komett155

this thread might help:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m-failure.html

If not, talk with ECS Tuning

 

Thanks, but that information is for the R53 washer system. I have an R56.
I'm going to take off the front left wheel and undo the wheel housing liner next weekend and take a peek. Hopefully the 3 lower bolts attaching the bottle are accessible from there. If not, I may have to bite the bullet and plan on removing the front bumper. I'm not looking forward to that since there's a chance it will get scratched in handling off the car.

 

Check out cerenkov's post dated 10/3/13. He outlined installing the foglights without removing the bumper. Although it's a little more work, removing the bumper isn't that difficult. But I can tell you from experience, the JCW bumper is more work than the standard MCS bumper due to the bottom clips being harder to reach. Just get a tool for removing the plastic clips and fasteners like the pic below to make it easier, and it's only $8. Good luck!

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Thanks KilmerPT!

I've bookmarked the post in question (#395) and will do some scouting next weekend. I like to be prepared. As for the tool you've suggested, I bought a set of "trim removal tools" made of "non marring plastic" and will try those first. If they don't work, I'll get one like what you've pictured.

Thanks again. :-)

 

Oh, snap, looks like my weekend plans just changed! can't wait to get these pups installed.

 

glad to see you got em Stash, wish i was local to meet up with you for the deal :(
Im gonna get 2 sets for the cars

 

Nice box to have show up. They will look good.

JCW_Coupe - If you don't already have them. We have them here:

MINI Daytime Running Lights LED Part # 63122338554


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/63122338554/

 

They are awesome and very bright. Much brighter than the xenons!

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+1

 

They really are bright, but I think that the LED s that nearly all the car companies are using as DRLs are this bright. I noticed a Lexis the other day, and its array was very bright. These may be brighter than the BMW halos on most of their cars though, Im not sure.

 

they def are brighter than BMW halos

 

Here's a picture of the drivers side and the washer bottle. You can see the two screws on the upper, the bottom is just held in place by a post in a hole. The very top where you pour in the fluid is fastened by a plastic rivet.

Undoing all these will allow you to massage it out of the way just enough.

 

Just installed mine today at the local MINI club's DIY day at MINI of Dallas. My technician friend really did all of the heavy lifting. I ended up strapping the controller box on the outside of wiring harness box and not the fuse box as I could not fit it in the space without bending the brake lines below it. I like this setup pretty well since I didn't put the pull ties over the fuse box. My friend cut two holes in the rear of the cover for the wiring harness plugs and ran the zip ties through there. The controller box is very secure. The bumper removal wasn't a big deal, and my friend did the wire crimp on the inside. Initially, the DRLs would not come on - all the rest of the lights worked. After consulting another club member, we decided the wire wasn't crimped into the connecting piece quite well enough. Once we got that sorted, everything works great. Overall, probably took about 3 hours to get this done, plus my friend needed to help others, say hi to club members, etc. and it was his first install. Pretty straightforward except for the space on the right side of the fuse box in my 2009 fJCW.

 

Congrats!!!

 

Congrats, excellent mod. You will also find the fogs to be 2-3 times brighter than the standard fogs with perfect fill in.


-Steven

 

Yeah - so far, I really like them. And, everybody is correct about these being very bright. And, I noticed that the fogs appeared brighter when I pulled into my parking garage today. Strange that I haven't read about others finding the space way too tight on the right side of the fuse box. We measured and everything, and that thing was just not going to fit over there. Checked it when I got home and it's extremely snug on the other side, so no big deal, but I always like it when the project comes out as advertised.

 

I think people in mini torque mention the tight fit of the control module on the right side of the fuse box, but they still got it to fit.

With that mentioned, I, too, got mine to fit on the right side if the fuse box. It is a tight fit and there was no need to use the included double sided tape or zip ties. There is no NVH created by the control module just sitting snugly where it is in the pic.

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What a great looking set of halos.

 

Are these offered by dealers yet or still on hold?

 

I was at my dealer in Raleigh, NC a few weeks ago and they had them displayed.

 

This talk of 3 hr install time gives me an inferiority complex. 11pm - 2am last night i spent on just the wiring set up. wipers wouldnt come off without a fight and don't get me started on squeezing that control box next to the fuse box.

just too busy to tackle the JCW bumper removal... might bite the bullet and have the mechanic finish it. already removed my rally lights / grill. Hopefully theyll cut me a deal for all that prep. With the money I saved on my group buy, I'll put toward the mechanic. hope i can drive my car with all this stuff removed / loose.

Just not the DIY'er I used to be with all of life's responsibilities! Wish Milwaukee had the Dallas DIY community.

 

My MINI mechanic installed mine in less than 1.5 hours for $135. No bumper removal. I have a 2013 JCW HT.

 

It's not like it's a contest mate. You shouldn't feel bad if it takes you longer than a professional mechanic to DIY. As long as you enjoy the process of DIY, that's what matters IMO.

Anyhow, in case you need to take off the wipers again, I found it easiest to use a small pair of channel lock pliers to bust them loose. Here's a pic of the driver side. Goodluck with the rest of install!

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Awesome. Now I can test if my mechanic is overpriced too.

Unfortunately, the plastic bit holding one of my driverside bolts separated so it just spins when you try to unscrew it. I don't think that headlight can ever be removed without surgery. I would def pay $135 to have this headache gone. I get paranoid crawling under the car (IDK how to get the MINI on jack stands).

 

Haha, I jest. It does make me wonder why this project is taking so long though. Having the right tools goes a long way. My ratchet was too short to remove the ground bolt under the fuse box so that took exorbitantly long. Thanks for the wiper tip. I was worried I'd damage the soft plastic surround so I muscled it out.