I am interested in changing out the bulbs or covers for the interior lights. I want to add a bit of flash with colored bulbs/lenses. Has anyone tried this?

 

I haven't. I tried looking for replacement bulbs for the
tailight assemblies and couldn't find any outside dealer lights.
I imagine they have some strange interior bulbs as well.
Welcome to MCOL BTW.

 

I have all red in my mini. It's nice since it doesn't effect your night vision. They offer colored bulbs at Checkers. I believe the bulb sizes are:

footwell: #194's (12V 5W)
dome light: 10mm X 36mm #6461

If you can't find what you want, you can mask off the connections of the bulbs and spray them with translucent testors paints from a hobby store. Since the bulbs are only 5-10 watts there is no effect on the paint. I've used three coats of candy apple red in the past with no problems.

 

I just read an article in custom truck magazine about a really cool add on for lighting. I cant remember the name, but a company is now making LED lighting strips (they suck up very little power) that are bendable and canbe applied just about anywhere. You can get them in like 6 or 8 different colors. The adhesive on the back is industrial grade and will even stick to carpet, so be carefull. I think I'm going to be doing a strip under all my seats facing forward. It'll just give a blue glow to all my floor boards. I saw a pic of it in the mag and it really looks good. I thought it would look cheap, but, in fact, it looks pretty good. Im going to wire them up to the door switch and a separate switch for manual power. This may be what your looking for.


Frank

 

I also want to change some of the lighting in my car. Does anyone know how to take the lenses off?

 

You need to pry the clear plastic cover off

then undo the two screws

then you can get access to the bulb holders through the back by twisting them out.

 

>>I also want to change some of the lighting in my car. Does anyone know how to take the lenses off?

The domelight lense is just snapped in. Just stick a screwdriver in the rear edge and pop out. The foot well lights are also snapped in. There is a small recess in the short edge of the lense you can get a screw driver under.

 

Found this pic that might interest someone.

 

Hey thanks everyone! I am so excited to start planning the lighting for mine! I didn't think it was going to be possible with the way BMW uses funky parts Anyone with pics of their lighting mods would be greatly appreciated!

 

Crutchfield has those Hott Wirez that are the small rope lights. A pic and a link. Neon Blue.

 

I love the rope lights, but how do they work and how much labor is involved?

 

Look under "PC Mods" in google. There are a million twelve volt lighting options for computer modifications. Super super bright LED's or light strips or cold cathodes and more. One of the best companies is http://www.glowire.com.

 

After checking out that site I have more questions... what is the best way to attach the glowire to the Mini? I don't know that I want anything permanent for future resale purposes so I think superglue is out. And what duty weight do you recommend? The pic posted shows a nice layout for the wire, but how did they do that if it comes in 5' pieces? Also, is it okay to trim the end of the wire or will that break the circuit?

Thanks for your help!

 

why not just go the whole 9 yards and get the neon lights for the interior!
hahhahahahhaa
too ricer for my taste!

 

See that's the point... I don't want to rice it out. I just want some nice accents. I don't know if the glowire is going to happen, but I think it looks classy enough in the photo above. I'll probably just have to try it on for size and see how I feel.

 

>>See that's the point... I don't want to rice it out. I just want some nice accents. I don't know if the glowire is going to happen, but I think it looks classy enough in the photo above. I'll probably just have to try it on for size and see how I feel.

I had the same concern when I just swapped in the red bulbs in the dome and footwell. Yes, it's a little cheesy--but what the h*ll--it makes me smile as I remember the cockpit glow of AIRWOLF.

The MINI is all about that dumb grin it leaves on our faces anyways.

 

Exactly!!!

Has anyone seen the LED setup similar to Knight Rider anywhere... That would be a fun addition! I saw it on a billboard in Miami on I-95 I think. They put it on the Cooper S though.

 

I changed out all the interior lights to blue amd also changed the side marker lights to blue. Added a removable neon blue light to the interior boot cover. And put in diamond plated floor mats. At night the blue lights up the interior and looks IMHO very nice. And yes I have an Electric Blue/Black/Lapis Interior MINI"S"

 

I beg to differ. A Cooper is a Cooper no matter what color it is. Remember the dumb grin ?? Thats what its about.

 

http://www.varad.com has this option. The interior is that of a TT. I think it would look nice in a Cooper if used right.

 

What's the deal with the stock dome light - isn't it supposed to be xenon? That's what the manual and the window sticker say. So why does it look just like any other light? I'm interested in switching it out as well.

All that other stuff, rope lights and interior LEDS, is kind of scary. Where do you draw the line, or do you just go right ahead and get the license plate frame and the window washer jets?

 

The interior lights are Xenon gas incandescent bulbs. The headlights are Xenon gas High Intensity Electrical Arc Discharge lamps. The bulbs inside the car would be 1. huge, 2. Way too bright, 3. dangerous as hell if they were the same as the headlights. The filament bulb will always have that "yellow glow". Any arc lamp xenon, halogen, or otherwise will have a "pure white" or "blueish" look. They really aren't blue but when all the yellow lights are perceived white the true white seems to be blue. The bulbs sold in stores for $20 or so are a blue tinted yellow bulb. You are paying $15 extra for a blue tint.