Hey everyone, I would just like to kind of warn everyone thinking about buying the four rally lamp light kit or maybe even the two rally light kit from MINI MADNESS. I purchased the four light kit for my IB/W Cooper w/aero only to recieve some unheard of lights, two relays, and a couple of okay switches (I mounted them under the toggle row to get them out of sight hint hint). Anyway, the kit included 4 6" chrome lamp enclosures, brackets, rivets, relays and hardware for the lights. What the kit DID NOT have was the electrical wires to run from the front of the hood to the actual relays behind the battery box, no problem, I went to a hardware store and bought some 16 gauge 2wire (no ground because the lights don't need them) waterpoof electrical lines, black zipties and wire nuts overall spending about an extra 30 dollars on top of the 500.00 for the kit. Well, the install went great until it came time to hook up my two lines from the lights to the relay (I wanted to hook up the two middle driving lights to one relay and the other two outer lights to the other relay). Well, after looking at the crude illustration on the back of the light boxes, I figured I had it pretty much down, but how do the switches for the lights get power? I asked George at MINI MADNESS and he said to splice into a white connector underneath the steering column (purple with yellow tracer). WRONG! What happened after that was that I could no longer start my car. Even when I unhooked the power to the lights I still could not get any juice. So, after calling a tow truck to ship to Chandler Motorsports in Lewisville, TX (about 2 miles away), I found out that I had everything pretty much correct but I had blown a fuse for the starter rendering my car caput. Anyway, got the switches tied into the track lights and replaced the fuse for the starter giving my total for the fix up $250 for the tow and fixing up. ALSO, DO NOT DRIVE ANYWHERE WITH THE LONG BOLTS IN THE KIT! Have someone cut off the excess after mounting, some serious rubbing can occur on the front bumper. So long story short, oh wait sorry, just beware of what you get because obviously I didn't get what I paid for in the beginning but I absolutely love my lights now after my 500.00 kit, 30.00 wire etc, 250.00 fix up .

 

I ordered the 2-light kit from Mini-Madness and had similar issues. First, the "driving" lights in the kit I received were fogs! Sent these back and got them to send me a set of the correct lights, wired them up and mounted them, and then realized that the factory mounts in the kit were way too flimsy to handle the big PIAA 520s. About 3 months(!) later I received a set of beefier mounts. For the $100 premium I paid for the Madness "kit" (on top of just buying the mounts and a set of PIAAs individually) I expected better. Guess I was a beta customer! Caveat emptor.

 

I guess we both are test rats, the cd they sent me with the kit to install was of a previous kit they sold that had the wiring loom and everything, and a couple of cool european movies as well as mini madness test track stuff. But George at MADNESS told me to throw it away and go with the box instructions? Have you seen those things, its like Lego instructions for a MINI technical diagram. Just overall frustrating for me.......Oh well, happy now......

 

thanks for the feedback guys. Who doesnt send a wiring harnes with a light kit?
seems stupid to me. The kits is overpriced as it is..but to add insult to injury with bad customer service is unacceptable.

 

I have a set of the PIAA. The bolts can come in contact with the top of the bumper, especially when closing the bonnet. Trimming it shorter is a definitely a good idea! :smile: I found out the hard way after they chipped the newly painted aero kit.

 

One of our local members bought the same kit. Took one look at them and the factory ones on mine and sent them back. Has yet to put on any driving lights instead.

 

And people criticize individuals who pay $400 for the factory lights that are guaranteed to fit and come with a warranty.

 

My PIAA 5430 kit came with two shorter bolts for the MINI, so they dont' contact the bumper when the hood is closed.

X2

 

It's all about research. I bought a PIAA 540 kit and their 30300 Mini Cooper mounting kit from a local vendor. All needed parts were included and I was able to hold the parts in my hands and check them out before any money changed hands. Final tab was $235 plus tax. I know I could have paid a little less by buying them online, but this way I had absolutely no doubts about what I was getting.

I'm considering buying a second kit (possibly the fog light kit since my car didn't come with fog lights) to get the 4 light setup. We'll see...

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

wow :smile:
Wat a day, huh? hehehehehe. anyway, I'm kinda fishing around
for driving lights so your comments were very informative.

thanks.

 

Well, I'm thankful for the heads up. I really want a 4 bar light kit on the front of my Mini, but it seems at this point that there is really none available. I know i've seen some good kits installed on a few Mini's. Would a better bet at this point be to buy 2 two light kits (Piaa or other good make) and install that somehow? Is that feasible?

HELP!

 

Hey everyone again, just to let you know what I got in detail.......

4 100 Watt 6"inch bulbs with chrome enclosure

Extremely heavy duty mounting brackets (SIMPLY DWARF the OEM brackets) for less vibration

2 relays count them, 2 relays so the consumer can pretty much select how they want the lights wired up (all four tied into one relay for all on at once, or two middle lights on two outer off, two outer on two inner on, or have sort of a caddy corner on and off with one outer left on, one of the inner right on or etc.) YOU CHOOSE!

2 switches for your selection on which to turn on

Thats pretty much all I got, the reason I went for this setup is because it seemed to me that all of the other MINI drivers on this site seem to go for the weak little 55w bulbs that are just for show (maybe except for the PIAA), but still more watts equals more lumens per light. I wanted to really bring back the huge rally lamps like the classic that just dwarf the others. Sure I could've gone bigger but they wouldn't have had chrome enclosures or would've looked out of place with four 10" or 12" lamps, and that really doesn't fit the overall look of the car. Don't get me wrong, MADNESS makes a good kit, just go buy some tails from a hardware store and hook it up I mentioned before. And theres no cheap plastic like the PIAAs. Oh and one more thing, to the guy that saw these lights and sent them back, there is that really cheap looking chrome crap that is supposedly the "protection" or something, that stuff pops off and you can make it look like the picture. Trust me they come off and if I could figure out how to post a pic I would show you guys? How do I do that?

Thanks guys, don't sell MADNESS short, maybe just stick with they're performance stuff.........

"Going to build a standard Cooper to dwarf stock Cooper S's on the track and everywhere else, going for 180 hp! Going to turn a simple commuter car into a demon of a track/rally car just like the original!"

 

>>One of our local members bought the same kit. Took one look at them and the factory ones on mine and sent them back. Has yet to put on any driving lights instead.

That guy is me! The kit offered by Madness and pictured on the website were PIAA's, but when I received them they were a CHEAP A$$ kit of some unknown brand name. Very poorly made with poor chroming, cheap lense, etc. (yes, I did look at them with the ugly chrome cover removed. The point is, I was sold a mis-advertised product. I questioned Madness and they said "Oh, well we just haven't changed the pics on the website yet." Well, that sure is deceptive. Didn't change the price or description either which they should have because these lights are far less expensive to produce for sure. Better margins for Madness, I suppose.

They refused to give me my full money back. I was forced to pay for shipping to return them and I was hit with a restocking fee.

I will NEVER purchase anything from Madness again. BUYER BEWARE is right!
:evil:

_________________
<img src="http://fototime.com/D433293586DC999/standard.jpg" border=0>
Pepper! '04 MCS
Brad's Garage and Cars

 

>>They refused to give me my full money back. I was forced to pay for shipping to return them and I was hit with a restocking fee.

Misadvertised AND then refused a 100% refund? Thanks for the warning. Try the Better Business Bureau in their location. Try a letter to their owner. Someone there has to realize the cost of a loss of reputation.