Interior/Exterior ClearCorners.Com LED MINI Tail Lights
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From: Los Angeles, CA.
Just wanted to give everyone the heads up since I've seen quite a few threads about tail lights and rear fog lights, we are in the midst of developing a set of high-intensity LED tail lights for the MC.
Here are two prototype images:
We are currently building the high-intensity LED boards, we should have more progress within the month. Things are rather busy right now as we are moving, but I'll do my best to keep in contact with the list here and post any updates.
For those of you wondering, we are a low-volume company that specializes in selling high-end HID and LED conversions for sportscars. Typically, we've been focusing on RWD Japanese vehicles.. but lately there have been select FWD vehicles that are just appealing.. the MINI is definately one of them.
Typically, on most tail lights the amber signal lens can look kinda off.. but in this case, the smoked finish gives the amber a very smooth finish that blends in well with the red. The entire tail lights were carefully diaassembled and resprayed with a black chrome finish -- I am in love with the look and think these lights would look marvelous on MINIs with darker accents.
I believe we can offer this conversion for the clear and 1/2 red 1/2 clear tail lights, but since those lamps are not easily available -- we started with these. All of our work is on exchange basis, unless your MINI is not a daily driver... in which you can afford the downtime and can send us your original lamps for modification. What you see is a very detailed and labor intensive upgrade -- it will be costly, but worth it if you are into details and a stickler about lighting (which obviously, I am). :smile:
Feel free to post any questions here, or e-mail.. either way, I'de love to answer any questions you guys and gals may have. We should have some very trick items available for the MINI in the next month or two.
Kind regards,
Mike Mamos
Owner/ClearCorners.Com
Here are two prototype images:
We are currently building the high-intensity LED boards, we should have more progress within the month. Things are rather busy right now as we are moving, but I'll do my best to keep in contact with the list here and post any updates.
For those of you wondering, we are a low-volume company that specializes in selling high-end HID and LED conversions for sportscars. Typically, we've been focusing on RWD Japanese vehicles.. but lately there have been select FWD vehicles that are just appealing.. the MINI is definately one of them.
Typically, on most tail lights the amber signal lens can look kinda off.. but in this case, the smoked finish gives the amber a very smooth finish that blends in well with the red. The entire tail lights were carefully diaassembled and resprayed with a black chrome finish -- I am in love with the look and think these lights would look marvelous on MINIs with darker accents.
I believe we can offer this conversion for the clear and 1/2 red 1/2 clear tail lights, but since those lamps are not easily available -- we started with these. All of our work is on exchange basis, unless your MINI is not a daily driver... in which you can afford the downtime and can send us your original lamps for modification. What you see is a very detailed and labor intensive upgrade -- it will be costly, but worth it if you are into details and a stickler about lighting (which obviously, I am). :smile:
Feel free to post any questions here, or e-mail.. either way, I'de love to answer any questions you guys and gals may have. We should have some very trick items available for the MINI in the next month or two.
Kind regards,
Mike Mamos
Owner/ClearCorners.Com
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From: Los Angeles, CA.
Look nice. How expensive is expensive??
Hmm.. pricing has not been set yet, and I cannot post any information until the final product has been completed AND tested. I am currently working with a MC owner who is a part of this forum, so once we get the product finalized, I will be more than happy to post pics, details, and answer any questions. At this point, I would hate to throw out any information unless its concrete.
Thanks!
- Mike
Hmm.. pricing has not been set yet, and I cannot post any information until the final product has been completed AND tested. I am currently working with a MC owner who is a part of this forum, so once we get the product finalized, I will be more than happy to post pics, details, and answer any questions. At this point, I would hate to throw out any information unless its concrete.
Thanks!
- Mike
4th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 305
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From: Dobbs Ferry, NY
Not sure if I understand what you are selling. They simply tail lights with LEDs instead of bulbs, and the lenses are slightly tinted and redesigned. So, the LEDs are somewhat brighter and intense than the regular bulbs?
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Coordinator :: Chicago MINI Motoring Club
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From: San Antonio, TX
Yeah....uhhhh....I'm a little confused too. It looks to me like you're selling pretty much exactly what came in my car (which, incidentally, are very cool...remind me again why I want to change them?), only it's the wrong size and slightly tinted?
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Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Reno, NV
>>Not sure if I understand what you are selling. They simply tail lights with LEDs instead of bulbs, and the lenses are slightly tinted and redesigned.
I'll chime in here only because Mike is customizing the lights to my request, I don't know ANYTHING about how to do it. But he has said, "The entire tail lights were carefully diaassembled and resprayed with a black chrome finish".
The LENSES haven't been tinted AT ALL, they only appear to be tinted because of the black "background". This was one of my original request. I wanted "tint" but didn't want the plastic film or a painted coating and I asked him what could he do. This is the result and I'm VERY pleased with it at this point. As he has said, it should look stunning against my dark Velvet Red.
The redesign is also only an appearance, he is comparing a right and a left tail light, because that is all he has, and the camera angle is also causing some distortion. I looked at the pictures for a long time thinking the same thing, that the basic shape had been changed, but then realized what the picture was showing me.
I'll chime in here only because Mike is customizing the lights to my request, I don't know ANYTHING about how to do it. But he has said, "The entire tail lights were carefully diaassembled and resprayed with a black chrome finish".
The LENSES haven't been tinted AT ALL, they only appear to be tinted because of the black "background". This was one of my original request. I wanted "tint" but didn't want the plastic film or a painted coating and I asked him what could he do. This is the result and I'm VERY pleased with it at this point. As he has said, it should look stunning against my dark Velvet Red.
The redesign is also only an appearance, he is comparing a right and a left tail light, because that is all he has, and the camera angle is also causing some distortion. I looked at the pictures for a long time thinking the same thing, that the basic shape had been changed, but then realized what the picture was showing me.
4th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Dobbs Ferry, NY
I'm anxious to see what effect LEDs would have in place of the bulbs only without the discoloration and on the red/white lights. I'm so ready to get some of the red/whites. I think they would go very well with my white side repeaters.
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From: Los Angeles, CA.
The difference is in the details. The left tail lights is a normal MC tail light, the right one is smoked and has a black-chrome bezel. The light source of the tail light will be retrofitted from incandescent to high-intensity LED.
So... you are basically looking at a tail light conversion that will be MUCH brighter than stock, more aesthetically pleasing, more efficient, and will never need any maintanance. This is the benefit of LED vs incandescent.
As an example, here are a few images demonstrating the intensity of our LED tail lights:
If you look at the car on the left, you will notice that not only the tail lights are brighter.. but look at the floor, there is more light.. plus, the light is PURE red, not faded like the incandescent tail lights on the right.
Here is our NISSAN 350Z high-intensity LED tail lamp:
You can learn a bit more about the pro's and con's of LED, HID, and halogen here:
http://clearcorners.com/services/
- Mike
So... you are basically looking at a tail light conversion that will be MUCH brighter than stock, more aesthetically pleasing, more efficient, and will never need any maintanance. This is the benefit of LED vs incandescent.
As an example, here are a few images demonstrating the intensity of our LED tail lights:
If you look at the car on the left, you will notice that not only the tail lights are brighter.. but look at the floor, there is more light.. plus, the light is PURE red, not faded like the incandescent tail lights on the right.
Here is our NISSAN 350Z high-intensity LED tail lamp:
You can learn a bit more about the pro's and con's of LED, HID, and halogen here:
http://clearcorners.com/services/
- Mike
4th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 305
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From: Dobbs Ferry, NY
OK...Correct me if I'm wrong here... but, what I do like about the LED's is their "purer" light and quicker response times. Longevity of incandescent tailight bulbs is really a non-issue as they are very cheap and easy to replace. But, what it seems you are doing is masking the benefits of having LED's in the first place by placing not only the red filter/housing of the actual lights over the LED's but also 'darkening' them as well. It would make more sense to me to have an absolutely clear housing and allow the LED to emit the specific wavelenght of light necessary to meet DOT spec, which I might add, might be a pretty cool mod and possibly stunning to see at night. We have many LED traffic lights where I live and they are much easier to see, but they rely on the actual LEDs to generate the color of light and have no masking in any sense.
4th Gear
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 382
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From: Central Jersey Shore
I like these lights for the MINI. If they are comparable in price to what I see on your site for other car makes and models, I'd probably pick up a pair for my Jet Black MINI. Also, are they simply "plug and play"? Meaning, they use the same wiring connectors as the stock lights? That would be a nice tough...not to have to fiddle around with wiring or splicing...
Rock On,
-Joe
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Joined: Mar 2003
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Mike,
thanks for posting, very interesting!
I would definitely consider getting an LED upgrade for my MCS.
I like LEDs because they are brighter, and also because they come on much faster than incandescent lamps.
Personally, I like to maintain the stock look on my MCS, so what I would prefer - if available - would be a replacement lamp insert, that is the insert that plugs into the tail light assembly. While the smoked look is fine for some, I would not like it for my car.
Do you have any plans for selling just the light inserts with LEDs, rather than the whole tail light assembly? For that in LED form I'd consider spedning probably up to $100 - 120 for a set, no more.
Cheers,
Markus
thanks for posting, very interesting!
I would definitely consider getting an LED upgrade for my MCS.
I like LEDs because they are brighter, and also because they come on much faster than incandescent lamps.
Personally, I like to maintain the stock look on my MCS, so what I would prefer - if available - would be a replacement lamp insert, that is the insert that plugs into the tail light assembly. While the smoked look is fine for some, I would not like it for my car.
Do you have any plans for selling just the light inserts with LEDs, rather than the whole tail light assembly? For that in LED form I'd consider spedning probably up to $100 - 120 for a set, no more.
Cheers,
Markus
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From: Los Angeles, CA.
"But, what it seems you are doing is masking the benefits of having LED's in the first place by placing not only the red filter/housing of the actual lights over the LED's but also 'darkening' them as well. It would make more sense to me to have an absolutely clear housing and allow the LED to emit the specific wavelenght of light necessary to meet DOT spec, which I might add, might be a pretty cool mod and possibly stunning to see at night."
Yes and no. YES, the red lens DOES reduce lightput.. but not by much. On the other hand, the LENSES have NOT been coated with any smoke finish.. the inside of the assembly HAS. This gives the light a darker appearance, WITHOUT reducing light output.
Now, going with a full clear lens DOES have its advantages. For instance, take a look at the new Lexus RX330.. this car has factory CLEAR tail lights with LED technology. However, its not just the light output that makes a tail light DOT-compliant. If you look at the lower portion of the bumper, Lexus mounts 2 red reflex reflectors -- these are required by law and make the car visible when the lights are off.
When creating a new product, we have to work with many variables.. and at the same time, meet our customers needs. Ed wanted an OEM looking tail light, but darker. He did not want altezzas, he did not want clear, he wanted simplicity -- and this is what we are providing for him. It IS possible to do this same conversion to a full clear, OR, a 1/2 red 1/2 clear tail light -- but these would all be separate projects. Remember, we are NOT a high-volume company. We are NOT attempting to compete with ANY company that sells mass-produced tail lights for the MINI.
"Personally, I like to maintain the stock look on my MCS, so what I would prefer - if available - would be a replacement lamp insert, that is the insert that plugs into the tail light assembly. While the smoked look is fine for some, I would not like it for my car.
Do you have any plans for selling just the light inserts with LEDs, rather than the whole tail light assembly? For that in LED form I'd consider spedning probably up to $100 - 120 for a set, no more. "
As I mentioned above, Ed requested a darker tail light. With your car, we can definately keep the stock appearance (no smoke, no black chrome bezel) -- and just do the LED retrofit. That is not a problem and will be an option for MC owners to chose from.
Regarding price, I can tell you right now there is no way this retrofit will be even close to the 100-120 price-range. The high-intensity LED circuit boards we work with are all custom fabricated and built-to-spec to fit within the clearances of each project we work on. It is just impossible at this point in time to offer LED at that low of a price. Not trying to scare anyone off, but its important you understand that technology like this costs much, much more. I estimate retail price on this entire conversion will be approx $700/pair.
Please understand, this is not a simple "take out your stock bulb, and plug in this LED bulb" affair -- this is on a completely different level. These tail lights will not be "fairly bright" -- they will be absolute state of the art and demand attention when seen on the road. This is what separates cars using LED tail lights, from the majority.
Last, once the tail lights are modified -- they will be 100% bolt-on, no wiring modifications needed. Again, we are working on these details. Once complete, I'll be able to post more information, pics, and verify the final pricing.
- Mike
Yes and no. YES, the red lens DOES reduce lightput.. but not by much. On the other hand, the LENSES have NOT been coated with any smoke finish.. the inside of the assembly HAS. This gives the light a darker appearance, WITHOUT reducing light output.
Now, going with a full clear lens DOES have its advantages. For instance, take a look at the new Lexus RX330.. this car has factory CLEAR tail lights with LED technology. However, its not just the light output that makes a tail light DOT-compliant. If you look at the lower portion of the bumper, Lexus mounts 2 red reflex reflectors -- these are required by law and make the car visible when the lights are off.
When creating a new product, we have to work with many variables.. and at the same time, meet our customers needs. Ed wanted an OEM looking tail light, but darker. He did not want altezzas, he did not want clear, he wanted simplicity -- and this is what we are providing for him. It IS possible to do this same conversion to a full clear, OR, a 1/2 red 1/2 clear tail light -- but these would all be separate projects. Remember, we are NOT a high-volume company. We are NOT attempting to compete with ANY company that sells mass-produced tail lights for the MINI.
"Personally, I like to maintain the stock look on my MCS, so what I would prefer - if available - would be a replacement lamp insert, that is the insert that plugs into the tail light assembly. While the smoked look is fine for some, I would not like it for my car.
Do you have any plans for selling just the light inserts with LEDs, rather than the whole tail light assembly? For that in LED form I'd consider spedning probably up to $100 - 120 for a set, no more. "
As I mentioned above, Ed requested a darker tail light. With your car, we can definately keep the stock appearance (no smoke, no black chrome bezel) -- and just do the LED retrofit. That is not a problem and will be an option for MC owners to chose from.
Regarding price, I can tell you right now there is no way this retrofit will be even close to the 100-120 price-range. The high-intensity LED circuit boards we work with are all custom fabricated and built-to-spec to fit within the clearances of each project we work on. It is just impossible at this point in time to offer LED at that low of a price. Not trying to scare anyone off, but its important you understand that technology like this costs much, much more. I estimate retail price on this entire conversion will be approx $700/pair.
Please understand, this is not a simple "take out your stock bulb, and plug in this LED bulb" affair -- this is on a completely different level. These tail lights will not be "fairly bright" -- they will be absolute state of the art and demand attention when seen on the road. This is what separates cars using LED tail lights, from the majority.
Last, once the tail lights are modified -- they will be 100% bolt-on, no wiring modifications needed. Again, we are working on these details. Once complete, I'll be able to post more information, pics, and verify the final pricing.
- Mike
3rd Gear
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 172
Likes: 0
From: Reno, NV
>>...also, get rid of that chrome trim on the inside...kinda tacky if you ask me...
I don't see the chrome trim your refering to. The "modified" light is on the right in the first picture. Is there some chrome trim inside that I dont see? There is some light reflection off the clear lens but I don't see the chrome trim inside that your referencing.
I don't see the chrome trim your refering to. The "modified" light is on the right in the first picture. Is there some chrome trim inside that I dont see? There is some light reflection off the clear lens but I don't see the chrome trim inside that your referencing.
OVERDRIVE
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,926
Likes: 40
From: Greensboro, NC
Ok...you've tweaked my curiousity. Can you elaborate for the rest of us on what you mean by "MCO LED man"?
>>Old S - check your private messages!!
>>I am the MCO LED man!
_________________
>>Old S - check your private messages!!
>>I am the MCO LED man!
_________________
3rd Gear
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 172
Likes: 0
From: Reno, NV
>>
>>When creating a new product, we have to work with many variables.. and at the same time, meet our customers needs. Ed wanted an OEM looking tail light, but darker. He did not want altezzas, he did not want clear, he wanted simplicity -- and this is what we are providing for him.>>- Mike
I want to reinforce what Mike has said, perhaps using different "language". What he has been talking about in the past few days is developing CUSTOM taillights for ME. We started this project in JUNE and are now hopefully a month from delivery. He is building me some tails that are "unique", most likly "one of in the world", that match what I said I wanted. When we started this project I was "hesitant", that is the polite word, about doing business with a small on-line company (I'v been bitten before) but Mike has overcome that. He has delivered! However, he has now done ONLY 1 MINI tail conversion, and that was based on what "I" wanted. If "YOU" want something different then it is a different project, different problems, different cost etc.
In many ways I wish that I was sitting out there gaining all this great experience at little/no cost but that is not me; I'm much more of a pioneer than that and must take some of the arrows of all pioneers.
Stay tuned for more solutions to the problems that my "wants"` may have created.
>>When creating a new product, we have to work with many variables.. and at the same time, meet our customers needs. Ed wanted an OEM looking tail light, but darker. He did not want altezzas, he did not want clear, he wanted simplicity -- and this is what we are providing for him.>>- Mike
I want to reinforce what Mike has said, perhaps using different "language". What he has been talking about in the past few days is developing CUSTOM taillights for ME. We started this project in JUNE and are now hopefully a month from delivery. He is building me some tails that are "unique", most likly "one of in the world", that match what I said I wanted. When we started this project I was "hesitant", that is the polite word, about doing business with a small on-line company (I'v been bitten before) but Mike has overcome that. He has delivered! However, he has now done ONLY 1 MINI tail conversion, and that was based on what "I" wanted. If "YOU" want something different then it is a different project, different problems, different cost etc.
In many ways I wish that I was sitting out there gaining all this great experience at little/no cost but that is not me; I'm much more of a pioneer than that and must take some of the arrows of all pioneers.
Stay tuned for more solutions to the problems that my "wants"` may have created.
6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,562
Likes: 0
From: Fayetteville, NC USA
The blacked out chrome I've been trying to do for a few months! I never could successfully remove the clear plastic cover. Glad to see someone come up with it.
You got my interest, though I really don't care whether their LED or not. The absense of the chrome is what I'm looking for.
Keep us posted when you get a price on them.
You got my interest, though I really don't care whether their LED or not. The absense of the chrome is what I'm looking for.
Keep us posted when you get a price on them.
1st Gear
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: Hampton Roads, VA
Regarding price, I can tell you right now there is no way this retrofit will be even close to the 100-120 price-range. The high-intensity LED circuit boards we work with are all custom fabricated and built-to-spec to fit within the clearances of each project we work on. It is just impossible at this point in time to offer LED at that low of a price. Not trying to scare anyone off, but its important you understand that technology like this costs much, much more. I estimate retail price on this entire conversion will be approx $700/pair.
Ouch! That is too much for me. I guess I am too cheap. :???: _________________
