anyone with anymore updates??

 

Searching the forums, I've found one owner who used metal L brackets attached directly to the alloy bumber to attach driving lights low on the MINI.



The bumper skin has so much space behind it that the brackets will fit in without any modification, you just slip the skin over the new bumper with brackets....

What do you think?

Chris.

 

Hey Chris,

looks real promising, I think that's the best way to mount lower grille lights I've seen yet. Thinking about doing something like that myself!
There are two reasons I'm still a bit hesitant:

1) the front tow hook receptacle is in the lower grille, so if you mount a driving lamp in the outside position, it is in the way of the tow hook opening. Have you thought about this, and come up with a way to quickly remove the lamp or maybe a way to swivel it out of the way?

2) potential damage to the lamps but also to the car: twice now I've hit tire debris at night, and both times it was a pretty good wallop that separated the lower black lip from the grille and partially from the bumper. No real damage, BUT enough of a wallop onto the elastic lower grille and black lip, that it actually bent the AC radiator, which should be straight, and is now curved back into the engine radiator
Because the tire debris was flat and flexible, as well as the grille, I surmise there was no real damage, only the bending. With lights in that spot, I wonder though whether the radiator would have been punctured, and that made me wonder about adding some protective bar behind the lights to keep them from being pushed into the AC or engine radiators, or maybe a grille in front of the lights to prevent damage to the lights.

Any thoughts on that?

Cheers,
Markus

 

MG-BGT,

Your similiarities to my MINI frighten me!

After having my MINI for a month, I had an encounter with a full grown raccoon. It beat up the lower black lip, busted a fog light loose, and bent the A/C condenser. If you look down from above the condenser has a nice little curve to it. I'm with you on the protection if you're going to put lights down there. A good wack by something and you'll be illuminating your busted condenser and radiator. But then again, hitting the raccoon at 60mph, I might as well have taken a full swing with a baseball bat! I don't think something as sturdy as brush bars would have saved something in front of the condenser from smashing into it.

-Laclede

 

You can certainly space the lamps in from the sides of the grill, and keep the tow-hook area clear.

There is plenty of horizontal space to play with, even if you go as far as the 6" KC lamps.

The drawing shows them widely spaced, which probably isn't how I'd mount them in practice.....but even in this configuration you can see the tow eye socket off to the left, and it's in the clear.

Protection is a real issue, as the lamps are low.

Firstly, pick a brand of lamp with reasonably priced replacement lenses (KC are $20-26 ea.)

Secondly, you could fit stone guards to the lamps themselves

Clear:



Chris.

 

Well, finally I can do thsi mod to my S :smile:

Alta have produced the necessary mounting hardware, as per my original design idea, with the light bar being bolted directly to the aluminium bumper.

The bar then protrudes through the lower grill, with four 6 inch driving/fog lamps fitted.

All for $400


Yippee!!

 

http://www.altaminiperformance.com/p...r/lightbar.htm


I read somewhere that Mini will disavow itself of any warranty service relative to temperature if more than two lights are mounted in the lower position. Any experience with this?

 

It's not a temperature specific ban, just a 4 light ban for factory fitted (or other) lights.

It's a warranty issue for electrical if you modify the wiring in any way, other than the factory approved 2 light loom.

On the temperature side, MINI would have to proove that the fitting of the extra low lamps directly led to the problem, only then could they refuse warranty repair.

So far, people with the Alta set-up have seen only normal temperatures on their cars after fitment.

Which is what I'd expect to see.

Chris.

 

According to motoringfile & a poster on MINI2:

http://www.motoringfile.com/2004/06/...on_of_warranty

"I have just enquired about the addition of 4 spotlights on the front grill ...

The dealer has just confirmed that BMW have recently sent memo's to ALL DEALERSHIPS saying they will not validate the manu warranty of you have 4 spots on for 2 reasons.

1. They put out too much light on main beam and exceed the reccomended light output for EU and US vehicles.

2. The possible restriction of air to the engine by the addition of 2 extra spots.

In short terms Mini dealerships from May this year are NOT to allowed to put 4 spots your mini. BMW have stated that they will not carry out warranty work on the engine if you have 4 spots on the front. So don't go for after market ones either cause the moment you have a problem the dealership will worm out of it as their is no profit in warranty work. If you put after market spots on they will insist that you prove that you purchased the spots before April 2004 before they carry out the warranty work SO BE WARNED !"

Which I take to mean, if you have 4 lights of any kind and it overheats, we'll blame it on the lights.

TB

 

Lucky for us in the US then, that we have laws to protect us from such stupid behaviour.

MINI USA would have to conclusively prove that the extra lights led directly to the engine problem, otherwise they cannot refuse warranty work.

Proving it is NOT just saying 'you fitted 4 lamps so no warranty'.

And, if you look closely, the ALTA kit means that you cannot fit the HUGE MINI registration plate holder in that location, and that blocks as much airflow as all four lamps combined!

So they're going to find it a difficult case to justify, should they be stupid enough to try it.

Chris.

 

I'm planning to mount 2 4-5" round fogs inside the lower grill, all the way out to the sides. (I'm looking for a nice yellow/amber light in that size if anyone has suggestions.) There would appear to be no cooling restriction issues, as the lower grill on my S is actually solid in that area and lets through no air as it is.

 

Do you mean locating them on the far outside of the actual grill itself, or on the far outside of the front valance where the factory fogs are?

If it's a valance thing, MiniMania has a front bumper kit for just that:

http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NMX1070/InvDetail.cfm

As far as good, round, inexpensive driving/fog lights go, try Hella Rally 500s.

TB

 

Thanks tb. I'm talking about mounting them inside the lower grill cut out, but tucked all the way to the outside. The Hellas are nice, just too large for that space. I'm thinking Cibie Tangos might be about right.

 

Cooperb, Several NAM members have asked, so here you go...

 

XAlfa

Yeah, Tangos would be a good choice (they come in chrome too), and mounting them up in there should be less problematic, cosmetic-wise than the upper grill etc.

TB