Hello,

I recently became a gen 1 mini owner. I am in the process of restoration. When I went through the technical control, I was informed that my headlights are too dim and they need to be changed. My mechanic told me that there is no problem with the lights themselves, just the lenses have formed a lot of cracks on them through time and usage and they got too dim. He did his best to restore them but it wasn't successful. I checked the replacement value and it was way too much. On the scale of 1000$-2000$ for both of them when it comes to xenon. However the price of Halogen is 10x cheaper, on the scale of 1000$ per one. Given the fact that the headlights have no problem, I am entertaining the thought of buying the halogen and swapping the lenses. I know it's not an easy procedure but I am certainly keen to try if it means it is going to save me 1000$. However I dont want to get through the whole mess just to find out that the lenses are not compatible. I searched online and I couldn't find any mention of the lenses size. Does any of you have any experience on this?

Thanks a lot for your help!

P.S. obligatory picture of my beauty

 

Xenons' have washers = the little doors on the headlight rings that pop out when you activate the windsheild sprayers.
From what I recall; the headlight lens' are the same geometry with the exception being that the xenons having washer doors embossed in the lens themselves.

 

Thanks for your reply.
Quite some time has passed since I made the question and I had the opportunity to further educate myself on it. It looks like there are a lot of halogen lamps with washers as well. At least they have the anatomy of the washers, I don't know if the washers are in and functional.

However from my contact with retailers who sell it, it looks like that even the halogen with washer might not have same anstomy as the xenon ones. It strikes very strange to me but this is what i was told. I started contacting directly some of the producers to see what they will say and I'm waiting for their responses.

 

I have never seen a first gen halogen headlamp with washers. The originals certainly never had them. Some of the aftermarket lights are made to look like they have washers, even though they don’t.

 

Yep at least in the USA and regions you had to have headlight washers for Xenons cars at 35w.

2002-2004

2005+



We do have the halogen lenses (dont fit factory Xenon) and trying to work with a supplier to make the Xenon ones for the Gen 1 MINI, No eta yet.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bremmen-...adlights-lens/

 

Yes it could be that they are there just to look like they do. You can easily find some of them if you search for "Angel eyes for r53". Market is crowded with them. However that fake washers gap might be all I need. If they are designed the same way as the actual xenon ones and have the same dimensions I do not really mind if they have washers or not as long as I can detach them and reattach them in the actual xenon ones.

 

My 2006 R53 built Nov 2005 is equipped with Xenons (522 Xenon Light Xenon-licht) but I thought without those washers, since the only time driven in wet weather was coming home from a mid-summer romp when caught in a seasonal monsoon rain storm. In any case, I now see washers were part of the Sport (ZSP) package which included these items on Cooper S:

 

I have washers in my '06 and apparently the Sport package - good to know! We also get those wheels that weigh a ton a piece and rock hard runflats.

Their functionality is pointless IMO (not rally racing the thing in the mud) but looks to be a great contender for an IC sprayer I'm concoctirng.

Wasnt aware DSC was an option. I find it terribly intrusive and it ruins a good run off the line when I forget to disable. My buddy has an '06 M3 that had a more aggresive setting between kill all fun and zero.

 

IIRC, ASC was standard on the R53, with DSC being an optional upgrade. My memory is getting a little hazy at this point though.

My car has neither because I didn’t want them. It’s the only toggle switch I don’t have.

 

Not sure where the OP is - Girots Garage severe damage Ceramic restore for $30 is well worth it. Cerakote $18 on Amazon is also good ( the same I think ). It takes a bit of work, but results good for 3 years in California weather. I redid it - still happy. No disassembly.

 

Unfortunately doesn't work in my case. Headlights were officially restored by a professional garage. However all the restoration methods are just removing the dimness of the lense. The microcracks remain there. There is no method that can remove them. These microcracks are diffusing the straight light beams in different angles. When the headlight is checked they check its efficiency in a straight beam and because of the many micro diffusions it is decreased.

 

Get a set of used complete units. I don’t see how to replace the lenses well. Water leakage is the issue.

 

It’s doable if he can find lenses. The Joey mod used to be decently common, but I haven’t seen many people talking about it lately.

 

+1
I agree.
I wanted to upgrade my 2004 pre-facelift R53 Xenons with face-lift Xenon projectors. The cost for a new pair of OEM ($1,600) was not within my budget/reasoning.
I finally scored a decent pair from a salvage yard (w/ bulbs & ballasts) for about $60. They polished up beautifully and remain sharp and clear. Like new.
In my experience: Removing and replacing the polycarbonate lens on these headlight assembly; are a bit of a PIA. The best way is to load them into an oven, set to about 130 degrees, to soften up the adhesive engh to remove the lense. Mind you - That adhesive is super strong and extremely tenacious!
As an option, a heat gun works very well too.

IMO; Save yourself some money and headache - Hit a local salvage yard, Allmag.com, part outs or eBay for a good used pair of Xenon projector headlights.