Another example of why some people get upset at MINI drivers........

 

I installed mine but I didn't wire it up as rear fogs... I think that's overkill. I use them as extra tail/brake lights.

Mark

 

Fills blanks... Makes the bumper look nicer

 

What kit did you use? I was going to order from Minispeed.net. was it tricky at all tapping into the brake lamps? were there good instructions?

 

Oh yeah, easy as pie. All it is, is a harness with two wires that you use scotchlock "suitcase" connectors to tap into the OEM wiring harness.

Black wire on harness to brown wire on OEM harness.

White wire on harness to yellow wire on OEM harness.

That simple... 10 minutes.


Mark

 

I got as far as trying to get the tail light unit out. I found the release for the top, but somthing is stopping the bottom of the unit from coming out. Tight area so how did you do it?

Jim

 

Jim,

On the bottom of the taillight, there is an upside down plastic V catching on the body sheetmetal.

Gently wiggle the light out and pull upwards. At some point, you'll be able to get your fingers in there and pry the plastic "V" upwards allowing it to pull past the sheetmetal.

Mark

 

Thank you. I'll give that a try. The instructions for that came with this mod are for crap. We are talking abouyt the LEFT tail light aren't we?

Jim

 

It doesn't matter which taillight, the wires are the same color on both sides.

If you need help, PM me and I'll give you my phone number.

Mark

 

so i'm taking it from the posts that you just pop out the blanks, and replace them with the lamps. then how do you get to the wiring?
i just wanna know what kind of project i'm getting myself into! haha. i'm not an experienced moder at all. i can do badges and stickers...that's my level thus far!

 

Poping in the fog light is easy. Hooking up the wiring behnd the tail light looks easy. Taking out the tail light should be easy, but is proving to be tricky.

Jim

 

yea so it sounds. if you wouldn't mind some pics would be great or your experience documented i'd really appreciate it! i'm definatly going to do the lights. hopefully i can power them as the kit is set up to do or i'll leave them to act as reflecters.

could this mess up the warranty at all? could this be something that will haunt us down the road?

 

I don't see how this could be a problem. We would never ask them to fix the rear fog. If the tail light had a problem I guess they could say the mod caused it (butonlyon the side you tapped into ). My dealer is very fast to blame something they can't fix on me, but a tail light failure would be rare I would think.

Jim

 

I did the rear fog/brake conversion and haven't regretted it one bit!
There was a discussion on here about using regular bulbs and it having an extra draw on the computer. While I thought it was trivial, I did change out the bulbs to led's because of the brightness of the bulb as well as the life of the bulb. The first set I ised were 5 light led's and found out that these weren't bright enough for my liking and have since changed to 12 light led's. Much brighter!

 

yea, i've thought i may just put the lights in and not wire until the warranty is out. i don't know my dealer well yet (i've had the car 2 weeks) but don't wanna find out when they turn something like that on me!

 

Hey all... I've been running the Minspeed kit for almost a year now and not a single problem related to lights or electrical . I think the only thing I've done differently in consideration of the kit and the potential battery draw is turn off the DRLs, but quite honestly I don't think keeping them on would make that much of a difference either.

As for installation, easy peasy. I'm a complete idiot with my hands and still managed to get them on.

 

Removing Tail Light Unit:

On the bottom of the unit there is a strip of plastic running along the center from front to back. The front inch is free and can be flexed up by pushing on it. It is very stiff and requires some effort. Place your place your hand behind the unit with you palm against the back and fingers extending along the bottom toward the front. Find the strip and place your fingers at the very front. Push up with your fingers and forward with your palm at the same time. This gives you enough leverage to push the plactic strip up just enough for the unit to come out.

Jim

 

i've a 05 and i wan ot install the 3rd brake light... i peek under the car and saw thta its already pre wired..

anyone knwo how much does the 3rd brake light cost and who the cheapest? what the part no?

 

If your car is a MC (Non s) then this is it:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...W%20OEM%20Part

Jim

 

my is a MCS conv... is there a difference? i am not going to hook up with toggle switch.. i will just use it as a brake light

 

Open the above link and at the bottom is a button to ask them a question. Give them your year, make and model and they will give you the correct part number.

They respond right away and their shipping is fast.

Jim

 

awesome....

 

Just ordered!

 

installed yesterday
40 min on the drivers side and 15 on the pass. side. i'm not too good at this stuff. but learned a lot because i'm slow and cautious. anyway. all done. very cool. very happy with the mod! if anyone needs help/guidance lemme know

 

Rear fogs can also be useful for club runs to help identify MINIs on the run as opposed to just coincidentally on the road.