So I had a great Labor Day weekend getting to know my new Mini. One thing I noticed is that the color-adjustable ambient lighting, which is very cool, is also VERY subtle - as in almost not noticeable unless it's pitch dark out or the color is set to blue, which seems to be the strongest.

I already have my instrument panel lighting set to the max - are there any aftermarket mods to boost the ambient lighting?

 

Not that I know of, but you can get LEDs in red or blue or white for other interior lights, such as the dome light, puddle lights, glove box, boot interior, and foot wells. See this thread in the Mods section.

 

Do yourself a favor, tone down the interior lights. Your eyes have to adjust from interior bright to exterior dim every time you do a dash sweep for a peek at the gauges. And then back. Not so much a problem at first, but drive for an hour or so and then check it. As your eyes get tired the response times get longer. At 70 mph you are covering 102 feet a second. (5280 X 70 ÷ 60
÷ 60).
Could be the difference between a flick of the steering wheel and bent rim from a pothole.

 

I think the Ambient Light is not really designed for driving. It is designed for "Parking" when the headlights and instrument panel are off.... if you know what I mean!

 

Good Advice

 

On the flip side of the topic... can the ambient light be turned off completely?

 

I'd like to get rid of the two overhead LED's --- they reflect in the rearview mirror at night and are not needed...

 

Same here. I think they're cool... but I'd like the option to turn them off. If that's possible, I haven't found out how just yet.

 

I had my first experience of them being too bright and distracting the other night. But I am rarely on the highway at night, so no big deal really.

 

This is the one on the "B" pillar with light coming out of the top of the oval that says, "AIRBAG", right?

You can pop the oval off. It has a clear plastic piece that conducts the light from a little square hole (where the LED is) to the top of the oval. You could either black out the end of the square tab on the clear plastic, or black out the area at the top of the oval.

I suppose you could use some transparent color to modify the color.

With the Anthracite headliner, I never noticed these lights being on. I just had them apart when I removed the "B" pillar.

 

Coffeeman, good point - the panel looks fine at max brightness in my garage, but it's probably too much for the road. I haven't driven the Mini much at night yet.

Robin, thanks for the link to the LED thread - FastMini is only about 15 miles from me, so I'll motor out there and pick up a set.

 

I'm not sure I understand this...I can't see any of the mood lights in my mirror, try as I may!!!

 

red color has longer wavelength so it travels farther = people in other cars will notice them. Blue has the shortest wavelength = won't be noticed as much by other people. I leave mine on blue. if they catch me with pink, they will think I am who I am really not.

 

Ditto...it seems the brightest, yet also least obtrusive. I think the mood lighting is very cool.

 

When you have your mirror flipped for night-time use, it reflects the two LED's that are in the roof switch panel.

 

Ah that explains why I never seen it either. I rarely flip the rear view mirror at night. Usually there is no traffic at night and cars behind me are far enough away that their headlights don't bother me.

 

Same here.

 

Red ambient lighting? Mine goes from blue to amber. Doesn't have red.

I'd prefer red to go with my night-vision interior lighting LEDs.

 

I have the auto-dimming mirror. Perhaps that explains why I've never seen the lights in the mirror.

 

I shut off all my lights and drive with night vision goggles on


Man, that would be so cool!

 

Lol, driving with NVG's sucks so bad. On turning them off, I believe you just hold the switch for like 5 or ten seconds. It's in the owners manual.

 

Huh? They have 5 or 6 gradient colors to choose from: Orange, orange-red, Red, red-blue (purple'ish), blue.

Each time you tap it, it changes to the next....

 

I about ran over a boat on our lake last weekend that was running without lights. Not cool. Of course I was not in the Mini, but a rather large and fast boat. Bet the other boat driver had to change his shorts!

Glad I could make an absolutley pointless, wasteful post.

The mood lights are cool though.

 

Me too. I might just put some sticky dots over them (vinyl tape and a hole punch).

 

It is probably not truely red. reddish.