The 2002-2006 mini coopers don't have the sport button or ambient lighting,right? How can you get ambient lighting in a 02-06 mini

 

From 2005 onwards "Facelift" R50, R53 and R52 (convertible) MINIs do have orange "ambient" lighting coming from 2 LED bulbs in the headliner (In the same assembly with the reading/map lights) and LED orange lighting inside the interior release handles. At night the soft orange glow bathes the center console and feels like an old British submarine. I personally like it.

However, the color of the ambient lighting can not be changed like in the R56 and R55.

Even though you have ambient lighting in the newer MINIs and you can change the color, the impact/effect is not the same as in the "orange only" color of the 1st generation "facelift" cars.

I am sure you can add extra ambient lights to your older 2002-2004 MINI for a fee. Have no idea of the work and costs involved but I do know someone that did amazing ambient lighting in his 2002 MCS with fiber optics around the door card elipses, etc. Stunning work but I am sure he paid top $$$ to get that done.

 

you can buy the components from MINI, but honestly, it would
be a lot cheaper to wire in your own leds.

 

No sport button on the 2002-2008 first generation MINIs either. Guess what? Not needed either as the cars came in default "sport" mode from the factory.

The sport button is nothing more than electronic trickery for you to play with. I have it in my Clubman S and turn it on most of the time as it re-maps the throttle response more to my liking and stiffens the steering to feel more like a 1st gen MINI.

 

Has anybody out there wired their own leads for ambient lights in the headliner or b pillars, or lights under the dash to light up the center consol? I did see a mini that had put blue led's that light up with the dome light. It was a nice feature that lit up under the doors for when it's dark.
Anybody have a write up on diy's of these mods??? I'd be interested!