hey everyone!

i was wondering... i have the stock head lamps on my cooper. Is there any way to upgrade to the xenons? i really love the way they light up the road better than the ones that i have.

I'd be willing to buy the headlamp assembly, but i don't even know if i can. Would the dealer give me crap about the warranty, because it deals with electrical stuff?
is there a different type of bulb that i can get, to make the light "high intensity discharge" like?

is the switch to turn on and off the xenons the same as the one equipped on my car?

thanks in advance

 

http://www.motoringfile.com/diy/

Scroll down and you'll see the link to download the Official MINI Instructions for retrofitting Xenons and headlight washers.


Rawhyde

 

I think the less expensive way to get HID for you car would be aftermarket kits...

You don't want ot get a retrofit kit, because it includes so many parts (leveling system, HID balasts, ....)

Get an aftermarket kit and get a kit with about 4500k "power"...

 

Do you how expensive would it be to fully retrofit it with the new lamps? im interested...

 

Just to get an idea. Each Xenon light housing (with the parts for the inside of it) runs ~$700. So you're already talking ~$1400 for 2 housings with the lights. Then you need to add wiring harnesses, ballast, the cleaners/sprayers, ...

(the price of the housings are taken off recent work done when a sheet of ice took out one of my lights)

 

someone was selling their xenon headlights with everything included im sure for about $1200.
that was a couple weeks ago tho. somewhere around there.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ighlight=xenon
there's the link for ya. he might have sold it?

 

hey thanks everybody!

 

Oh also if youre interested urma, "Silverstar" is a Sylvania halogen that I have tried as a cheap upgrade for brighter lights. They burn MUCH brighter, and theyre white but they dont look like those "HID wannabe" lights you see on ricers nowadays. One thing to watch out for: They cannot be used for daytime running lights as they burn much hotter and if used as such will burn out in less than 3 months (at least thats what happened to me)

 

Yes - so replace only your low beams with SilverStars - the DRL's actually use the high beam at low power so leave regular bulbs there....lleast that's how my '02 is wired.

SilverStars are readily available and you can get a package of 2 for around $20 if you shop around

Or go to PIAA bulbs and you can get 'hotter' or different colors too.....

 

My experience is that after market xenon-like bulbs, while seemingly brighter than halogens, do not compare to real xenon's. Plus, the common blue-tint bulbs are just to make your car look like they have xenons.... they don't help at all. Personally, I wouldn't get another car without xenons. But, I doubt I'd spend the extra money it cost to retro-fit.

 

Along the lines of a retro fit. Two of us installed the OEM fogs in mine yesterday and it wasn't easy, it took 5 hours and dealing with the BC1 unit is very nerve racking. However, we learned a great amount in doing so.

After looking at the retro kit instructions for the Xenon's, I would say it doesn't appear too difficult, but be prepared to spend a good day doing it.

This is something I'm actually looking at doing later in the year. The one regret I have is not getting Xenon's.

 

This may sound funny coming from a person that has the Xenon's on his car, but I don't think they are that much better in the night vision world and surely don't think that it's worth +$1,400 to get them. I probably wouldn't have ordered them if the car hadn't already had them on it. $0.02

 

PLEASE DO THIS!!!

Find the vertical adjustment screw for your headlights. It'll look like a male hex that has been slotted for a screwdriver. The one for the vertical aim will be the INBOARD screw. Turn it about 1/2 turn counter-clockwise (to raise the aim of the light). Then take a drive at night and let me know if the Xenons are still not worth it....

I have driven 8-10 MINIs. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAD POORLY AIMED HEADLIGHTS. All of them were aimed WAY too low. The first night I had my MINI, I wondered if I had wasted my money on Xenons. The next night, I took it out on a country road and aimed the lights and now they're among the best lights I've ever had. I have modified the lighting on every car I've ever owned, and I've had Cibie, Hella, Bosch etc lights. MINI Xenons ROCK once properly aimed. Every other MINI I've aimed the lights on has an owner that'll tell you the same story.

Aim those lights!

Rawhyde

 

I agree with Rawhyde! Make use of the aiming options, all of you Xenoners. It really will help to bring out the best of these lights.

My experience was almost identical...driving home at night after my purchase left me thinking if the xenon talk wasn't all just hot air. Then I saw those adjustment screws, and it was first and one of the best "mods" I've done in 2 minutes.

 

I've posted variations of this story in several threads. I want to reach all the newbies (and others) that are less than impressed with their Xenon investment. The lights are really first class, the factory aim job purely sucks.

This is also true for the halogen headlights. Aim them properly and you'll see a dramatic improvement...same procedure. I had a loaner MC/CVT with halogens and couldn't see to drive over 40 mph until I fixed them.

Rawhyde

 

Thanks Rawhyde, I'll check it out.

 

There's nothing in there regarding the headlights, only the washer system... unless I missed something but I checked every link.

 

be courteous though, and make sure your cutoff is below the side mirrors on most cars still, otherwise you will blind the crap out of people

 

So i ordered some silverstar bulbs to upgrade my halogen headlights on my 2006 MC. i initially ordered 1 pair because i really only wanted to upgrade the lowbeam. Im in NYC and rarely drive where High beams would be appropriate.

then i read in another thread that the DRL's are the hibeam running at reduced power. and they recommended when doing the bulb upgrade to do both or the upgrade wont be as nice (i imagine the headlight color would have some yellow from the stock highbeam still left in it)

so do the DRLs turn off once i turn on the headlights?

and.. reading these two post below make me reconsider putting the silverstars in the high beams

Anyone else have their High beam Silverstar bulbs burn out fast?

I ordered two pairs for cheap on ebay but i can always just keep the second pair as a back up pair and not install it in the high beams as i was planning.

Any suggestions?

 

Sorry if this is a little off topic. I personly dont have an issue driving at night so the bulbs dont matter but im more interested in the styling of the lights themselves. Is it at all possible to just use the housings with halogen lights? Probably a pipe dream.