I've ordered these LEDs for my footwell and puddle lights, and will report the results. The footwell and puddle light housings do not have reflectors and the stock bulb loses a lot of light into the back empty void. These LEDs will be shining straight downward and be much brighter (as well as eliminating the yellowish light). The only possible issue might be that the MINI wiring might have the polarity reversed for these LEDs to face down. However, it looks like the connector can be disassembled and the pin connectors reversed if necessary.

 

I also ordered some about a week ago so they should be here about the same time yours come in rkw i got the white right angle LEDs

 

If your talking about my LED taillight idea, i am aware of the lack of brightness with the kinda blubs you get at local auto stores i have already tried that and found it to be insufficent, the blubs from Autolumination would be much better but when i mentioned LED tailights i didnt mean just putting a LED bulb in the stock housing, i meant that im working on creating ACTUAL LED taillights like many car manufacturers have started doing lately.

 

YD - that turned out fantastic... Nice work!

 

I was worried about that polarity issue as well. Be sure to report back after you install your lights - my ordering them depends on your success!

 

Much to my surprise, the LEDs arrived today in mail. More about that later.

I'm happy to report that these LEDs are non-polarized and it doesn't matter which way you plug them in. It was a smart design decision by the vendor to make them non-polarized. Just pull out the old bulb and plug in the LED and you're done. This was practically the easiest mod I've done (maybe only the Whalen **** was easier). It took only a couple of minutes to swap each bulb and required no tools! If I stick my finger nails under one end of the lens (either footwell or puddle light) and pull gently, the lens/bulb holder comes out far enough to grab and pull out with fingers (trial and error to find out which end works better).

I got the LEDs in white (also available in red, green, blue, and amber). They throw a wide light that is brighter than stock. However because of the slightly bluish light (typical of white LEDs), the perceived brightness is only slightly more than stock.

I received them from v-leds in amazingly quick time. I placed my order Saturday morning. They must have been shipped by first class mail the same day and they arrived today (Monday). Final cost for 4 LEDs was $24.77 shipped. IrishCooper, I hope yours hasn't been mishandled in the mail.

Pictures to follow.

 

Here's the best I could manage so far. The images captured by the camera looked rather different from real life and I tried to adjust them closer to what I saw. Note that in these pictures I had covered the dome light to better show the difference of the bulbs.

Here are the footwell and puddle lights with stock 194 bulbs. Over on the drivers side footwell the white LED was already installed and you can see its bluish glow.


Here the footwell and puddle 194 bulbs were replaced with white 194 LEDs from v-leds. You can see in the puddle light how this LED throws a brighter and wider light. Pretty significant difference from just changing a single 194 bulb.

 

I've been watching this thread for a while and this latest variation has got my attention. Really great work and ideas here by all! Kudos ImagoX or is that Dr. LED?

rkw - Thanks for the education on these bulbs. Question: Are the ones you used called the FLANK version of the 194s? Also, does 194 refer to the replacement socket size or ???

Would one of these work for the dome light?

Thanks

 

194 is the bulb type, that uses a particular socket and has a certain size. They are also called W5W, T10, 501, mini wedge and other designations but 194 seems to be the most common name in the US. This is what a standard incandescent one looks like:


An LED version of a 194 usually has the LED mounted on the end like these:


However the socket is sideways in the footwell and puddle lights so they would shine light in the wrong direction. The one I used from v-leds was their "flank" version (a curious name they chose), which has an LED element pointing to the side and makes it perfect for the footwell and puddle lights. The flank version would also work well in the cabrio boot light fixture (but the hardtop boot uses a different bulb).

The dome light in a hardtop uses a festoon type bulb instead of 194. The cabrio does use a 194 in the dome light but the socket is vertical so you would use the regular style LED bulb instead of the flank version.

 

NOTE TO CABRIO DRIVERS: To clarify the above: the dome light in the cabrio does NOT use the "festoon" bulb like the hard top - it uses a 194 bulb. Since the light has a silvered reflector (unlike all of the other 194 lighting bases in the car) you should use the 5-LED 194 "matrix" type bulbs in that application:



I have installed these in my cabrio and can verify that they do fit in the housing (they're a bit tight and have to be eased through the mounting hole in the reflector but they DO work), and as you can see, they give more than adequate illumination, even when a colored LED array is used - I cannot verify that any other type of LED bulb will fit through the hole in the OEM reflector:

 

Wow. Thanks for the education rkw and ImagoX! I have learned so much from great NAM members like you!

 

Awesome, glad to hear there's no polarity problem. I'll be ordering a couple blue ones for my puddle lights.

 

When changing bulbs/working with LED strips, etc. should you remove the fuse or ???

I was futzing around with the foot well lights and blew the fuse. Whoops!

I bought some cheapo red 194s to see if I like the effect. So, if I buy a Festoon for the dome light or try the cheapos in the puddle lights, what do I do to avoid fuse blowage?

Btw, I used a small screw driver to pop out the clear 194. Bad?

 

Was the bulb lit while you were working on it? If so, almost certainly you shorted the contacts with the screwdriver. I've always been able to pull out the bulb with my fingers, but that may be difficult if the bulb is stuck tight or if you have large fingers. Any of the following should work to prevent a short:

• Use a non-conductive tool to pop the bulb out
• Switch off the dome light, which also cuts the power to the footwells and puddles (the bulb should become unlit)
• Unplug the connector to the bulb holder

 

Yep. It was lit. Thanks for the tips rkw.

 

rkw, I just ordered my blue LED flank lights from V-LED. I'll post pics once I pop 'em in.

Does anyone know other locations in the MINI for the 194 bulbs besides the footwells, puddle lights, and boot? I'll have two extra blue LED 194 bulbs that I won't know what to do with...

 

Some other 194 locations:

• front parking lights
• map/reading lights

For the cabrio only (hardtop uses festoons at these locations):

• dome/overhead
• boot

 

Putting two of your posts together here...

I have replaced most or all of my interior bulbs once already, but all I really got for my trouble was a much whiter light. None of the replacement bulbs are bright enough for me.

I have an 04 hardtop, and would particularly like more illumination from my dome, map and boot lights. I take it I want the 194 for the map lights, but can you link me to the right v-led bulbs for the boot and dome? Festoon, yes, but which one?

 

whovous, the following would be my LED choices for maximum brightness.

For festoons (dome and boot in a hardtop), I haven't used these bulbs personally but in terms of technology and specs this type should be the brightest: http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=167 . The problem is that they are 42mm length and the festoon bulbs on MINI are 36-39mm. However, bulb holders for festoons are primitive spring metal clips and you should be able to bend the contacts a few millimeters at both ends to fit the longer bulb.

For the map lights, BlimeyCabrio reported that the 194 SMT Tower from this page: http://superlumination.com/194.htm are extremely bright in the cabrio dome light. I have them on order and will try them also in the map lights, which I'll report on. Apparently they are too wide to fit through the hole in the bulb holder but the hole is easily enlarged.

For the footwell and puddle lights, use the flank 194 bulbs from VLEDS: http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=249

That's as far as direct replacement LED bulbs. If they don't yield the desired brightness, you'd really have to install supplemental lights, for example LED strips in the boot.

 

At the moment I am down on the strip light idea. It looks great, but I am doing too many other things right now, and its not a project I want to approach in a half-ast way.

Do you know if your suggestions for the dome and map lights have actually been tried in a hardtop MINI? The festoons sound like they might be doable with a simple stretch of the contacts, but drilling for the SMT tower makes me nervous. Are there any direct plug-ins available?

I appreciate you taking the time to answer this.

 

whovous, I came across this post which has photos of a hardtop dome light. If yours is the same, I have to revise my earlier comments. First of all, you should be able to use any 194 bulb for the map lights without having to enlarge the hole. The trick is that if it doesn't fit through the hole, you can insert the bulb from the bottom into the bulb holder (I've used this technique on my cabrio). The map light doesn't have a reflector and I'm not so sure that the 194 SMT tower would be the brightest in this case. I would start with a high power straight-ahead 194 bulb like this: http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=141 . Frankly it may be a process of trial and error of different bulbs to find the brightest, and you may not necessary find one brighter than the stock incandescent bulb.

 

I'm actually running these as maplights with good results. Nice and bright and seem to have the right pattern... and right, no drilling should be necessary for these...

 

I'm a bit confused. Help please? I want a festoon for my hard top and am not clear whether it should be a 38mm or 42mm. According to the Sylvania online guide, the replacement bulb is 6418 which, I believe is 38mm, yes?

Thanks!

 

I'm going to have 4 of these in BLUE available soon. I just ordered 4 of the FrickinBrite 90 degree Vleds last night. I'll put them up in the MarketPlace as soon as the new LEDS are swapped.

 

38mm should fit perfectly. The bulb holders will accomodate 42mm bulbs (some bending of the spring metal clips may be necessary). Some of the 42mm bulbs have a larger number of LED elements (brighter), and if brightness is a goal then it is an option to consider.