Ok, so I'm in Los Angeles and most dealers here are closed before dark. I never got to compare the halogen vs. the LED. I was at Dealer over the weekend and he keeps most of there minis in a dark garage. I tested a mini with halogen and a mini with the LED lamps parked side by side and let them shine on the wall and the LED is incredible, wow. How are they on the road?

 

I like them... others think they aren't that bright.. But take a look for yourself:

 

The LED headlights work extremely well on the road and are very bright. I think they are a worthy upgrade and one you will likely not regret.

 

On my first test drive (the one that convinced me to go "MINI") I found the LED headlamps just as impressive as the cars fantastic handling. They were very bright and crisp, with an almost purple tint. If I weren't on a budget, I would have equipped them to my current order.

 

The LED's appear to work well and are bright, but I think it emphasises the front of the car looking like it has a surprised face.

 

My wife has halogen headlights on her 2012 Hyundai Azera. I have the LEDs on my MINI-S. The brightness is very noticeable. Along with the cornering (LED) lights, it is a worthwhile feature to go with IMO.

 

I'll never buy another car without them again. Huge safety feature IMHO.

 

Not only are they brighter, they also give off a unique spectrum which makes other cars notice them more IMO. I am very glad I bought them.

Plus they look so much better than the halogens from an aesthetic standpoint.

 

We got halogens, because we live in the country. Why? LED give you a direct beam of light...forward. Halogens give you a wider beam of light (a bigger triangle swath), which allows you to see things coming from the side better. For instance, when a deer is on the side of the road. Also, we HATE the bright LED lights coming our way when driving at night and we didn't want to blind other drivers either. Again, country highway, with no center divider...didn't want oncoming cars drifting towards the light (which happens often). That's the practicality of our decision, your decision should depend on the situation you'll be using them in, NOT aesthetics. That's my 2 cents.

 

IMHO... this is an old wives tale. (wider vs straight).

Additionally, the bright LED's/Xenon's you're seeing are more than likely from replacements, not factory.

 

The blinding oncoming lights are just about always from replacement xenons or LEDs, not original equipment lights. Often these replacement lights are not properly aligned. Those blue silverstars are among the worst, imo. I have had halogens, xenons, and now LEDs and I am very impressed with the LEDs so far. I would never consider halogens better than xenons or LEDs.

 

I get blinded by halogen lights all the time...

 

Same here, I would say more often than Xenons.

I will say though that a lot of people seem to flash their headlights at me when stopped at a stop light because they think my brights are on.

 

Just took the first night drive with the LED headlights. The brightness is very good. Comparable, or slightly better than, the Xenons in my R56.

I do notice a bit of purple around the edges.

And my right headlight seems to aimed a little higher than the left. Not noticeable most of the time, but if it gets projected right onto something closer (trees across the street or something) there is a split in the middle where the right one is higher.

I'll have to ask my MA about that.

 

The left is lower to avoid shining at oncoming traffic. It would be opposite in the UK.

 

Sorry folks, CHP and sheriff, at least up here in NO. California, have said there have been more accidents attributed (on our highway) because of the brightness of the LED's. This is for our mountain conditions, snow, rain, fog, windy two lane country roads, and no center divider on the hwy conditions. The ones we complain about, are not the replacement lights, but the halo of lights that are like in the Mini. HOWEVER I will say the LED break lights are awesome, and can be seen FAR better than the regular lights.

AND, for the record, we also test drove at night, and shined both lights against a large white building, and the halogens had a wider light spread. FACT!!! Measured and proven in both regular and "high beam."

Now...I'm a wife, and this IS my tale, but it's true. So please don't insult my intelligence. I did my homework and own testing. Too many opinions, wanted to know what would work best for our conditions, from our own research and testing.

It's funny when you look up "Halogen Vs. LED Headlights" Many opinions, some based on fact, others...emotion. Why? Don't know. Like I said, it did my own testing, not with a "gangly wrench and 7" sprocket" like Steve Martin wittingly said, or some sort of chronograph light ray emitter measurer, but simply shining on a wall. Close up and from a distance.

There were, however, two good websites that had some very interesting pieces of information. Everyone has the right to pick what they think is best, and I don't fault you for it, it's what you feel comfortable with for your conditions of driving. I'm a fact girl, and like sharing what I find. Hence my user name Stay Curious!

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/ba...led-26530.html

http://www.caradvice.com.au/278125/h...v-led-v-laser/

Happy Driving

 

a lot of those "halo" lights are aftermarket xenons which have not been properly aligned. very popular with younger people etc

 

I mountain bike at night and through the years have used halogen, HID and LED. It's not so easy to say one is better than the other, BUT assuming a similar output, LED vs halogen is a no brainer. Loads less power draw, runs cooler, is much easier to get into a white color range and most people perceive a sharp illumination range to be more effective than the traditional soft edges of (non projector) halogen lighting.

Now that's not to say that Mini didn't tighten the overall side illumination on the LED version, but I'd bet the small amount of loosely illuminated edge light from the halogens would be of no practical advantage in a moving car. But I haven't seen either in person. When it comes to spending my money though, I'll gladly pay for the LED's.

One interesting side note, at least for bikes, LED's are cheaper than HID's were, sort of the opposite of what BMW charges. In time I think LED's will replace halogens and "lasers" will become the optional upgrade.

 

That's pretty incredible considering that only a handful of cars in the country are using LED headlights. Must be some pretty hi-tech folks on your country roads.

 

LOL I am sorry but throwing FACT in capital letters does not make it a FACT... I am not claiming that these lights have not increased accidents, I am saying that I certainly have not seen any facts supporting that idea, I could only find data that was entirely inconclusive . Cops are the last people I trust when it comes to data that is actually factual. They lack objectivity and often any understanding about scientific testing. They have an agenda to prove and grab data that supports the agenda while ignoring any data that contradicts their ideas.

 

One detail I saw tucked away somewhere was that the LED headlights with cornering lights (ie, the more expensive of the two LED light options) includes speed-dependent light changes. At low speed, the cornering lights are lit at dimmed power to spread the dipped beam wider, while at high speeds the throw of the dipped beam is lengthened for use on highways.

 

I'd say most Mini buyers opted for the xenons not the halogens. I never saw LEDs but the xenons are pretty good. I me the LEDs are cooler looking for people looking at the car, I'm not sure how much better they light up the roadway. I would have ordered them on an F56. The LED foglights are available aftermarked on the R56. They look very cool. Cost about $600 installed.

 

Aw, angrybears, my FACT is MY FACT, not the cops fact. I, ME, MYSELF, measured the beam width. As I said, I trust my own research/testing. Even as unscientific as it was, it's all I had. That's all I'm saying. Silly bear.

I think the speed/dimming thing is interesting though, Angib, didn't see that. The turning of the lights was definitely interesting though.

VicSkimmr yes, we live in CA, in THE vacation spot for the Bay Area Silicon Valley crowd. They have nothing better to do, than to spend a lot of money on their new toys that have more than their neighbor. Our small town? Not too many people with the LED's, but when your economy is based off drawing rich people in, you get a lot of the "new fangled stuff." I can say these horrible things about the Bay Area Crowd, I was born there, and we took ourselves off the feed, and moved to the country. So maybe, with that, I'm seeing a bias in my opinion of the light. hmmm I'm turning into a crotchety mountain woman, Yay! haha

TheBigNewt, cost was definitely a factor in addition of beams. For us, not enough proven benefit to outweigh the costs yet...for us. We're being cheep until we had it awhile and made sure it was a car worth more bells and whistles.

Now...had they offered lasers? NO CONTEST. Who wouldn't want a car with laser beam eyes? I mean, come on, THAT'S COOL...or hot, depending on how you look at it. But don't look at it directly, or you'll go blind.

 

Ah, Stay Curious, you go ahead and stick to your "research" and go with the lights you like best.
Many of us will stay in the dark with our LEDs. Maybe we'll see the light, and maybe we won't...............

 

(2) Correct
(3) If you're referring to the L.E.D.'s themselves


(1) Maybe. I work in the electrical industry and spend many, many hours dealing with L.E.D. driver defects. The drivers get hot, so hot in fact that the Mini headlight L.E.D. drivers have fans blowing on them to keep them cool. Cool enough? Hope so.