(( Insert long string of curse words here ))

Maaaaaaan... I want to meet the engineer that designed that %$#@! dome assembly in a dark alley one night... I cannot BELIEVE that of all the things I've done with my car THIS EFFING THING is giving me by FAR the most grief. And for what? A freaking BULB.

I cannot for the life of me figure out how the hell you got that thing off in 5 minutes, Puppetmaster. I've been monkeying with the damn thing for like an hour and I can't get the thing to budge. I tried pushing down from the vents - no dice. I don't have nearly the leverage to pop it free. Tried prying form the rear (cloest to the windsheild... Scary crunching noises. No good. Tried prying form the FRONT... now the dang blasted, frickin' fracking, dab nabbit thing gaps in the frint a bit, like I bent something.

My kingdom for a simple, cabrio-friendly service manual page! I HAVE TO be doing something wrong, and I'm munching the holy hell out of the assembly this way.

 

Here's my original post notes w/ a few extra pointers (in italics). (I didn't include the picture though - it's still on the original post) Once you do it twice..I guarantee you'll be able to remove it w/in 2 minutes.

1. Grab the rear view mirror by the neck, and twist counter-clockwise - it'll move about a third of the way around, and then come off.
2. Take a small flat head screw driver and gently pry off the little venty thiny (lol) to give yourself access to the dome light assembly. I am right handed, so I found it easiest to do from the passenger seat, & removing the passenger side vent thingy.. Pry from the edge of it - not the grill/groove portion of it.
3. Reach in the small opening and feel around with your right index finger. Do you see in the picture how the dome light assembly is about an inch tall and rectangular? You'll feel that inside. With your right index finger inside the opening you just made, find the side of the dome light assembly towards the Back of the car & gently push down. The front of the dome light assembly, towards the front of the car has solid clips/hinge that won't move... so push down on the back. You'll see it move/give just a little - continue this firm push downward on the Back Right corner of the dome light assembly, and it will pop down as pictured.

Also, As I said in another post, (once you get the assembly off) the 5LED won't fit thru the little hole so you have to take the lens off and push it thru the hole backwards...but it's just 2 screws holding the lens on.

 

MAN, what a PITA...

I finally got it off, but the clips on the front (the edge facing the cabin) on my unit look totally different than what I've seen in other photos. Mine look more like "hooks" than wedge-shaped clips and so it was EXTREMELY difficult to get them out. Getting the panel out bent them somehow, so that now the interior-facing edge will no longer push up into the housing and secure there - I had to roll out a thin sausage of sticky stuff (the blue-tack material sometimes used to secure posters to cinderblock walls) and cram it up into the crack to get it to stay. I'm worried when it gets hot it will soften and allow it to drop down again.

The tip about removing the lens cover peice with the 2 screws was DEAD ON though, thanks! My LED was a tad too large to fit in the housing, as well, and I had to push it up into the clip form beneath, just like you did.

 

Really Do post a pic of the hooks.. I wonder why the difference(?)\

Are you able to bend the clips back into place w/ small pliers? I'd be concerned about the blue goo too! LOL

 

The difference could be as simple as a mid-production year redesign...

Since I don't know what the shape of the clips were prior to my mangling them, I'm not sure how to return them to their pre-bend shape. I get the impression from looking at them that the PROPER way to remove them is to slide a slim tool inside, against the clip, and gently disengage it, rather than use a brute strength approach. Seeing as how the clips in your photo and the other one I saw in the cabrio forum shows a basic wedge-shaped friction clip (as opposed to the rounded "hook" shape I seem to have going), this would make more sense.

It's possible that my clips resembled your wedge-shaped ones before I attempted to remove the panel, and that somehow they hooked up on something and bent... I did this at work on lunch break and so did not have my camera, and honestly, unless it drops down on me, I'm not going to pull it out again - if I am bending the clips then eventually metal fatigue will just break them clean off. Luckily, LEDs last for something like a billion years.

If they'd just put the screws securing the lens assembly behind those side vents, this would have been totally a moot point... With the lens off, I can reach all the bulbs with my fingers for easy replacement... they could have also put anchoring screws back in there as well, totally negating the need for a confusing, easily-damaged clip assembly (grumble)...

 

Do we know what the little venty things are for anyway? Does some "option" go there that I'm unaware of?

 

OK... it was worth the effort after all...











This is a prototype 5-LED blue lamp similar to Autolumination's that someone I know is developing - should have almost exactly the output of their lights but (hopefully) will be less pricey. Thanks a zillion Puppetmaster and everyone over on the cabrio forum that helped me out.

 

Niiiiiiice -- I dig it.

Did you get rid of the cathode tubes & go w/ the "transformer-less" LED strips? Do they have other colors besides blue? (like orange) And did you do the entry lights as well?

With the bright blue - it really accents the interior - even the ghetto "floor mat mod" that you mentioned earlier! (JK)

 

(sigh)... I really DO need to just suck it up and buy real ^%$#@! floor mats, especuially now that people are actually wanting to look inside.

I haven't tried the LED strips yet - everything in there except the dome lamp is cathode right now. Once Oznium actually creates their customized strips, I'll see if I can finagle a test pair to evaluate them. I have a pair of blue-glass 194 haolgens on order and hopefully they'll be here soon for the entry lights...

As for colors, bop over to Oznium.com and see - they have all kinds of colors. Be warned, though, that if you were thinking of going cathode that people have reported that
the "orange creme" cathodes are more white than orange, and that the LED bulbs that I've seen are more "dingy yellow" (like tiny sodium vapor lamps) than true orange IMHO. For some reason, the cool colors (blues and greens) seem more intense in the LED colors to me, but I see why you'd ask...

 

Hi all ... some GREAT lighting here...

I am after a LED to replace the fedtoon bulb in the dome light (not the map lights) what is my best bet for RED LED

Thanks

 

I finally noticed this thread. A lot of good information here.

People on the LED Forum at HIDPlanet.com frequently report short life for plug-and-play LED retrofit bulbs. LEDs are capable of very long life but only if they are set up correctly. Two main factors that can shorten an LED's life are heat and over-voltage. In particular, when the engine is running, the alternator may drive the voltage up to 16V. Very few of the direct replacement LED bulbs have any built-in voltage regulation. In a constant-on application such as license bulb, the LED would be particularly vulnerable to damage. I don't have an explanation for the dome and boot lights failing though.


I installed an equivalent version from superbrightleds in my rear fog mega mod. It is bright and going strong after a year. However as a brake light I want it to be even brighter and I am looking at some possibilities.

 

Just ordered the 36 feston style

 

All I have to say is thanks to you ImagoX I am spending too much money at Oznium.com

Thanks

looks good by the way!

chris

 

Hehehe... don't mention it.

Actually, DO mention it to Oznium... I HAVE been sending them quite a lot of business lately, actually. Hmmmmm....

Be sure to take pics for us! We love pics...

 

Hi folks, thought I would chime in and relay some of my experience with changing out interior bulbs. The 5 LED Matrix bulbs from Autoillumination may work well in a reflectorized enclosure, but in the footwell lamps, not so good. Problem is, the LEDs face in 5 different directions, so the most output you are going to get in the footwells is 1, maybe 2 LEDs. The rest of the light goes off to some black hole somewhere. I am getting about the same light output from these as from a colored glass incandescent bulb.
Just so you know.
I will probably move these to the side repeaters and install Matt's Oznium Flex strips in the footwells.

Here's an idea for some enterprising NAMmer: maybe someone who has done the boot light install with the quick-disconnect could put a package together with all of the parts pre-assembled for those of us who are "electrically challenged"? Might sell a few.
Just a thought.

 

I just posted the following information in the Boot LED thread, and I think it is also worth mentioning here. I discovered these high power 194's, available in white, red, blue, amber and green. The LEDs are mounted at a right angle which give them the correct orientation for the footwell and puddle lights. I have some other 194 LEDs that use this type of emitter and they are very bright. The vendor v-leds also has very good prices -- these are $9.99 a pair. Here is the listing in their eBay store (it hasn't been added to their main website yet): http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/V-LED...3270QQtcZphoto. The only issue is whether the +/- polarity is exactly the correct orientation in the MINI's bulb holders. However I checked and the connectors to the bulb holders have pins that can be removed and swapped position if necessary.

 

great find....if those are anything like the "hight intesity" 194s (in normal orientation) that i have seen on some other boards...they are SUPER bright. Sounds like they could be very promising for some of our fitments

The liscense plates bulbs aren't 194's right? Those would have been perfect

 

The license plates use two 36mm festoon bulbs. This vendor has them in that type of LED: http://cgi.ebay.com/1pc-Festoon-Dome...QQcmdZViewItem. It would be crazy bright with two of them!

 

yah for the liscense i was looking at these:

 

Do cabrios use the same festoons, does anyone know? The "pure white" look in the back IS very nice, I agree...

 

do you mean in the back as in liscense plate? I actually dont know the answer to that . I would definitely assume that its the same because i dont see why it wouldnt be. Your safest bet is to go out and check...they pop out pretty easily with a small flat head

I will post pics of how to do it in the other thread about those lights if you need it:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=88693

this is interesting too. Its specifically meant for the area in the dome light on the MINI

 

Yes, in the lcense plate area... I ask because lots of the cabrio is diffferent than the tin top... And since the cabrio has a totally different trunk, I assmue NOTHING is the same as the hard top. I'll go look duruing lunch if I can.

 

Rallymini

Who has those MINI specific dome lights ???

 

I cant find any vendors in the US unfortunately...i'm still looking But it atleast gives an idea if anyone moves to making custom LED boards which is a common car mod

I found those at www.racers.jp

 

I want that DOME light! Someone on my local board posted that but unfortunately they wont sell to US vendors. Theres got to be a way to get it!