Anyone know which aftermarket foglight resembles that of the OEM ones the most? I'm looking for something small that sits in front, not in front and above, the front grill. Black housing preferred.

 

Wipac made the OEM MINI driving lights, They also used to make an identical Wipac branded aftermarket version for the MINI. They had the same problem as OEMers....rust.

 

I put Wipacs on my R56 justa recently. They're 5" in diameter and made entirely of polished stainless steel. I had to buy them from an eBayUK seller to get the stainless steel version but they only cost about $100 delivered.

 

I got those too but the reflectors are not stainless steel and do eventually rust..... :(

 

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking for ANY kind of driving light with a pencil beam that's not OEM but looks "close" to it. I just don't want my car to look like an alien (because the mounts are so far above the bumper) or to look like the driving lights are way larger than the headlights.

Wiring is no problem..what I'd like are different pictures of DL's installed so I know which ones to pick. Also - is buying the brackets the only option, or can they be fabricated from an existing drawing/specs?

I don't know how a black-housing lamp will look on my lightning blue MCS convertible, since the slats are painted and it has that chrome trim piece that surrounds the grille. Not opposed to it - just don't know how it will look.

I do a lot of driving out in the countryside and need something to spot the deer a little earlier. I come from the Jeep world so this was never a problem before, but it sure is now!

 

I know this is a 1st Generation forum but take a look at my gallery if you'd like to see 5" driving lights on an R56. I made my own brackets out of 1/8" steel.

 

Those wipacs are 5"? What's the OEM size (the same?)?

I like the way those look proportionally, just not sure if the black housing on the PIAAs will look okay on my MCS.

How are those lights when driving? Do you get any bounce as the grille slats flex? All the ones I've seen so far require drilling and are curved in an unquantifiable fashion. I have the ability (with lots of underhanded bribery) to get access to a waterjet, but I'd still need a template to bend with. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it to save $90 - as cheap as I am.

 

I believe the oems are about 5 1/2". I haven't noticed any bouncing when I drive but they are not quite as bright as the Hella 500s I replaced. 1/8" steel is not that hard to bend; I just used a vice and kept bending and tweaking until they fit flush to the back side of the grill. I couldn't find any brackets available that didn't require some cutting on the grill so I decided to just make my own.

 

I really like 3 points of contact but the compound surface of the inside of the bonnet makes it tricky. I'm surprised there are no mounts that go between the grille and the top of the bumper.

I figure I will order the lights now and figure out mounting when they get here. I wonder where the factory DL high-beam override switch goes?

 

I wonder where the factory DL high-beam override switch goes?

high-beam override? dunno what that is, but the DL on/off goes in the driver's side knee bolster (that pull off knee panel to the left of the steering wheel). The factory instructions provide a template for this panel and I recall when doing installs there was even marks on the back of the panel.

http://www.minimania.com/pdfile/NMA3030_INSTR.zip

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Also - is buying the brackets the only option, or can they be fabricated from an existing drawing/specs?

The factory mounting on the bonnet has a fairly complex bracket and while anything can be copied while I do some fabrication I'd buy these!

OTOH if you don't want to mount to the bonnet (I dunno why they did this other than to match the headlights) I could easily fabricate some brackets that used the TORX bolts that hold the bumper cover . . no biggie there. And note that the GEN1 MINI had several light bar options from third party vendors that hung lights over the lower grill. ALTA for example - but these are hard to come by now . . .

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I couldn't find any brackets available that didn't require some cutting on the grill so I decided to just make my own.

True if you have the aero grill, since the OEM mount comes thru the grill

 

I had a set of brackets that mounted to the bumper supports. They worked out nice even though i never did mount lights. Lost them after an accident and haven't been able to find them since. i bought them used in the marketplace and don't remember who made them