Greetings. This is my first post as a new owner of a 2012 Clubman S (not my first MINI though - had a '08 Cooper S), and I have a question regarding halogen bulb upgrades. So far, I have not been able to find any definitive information using the forum's search. In any case, as much as my new Clubman is to my liking, unfortunately, it did not come equipped with xenons. Therefore, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with using a particular brand of aftermarket bulb that might enhance the vehicle's lighting capabilities where the stock halogens leave off ? I've read some good things about the Phillips Diamond Vision bulbs, however, it's unclear as to whether or not they're marketed for the USA. Also, please be advised I'm not interested in heading in the direction of an aftermarket HID kit, or anything like that. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've put Hella and PIAA bulbs in various vehicles and they performed better than the OEM bulbs but they were rather pricey.

 

I went to a local auto store and purchased either GE or Phillips , I think they were called Silvertone or something, but they have various ones and prices, each having a specific purpose and they are all DOT approved.

It did improve the lighting over the standard Mini halogens

 

Here's some pics of my new 2012 Clubman S that I picked it up on Saturday.

 

Similar to ours. We had the rear stripes done custom to match the front.

 

Nice. The dealer had a gray one similar to yours (sans the stripes) that I liked very much as well. The curious thing for me was, during the time that I owned an '08 Cooper S, I always viewed the Clubman to be a little goofy looking. However, when the time came to purchase a new vehicle in order to accommodate my dogs, the thought of getting a Clubman really started to grow on me. Perhaps, because I enjoyed the driving experience associated with my previous Mini so much. In any case, when I first saw the Clubman that I ultimately came to purchase (black with black 17 inch wheels, silver stripes and all), I really thought it was groovy ! So far I'm very pleased with my decision. I need to improve the headlight situation though. The halogens don't even remotely compare to my old Mini's xenons.

 

I wanted the 17" wheels but the car is primarily for my wife and she doesn't pay attention to things like pot holes in the road. I stayed with the 16's to have a fighting chance from getting a bent wheel.

She also wanted a "regular" MINI but for 3 years I said no since I think they are just too small for our needs. She came up with the idea for the Clubman so I didn't have the lack of space argument anymore since the interior is fairly close in size to her last car (VW Beetle 1.8T). I've grown to really like the Clubman and she loves it. For some reason she really loves the barn doors too. I guess it is a female / shopping thing. We did get the zenon lights and they do make a big difference.

 

I had my eye on a pre-owned JCW R-56 and my wife and my 10 year old son went on a test ride with me and then wanted to take a Clubman S on a test ride - I was out voted and we drove our Clubman S home.

 

Nice looking vehicle ! My previous Cooper S had the web design wheels also.

 

Thanks - I was buying the car to replace my wife's around town car and she feel in love with it. I read about your concerns with the 17" wheels - my wife's car has 17" wheels - now I've got one more thing to worry about.

 

I also have the stock halogens and wish mine came with HID's. I bought mine used as well. Coming from a G35Coupe with HID's makes a huge difference. I was sad to hear how difficult and a PITA it is to retrofit HID's so i just went with standard halogens.

Here's what i got:

Philips CrystalVision for high/low beams:

Nokya Hyper yellows for the fogs:

And the PIAA Ion Yellow wedge for the accent light in the fogs:

And a pic of it all together:


It's not brighter and it doesn't throw much more light out onto the road vs the stock halogens, but the color is nicer and i can see a little bit better. The yellow fogs do nothing for inclement weather, but they look good


Oh and i have the 18" R113's. I already bent one on a nice pothole :(


Our Clubbies look pretty similar. I wanted to do roof stripes too, but i have the panoramic sunroof, so it'd probably be pointless.

 

I really like that lighgting... its added to my amazon cart! thanks for the reviews!

 

I like the wheels . Unfortunately, here in New England, 18's probably wouldn't last long either. Especially, in the Winter .

 

Hmmm...I may go with your lighting upgrades depending on how my '10 Clubman handles the dark. The one I'm picking up tomorrow doesn't have the driving lamps, so I'll have to see...

 

Just remember that the bulbs i chose do not throw out much more light than stock. My "upgrades" were mostly cosmetic, as i mentioned in my previous post. The fog lights actually have more usable light if you keep them stock and not change them to yellow bulbs. They light up the ground right in front of the car and do not put a beam pattern out ahead of the headlights. If you really want to see further down the road at night, you may want to consider getting aftermarket projector style driving lamps. Even the OEM driving lamps only come on when you turn on your highbeams. You could wire them to come on independently and that could help.

 

Looks good. I was split btwn black -vs- silver wheels, and ended up with silver. Sorry, no experience with bulbs.