turn the wheel in or out. which ever way you can get you're hand in there better. there are two circular hard plastic pieces. take the lower one and turn counter clockwise. i think it only goes like 90 degrees. then familiarize yourself with the layout of lights. the upper one is the city light. grab it and turn it just like the plastic piece. it'll come loose, pull the whole thing out (it will come out easily) and swap the bulb.

some people pull off the wheel for easy access but it's not really nessessary, or wasn't for me. there are also directions in the owners manual that are what i used to figure it out.

 

Thank you sir,I'm going to try it as soon as I get my LED.

 

Interesting. One of my license plate bulbs are burned out. And I don't get a warning.

I just went to Walmart and bought a package of two "long life" regular (non-LED) bulbs for less than $5.

I was humming and hawing about getting LEDs.

 

I also had the happen to me. Found the exact bulb from Mini Mania website so I could make sure it was compatible with my car. Took the picture with me to AutoZone, found the one I needed. It cost about $5.00. You will need to remove your plate before you begin since it is in the way. I found how to change it by surfing the web, took a chance on destroying the plastic protection cover, but stuck a screwdriver near the little indentation on the right and pulled it over and up. It made a loud popping sound, but did come off in tact. Used the screwdriver to loosen the old bulb and popped it out. Popped the other one in, turn on the engine, turned on the lights and it was working. Change the other one at the same time. I am a female who is scared of anything car related for fear I am going to cause more damage or more problems. If I can do it, a trained seal could do this as well. :-) Good luck. Don't buy a bulb at a Mini dealership for heaven's sake.

 

Another female here. I installed my own MiniDoMore hitch, so I ought to be able to do these license plate bulbs. EXCEPT -- that I can't remove the license plate, because one screw is just spinning. I've wanted to replace my lic plate frame for a while, but I can't get the thing off! Dealer says I have to remove the panel to get behind it. Groan (I had enough of that with the hitch install).

I wonder if this light bulb warning I'm getting is covered in my maintenance package -- in which case THEY can remove the panel to get the license plate off, to change the lic plate bulbs.

Guess I'll phone and see ... (2012 Cooper S hardtop)

 

Try applying some pressure from behind the area with a small screwdriver as you use another to spin the screw out. Usually works for me. You may need a new plastic nut (or two) for the plate when you are done, but those seem to be pretty common, even MINI should have them for pretty cheap.