I posted this on Interior/Exterior Mods forum, but this was actually a two part thing. I now know what I want to do and buy but need to make sure it is possible electrically speaking.

I will not be doing this myself, I will be taking El Kabong to Harrison Motorsports to do the work, but wanted to check with the NAM membership since I know I'll get the straight skinny here!

I am going to replace the rear red foglight with a white light and would like to wire it to come on with reverse lights. I am replacing the existing tail lights with clear Altezza type lights.

Then I want to add a set of driving lights and wanted to know if it is possible to use the toggle that was for the rear fog to operate the new driving lights?
Or is there a legal or electrical reason that the driving lights are usually set up to come on with the high beams?

Thanks for any input,
Annette

 

Can't speak about the legality but it is possible to trigger the driving lights using the Rear Fog light switch using the MCAW Deluxe Auxiliary Output function. You wire a trigger lead off the MCAW deluxe to trigger an auto relay that supplies power to your driving lights directly from the battery (fused of course) and the MCAW will trigger the relay (turing on the driving lights) by pulling the circuit to ground.

http://www.mcaw.info/?page_id=3

Regards-
Randy

 

Randy,
Thanks for the reply. I already have Ian's Auto Up/Track control module, so I would have to replace it with this one, correct? Not a prob since I think my sister-in-law would like it for her MINI, so I could make it a gift to her!
Do you think it matters that I have the garage door opener thingy on the mirror, would that be a prob?
Annette

 

Maybe not. Shoot Ian an e-mail and he may be able to help you figure it out. I know you can use an unused rear fog light switch to control driving lights, you just cant use the switch to control both the rear fog light and the driving lights. So if you are disconnecting the switch from the rear fogs, it stands to reason that you could then use it to control another item using Ian's circuit.

 

Yes, you would replace Ian's circuit to accomplish this. You might want to contact Ian to see if he could set you up for less than the cost of the MCAW Deluxe. Otherwise passing Ian's Circuit on to your Sister-in-law would certainly work as well.

No problem using the MCAW with your factory Garage Door opener on your mirror. That function on the MCAW will simply be unused.

Regards -
Randy

 

Thanks all, emailing Ian today. I really like his auto-up, especially since it seems like the programming is a few steps shorter than the MCAW. But I'm sure I can figure out the other if need be.
Annette

 

I have modified my MINI circuit for someone before, to allow them to control the factory driving lights from the rear fog toggle - and also to indicate when the lights are "armed" with the toggle tip.
It requires a couple of track cuts, then wires running from the MINI circuit PCB to the factory driving lights wiring harness (replacing the original switch).

See:


and:




If you wanted aftermarket driving lights, the install might or might not be similar, depending on the design of the lights/wiring.


If installing the factory lights, the wire to the "high beam" circuit could instead be connected to the "parking lights" circuit - this would allow the lights to be turned on whenever any lights were on, not just high beams.
Some aftermarket installs don't link to the high beams at all, so can be turned on/off at any time.