I am installing my driving lights this weekend, and have decided to use a wireless remote control sysytem with a keychain fob rather than a wired switch. I put some Hella 4000's on my Land Rover this way and the install was easy and involved no drilling or penetrating the firewall. Basically the lights are controlled from up to 200 feet away by a wireless remote switch. Has anyone installed such a system? Any caviats? I have some WIPAC lamps manufactured for the classic Mini, and fabricated some billet aluminum mounts to fit the Mini Mania brackets, and fitted some Hella high-intensity yellow bulbs that are still rated at 55 watts. Purple Haze and yellow - my favorite combo!

 

I installed the lights today. Look pretty good. The remote is supposed to work from 200 feet away, but I will wait until dark to test this out. Not too thrilled with the aftermarket brackets, though - locating the holes was a horror story. They need to include a little self-adhesive template. Otherwise, stick with the stock ones. I'll take a few pics to show my custom brackets for the Wipacs.

 

Here are the Wipacs in all their glory!

 

Looks great! Sorry I can't help with the remote control lights. I know Hella offers a similar control system for Golfs and Jettas, but I've never used it.

Talk to me about the yellow bulbs. I have PIAA driving lights with the Xtreme white bulbs, but I have a pair of Osram All Season bulbs (55w, H3) from my previous car just sitting on a shelf. I used them in fog lights on my last car. What is the benefit of yellow bulbs in driving lights?

 

Well they look like the gt car lights in the Le Mans series . Seriously, yellow lights are mostly used for foglights because they perform better in low visibility conditions. The white Xenons would just light up the fog while yellow light with a lower white point will let you see through it. Other than that, it's personal preference.

 

Actually I purchased a bunch of bulbs online. The ultra high intensity yellow bulbs were a bargain close-out, but I liked the idea of something different. I'm still looking for a pair of yelow-lens Wipac fog lights, or at least yellow lenses I can put in these lamps. But as driving lamps they are pretty good. Considering I paid $75 for the brackets, $66 for the lamps, and $20 for the wiring harness, its a good-looking cheap alternative to the factory lamps.

 

QUOTE]JoeDentist:I am installing my driving lights this weekend, and have decided to use a wireless remote control sysytem with a keychain fob rather than a wired switch[/QUOTE]
Where did you connect the harness to for electric? Through firewall?



That great price. What type of lamps and where did you purchase the harness and lamps?

 

quick question about the wireless remote aspect: why? and what situations would the wirelessness be used?

 

I chose the wireless harness because it can be installed with absolutely no connection to the cars electrical system other than the wire to the positive battery terminal. No snaking of wires through the firewall. Plus, I can flash the lights from up to 200 feet away.


I am also making a roof-mounted light bar, and wanted to get the methodology of wireless activation down because I will use that method for the roof-mounted bar. I want to have to run just one pair of wires to it for power.

I bought the brackets from Mini Madness or Mini Mania - forget which, but like I said - the placement of the holes you have to drill is a nightmare with these style brackets. Plus, with a single bend bracket, rivetted from below, the ugly pop-rivet end is on top where it shows. This is an unacceptable design. I used 8/32 stainless steel allen-head button type machine screws from the top of the bracket down, with stainless locking nuts below. Much cleaner and corrosion resistant. Only a few bucks for the hardware.
The lights are available on EBAY all the time. Seems England is flooded with them. I have bought a few sets, and you should be able to get a winning bid with between 30 and 32 GBP. With Royal Mail Air postage, the total is about $66 USD. They ship fast, and come with white plastic WIPAC covers not shown. I made some billet aluminum attachment mounts from some scrap metal, but the standard attachments will work fine. These lights use 55 watt H3 bulbs and have a proven corrosion resistance record.

I have bought 3 different wireless harnesses on EBAY, paying from $15 to $30 plus postage. I have hooked them all up and they all work well. Only difference I can see is the style of the remote. All seemed to be high quality. They all come with fused circuits with 30 amp automotive fuses and relays that look susbstantial.

I figure that even if you have to buy some wire and electrical connectors, SS screws and extra cable ties, the whole thing should not cost more than $175 in parts. If, like me, you have stuff laying around the garage from years of tinkering, less. Also, I think you can find the easier to mount stock light brackets for less than $75. The WIPACs weigh about the same as the stock Mini lights, so they should be sufficient. Check with Classic Mini.

 

Thaks Joe your help is well appreciated. Answer a number a nagging problems that kept me away from installing fog lamps. This will make install less problematic and no programing:smile: Do you have a favorite remote harness?

 

Like I said, there does not seem to be much difference between the harnesses. Look for a bargain if you wish, or you can buy one from Hella if you are leery. I think they make a more expensive Hella one, and a less expensive Optilux model. They are not all that expensive. The most expensive part of the installation was the brackets.

 

Just curious, what is the purpose and possible advantages of remote controlled driving lamps?

I can't think of how one would use them.

Thanks in advance for the replies!

 

The fact that they are remote controlled really has nothing to do with how they are used. It just means that the switch to turn them on can be anywhere at any time, including outside the car. It is supposed to be good for finding the little car at night in big parking lots. Just flash the lights. Also, if you live and park in a dark area, they can be "follow me home lights" if you park facing your door. No real need for this feature - I just like the idea of not drilling holes in the car to do the wiring.

 

I've been eyeing the Wipacs for a long time:

1. Right size
2. cheap
3. made in UK

However I was hesitant to buy not knowing their quality... They look good!! Do they seem like they are well-built? Plus did you find a source for them in the USA? Most of places I found were in the UK.

 

Every U.S. source wants like $99 for a set, and you can get them on EBAY any day from the UK for less than $70 NOS delivered. I've bought two sets with no problems. They are well made, and if there were a corrosion problem, every old Mini in England would have a rusty front, since they all seem to have at least two of them attached. They take H3 bulbs which are cheap and available in lots of styles, from super high intensity white to blue or yellow. They come with white plastic covers of high quality, too. All thats missing is a stainless steel metal wire stone guard that looks good, and I keep searching for that. Also, why doesn't someone make a badge bar that is a rod of polished aluminum or chromed steel that connects between the two light brackets piggy-backed under the lights? Seems like an easy thing to make, and it would allow badges and accessories to be mounted easily.

 

Joe,

How's that light bar coming along? Eagerly awaiting some pics.

 

At this point I have the two Yakima Q-towers, with #78 clips, all painted white, and a polished aluminum crossbar. I have two Wipac Driving Lamps and two PIAA 520 Chrome fogs. I also have two remote control wiring harnesses so they can be controlled separately. Also, I have a Yakma fairing to help with aerodynamics, which will also be painted white. I plan to put the electronics on the back side of the fairing in a waterproof box. All I have to do is decide how to mount the lamps to the bar. I have some alumiweld and some tabs, which I may use, or some other method. Theoretically, the entire unit should be removeable, with only on wire set for power, which I will snake througn the sunroof and plug it in the lighter socket at first until I can arrange permanent wiring that will not show.You know how it is with prototypes - everytime you get ready to do something you figure out a more elegant or smart way to do something, so you take one step back. Slowly, but surely.

 

Won't drawing that much juice through the lighter be an issue? I like your idea a lot...but I'm still curious about getting power up there on the roof.

 

Remember that the lighter socket runs a lighter that is pure resistance - so much resistance that it glows red hot - thats a lot of current. Note that the bar has two driving and two fog lamps - these are not meant to be used at the same time. A fused 30 amp circuit will easily handle two 55 watt H3 bulbs.

 

You're right...I guess if you can jump start your car through the lighter, a couple of lights is no big deal...hot wiring lights make me nervous...I got burned by it once...literally...

Back in my not so careful youth I put fogs on my volvo p1800 and wired them right to a radio-shack special switch (relay, what relay??). Well, I had them on..in the fog on night.....turned on some other stuff (the whole car only had 3 fuses remember!!) WHAM! no power and a loud pop. Suddenly my leg is burning!!

...Well, my hack-job special had some how drawn enough current to melt the wires into molten metal and deposit them on my leg... That was fun.

We want pix...I think its going to look really cool. There's a part of me that wants to put a rack on the roof with the spare tire too, and a bunch on lights....rally demon look. I'm really interesed to see your set up.

 

Just a thought. With the new installation of the fog light kit. There will be that extra toggle.
Could we splice into that fog wire so that this toggle would be used to turn on the driving lamps.
Maybe not fused well enough to handle load

 

I understand that the "toggle" switches on the Mini are not really toggle switches at all, merely mock-ups that engage hall-effect switches on a circuit board mounted behind the bat handles. A "real" toggle switch has a little box-like affair with spade lugs to attach wires. You won't find that behind the Mini switches.There is no "fog wire" to splice into - it will be a trace on a circuit board that sends info to the computer to turn on the relay to the fog light - this is why you need to reprogram the computer to recognize that a foglight is attached to the car. It is sometimes easy to think of the wiring in the Mini like it is a '65 Volkswagen, but unfortunately, its not that easy. Think of it more like the wiring in a Commodore 64.