Is there an opening in the firewall from the engine bay where i can run my light wiring through to the inside of the R50?

 

Yes, it's on the driver's side near the steering column.

 

Yes, I just wired my rallye lights up this last weekend. ML is correct near the steering column but, more specifically...

- Open your bonnet.
- Look on the LH side (drivers side) firewall just behind the brake reservoir and under the cowling.
- You'll see a black rubber grommet with the clutch master cylinder and another hydraulic line going through this.
- Use a #11 x-acto blade (or similar) and make a very small slit in-between the two lines through the grommet.
- Run the wiring through this and seal up with some windscreen glazing (sticky black rubbery goo)
- Back to the inside of your R50, grab the plastic under dash piece that is below your steering column with both hands and pull it down. Takes a little force to un-pop this.
- This will give you access to your wiring.

I used a volt meter to determine that the green wire on the top of my OBD-II connection was switched ignition power on. It's the wire in the upper left most corner and after looking at using the cigarette 12v source, this was the quickest and easiest to use. Please check with a volt meter as yours might be different.

 

Nice Rally 3000 lights there Thompson! What did you use for mounts? Did you buy them or fab them up?

 

I only wanted to help the original poster with a reply to his Qs and since I'm fresh off a rallye light install and wiring, well here are some of the details, maybe it will provide some inspiration for others.

Thanks Chuck! Actually, they are PIAA 80 Racing lights with custom German flavored Hella covers. Yes, I designed and fabricated some mounts, took forever to get it proper. You could tow my R53 with these light mounts.









More photos and write up

 

Very nice, no bouncing lights on your MINI. Well done & worth the effort. Those make my Hella 500's look like peanuts.

 

Here is a photo of the grommet where I used to gain access through the bulkhead.