On my cooper (03) I have 3 bulbs in the tail lights.. The bottom is the running and break light.. The middle is the turn lights but I cannot figure what the top bulb does. It never seems to light up. I replaced them thinking they were bad and still nothing. Tried it in reverse also and they didn't look like they were lighting up.. What does the top bulb do??

 

i have seen them running as rear fog lights when the center fog light is equipped/optioned

 

YEP

the tops are a fog light bulb ..

Really easy to bridge the 2 and then have a light show when you brake

Sure you can find info in "electrical" or I'll try to dig up a how to that Ihave

 

Ok..I get it.. Someone E mailed me with the mod to have them light up. Dont know if I even care then.. Just thought it was strange to have bulbs that didn't do anything.

 

top bulb is for the rear fog lights, for folks without rear fogs that jump the wire to double as the brake light. Search for this mod, it's been discusses in the past.

update: I guess I got beaten to the reply...

 

Thanks for the reply!

I am asking because this is the deal...

I got hooked up on some Mini brans clear tail lights. I either thought the tail light itself had some color changing plastic that made up the color or I thought I would just be able to go to Mini and get the bulbs.. So I swap my stock lights for a set of clears.. Stoked.. Then I get home and realize I cant use my clear bulbs with the tail lights.. So I drive to Mini and after 20 minutes of searching I find out that they do not sell the special colored bulbs.. You HAVE to get the entire board with the lights and they are a special order.. So I ask how much.. 80 bucks each! So I went from getting a killer deal on the tail lights to now having to spend 160 to make my car legal.. Damm.. So if you have factory clears and your break light burns out it will cost you 80 bucks to fix it. I just went and swaped out my board with the ones from the other mini and in the process I broke the turn bulb..
I figure that I will just replace that bulb with the unused red one or put clears in it. If I had to pick between a red turn signal or a clear one what would be the best? I am not going to spend 80 bucks for a damm light bulb.

Is there a place on the new that I can get the special bulbs??

 

Legaly
the brake must be red
the turn red or orange
the ONLY white light on the rear is the reverse.

Every auto parts store in my area has red bulbs in stock for less than 5 bucks.
even cool LED bulbs

you dont have to go to MINI

 

Sylvania 1156A will get you amber turn signal bulbs. I went to two pepboys to find them, first store lacked any inventory on any bulbs. can't help with red bulbs.

 

Yup I had auto zone led's for my clears

 

I've heard that the board MINI provides for their clear tails actually has bulbs that are soldered in and not replaceable. I think it was a European legal requirement to ensure that correct bulbs are used.

Using your old board, you'll probably want silvered bulbs that won't be visible through the lens when unlit, but light up the correct color. You can also use LEDs but verify after installing that they are bright enough to be seen during the day (many are too dim). I would look at LED specialty vendors such as v-leds or superlumination rather than an auto supply store. Also if you use LED for the turn signals, you will need to add load resistors to simulate a regular bulb; otherwise it will flash fast because the computer thinks the bulb is burned out.

 

Thats correct.. The ones hat came from the factory had the bulbs soldered to the board.. I didn't look at the LED's because I heard they aren't very bright. Right now I have the lights working. The bottom lights shine red with the running lights and break lights.. The middle (turn) is totally clear for now. I will probably look for a yellow bulb or LED soon but for now it will have to be ok clear. And I did a mod today to use the 3rd lights that are on the board. They are for cars with the fog light option. They aren't used on mine because I dont have fogs. So I had a guide sent to me on how to make that 3rd bulb light up with the break lights. So I have nice bright lights.

 

Where can I get the silvered bulbs?

 

I've seen them in auto parts stores. Regular incandescent bulbs should be mostly okay from any source. It's LEDs where you should be choosy. The bulbs go by various descriptions: silver, chrome, mirror, or stealth. Some people just take regular colored bulbs and lightly spray paint them silver. Also search on motors.ebay.com for "silver bulb".