300.


Joel

 

Hey Irish!

Did you ever get your 05' tails with the white dot blinkers?? Got mine about 2 months ago and lovin them.

I gotta find one of those bulbs for the blinker so it stays clear when not on and amber when blinking. Thanx again for pointing me in the right direction on those!

 

You may do well with a custom board of LED's but the drop in's are not adequate replacements.

The drop ins, have a narrow viewing angle, and are not as bright as either incadescent bulbs, or Factory LED's in a reflector and diffuser assembly that is meant for LEDs.

I have an 04, and it has the "fog lights" in the tail light assembly. I put LED (1156R led) drop in's in the fog light sockets, then rewired them to be brake lights.

They are fine as "additional" brake lights, but I sure would not use them as the primary ones.

All of these photos were taken with out a flash. Notice the aftermarket LED's drop off at an angle just like the stock third brake light.

http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/tail_lights/

John

 

I dont understand how they are that much different than regular blubs with all the advancements i have seen. I wonder what makes the cars with Factory LED tails so different? I have seen alot of different styles of LEDs with wider range and angle, etc. I have been hearing that there not very bright during the day and i see those pictures, but i dont understand it.
BTW i dont like the look of the 02-04 tails i like the 05+ better and yes i got mine with the clear dot i am just waiting to put them on till i figure out this blub thing.

 

I found a few good sites that sell LEDs made for cars. And your saying none of them work properly?
Here are the sites i have, let me know if there are more.
http://autolumination.com/

http://www.ledtronics.com/datasheets...auto_index.htm

http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm

http://www.lumileds.com/solutions/solution.cfm?id=1

http://www.ledshoponline.com/automotive_leds.htm

http://www.automotiveled.com/

it looks to me like alot of those have extra LEDs for the angles so that there is more light and such. Please correct me if i am wrong. I know it wont look at cool as a car with factory LEDs but i think it would still be cool.

 

ctd-germany.com sells these......

 

thoe are the ungodly expensive ones, lol

 

Be really careful, in northern CA I've heard of folks getting fix-it tickets with LED tails that are not factory since a "drop in" replacement bulb only LED solution isn't DOT approved. Unless the bulb SPECIFICALLY says "DOT Approved for Highway Use" or somethign similar, it isn't street legal. The most common problem is that they are not visible enough during the day time.

Worse yet, if you get in accident with them, you could potentially (in theory) be held responsible if the lack of visibility on the lights contributed to the problem.

So if the vehicle is driven on the highway, only install "DOT Approved" products for tail lights to be safe. I'm sure plenty of people will say "I've used them and they are fine" - but as much as I like the LED's, I won't use anything that isn't DOT approved.

You'll find that companies that sell entire tail light assemblies have manufactured an assembly that combines the lights, reflective materials, etc. in order to meet the DOT guidelines for day time visibility. Just dropping in a loose LED bulb wont' cut it in most situations.

The one "hope" coming to market is the Luxeon (I think that is the name) LEDs. This are a much higher power, and much brighter LED. I have a flash light with one of these in it, and that little 5W bulb shines light a 1/4 mile easily. Super bright white too. But I've not seen a DOT bulb yet with that type of new generation LED installed in it.

(Maybe someone can find an Luxeon star 5W or 7W bulb that does work and is DOT approveD)

 

Im not worried about that in Texas. Most of the cops here dont know what DOT is, or it seems when i had my last 2 cars they were no where near DOT legal and i never got crap for it.
I think something like this would have NO problem being as bright as a standard bulb

or this


I think those are the best on the site. I dont think you would have a problem seeing those. I see a bunch others on there that are like your standard front only facing LEDs, like the one JDewey posted a link too. The LED he showed had only a few and they all faced forward, i bet thats why it didnt work. Anyway theres only one way to find out.

 

thats exactly why they didnt werk

 

Garbino LED taillights 31,500yen
http://www.garbino.net/mini/mini/index.html

 

NiCE tail lamps!! (in black)

i want this >> how much US dollars

 

Those are actually pretty nice, but they still follow the 02-04 taillight still which means i would have to do like the reverse light in the center, and the turn signal on the top. 31,500 yen is like $264

 

Okay, final comments on this thread.

For those above who had problems with illumination using LED's in the tails I would say this was due to 2 issues. First you are using a red LED in a red lenses. This is gonna make the brightness significantly less. Also I think you need to use one of the 32 bulb tower assemblies shown above from autoluminations.com.

Finally you can use the 02-04 setup as I wrote earlier. Here's what to do:
1-Buy the sets from outmotoring.com
2-Buy 2 clear/white LED 32 bulb 1156 towers from autoluminations.com
3-Buy 2 amber LED 32 bulb 1156 towers as well
4-You will need dual function LED for the brake/running lights. I don't know for sure if autoluminations sells these or not.
5-Remove the soldered in standard bulbs from the assemblies you have purchased from outmotoring.com
6-replace these with the clear in the top position, ambe rin middle position and red in lower position.
7-Plug in the wiring harness and secure to car.
8-Test lighting
9-Enjoy or not.


My experience is the clears are gonna be way brighter than standard clear reverse lights but the ambers and reds may or may not be. Your DOT issues may vary. Do it if you want, don't if you are worried about being legal.

Joel

 

>Joker
￥10,290 which is about 86US$

 

Well i really like these but i prefer the 05+ taillight style. So its between the 2. Maybe i will get both and sell the one i dont like as much.

 

Love my LED lights, make sure to purchase a premium set and not just the LED in the front type.
I got mine from: www.ledtronics.com
and remember you'll get the "fast blink" with the LEDs...I like it like that

 

thank u.

.

 

what finish/colour will u get?

 

Great looking lights !!!Send over a bunch, I have an 05 but who needs a back up light. Just be careful when backing up

 

HB/W MCS for the car, is that what you mean?