Hey Everyone!
I guess you can say this is my first legit post to NAM (Apart from some CF postings). I recently acquired a 2011 Cooper S that I have been putting a little work into. I have gradually realized that the lighting setup I have currently is insanely weak. My question is if anyone has done a light bar install on an r56 or r53? Im thinking behind the upper or even lower grill. Thoughts anyone? I did the same exact thing with a 12" rigid industries bar on my old pickup and it worked wonders, cant imagine how useful it would be on a little mini...



This was my setup. Also toying with putting some Hella Black Magics behind the grill?

 

I agree, the stock lights are not the greatest.

There isn't much room behind the lower grille, but lights might fit....and there is a steel bumper they could be attached to. However, if you ever want to put in a larger intercooler, I would say that lights behind the lower grille are a no-go.

There might be enough room behind the upper grille, but the the grille honeycomb mesh might need to be trimmed to reduce blocking the lights.

Other options would be to install some aftermarket HID headlights....they would be usable in city driving and country driving, while driving lights would normally be limited to country driving. For me, if I add rally/driving lights, part of the reason that I would do it is for "the look", so putting them behind the grille would be trick, but not the best....but that's just my personal preference.

 

I just ordered a set of PIAA 510 white driving lights for our MCS and light mounting brackets from Minimania. It will be a few weeks before the brackets arrive but I'll post up the results when done. The objective was two fold, part for appearance and part for the supplemental light. Hadn't considered LED light bars although they do deliver incredible results.

 

That sounds like a decent setup! Yeah I originally thought about two issues when I think of LED bars; 1. Heat+ plastic grill = bad news 2. Price point. But after some quick searching it seems as though led bars have dropped quite a bit in price since I last checked. Even the cheap Amazon bars seem to have quite decent reviews. For 30 bucks, seems hard not to try!

https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-Drivi...ords=light+bar

 

Looks interesting - want to see your outcome!

 

Thanks for the order! Let us know how it works out

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.