Hi All,

After 3 wonderful years with my 2006 MCS, I just put down a deposit on my new 2009 MCS! Delivery is mid-November and I can't wait but at least I have my '06 MCS to drive around until then.

One question that I couldn't seem to find elsewhere and my motoring advisor wasn't sure of - does the 2009 MCS have LED tail lamps?

BTW, I'm in "screen" 10 of 51 of the "Things you didn't know about your R56 MINI" thread and haven't seen this one talked about yet.

Thanks!

-Scott
aka gadgeTT

 

I remember the 09 cooper's tail light is inside the rear window. it sometimes difficult to see if the tail light is off.

 

They aren't on my 07 MCS. The third brake light is, though.

Don't forget to look at the Pulser unit for that one. Great tool for tail gaters.

 

Oh yeah the pulser, that erratic blinking light thing that hypnotizes the drivers behind you causing them to get distracted and...... Nice little dangerous gimmick there. IMO

 

You may be right about that Minimalistic.
The cops must know it, too. They just turn on them overheads and everybody goes into a dream state.

I have never seen the hypnosis effect you speculate about. I know I have seen tailgaters back off with just a tap on the brake.
Money well spent.

 

Someone flashed their brights at me once, causing me to fall asleep thus causing me to fly off a bridge, killing myself and all occupants in the vehicle.

When I see those flashers on other cars, they don't put me in a state of hypnosis, that's for sure. We got them on some of the newer patrol vehicles at our work. It helps, statistically at least.

 

Ok - so it appears that MINI has not yet gone LED on the brake lights. Has anyone here swapped out their standard incandescent bulbs/assy's for LED in the R56's yet? If so, direct links or help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

I haven't seen any complete housings yet for the R56. I would recommend never putting in LED bulbs in the original housings as the cars are not designed for them and you have to put in resistors to get them to work. Plus they look like crap when they light up since the reflectors aren't designed for them either and the lighting effect looks like crap.

Oh ya I agree I can't stand the flashing 3rd brake lights either it makes me just want to slam into the rear of them because it is so annoying when in stop and go traffic.

 

Go with the halogen bulbs.
There are 4 taillights if you didnt know.
I use ultra white up top, red below.
It gives the effect of an orange red up top and
a deep red below. Both are brighter than
regular incandesant.

They make a different modulator - it blinks
a different number of times based on the time
interval between stops. I have it on my wife's
car an my honda. It works for regular bulbs
and LEDs, not just LEDs like the gominigo one.
But it is pretty large, about the size of a turn signal
flasher.

I will take my chance of hypnotizing people

 

I just don't get the point of the flashing rear lights. Does it make you think your not going to get rear ended when you are mesmerizing and annoying drivers?

 

I got rear ended and then I got the pulser unit.

And this mesmerize/hypnotize argument? Not a well thought out stance. Let's see....cops, ambulances, fire trucks, your own hazard lights, and just about everything on the Vegas strip.... heck, they all flash. When they want to get your attention, they make the lights blink.

Maybe it is because they work.

 

this man speaks with truth. besides, its waaaaay better and more understandable than some other cars like the astra,which only lights another bulb so you have a larger brake light when braking hard. i´ve seen those blinking leds it in action .i was about half a mile behind and just knew that guy braked hard.

 

I can't stand pulsing brake lights precisely because they get my attention! They are abnormal, frantic, and hyperactive; my initial reaction is an annoyed "what the hell is wrong with that guy's car?!"

I am something of a "zen" driver with a fairly good feel of the flow of traffic around me - I can generally tell when people are going to change lanes, turn, brake, cut someone off, etc. well before they actually do it. I feel pulsing brake lights destroy this general and evenly-spread awareness by needlessly demanding my attention, ripping it away from the other (potentially more hazardous) drivers around me, often for something so benign as slowing to pull into a gas station. Emergency vehicles may warrant "HEY!!! LOOK AT ME AND MY BLINKY LIGHTS!!!!", but grandma turning into a parking lot because she needs to have a piddle does not.

It's my opinion that pulsing brake lights also promote over-reaction from other drivers (slamming on their brakes, for example) due to the frantic and immediate nature of bright lights all of a sudden flashing in your face.

I equate people who buy pulsing brake lights for safety reasons to those who buy SUVs (with their increased mass and higher bumpers relative to passenger cars) for safety reasons. Both parties being blissfully ignorant of the decrease in safety (in this case due to distraction) to those around them.

 

It's great that The Force is with you

I was rear ended twice in a year, one
REALLY bad that I can't expand on, one in
my one month old MINI.

It got old really quickly. I apologize in advance for
interrupting your Zenness if you are every behind me.
But I need to have this silliness stop (I came very close
to being disabled) and my guess is less than 1% of people
have the Zen like you , thus, I have to look out for myself.

 

I see the validity of your statement. For you, and the limited number of zen drivers on the road, I do apologize. Hopefully you are not behind me long enough, or close enough, to see my LEDs flicker.

I think you would agree that there are far fewer zen drivers than total freakin' idiots. You know the kind that are talking on the cell, texting, applying make up, or anything else you can imagine doing while seated at the wheel. Anything except driving. That is why I got the blinkie.

The student that hit us was talking on the phone and looking off to the left. I could see it coming, but had no place to go. I just had the misfortune of being the last guy in line.

If there were more zen drivers here I would take it out. Until then, I hope you aren't behind me.

 

I notice the effectiveness of mine as I approach a red light. Drivers brake earlier and stay further away from me because I gave them an early warning of my braking intention.

 

I totally agree with you FishBert that is the way all people should drive. I am the same way and that is why flashing lights should be only for emergency situations not HEY I AM SLOWING DOWN NOW.

The blinking doesn't make you look up if you are already into something else. It is not a strobe light as in emergency vehicles. Maybe at night it would show up more to a driver that isn't paying attention but I doubt it.

Maybe it because you all broke so fast and hard that you got rear ended the first time. Or better yet pay attention to what is going on around you and if you see someone is not going to stop in time move out of the way.

I have never been rear ended because I am paying attention to the other drivers. If I see someone in front of me is slamming on the brakes I don't do that as it causes problems. I look to see how fast they are stopping and how fast they need to stop for the person in front of them and then I modulate braking and get as close to the person in front of me leaving enough stopping distance for the person behind me so it doesn't create a chain affect with people panic stopping for no reason.

 

I was just sitting in traffic at a light. Car to my right, traffic island to my left. I hadn't panic stopped, I was basically parked in traffic. I was paying attention. Heck, I saw it coming in time to warn my wife of the impending impact.
If the right lane was empty I would have rabbited. Sometimes there is just no place to go.

Great defense, though. Just don't use it in front of a jury.

I hope your luck holds and you are never hit from behind. You are right, it pays to stay alert.