My early MINI doesn't have projector lamps and uses H7 halogens for the low beams.
Any recommendations for H7 to LED conversion for the low beams?
Ones to stay from?
Does mine use CANBUS?

I need a bit more light than the Sylvanias H7s I have in there now as the lenses are a bit cloudy and need to be polished again...
and I'm tired of replacing bulbs.

 

1 - Polish the lenses for sure.
2 - Consider the 65W halogens (H9 burner on H7 base). 2100 lumens (55W H7 is about 1450-1500), normal color, good lifespan.
Osram used to make these but stopped several years ago,
but there is a new source for them here made by Vosla - look at the H7 products about 2/3 of the way down the page:
http://danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

 

Nomad
I don't think you'll have much luck with LEDs - I've tried a couple with no success. They may be 'brighter', but the beam pattern is all over the place.
I've had good luck with Phillips H7 https://store.candlepower.com/bfcopotphxtp.html which lasts a lot longer than other brands.
Christo's suggestion looks good too, though quite a bit more expensive. I may try them next time.

 

LEDs don't project correctly in reflector lenses. You can run LED high beams though since the scattering doesn't matter so much. That's what I do and they look good. Helix makes a set of OE facelift projector lenses that still use H7 low beam bulbs. I think those would work well and look great. I got a set of those for my dad's R50 and he elected to use some Philips xenon-look bulbs and they look better than my facelift xenons. Wish I could try that setup with LEDs because the factory xenons on these cars suck.

 

The Voslas are almost $30/bulb, but
that’s only a little more than the
their Osram predecessors. I ran the
Osrams for low and high beams for
many years on my 2003 R50 and my
wife’s 2001 Cabrio (and the new Voslas
on the Cabrio until she donated it a
couple months ago) with impressive
results compared to the best H7s.

 

For Halogens: https://smile.amazon.com/Philips-X-t...dp/B083D7NSZF/

For a proper LED setup: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...rojectors.html

Beyond that, add a light bar to the front, wire in a couple relays, and run a pair of pencil beam and a pair of driving beam Hella lamps with 100w bulbs. Put 'em on a switch. And then if it's not bright enough outside at high noon, you can fight the sun!

 

I did some research on Youtube and found Headlight Revolution had a bunch of informative videos on LED conversions and reviews.
It seems the location of the LEDs has to be the exact same distance from the base as the halogen filament was if you want the lights to focus properly.
I reached out to HR for their suggestions on what might work. They suggested these as a staff member used them on his unspecified MINI:
https://headlightrevolution.com/v-4-...ghts-h7-bulbs/

They have a money-back guarantee so I thought I would go for it.
Beautifully machined, by the way, with ball-bearing fans and braided cable jackets.

I followed others suggestion and found a someone who specialized in polishing my lenses.
The polisher made an interesting comment. Due to the heat of the halogen bulbs, the lenses cloud much quicker.
He thought the cooler LEDs would help the headlights hold a polish longer.
I'm pleased with the results. The light is colder, much brighter and the beam pattern and distribution appears to be very good.
I've only driven about ten miles with the new lights, I did not touch the headlight alignment and no one has flashed their lights at me.

The bulbs come with a driver, (a little black box), but I couldn't find a way to put the drivers fit inside the buckets so I zipped tied them to the harness next to the buckets. I'm going to give it another shot as I'm getting an "open hood/hatch" warning light, now. If I can't fit them inside the buckets, I'll probably have to cut a couple of notches in the dust boots of the headlight to accommodate the power cables of the driver.

Hope this helps.

LED installed on driver's side before the polish. Sylvania H7 on the passenger's side.

Passenger side before the polish. Lights off.

Passenger side after the polish.

Beam pattern of the LEDs in the original buckets. Even distribution with flat on the left and a rise on the right.

 

Very interesting, Nomad, thank you.
They are a bit too rich for my budget!
But on the other hand, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts once you've used them for a week or two.