OK, i want to replace the stock horn with this Griots Garage Air Horn i have. I have one of these in my Honda and love it! Sounds and looks similar to one of those Wolo air horns. Small and compact and fits easily in tight spaces.

Anyway, im getting the aerokit installed in 2 weeks and figured while the bumper was off, we should go ahead and install it. Here are my questiuons though.

1) I think i read somewhere that the MCS has 2 horns? If true, are they each behind the bumper on either side?
2) When replacing the horn, can i just swap it out for One of the stock horns and leave the other stock horn in place? Im assuming they will both sound off together???
3) With my Honda, i had to replace the stock horn/taillamp fuse (yes one fuse for both in my S2000) with a 10amp higher fuse. Ive had it in there over a year with no issues. Several other owners have done this on the S2K board and they suggested i do it, just to go up 5amp at a time until it no longer blew fuses. Problem was solved and i no longer blew fuses! Can i do this in the Mini as well?
Any help/suggestions would be helpfull and thanks in advance! I would really love to add this, what i call Euro sound to my Mini as i feel its only fitting being from Europe!

 

Which horns from Griotts? I noticed that Summit Racing sells the same horns cheaper and free shipping.

 

Do NOT replace fuses with higher amperage fuses - great way to start a fire. Rig up a relay, and use the original horn wiring as a signal to the relay. Supply the horn power through the relay directly from 12v+ and fuse the power lead.

Horns are located down low on either side behind the bumper and are a BEAST to remove unless you remove the bumper. Basically a one-nut affair, but the horns aren't *quite* small enough to fit through the hole without some juggling (it can be done, however). The horns plug in, but it's a weird plug... Here's the location behind the DS hood release...


I tapped off the wiring from the horn plug on the driver's side, ran that 12v+ horn-switched signal wire (appropriately loomed) up to my relay (in the well under the windshield behind the airbox), ran 12v+ from the LittleFuse add-a-circuit (in the fuse box) to the relay, and ran the resultant fused-and-relayed 12v+ to the horns, securing the wire so it didn't get severed or abraded.

You can see the wire tap in the fuse box, the relay near the firewall, and the horns on the PS. The blue wire is the 12v+ power to the relay and from the relay to the horns. The currogated wire loom protects the wires from the fusebox to the relay (and makes it look a little better).


I'm actually replacing the 2-tone horns with 3-tone this weekend, and with the wiring all done that should be a 15 minute project.

I have the horns ziptied to the brake lines... no rude comments on zipties, they're easy to install and remove, rust-free, and angles the horns slightly down so no water gets in. Sound comes out the vent below the windshield. It's about as loud as the OE horns, but not louder - however, my air horns are a lower tone than OE. Switching to the higher tone air horns will help with that.

 

Note:

With some experience under my belt, I removed the front bumper cover (piece of cake, but 20 minute job being careful) and fit the air horns (triple tone now!) in the passenger-side OE horn location. Took some juggling, but they're in there, sound great, and look, well, "hidden".