how well do the driving lamps work??

 

as well as you want them to?

 

And they look kinda cuul too

 

That all depends upon what your looking for. My OEM driving lights are great. I love them. They are also way too expensive. Much cheaper to go aftermarket.

 

You'll have much more "bang for your buck" if you go after market. The dealer charges you bodily limbs....well.....because they can. I did my after markets for well under $100, and they work great.

 

Yeah, the driving lights look super on the MINI .... but they were $400 plus an insane installation charge. I wisely put that money into other places .. Qwertmonkey, where did you get those lights for so cheap? And did you do the installation yourself? Where is the button that turns it on in the interior?

 

what ive always wondered about hte driving lamps (and sorry to sort of hijack the thread mini dude, but i think my Q may influence a decision) is do they create wind noise on the highway. i mean there just sort of protruding and couldnt imagine them to be the most aerodynamic objects, so im sure htey lead to some sort of extra wind noise but is it very noticable or not really a prob

 

I was attracted to the OEM driving lamps but did not order them due to the cost. I liked the sporty appearance. I didn't go for Xenons and have poor night vision (Xenons didn't even occur to me until after the fact); will the driving lamps help at all? If you have them, do you drive with them on all the time?

Maybe a dumb question...I dunno :-).

-(impatiently) awaiting delivery of an '06 CR cabrio...

 

I got them on eBay. The seller was "BlingLights." The I bought the brackets from a fellow NAMer. I did the wiring and mounting myself. As for the switch....Well, if you have the tire pressure sensor on your MINI, there is a reset button on the right side of the E-brake. There is a little rectangle on the exact opposite side. It pops out. I fed the wires up to it, and mounted the switch.

As for road noise, none.

 

ALL driving lights are too bright for constant use. Most people tap into their highbeams for the switch. Thats when most people use them.

They REALLY do help with night driving. They make day light at night!

 

Yes, they are only appropriate for use when during the times you would use high beams.

 

The factory driving lights are wired to a switch that is near your left knee/shin (depending on how tall you are ). They only come on with the high-beams. They are also synched to your fog lights, so you can only have either the front fogs or the driving lights on (legally, you can only have 4 projection beam lights working on the front of your car at any given time).

My first run on the Dragon was at 5:45am... in the dark... in patchy fog. I found the driving lights to be very, VERY handy and really gave me more visability in the tight twisty roads. I live in a metro area (Dallas) and infrequently need any kind of off-highway illumination. In a more rural setting, they would definately get more use. On the Dragon that morning, almost nobody was on the road so I didn't have to dim them very often. I could see oncoming traffic a good ways away because the only lights on in that area would have been from motorists. The lights will be BLINDING to oncoming traffic, so you have to be a very considerate motorist and keep your head in the game while using them.

I've got the factory lights and I love the look of 'em... even with the covers on. The integration w/ the highbeams is also very convenient... flick the stalk and you drop to the low-beams and turn off the driving lights in one motion that is right next to the wheel... no fumbling about. I've wired fog lights myself on previous cars and I just didn't want to deal with the hassle and non-factory look to the install. I love the look of those 4-light setups, however, and I'd be very tempted to go that way if I were to try it again.

The factory lights are expensive, but they look and feel very 'quality'. Many of the less expensive after-market lights leave something to be desired in that respect.

 

I have the factory driving lamps and I've never noticed any wind noise. They aren't exacty sitting alone in the airstream like your side mirrors are, so I doubt that any kind of driving light, factory or aftermarket, would make any sort of wind noise.

 

I've had driving lights on previous vehicles and loved them, so I ordered the OEM ones for the MINI.

Only problem...and one I didn't catch until getting home from taking delivery on Saturday...is that the driver's side light has a terrible case of vibration.

Haven't looked too hard at it yet, but anybody have any easy (i.e. NOT buying/installing whole new brackets) fixes I could try?

 

CORRECTION- ALL driving lights are too bright for constant use, ONLY use them in situations when you would use your high beams. Using them at other times may cause you to be ticketed.

 

Thank you. I'll edit my post right now.

 

I hate to tell you this, but the mounting brackets for the factory lights are notorious for this flaw. The only solution that I could think of is to replace them with beefier versions (one of the vendors sells them, I think... maybe promini?)

Sorry if that wasn't the answer you were looking for...

 

This is a topic I have some knowledge on.... (I apologize in advance for making anyone angry!)

1. The OEM Driving Lights aren't very good. In fact, they almost suck. They are weak and throw a mediocre light pattern. I'm basing that opinion on owing headlights (for retrofit on old sealed beam cars) and driving lights made by Hella, Bosch, and Cibie. The OEM MINI wiring harness is FIRST RATE! It allows the use of the aux lights only on high beam and then only after the switch is activated. The switch resets itself each time the key is turned off, so you don't get aux lights without a deliberate effort. The MINI switch is not only illuminated in the correct color of orange to match the other buttons, it has a green LED that glows when the lights are "armed". Did I mention that the MINI wiring harness is first rate??!?

2. Cibie Tango driving lights are about 3/8" bigger than OEM lights, but they throw about TWICE the usable light of the OEM lights while consuming the same wattage. Unless you are parked next to a car with the OEM lights, you'll never know the difference (until they are turned on).

I bought the dealer installed lights on my car. I was dis-satisfied with them, so I replaced them with the Tangos. I have the OEM harness and the good lights. Best of both worlds.

Now, I added a set of the OEM MINI lights to my friend's MCS. The installation instructions can be downloaded from Motoringfile. The job isn't very tough if you are used to working on cars.

Anyone in the Chattanooga area that wants to see the Tangos in action, just PM me and we'll hook up.

Rawhyde

PS I agree wholeheartedly that driving lights need to be used ONLY with high beams. These things are BLINDING to oncoming traffic night or day.

 

Has anyone rigged up driving style "fog" lamps? PIAA 540's can come as fogs and I was considering them for my ride. I thought about disabling my OEM fog lights and using the switch with the PIAA's. If I aim them low, they shouldn't blind oncoming traffic. What do you think, bad idea?

swizzle

 

Could be done but to get the most use out of them you'd want to mount them lower.


I've postponed getting Driving lamps because I plan an waiting and adding fog lamps at the same time and have worked out plans for a custom install for both. However I still frequently drive in completely unlit areas and needed to fix the darkness issue. I found that stock the non Xenons come aimed "crosseyed" for lack of a better term and allso aimed in such a manner that there was a huge black spot exactly where one would aim driving lights (also aimed so low they negated any need for fogs as beam wasn't reaching more than 100ft in front of a car, that's less than 1 second at 60 MPH!!!). I've since straightened that out and get prefect fill without lighting up oncoming traffic or being too high and blinding cars in front of me. So when I add driving lamps it will be supplemental not required like it once was.

 

Hey where did you get your driving lights, they look bigger than the other ones ive see before, not to mention cheaper!!!

 

Lots of ppl have fogs lights, Look at my sig, those are Hella Fogs.

You do not half to "aim them low". All fogs have a wide dispersal pattern around 135 degrees or better with a very sharp cutoff way short of your low beams. That's what fogs do.

You also dont necessarily want to disable the OEM fogs.... Why do that?

Most states law mandate no more than 4 lamps lit at one time. There is nothing wrong with adding ALL the additional lamps you want provided they are not all used on the public highways at the same time!

 

They work great, especially on those dark country lanes. I ordered my OEM kit from Classic Mini in Ohio (they offer a nice discount to NAM members) and did the install myself. It took the better part of an afternoon but wasn't hard at all - you just need to follow the instructions and don't rush it.

 

We've got 3 different types: OEM, Hella FF200 and an older set of Vision VX-9000's. I've got some threads over in the interior/exterior forum about my installation techniques, if you care to look for them. Out in the sticks we love them

Hella's & OEM


And the VX-9000's






I also wouldn't pay Dealer prices; they pop up on eBay a lot, for a lot less.

And the vibration on the OEM lights can be removed/minimized, look for the small rubber covered stud sticking out of the grill. (sorry if that reads like a bad dime store novel, can't come up with a better description )

 

By the way, the MINI Madness and the Hella brackets are beefy mounts! Rock solid!