I bought mine and installed them myself, love them. SEE my sig

 

i got em.

expensive? yes.
appearance? look great.
functionality/ well you can only use them with the high beams on so you have limited functionality.

all in all i like them and am glad i got them.

 

Are your MINI driving lights the same as the ones that were used on the first-gen cars? They look bigger than mine, but it may be an optical illusion.

 

No; the R56 has a bigger more effective reflector.

 

Well, they certainly look sharp. If I ever find an R56 owner that thinks they look too big, I may propose a swap!

 

I had the factory installed driving lights and they pale in comparison to quality aftermarket. Installation charges alone were quoted at $400

I would NEVER order MINI driving lights ever. For about the same price installed, you can get some Hella FF200 Xenon HID driving lights ... far far better. Why settle for halogen for those kind of prices?

 

Because they are offered from the factory.

The aftermarket is almost always cheaper. Why get JCW Stage 1 or 2 when the Alta stuff can potentially give more power for cheaper? Because they are offered from the factory. It means a lot to some people and little to others. /shrug

 

Not even a close comparison. That is apples and oranges. We are not talking integrated engine packages here. I highly doubt "MINI" driving lights are made by MINI.

Companies like Hella and Cibie have been around for a LONG time, have established and reputable products, and deliver on performance. Auxiliary lighting IS there business. Auxiliary lighting is NOT MINI's business.

Further, for paying the same money and getting True Xenon lighting for the same price? Lots of luck on that OEM stuff This isn't a case of a small amount of money either. $800 for MINI driving lights. Maybe $200 for the same thing aftermarket? Of yeah, good choice!

But hey, to each their own.

 

It is apples to apples, though. I got the driving lights knowing they were more expensive, but also knowing that they go through MINI's quality specs when, clearly, as you've pointed out, Hellas are, um, hella cheaper. Which is true.

What is small money to some is a lot of money to others. I've seen MINIs spec'd to $33k, and people pay it.


*edit* Ok, for "true" apples to apples.... why do people get the $2500 option JCW wheels, or any other MINI offered wheel, when there are aftermarket wheels that are equally good or better for much less? Like you said, to each their own, and nobody should have to justify their purchase on a personalized car to anyone else, regardless of how stupid it seems.

 

Being one who went the full JCW route, full JCW engine, suspension and brakes (not the wheels, dont want 18" wheels), I can say simply because "supposedly" JCW tested the whole thing for some many miles. After market performance parts are not tested anywhere to nearly the extent of JCW. Prices may be cheaper but many parts do not mix and match well. JCW does. IMO there is nothing better than a fully integrated package. The fact that you maintain the factory warranty is a plus. The extra cost, to me, was worth the full factory intergration and warranty.

Thats not true about lighting or electronics. Lighting and electronics have been around much longer than MINI has existed in any incarnation. MINI's business is not to build lights nor radios or BT or whatever. Its too build cars. You can get superior lighting, stereos, other other electronics from Hella, Sony, Motorola or whoever for a cheaper price.

I consider this all a lesson learned over many years. Engines, suspensions, and sometimes brakes ... go OEM if possible. Electronis, always go aftermarket.

But if you like all OEM parts ... yup, your car, your money, go for it! It's just not worth the money to me and I was never buy OEM driving lights for ANY car ever again.

 

By the way, I'm not offended by your comments, but do mean it when I say that nobody should have to justify their (especially with MINI's customizeability) purchasing decisions to anyone else

 

i ordered mine through the dealer as they told me when i did that they would be painted to match the body or chome. i wanted them painted and was surprised when they arrived in chrome and as told that they only came in chrome.

hmmmmmm. weird.

 

I agree. Thats why I say its your car, your money, do what you want.

 

I'm very happy with my driving lamps - I really like the look of them.

My only complaint is that the installation at the VDC caused an extra week delay in delivery to the dealership. But it worked out fine in the end!

 

I live in the suburban.(not the SUV). I love the asthetics of the driving lights but will have no use for them. Maybe I might, when a slow moving vehicle is in my lane. Is there an aftermarket driving light that has a cutoff like a low beam so that you can actually drive around with the light brightening the road without blinding the oncoming cars causing unnecessary anger toward you and the MINI as a whole?

 

I have aftermarket lamps (Hella 2500s) and recently compared them to someone else's OEM MINI lamps.

Mine are wired directly to my toggle panel instead of a switch under the dash (for me, this makes them "more OEM" than the actual OEM lamps). The entire procedure, self-installed, including lamps, brackets, a new toggle panel, and a circuit to make the lamps work with the toggle, cost me $210. A friend and I installed them in about an hour, it was very easy..

Anyway, you make your choice based on the look you like best, but my point is you can go completely integrated custom for a lot less than OEM. Also, my friend's OEMs were really dim compared to mine, which I'm sure could be remedied with better bulbs but for that money, who wants to dole out another $40-100 (depending on how many lamps you put in and what kind of bulb) to make it better?

My friend now wants to ditch his OEMs and put in something similar to what I used, only with larger lamps.

 

Did every necessary part come with the lights for $210? When do you use them?

 

That included EVERYTHING except maybe $5 in stainless steel screws, nylock nuts, and rubber washers. And that's only because the bracket kit came with rivets, and I don't have a rivet gun. Otherwise, yes, that would have included everything! Well, maybe not shipping. Shipping for assorted parts was maybe another $15-20.

Edited: PLUS I recouped $25 from my old 5-toggle panel by selling it on NAM

 

where did you order/buy from? I would like to check them out. Thanks.

 

I bought the lamp kit on Amazon for $65ish. Just do a search for "Hella 2500" and you'll find them. Then I got the brackets from Outmotoring.com for $45ish. The toggle panel came from Classic for $60ish and the circuit came from Ian Cull for $60ish. Assorted screws, nuts, and washers came from Home Depot

So did the light kit itself INCLUDE everything...no. It included the lamps, wiring, and a switch for if you just want to wire the lights to the switch and mount the switch somewhere. Everything else was piece-part, but it came together nicely.

I drew the inspiration and how-to from this thread by ImagoX. I loved the way his lamps look and got the parts and went for it.

 

Yes.

In general, driving lights are with 15 degrees or 5 degrees if a pencil beam. Fogs are much wider 95 degrees or more. PIAA sells "low beam" driving lights http://piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/525.html 80 degrees.

You can see the patterns of lights for Hellas here http://www.rallylights.com/hella/ISO...ms_Driving.asp

BTW, 2500s are the Optilux brand, not the Hella brand although both sold by Hella, they are different brands.

 

I love the look of the driving lamps on the R56. The new driving lamps are slightly bigger, have the MINI logo on the lens, and come with white covers ready to be customized! The kit comes with it's own grille for the mounting brackets. I had to also get the switch that matches my Cream colorline. My biggest fear is parking in Boston, where it's very common for people to back up into parked cars' front ends. My driving lamps would be the first thing destroyed! I got the chrome ones, but I hear they are also producing them in black.

 

Love the look!

 

am looking forward to install some driving lamps to my car.. but alexander mini told me they would fix them for me total of 1100 is there any other dealers (in SoCal)) that fix them for a cheaper price.. i mean the driving lamps + installation fee?

 

100% completely incidentally, I was just at a Wal-Mart. I had never been in one before. Long Island has just got them recently (last year or 2) beleive it or not. Anyway, perusing around I bumped into a large rack of add on driving lamps, fog lamps, aux lamps... They were priced from $19.99 up to a wopping $39.99 for the best high end, big name xenon types. They ALL came with 2 lights, mount, wireing harness, and lighted toggle switch.

It would take a dopey person with a screw driver about 1 hour tops to install the set of your choice. And best of all, you can wire them any way you wish, preferrable directly to an ignition power source so you can use them whenever you want!!

500 to 750 is just STUPID!!