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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
I looked at Pelicans article on installing, and being a newbie to Mini's can't help but wonder why aren't all you need are the lights, brackets, relay, switch and wire? Why all of the special harnesses and hours of labor?
you are speaking of the GEN1 factory kit for driving lights?
the wiring does get a bit complicated huh? This comes from two places/issues
one, the wiring is to make the lights 100% 50 state legal ... they are set to only come on if the brights are on and disable each time the ignition is off so they need to be 're armed'
AND (2) this functionality is reflected in the lighted switch
for this reason you find several wires running to the radio ......
IT IS TRUE that to add a set of driving lights without worrying about potential legal issues (typically only in a state where they require annual inspections of some sort) once the lights are mounted all you typically need is some wire, a relay, an on/off switch and an inline fuse ... a few dollars worth of stuff and an hour of time.
If going DIY, on a GEN1 the only 'factory' part I recommend is the brackets which make mounting relatively easy unless you are comfortable making a bracket on your own.
I'm just up the road and have installed several sets both factory and DIY if you need help.
+1 factory set up. come on with the high beams, dot compliant, and we have the kit here: also the PDF install. The Full original kit is nla from MINI, but we sourced the kit and made our own all with genuine parts. Also linked is the factory switch/ button placement wire options
all the info here as well as the aftermarket set up:
The lights only come on with the high beams? Well that sucks. Are these the ones on the ground or the ones you put on the front of the hood? Either way, it still sucks that they would only come on with the high beams.
The lights only come on with the high beams? Well that sucks. Are these the ones on the ground or the ones you put on the front of the hood? Either way, it still sucks that they would only come on with the high beams.
They would also go OFF with the high beams. Next time you are blinded by someone's overly compensated lighting system who refuses to dim for you, reconsider your comment. There's other folks out in this world who like to see where they're going.
Just moments ago I was visiting another MINI forum with a thread howling in anger about inconsiderate, overly bright and blinding automotive lighting. It is getting to be a real hazard and painful scourge.
Most cars allow for driving / fog lights with low beams and they turn off when you're high beams come on - not the other way around. Look on the highways at night - all the '4 light' vehicles are cars with their headlights and driving / fog lights on. When they go to high beam, the driving / fog lights turn off.
For what it's worth, my current vehicle is one that blinds most people with low beams on (because of its height) - and I would like to think I am rather considerate as I turn them off (and go to fogs only) if I pull up behind you.
Some of the issues with overly bright vehicles / lights are the owners themselves, they want to see better and switch the originals out for something brighter.
The lights on the Mini is overly bright too if it hits you at the right angle.
Last edited by MiniTigger; Jan 12, 2016 at 09:48 AM.
There's a difference between fog lights and auxiliary driving lights. Fogs come on with low beams and off with high beams. Driving lights are the opposite, on with hi, off with low. Fog lights are not meant to be used other than during fog or really bad weather conditions of very low visibility. FL are also mounted low, DL are mounted high. Beam patterns also differ, FL aim low, close and wide, DL aim high, narrow and far. That's one reason DLs have to be off when traffic is approaching, since because of their light patterns they are highly blinding, much more so than FL.
Many people don't realize that correct FL use is actually to use FL instead of low-beams. This can be done on MINIs: set light switch to clearance/positioning lights only and turn FL on. This does not work well with MINIs because the factory FLs are anemic. They should be about the same power as low-beams. The reason for this use is that in fog or snow, you produce just about the same light, but lower to the ground to have less reflection back to the driver. Low beams create reflection back to the driver, and that's why in fog they are turned off and FLs on.
The many people that drive with 4 eyes are not using FL correctly by leaving them on in all conditions, and if they stay on with low beams they are definitely FL and not DL.
Part of the problem is that many cars in the US are sold with FL switches that allow them to stay on permanently with low beams, rather than resetting with ignition off, like MINIs do.
IMHO though the worst of all of the blinding light situations is cars that are too high, like jacked up trucks, or cars that don't have leveling headlights and are loaded in the back. Even worse is jacked up trucks with 4 eyes. Another really bad situation is aftermarket xenons without auto-leveling. So the absolutely and utterly worst is a raised truck that drives with FL on all the time, and has aftermarket xenons w/o auto-leveling.
FL should be mounted low, and only be used in fog or low visibility and come on with low beams only, and in fact for proper use as FLs they should be used with low-beams off and only positioning lights/clearance markers on.
DL should be mounted at level of headlights, and only come on with hi beams.
Any other use is not legal, and IMHO inconsiderate.
Wouldn't splicing the wiring into the bright light wire make it compliant?
this is how most "simple" set of driving lights get there - drawing the relay power from a high beam trigger. MINI just took it a bit farther by making it impossible to leave the driving lights in ON mode when the ignition is turned off. They automatically go to OFF and must be re-activated when the car is restarted .... you can't "leave them on" for next time . . .
· Carefully remove the Auxiliary Driving Light
covers.
· Switch on ignition
· Depress the switch (1) located on the driver’s
knee bolster to place the Aux. Driving Lights into
a ready/standby mode.
· The Auxiliary Driving Lights are in a
ready/standby mode when the green indicator
light (2) on the switch is illuminated.
· The Auxiliary Driving Lights will only illuminate in conjunction with the standard high beam lamps,
which can be illuminated, by either switching on the high beams or by activation of the headlight
flasher.
· The Auxiliary Driving Lights can be deactivated at any time by depressing the switch located on
the driver’s knee bolster.
Reset mode: Once the ignition has been turned off, the operation of the auxiliary driving lights is reset. In order to
have the auxiliary driving light illuminate in conjunction with the high beam lights, the auxiliary
driving light switch must again be depressed to activate the lights.
Thank you for the explanation. Here is an online definition as well:
----------------------------
Driving lights work with your hi-beams for greater visibility at longer distances. They project a long, narrow beam of light in a variety of patterns which greatly extend your range of view.
Fog lights work together with your low-beams to improve your visibility in foul weather, such as fog, rain, snow and mist. They emit a low, wide pattern of light that's designed to shine below the haze.
----------------------------
That said, I believe most people use their 'FL' because it helps illuminate the ground between the headlights and the vehicle and in some cases, out to the sides. On my vehicle, which is a raised truck - I do know when stopped that the headlights will absolutely be right in your face - which is why I turn them off. My 'FL' are not in your face as they are on the ground. They are also not as bright as my low beams. FWIW, I also drive a small car, so I do know what it's like with bright lights in your face - which is why I turn them off when I'm in my trick and right in front of or behind a small vehicle. I do try to be considerate to my fellow drivers. I drive the small car with it's 'FL' on too.
Last edited by MiniTigger; Jan 12, 2016 at 11:07 AM.
With the headlights on high beam and these factor light on they are super bright. Back in the day they even had blue tint bulbs to give the rally light a more white light. : 63170412647
I am glad we can still get this factory kit. Lost of gen 1 MINI stuff over the years has one nla.
i have learned to turn all my mirrors down and/or away at night when a cluster of vehicles start catching up to me on the highway. Out of 10 vehicles, you can bet that at least two will not/cannot turn their brights off.
