Fabricated some brackets from Simpson Strong Tie angle brackets and bolted them directly to the frame of the MINI where the radiator is bolted. This way I did not have to drill any holes in the bumper or bonnet.

I have not yet wired the lights up, that I'll save for another day. I'm going to Irvine MINI and pick up a center console switch, one that will match all the others.

Here's a few pics of the install...

 

Very nice! BTW, you don't have to drill any holes in the bumper, they are already there. That is how the outmotoring brackets work.

 

Where are those located?

 

The holes? In the metal bumper. They are predrilled a whole bunch of them across the bumper.

outmotoring is outmotoring.com, one of the vendors.

 

The brackets I saw on their website are about $150/pair, quite expensive. I pulled mine from the tool shed.

Thanks chows4us.

 

They look great! I made brackets myself also, but I like the look of yours better. My lights are on the grill, but I like that you can open your bonnet and the lights stay on the bumper. Do you have a part number for the brackets? How much modding did they require to fit?

Ken

 

Thanks Ken.

I bought the brackets at Home Depot (sorry I don't have a part #), there off the shelf Simpon Stong Tie angle brackets (5"x5"). I cut one end short and left the other at its original length then drilled the matching holes to fit the 500s and radiator bolt. Very simple and easy, and the bonnet clears the lights by about 1/4" of an inch when opening and closing.

 

the car looks much wider now, unless it's the camera angle. do the lights interfere with the head lamps?

 

How much did your setup cost?

Also, I was looking @ outmotirng. I was looking @ the PIAA. Are those as good as t he MINI units @ $270 or spend the extra 100 and get the official MINI ones for $380?

 

I do not notice any interference with the headlights. I just drove tonight and everything looked the same.


The cost, I bought the lights at Walmart for $62.88 and the brackets I had in the tool shed, but they can be had at Home Depot for a couple of bucks, that's it. I want to buy a matching center console switch from the dealer for the lights, not sure how much that will cost though. I don't like the big round switch the lights came with plus I have one empty spot on the center console for a switch.

 

Can you take some more pictures of the lights installed from the front.. I like the idea !

 

Sure, I'll do it shortly. I was just about to step outside and start running the electrical for them.

 

Cool, is there plenty of clearance between the bonnet and the bumper for the brackets? Nothing touches each other does it?

 

Hi RonP,

Nice job!! Look very cool!!
Is it possible to move the driving lights closer to each other?
If you move just under the bonnet stripes, will there be any problem?

 

Here's some more pics. The bonnet does just barely touch, actually holds the brackets very solid in place. It touches the under side of the plastic chrome grill and then the little 1/4" curved up part of the back side of the bumber, it does not touch the top part of the bumper directly. I put down a sticky piece of fuzzy velcro on the upper side bracket where the bonnet does touch. I may try to alter the bracket a bit so it does not touch but so far it's not causing any problems. Moving them closer would result in longer brackets which might cause vibration in the brackets thus causing the lights to vibrate.

 

Ok, here's a couple (not so good) pics of where the bracket comes in contact with the curved up part of the bumper and how it looks with the bonnet closed.







As for having the lights farther apart, I prefer this as it does not block air flow to the radiator. I also do not care for the look of having them close together, I like the look of having them spaced farther apart.