I bought my MINI and these were installed on the car. Well enough is enough and they need to go. I have never been a fan of the clear lenses, they're not my 'style'. Are these some factory released option? I have seen these on several MINI's and am trying to figure it out.

The other thing I noticed was that the bulbs seem to be very dim compared to the Mrs' Cooper taillights. Anyone with these taillights notice the same thing? I need to get these swapped for the regular ones but need to know what I need to do to get the bulbs bright again. I'm also considering wrapping them in Vinyl Style's ruby film but I don't think the bulbs will be bright enough!

 

Throw some led bulbs in there for brighter output. If you can get some bluish tint on there that would be cool too.

 

Believe it or not, these bulbs can get dusty. Maybe they just need a good cleaning ?

While blue tint or Lamin-x would be cool, most states if not all require certain colors facing rear. And blue flashing lights on a civilian vehicle in many states is also illegal, whether it's a directional light or otherwise.....

If you can clean the bulbs up, and they appear brighter, I have seen them wrapped in Red Lamin-x film, and it does look pretty awesome.

 

They are OEM clear taillights that were available separately from the dealer. The bulbs are red and amber bulbs that are silver coated to make them invisible when off, but the coating also makes the bulbs dimmer.

BTW, the bulbs in that taillight are soldered into the bulb holder and you're supposed to change the entire 3-bulb panel when a bulb burns out. I think the reason was to prevent people from using standard clear white bulbs.

Swap-in LED replacement bulbs are usually dimmer than standard bulbs. For good brightness, LED taillights need to be custom designed to use LEDs.

 

Could he replace the entire "soldered bulb style" panel carrier with one from another tail light of same year so he could then use regular clear bulbs and install the red lamin-x ?

 

Read my mind...

 

I think there's a very good chance that the regular bulb holder panels are compatible. Realoem says new panels are about $30 each (probably hard to find used ones separate from the full taillight).

However, you can get a complete set of taillights like this for $90: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-06...ht_2942wt_1167. Personally I much prefer to have the turn signals flash amber as in the original (lamin-x would make the turn signals red).

 

If you are going to sell these, let me know. I've got a cracked rear lens and I'm looking for a cheap fix

 

That is what I was going to suggest. I had a set of those clear lights that I tinted yellow and just ran some red bulbs in there. They weren't very bright, but with a red vinyl tint and clear bulbs you should have no issues with brightness. Those clear bulbs are extremely bright through those clear lenses.

Also not that my yellow tint was a spray tint on the inside of the lens. So don't take those lights into consideration for what you want to do.

 

I forgot to add that all red lenses look way better than the oem ones anyway. So I think you should go the tint route.

 

My next question...maybe I'll just tint them but I was wondering if I could take the panels and 'unsolder' the bulbs and put new bulbs on. That would save me from having to buy new light panels if I go the tinting route...

 

you may first want to see if the lights are in fact soldered in there. That sounds a little strange to me.

I have some extra lights laying around though if you need the light panels. Just shoot me a PM and we can work something out if you want them.

 

In swapped the bulbs in mine for invisible ones when i swapped my taillights. Bulbs just screwed out like normal.

 

I guess I whip them out and see what we're lookin at...

 

They're soldered. :(