Your partial ring is getting triggered by the other connectors from the Mini and triggered/activated by the control module.

Check your BLUE wire that goes to the footwell. That blue wire is what triggers the DRL ring so it's getting connected to a 12v switched wire.

Start in post 54? for someone who had the same problem.

 

I have heard of a couple of cases from Euro MINI owners that the control module was bad and had to be swapped out. Much easier to do in a country where these are an official part. If all of the wiring was done right I would have to assume it's the control module that is causing the problem.

 

Those were apparently early releases. 3-4 months ago. From my reading I believe whatever was the problem BMW had fixed. A lot of these have been sold since so I expect ours are of the new sets. At least I hope so.

 

The control module of the lights or the control module inside the car? I'm assuming the UK reseller will make good on a control module replacement if this indeed turns out to be the issue.

 

The issue earlier in the year was with the DRL control module. MINI was requiring owners to have the issue validated be a dealer to confirm warranty replacement. I would think any good reseller would send a replacement, however I don't see them picking up the overseas shipping both ways.

 

I will report back tomorrow when my installer re-looks at this.

 

Got mine today from FLOW MINI Raleigh. They have them for $440. Hopefully I'll be able to install them tomorrow evening.

 

The light side module. The car side has only the triggers for the DRL module. It's rather a simple design with the brain for the lights all inside the module that comes with the lights.

Another forum with loads of info and data on these, more from the UK, has had them replaced after dealerships exhaust all installation issues and prove it's the hardware. To me, that says a lot.

Who cares who installs them? If they are bad they warranty them. That's how mini in the UK is acting. That's Cool!!

 

The directions say pin 12 of the 51 pin connector, this is wrong! It is the 12 pin wire of the 53 pin connector you need to tap into. For reference the correct wire is grey

 

Before installing the new DRLs I was running 55 Watt yellow fogs and the new LED fog lights still look brighter than the 55 Watt bulbs.

Yes, the 55 watt bulbs will fit if you trim off about 1/16" from one of the metal tabs on the bulb. Found this out when I ordered the 55 watt bulbs by mistake.

 

Save yourself some trouble and simply tap the power wire from the 12 volt power socket in the center console. This is quicker and gives you the excact same results.

 

Mini had quite a lot of bad control units for these lights when they first appeared in Britain - which I found out by getting one of them. In my case everything worked fine, but the car gave a (incorrect) foglight bulb warning all the time. Luckily, I was able to convince myself it was the control unit at fault not my install, by plugging the old lights back into the wiring when the bulb warning disappeared.

The only cure for me was to take the car to the dealer and get them to check it out. The parts do carry a full Mini warranty, so I didn't have to pay for the garage to replace the whole system, but I did have to accept that if it was my install error, it would have cost me the dealer parts and labour to fix it. Taking the whole kit out and returning that to the dealer I bought it from was not an option, only taking them the car with the lights fitted.

In theory, the parts warranty applies at any Mini dealer so (again in theory) you can take the car to any dealer to get it fixed - as long as it is a faulty part. This cost me two days of not having the car - one day for the dealer to identify the part was at fault, overnight to get the replacement unit delivered to them and the next day to install it.

It does sound like you may have a bad control unit too as, like you say, everything else works right. Does the foglight part work OK? Switching on the fogs should cut the LED ring down to just the top segment.

 

I'm really surprised the installer gave you back the car with it clearly not working after the install.

 

It's the usual story, isn't it? I left out the bit that was obvious to me - I did the install myself.

 

Looks like ECS has them now.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ights-led.html

 

The ECS part number is the same as the number on my box i got from the UK. The question now is whether or not they are officially supported by MINI USA. When the dealership installed mine they wrote on the work order that they would not provide any warranty for my lights even though it was an official MINI part installed by a MINI dealer.

 

Mine do not work even tapping the 12v power or anything else. I have a bad set apparently. I wish I'd learned about the control box issues before I ordered.

 

 

I don't see how that is possible. A call to the HQ should fix that. They are going to release them here, they are just waiting on clearance from DOT. Dealers were already told they were suppose to receive them back in August but haven't yet. Either way, there shouldn't be a warranty issue, especially since they installed them.

 

I just finished install my DRLs. It is really easy to go thru the wheel well arches. Just:

1.) Remove wheel
2.) Remove (4) phillips head expanding rivets and (2) large access covers
3.) Fold back wheel well liner
4.) Unplug
5.) Remove (3) T20 screws (1 on top and 2 below)
6.) Remove light fixture and bracket as a unit
7.) Remove (2) T20 screws from adjustment bracket
8.) Replace light fixture in the bracket - be gentle
9.) Reinstall in reverse order

for the driver side (USA) the washer fluid tank is in the way. To push this out of the way:

1.) Remove (1) push-in expanding rivet up top by fill cap
2.) Remove (2) T20 screws down below and massage it out of the way

Wire it according to what others have posted.

The physical install took me less than 1 hour. Easy as pie.

Tools needed:

1.) phillips head #2 screw driver
2.) T20 socket bit (1/4" drive)
3.) ratchet drive wrench (1/4" drive)
4.) it helps to have an assortment of 1/4" socket extensions

 

Update on my end - my installer tells me that the unit in my car that the wires tap into was completely different than pictured in the instructions and different than the pictures in posts 54-57. And also the wires in my car were different colors. (I have a 2012 MCS Hardtop) So he tested different wires and tells me that he has this installed correctly finally - after 7 man-hours of time. So I'll see if it works tomorrow, was too late for me to pick it up today.

 

Thats what I was hoping and expecting to hear. Awesome news!!!!

 

As much as I like the "haloness" of those, I think I'm going to hold off on these for now. $450 that's just a little steep for replacing what is essentially working on our car too many expense recently plus it probably would be smarter to spend it else where on the car anyway... I can't keep spending like this. I which I didn't remember what $450 use to get you 10/20 years ago

 

so who has the best price in the US right now?

 

I'm finishing up the install, I had left off with only having to feed the blue wire through the firewall and splice it in.

I need some advice on how to feed it through. It looks like it is suppose go though the large feedthrough on the drivers side (USA) near the brake fluid reservoir. There is a weather cover over the feedthrough that needs to be removed and I can't get my hand in there to remove it using the brake fluid access cover, so it looks like I need to take off the entire plastic cover/trim piece which is underneath the windshield wipers. How do you get the wipers off the shaft? I removed the nut and it's on there really good, do I just have to pry it off? How forceful should I be? I don't want to break it.

Is this the way you did it? Is there a better way? It would be nice if there was a 12v switched source in the engine bay (that would be too easy ).

BTW, even without the whole ring lit up the lights are great (I only get the top part until the blue wire is hooked up). They are also much better as driving lights then the original fog lights.

Lastly, is there a way to have the driving lights come on automatically or at least remember its last known status?