Aloha forum , I bought my wife a 2006 auto cooper S without Xenons ! , an the big Q is " Has anyone done a Xenon mod to upgrade there Hallogen cooper ?? " See the wife loved the color even if it was non xenon, but she saw some xenons on another cooper so go figure (gotta love er though). I found a e-bay site that sells the Euro BI-XENON kit (oem euro mini ) for $1500 yes that is 1500 bills! with powerwashers an wiring harness, Mini of Hawaii wants $830 a side plus $550 for the wiring harness! I already aquired the toggle pannel Factory OEM for the Xenons, but what do you all think???? Ive aquired the PDF file to run the wiring for the load sensors and Re-calibrating the computer for the retrofits! , but Should I just have mini do all the work ?? so I can get it covered under warranty ( that 2 year warranty that they offer ) .
The wife does not trust my electrical skils ( even if I re-wired my early bronco my-self ( pure soldered connections w/full high temp s wraps/door actuating solenoids yada, yada,yada ) ................Please let me know thats Popozuda .......

 

Are you talking about Xenon or Bi-Xenon. The OE headlight is just Xenon, not Bi-Xenon. You can find posts about swapping to Xenon headlight, I think it is straight forward.

Xenon - just low beam
Bi-Xenon - (Xenon) on both high and low beam

 

Yes you read right the euro OEM is BI-XENON (both high an lows), but A whole new wiring assembly is used an load sensor mounting is required for front an rear ( i think the rear sensors mount to the control arms the front? ) Thank you I will search for more threads, but if it's not a problem could some ofyou post links to threads Im not so much of a computer champ, but i'll try lookin Thank You Popozuda.......

 

Not sure what you mean by this. Headlights (whether halogen or xenon) are operated from the turn signal stalk.

Where did you hear that the Euro version is bi-xenon? The low-beam xenons we get here are self-leveling with load sensors (same as worldwide). On the MINI2.com forums, there are many European members, and it doesn't sound like they have bi-xenon over there because the question occasionally comes up about using different hi-beam halogen bulbs for better color match with the low-beam xenons.

 

The site is on e-bay type a search for " mini cooper s Xenon RETROFIT " I even called the store owner his name is Justin Nice Fella SO I WILL REPEAT THIS THE THIRD TIME BI XENON RETROFIT "I AM SURE" these are OEM MINI assemblys from what the store owner Justin says The guy sells high end "you get what you pay for items" i.e.BMW Range rover Mini an Such......
BUT WHAT I NEED IS to know if anyone has done a re-wire due to the PDF justin sent me on re-coding the stock Mini's comp to reconfigure for the Xenon Mod, SO please stop asking if I am sure if it is BI-XENON Because I am sure it is!! as well as told by the seller per say.... Thank you all for the help, and I don't mean to sound cocky, I just need info... or directions to info on someone who did this b/c it cannot be a plug an play for a non Xenon cooper to Xenon without a harness ( so Iv'e read here on the forum!?) Aloha , Mahalo Nui Loa

 

The euro xenons are NOT bi xenon, think you are been sold some aftermarket kit

 

I said I did not buy the kit, by the way I made a mistake, THIS IS A OEM UPGRADE FOR THE EURO MARKET 'for the euro minis' IF YOURE IN DOUBT GO TO THE E-BAY type search Retrofit xenon for Mini cooper s. ###NOW IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME####, NO PROBLEM BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN "KARMA" SO ONE DAY YOU WILL SEE FOR YOURSELF! tHANX AGAIN, ^I^ ^I^ ^I^

 

I just did and found nothing. Probably because its illegal. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html

Illegal

 

i'v just fitted xenons to my mini(not bi xenons though) just swapped them didn't wire up the washers or bother with the leveling kit,just swapped them and they work

 

I got my mini with HID 3 weeks ago, But I'm going to change out the factor bulbs for some 8K's (the blue color). My car is HB. Any way and this is just my oppion, I have seen it done and done this to cars before. Simply keep your stock housing and buying a HID kit that's the same as the bulb you want to replace EX. H7 or 9006 which ever. Now don't buy the cheapest one you find and looking at what you plan on spending I don't think you would. Some of the cheaper kits are just very high power bulbs that come with a blue or what ever color you want cover that simulates the light of an HID kit. This are in fact good for the money,as they are a lot brighter than stock, just not quite as bright as a real HID kit. Bosh, and a few other companys make true HID kits that can be bought to replace almost any size light bulb on a car including the Fog's. They can be purchased for as low as 350 or so last time I looked but they can get pricy.

These kits are also easy to install.
1. you just change the bulb as you would normally.
2. Mount the box that comes with the kit
3. Connect the pos to the battery,and ground the negative to the frame.
4. You simply plug in the factory conector the the HID box (this is what gives the HID kit the siginal to come on.

Some kits come with realys and external fuses that make these kits about as safe as factory.

The only problem I've ever really seen with these kit and this was a long time ago, is that some people were trying to use very high watt bulbs EX. 12K in a cheap after market head light housing and it got so hot the lense became discolored and the plastic around the light bulb it sell started to melt a little. I'm sure the mini factory housing are up to the challenge of an HID kit.

Lastly In some states doing his is illegal. In my state is is but I can't think of any one that was ever stoped for having the blue head light bulbs or and HID kit installed.

I look at it this way just because some people are less forunate to have a car with HID's doesn't mean they don't deserve to see at night.

I'm sure this probally didn't help but if your just really looking to get the bright HID color and peformance and don't care about the housing looking projector this is deffinetly the way to go. JMHO

PS. here a link you could check out http://www.xenonfactory.com/products/hid/polarion.htm

 

Here's the eBay link ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MINI-...spagenameZWD1V

Descriptions in eBay auctions should be taken with a grain of salt

 

Such anger. Look, if you really have an issue with/don't believe what people are telling you here, go over to MINI2 and ask the question. I think you'll get the same answer from folks in Europe. Honestly, don't you think more people would have made the switch if it was as simple as an OEM upgrade? Peace.

 

Popozuda, if you enter "xenon retrofit" into the search function here and on MINI2.com, you will find details about the retrofit kit and some people who have done it.

There are lots of people here who would be interested in OEM bi-xenons, including me. When I saw your post, I went straight to searching for information about it and availability. But my conclusion was that BMW only offers single xenon headlights for MINI. The eBay listing is in error and the seller is mistaken.

 

Actually, I thought Bi-Xenons imply for low beams only...

On my e46 M3 I have bi-xenons... It is called as such because the low beams are xenon whereas the high beams are Halogen... why? because halogens can be turned on instantly whereas Xenons need to charge and warm up. They cannot be used in high beam applications.

I may be off on this but I dont think so. I'm not standing up for Popo, but just clarifying the bi-xenon issue.

 

I do not believe that is true. Bi-xenons use the exact same Xenon bulb for low and high beams, just a different reflector for a different beam distribution. There is an additional Halogen bulb in the lamp for "flashing", for example to pass, because as you described, the Xenons take too long to charge up

 

Definition of 'Bi' from Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: 1bi-
Function: prefix
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin -- more at TWI-
1 a : two <bilateral> b : coming or occurring every two <bicentennial> c : into two parts <bisect>


Bi-Xenon definition from BMW site.
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/index_narr..._bi_xenon.html

 

I have the xenons and think they are great... I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would need xenons for the high beams? They take time to ignite so they are not good for flash to pass.. The high beams work well when they are needed which is very seldom.. not worth the effort or cost... IMO

 

Mike, I live out in the boonies, and I would definitely appreciate a brighter highbeam. There are NO streetlights around here, many of the roads don't even have striping to help you see the edge, and wildlife on the road is a common occurrence.

I use highbeams more often than not, and the sealed beam highbeam headlights in my Jeep are brighter than the ones in my MINI. The MINI's lowbeams are great, but they don't shine far enough out.

 

I replaced my high beams with Silverstar halogens. They are not as white as the xenons, but they are brighter and whiter than the stock halogen.

 

ON a bi-xenon projector system, the projector shield is controlled by a motor & solenoid. On low beam mode, the shield is up. High beam mode, the sheild rotates down.

For reflector based system, it uses the same reflector, but the positioning of the capsule is different.

creseida: Get Driving Lights. That's what they are designed for-- to supplement your high beams.

 

Agree with this... If you wire up your driving lights to function independent of your High beams (most aftermarket lights are designed to be run off an included switch, plugged directly into the battery), you can also use them as passing flashers (just don't forget to turn them off and kill the battery). Of course, you can always splice them directly into your high beam wires (which I believe is how the LAW suggests you install them). Personally, I like the added flexibility of a seperate install.

 

just wondering, is it really neccessary to bring that site up everytime ppl talk about lighting? law reinforcement on the internet ain't fun !

 

Daniel Stern.

Probably because his lighting site is the definitive site on lighting on the WWW either Euro or not. Is see your in CA so US laws shouldn't bother you.

The purpose is because in some cases state laws are different. In other cases US DOT dictates the laws. Since the same questions come up over and over again and new people cmon on all the time ... referring to Daniel Stern is the best way for people who might not "know" the US laws or solid reference material on lighting to see a decent resource. There are times when people have no idea what they can and cannot do and some people may not like the idea of getting a fix-it ticket, paying the fine, getting their $1500 retrofit illegal HIDs taken out of their car, and losing all that money ... not fun.

I know if I were about to buy a $1,500 lighting kit only to find out later after I got a fixit tickup I would be pretty upset that nobody told me about the risks. A FAQ would be nice but thats not how this site is setup.

 

I guarantee you a BMW/MINI will not be pulled over for having HIDs... unless they were of a higher temperature scale then stock (4300K)... Even then, it's doubtful you'd get pulled over for HIDs when the car *can* come with them from the factory...

 

courious--has anyone rewired to make the Zenons burn instead of the daylight beams?