As someone who is looking to buy some driving lights for his MINI, I was wondering if we'd be interested in starting a guide of sorts. Basically, owners of driving lights would post a front end pic of their car and put down the stats for their driving lights. That way when motorists decide to make the all important decision to light the night, they can do some research before delving into night time motoring.

 

There are MANY, MANY different aftermarket driving lights and fog lights (including HIDs now) on the market. Your best bet is to go look at hellausa.com and PIAA.com and check out the major brands first.

Here you go to start

FF200 Fogs on outmotoring brackets

 

I have the Alta Kit, which includes their proprietary light bar, which is pre-drilled for 4 IPF lamps that come with the kit.

Here's the link: http://www.altaminiperformance.com/p...r/lightbar.htm

I only purchased 1 set of the lights from Alta, thus reducing the price of the kit for me.

The lamps have a combination fog/driving beam, with one switch only, (on or off). The inner part of the reflector is a faceted fog reflector, then the outer part is a typical driving lamp parabola, providing both types of beam from just one bulb. It is a great all-around beam pattern for motoring on those dark country roads. I recommend them.

Picture attached.

 

Great! Thanks guys, lets keep this going, it's turning into a pretty nice resource already!

 

Running 3 sets:




From left to right:

On the wife's 05 - we have the standard OEM setup




On my 02 we have Hella ff200's. Nice light, and although it might look deeper then the OEM lights, it's not.




On the son's 04 we have Vision VX-9000's. Again a nice light rather big for my tastes but others seem to like it.



On the daughter's 06 we don't have any. But she lives in the big city and doesn't necessarily need them. We on the other hand live in the boonies and seem to always be traveling in the dark

Which ever set you decide on, make sure you get a stout bracket. Check out the interior and exterior mod section for my DIY threads.

 

Great family picture! If only my son were 16 years older. Maybe some day if the MINI brand has the lasting power that we all believe it does.

 

I'm also running the Vision VX-9000 on MiniMadness brackets (rivets, not screws - very stable). They are 100 watts (which is not always legal depending on where you live) and are wired to only come on with the highbeams. I like the big retro look of them (which is obviously a personal preference).

Smokey - awesome collection of MINIs! Did you leave any at the dealership for anyone else?!

 

Professor Dave

What size pop rivet did you use? Were they aluminum or steel?

 

I believe I used aluminum rivets. I'll have to check on the size and repost (my riveting stuff is at home, since they don't like it when I perform MINI mods while I'm here at work!). I'll post the specs tomorrow.

 

Piaa 540's

 

Thanks!

I'm partial to the gratuitous booty shot myself.



We knew of 3 of them, but the daugther surprised us with her purchase

Back on track: I used stainless socket headed screws and nylock nuts on my installs. Only the OEM system has a switch. But the others are also wired to only come on with the highbeams. Nice mod

 

Well, I guess nobody complains about who got the better car.

 

Can other lights go on the Alta Light Bar? Or do they have to be IPF?

 

A light bar is a light bar, you can put whatever you want on it.

 

Most light bars are designed for around a 6" light and so are most lights for that matter, but some of us wanted a bit bigger. One of the solutions for a light bigger than 6 1/2" is to go with the outmotoring brackets. Each set of 2 is around a $100.

 

Here is the OEM setup




Here are Cibie Tangos



Can't tell from these pics, but the Cibie's put out about twice the usable light and they're the same wattage as the OEM Driving Lights.

Rawhyde

 

I love my Alta Lightbar, but d@mn those are hot Swarley...

 

Thanks Wagnbat As I told you when I met you at the Dragon, Batmini was my original inspiration.

 

Awesome, thanks for contributing to the compendium.
I've been looking at PIAA's website and saw the 525's. From what it sounds like these lights work with your low beams and your high beams. Does that sound right?

Link:http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/525.html

Anyone know anything else about lights like this (other than they cost a billion dollars)?

 

That light has a dual filament bulb like a conventional sealed beam headlight. The reflector and lens are compromises. They aren't truly optimized for either beam pattern. If you're serious about improving your lighting, look at Cibie and Hella driving lights. You'll attract too much of the wrong attention with 4 lights on when you're on low beam even if all 4 are legitamate low beam lights.

Rawhyde

 

JJ Blue:
It looks like I used 3/16" aluminum pop rivets on my install. As I recall, I used a couple of different lengths between 1/4" and 1/2". If you are going to mount them in the traditional way I'd recommend getting an assortment. Also, check out jbing's great DIY write up at: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=29482

 

Thanks Professor Dave.