Bulb Size ?
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4th Gear
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 592
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From: Tampa, Fla.
I know the high and low beam bulb sizes are H7. However, the manual does not inform you of other bulbs that can be easily replaced. I need help knowing the sizes of the sidemarkers, turn signals, parking, brake, and fog lights. I would like to update some of these bulbs with newer, brighter, Phillips Bulbs.....Any info would be greatly appreciated... Thanks 
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4th Gear
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 592
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From: Tampa, Fla.
You can purchase the H11 at http://www.europeanautosport.com for $39.00 shipped! I also searched and found other retaliers offering the H11 at 100 & 80 watts. Would upgrading the fog light wattage have any negative effect? 
5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,081
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From: Texas
You can find H11's all over the place...
European Autosports has both hid-look and yellow ion in 55w H11 to replace the factory fogs... they have a one-year replacement warranty. I've seen lots of good pics around the web of both their H11 products. Personally, I'm going with yellow ion because I like to see well in the fog!
If you're interested, we're putting together a group buy through Metroplex MINI's...
European Autosport H11 Group Buy
You can order Phillips SilverVision bulbs from Powerbulbs to replace the front turn indicator - they're hella cool, being silver when unlit and amber when lit. Order right now, and they'll throw in some BlueVision lights that will replace your driving lights that're right next to the front turn indicators...
I'm not sure about all the other bulbs.
I have some H7 Hella 55w + 50% bulbs on order from RSpeed to replace my low beams (I have halogens, not the xenons), just to see if I like them... RSpeed swears by them.
European Autosports has both hid-look and yellow ion in 55w H11 to replace the factory fogs... they have a one-year replacement warranty. I've seen lots of good pics around the web of both their H11 products. Personally, I'm going with yellow ion because I like to see well in the fog!
If you're interested, we're putting together a group buy through Metroplex MINI's...
European Autosport H11 Group Buy
You can order Phillips SilverVision bulbs from Powerbulbs to replace the front turn indicator - they're hella cool, being silver when unlit and amber when lit. Order right now, and they'll throw in some BlueVision lights that will replace your driving lights that're right next to the front turn indicators...
I'm not sure about all the other bulbs.
I have some H7 Hella 55w + 50% bulbs on order from RSpeed to replace my low beams (I have halogens, not the xenons), just to see if I like them... RSpeed swears by them.
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4th Gear
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Tampa, Fla.
I'll go in on the group buy. Put me down for a pair of the HID look fogs, white. Let me know the particulars when ready. Thanks!!
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2nd Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 51
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From: bellevue
I just changed all my lights from SUPREME POWER PARTS. The lights are great the service is wonderful and price you can't beat. The person you need to get in touch with is Eric.I baught
H7 high beams in white and yellow
H11 for fogs in yellow
W5W city lights [parking lights] clear
Silver Vision for turn signal. these are a mirriored bulb so you don't see the amber through your lens.Give Eric a try you won't be disapointed.
mailto:eric@supremepowerparts.com
http://www.supremepower.com/main.html
714 632 1951
Rob
H7 high beams in white and yellow
H11 for fogs in yellow
W5W city lights [parking lights] clear
Silver Vision for turn signal. these are a mirriored bulb so you don't see the amber through your lens.Give Eric a try you won't be disapointed.
mailto:eric@supremepowerparts.com
http://www.supremepower.com/main.html
714 632 1951
Rob
1st Gear
Joined: Dec 2002
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That helps a little, but what type of bulbs are they? How did you know what silvervision bulb to order? 1157? 3157? 2057? 2558? I tried replacing the front turn signals with 1156 bulbs because they looked similar but the little tabs on the base of the bulb were offset. If anyone has actual bulb numbers instead of watt ratings on the bulbs that would help alot. Thanks :smile:
6th Gear
Joined: May 2003
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From: Makakilo, HI
ceberlik,
I use Philips SilverVision for my front turn signals (I had these from my M3 - used on both front and back for that car). Part number is PY21W. There are two other numbers on the box : 12496 SV and 12 V 21 W. They look great - gets rid of the egg-yolk look. BTW - I seem to remember a lot of debate on the Roadfly E46 M3 board about which of these "egg-yolk" eliminating bulbs was best and the consensus was the SilverVisions were much better than the rest. Watch out for the cheaply made knock-offs! Hope that helps. :smile:
>>That helps a little, but what type of bulbs are they? How did you know what silvervision bulb to order? 1157? 3157? 2057? 2558? I tried replacing the front turn signals with 1156 bulbs because they looked similar but the little tabs on the base of the bulb were offset. If anyone has actual bulb numbers instead of watt ratings on the bulbs that would help alot. Thanks :smile:
I use Philips SilverVision for my front turn signals (I had these from my M3 - used on both front and back for that car). Part number is PY21W. There are two other numbers on the box : 12496 SV and 12 V 21 W. They look great - gets rid of the egg-yolk look. BTW - I seem to remember a lot of debate on the Roadfly E46 M3 board about which of these "egg-yolk" eliminating bulbs was best and the consensus was the SilverVisions were much better than the rest. Watch out for the cheaply made knock-offs! Hope that helps. :smile:
>>That helps a little, but what type of bulbs are they? How did you know what silvervision bulb to order? 1157? 3157? 2057? 2558? I tried replacing the front turn signals with 1156 bulbs because they looked similar but the little tabs on the base of the bulb were offset. If anyone has actual bulb numbers instead of watt ratings on the bulbs that would help alot. Thanks :smile:
Neutral
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 10
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High beam bulb is H-7 regardless of whether the low beams are Xenon or halogen. Halogen low beams are also H-7.
Best low beam bulbs are (in no special order) Narva, Osram, Philips or Candlepower H-7 55W "Plus 50". I don't like Hella bulbs, the quality control isn't there. It's because they don't make their own bulbs, they buy them on a low-bid basis from all over the world. Any bulb company will stamp whatever is wanted on the bulb base if the quantity bought is high enough. (therefore "HELLA" bulbs...)Might be a first quality German bulb this month and a piece of trash from Korea next month, China the month after that, Belgium after that, then Mexico...who needs the guessing games. I want the manufacturer's name on the box or bulb, thanks very much.
There is one and only one best high beam bulb, and it is made by Osram. Not catalogued, it's a 65W "Rallye" H-7. Instead of cramming an 80W filament in, Osram reasoned "Hey, the H-9 is a 65W bulb that has a different base from H-7, but the glass and filament placement and size/shape is all the same!" So they put the H-9 glass and filament on the H-7 base. Viola, a 65W H-7 that produces 2100 lumens of light (compared to H-7 55W 1400 lumens). The extra 10 Watts won't hurt anything (10W is about what a turn signal uses) and they are WAY more intense than the factory bulbs. The ironic thing is the only other brand--name "off road" H-7, the Philips, is 80W and only makes 2000 lumens. Sure, it's "only" 100 less lumens, but it's also 30 "more" watts which I completely hesitate to put in the plastic headlight with stock wiring, etc. I don't feel like finding out whether the computer would cope, either!
The sidemarker and parking "city" bulbs are not "192s" as someone else in this thread said. They are W5Ws. They are already plenty bright but if for some reason it's desired to make them brighter, any W5W can be replaced by a 3652 or 2886x, 6W Xenon-filled bulb. Not a dumb piece of blue-colored junk, this one has uncolored glass and is actually filled with Xenon. About 2 more candlepower than a W5W which doesn't sound like much until you realize that a W5W puts out 4 cp, so 2 more is fully 50 percent more light.
The mysterious front turn signal bulb is only mysterious in America, it's common as dirt everywhere else in the world. It is called a PY21W, and its special base is called a BAU15s. The base pin is "skewed" because Europe has a law that different bulbs (clear vs. amber, one wattage vs. another wattage, etc.) have to have different bases. This is to prevent idiots putting clear bulbs behind clear turn signal lenses because they think it's "cool". Either the Philips SilverVision or the Osram Diadem "invisdible when off" bulbs work great in these. The no-name copy cats aren't worth the $$, get the real deal only. They also sharpen up the appearance especially on silver, white, black, blue and green cars (yellow and red cars don't look bad with the standard bulbs). The other thing about especially the Osram Diadem is that its amber color will NEVER burn out/burn off. Look around and see all the late model Mercedes, Saabs, Volvos, etc. with a little amber left at the bottom fo the rear turn signal and the rest is white -- because Europe has another law says you can't use Cadmium in glass any more, so they had to switch to coatings, and the base level clear amber coating sometimes can't hold up to the heat. The Diadem has a ceramic coating, you can put it in a torch flame and the glass will eventually shatter but the coating won't flake!
The Diadem bulb is what is used in the optional clear tail light package. Be ready for a very rude surprise if you have the clear tails the first time a brake/tail or rear fog bulb burns out...YOU CANNOT JUST REPLACE THE BULB! Only the amber turn signal bulb can be replaced -- it is a regular Osram Diadem.
Without the clear tails:
Brake/tail bulb is a P21/5W, the European functional equivalent of 1157, but NOT the same. P21/5W has a nickle-plated base for corrosion resistance and puts out different amounts of light than 1157. No matter anyway, the best bulb to replace them is a P-3496. It has the nickle-plate base, is Xenon filled for higher efficiency. 43 candlepower on "brake" mode instead of just 33 from the P21/5W.
Rear turn and rear fog are both P21W. Replace with P-3497 for 45 candlepower instead of 33.
Backup light is also P21W, best replacement is P-796. Halogen 35W, really nice 1-piece bulb not the 2-piece 50W "fire starters" from the parts store. Twice the light output. Not for use in rear turn or rear fog because halogen bulbs don't come on as fast as regular ones, they take like an extra 100 milliseconds or so. OK for putting it in reverse, but you want your brake and turn signal lights on, RIGHT NOW.
All the above info is compiled from knowledge I got from asking questions of Daniel Stern, who is also where I got the actual bulbs. As far as I'm concerned, whatever he says to use, I'm going to use, and whatever he says not to use, I'm not going to use. I followed his suggestions and every single one of them did exactly what he said it would. He even told me why I should NOT buy yellow ion H11s, and when I did some homework to check if he was BSing, I found exactly what he said I would find. I say, leave the idiots with their hyped up "HID look" bulbs, silly bulb "warranties" and baseless claims for the kids with slammed Hondas.
Chnaane
Best low beam bulbs are (in no special order) Narva, Osram, Philips or Candlepower H-7 55W "Plus 50". I don't like Hella bulbs, the quality control isn't there. It's because they don't make their own bulbs, they buy them on a low-bid basis from all over the world. Any bulb company will stamp whatever is wanted on the bulb base if the quantity bought is high enough. (therefore "HELLA" bulbs...)Might be a first quality German bulb this month and a piece of trash from Korea next month, China the month after that, Belgium after that, then Mexico...who needs the guessing games. I want the manufacturer's name on the box or bulb, thanks very much.
There is one and only one best high beam bulb, and it is made by Osram. Not catalogued, it's a 65W "Rallye" H-7. Instead of cramming an 80W filament in, Osram reasoned "Hey, the H-9 is a 65W bulb that has a different base from H-7, but the glass and filament placement and size/shape is all the same!" So they put the H-9 glass and filament on the H-7 base. Viola, a 65W H-7 that produces 2100 lumens of light (compared to H-7 55W 1400 lumens). The extra 10 Watts won't hurt anything (10W is about what a turn signal uses) and they are WAY more intense than the factory bulbs. The ironic thing is the only other brand--name "off road" H-7, the Philips, is 80W and only makes 2000 lumens. Sure, it's "only" 100 less lumens, but it's also 30 "more" watts which I completely hesitate to put in the plastic headlight with stock wiring, etc. I don't feel like finding out whether the computer would cope, either!
The sidemarker and parking "city" bulbs are not "192s" as someone else in this thread said. They are W5Ws. They are already plenty bright but if for some reason it's desired to make them brighter, any W5W can be replaced by a 3652 or 2886x, 6W Xenon-filled bulb. Not a dumb piece of blue-colored junk, this one has uncolored glass and is actually filled with Xenon. About 2 more candlepower than a W5W which doesn't sound like much until you realize that a W5W puts out 4 cp, so 2 more is fully 50 percent more light.
The mysterious front turn signal bulb is only mysterious in America, it's common as dirt everywhere else in the world. It is called a PY21W, and its special base is called a BAU15s. The base pin is "skewed" because Europe has a law that different bulbs (clear vs. amber, one wattage vs. another wattage, etc.) have to have different bases. This is to prevent idiots putting clear bulbs behind clear turn signal lenses because they think it's "cool". Either the Philips SilverVision or the Osram Diadem "invisdible when off" bulbs work great in these. The no-name copy cats aren't worth the $$, get the real deal only. They also sharpen up the appearance especially on silver, white, black, blue and green cars (yellow and red cars don't look bad with the standard bulbs). The other thing about especially the Osram Diadem is that its amber color will NEVER burn out/burn off. Look around and see all the late model Mercedes, Saabs, Volvos, etc. with a little amber left at the bottom fo the rear turn signal and the rest is white -- because Europe has another law says you can't use Cadmium in glass any more, so they had to switch to coatings, and the base level clear amber coating sometimes can't hold up to the heat. The Diadem has a ceramic coating, you can put it in a torch flame and the glass will eventually shatter but the coating won't flake!
The Diadem bulb is what is used in the optional clear tail light package. Be ready for a very rude surprise if you have the clear tails the first time a brake/tail or rear fog bulb burns out...YOU CANNOT JUST REPLACE THE BULB! Only the amber turn signal bulb can be replaced -- it is a regular Osram Diadem.
Without the clear tails:
Brake/tail bulb is a P21/5W, the European functional equivalent of 1157, but NOT the same. P21/5W has a nickle-plated base for corrosion resistance and puts out different amounts of light than 1157. No matter anyway, the best bulb to replace them is a P-3496. It has the nickle-plate base, is Xenon filled for higher efficiency. 43 candlepower on "brake" mode instead of just 33 from the P21/5W.
Rear turn and rear fog are both P21W. Replace with P-3497 for 45 candlepower instead of 33.
Backup light is also P21W, best replacement is P-796. Halogen 35W, really nice 1-piece bulb not the 2-piece 50W "fire starters" from the parts store. Twice the light output. Not for use in rear turn or rear fog because halogen bulbs don't come on as fast as regular ones, they take like an extra 100 milliseconds or so. OK for putting it in reverse, but you want your brake and turn signal lights on, RIGHT NOW.
All the above info is compiled from knowledge I got from asking questions of Daniel Stern, who is also where I got the actual bulbs. As far as I'm concerned, whatever he says to use, I'm going to use, and whatever he says not to use, I'm not going to use. I followed his suggestions and every single one of them did exactly what he said it would. He even told me why I should NOT buy yellow ion H11s, and when I did some homework to check if he was BSing, I found exactly what he said I would find. I say, leave the idiots with their hyped up "HID look" bulbs, silly bulb "warranties" and baseless claims for the kids with slammed Hondas.
Chnaane
Thread Starter
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4th Gear
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 592
Likes: 5
From: Tampa, Fla.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the EXCELLENT write up. I really appreciate your time and expertise in this area and plan to keep a copy of this info. Perhaps this response should be placed in a "How To" section or some other reference section where MINI owners can get the info they need....... Also....where did you contact Daniel Stern at? Is there a website that he has? Thanks Again!
Also....where did you contact Daniel Stern at? Is there a website that he has? Thanks Again! 
3rd Gear
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 254
Likes: 0
From: cape coral fl
hi all
d ddid you ever find the bulbs mentioned in this thread?
looking fro part #s p-796
p-3497
p-3496
who makes them? anyone please help.
did a lot of searching to no avail.
since i smoked my rear lits i would like to light-up
the back end more.
thanks, doug
d ddid you ever find the bulbs mentioned in this thread?
looking fro part #s p-796
p-3497
p-3496
who makes them? anyone please help.
did a lot of searching to no avail.
since i smoked my rear lits i would like to light-up
the back end more.
thanks, doug
1st Gear
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Hey, I did a little research and answered my own question. This ought to clear up a lot of confusion. The bulb size PY21W is European nomenclature (odly enough GE started this part number). PY21W is an identical bulb to a standard 7507 bulb. You can walk into any Pep Boys or car parts store and pick up a 7507 bulb and be 100% certain that it will fit. I picked up a 7507 packet made by Sylvania and really small below the number it had written PY21W in parentheses. A 7506 bulb will also fit, but it is a clear version of the same bulb and is called a P21W without the "Y" in Europe (as opposed to the amber 7507 that we have for the front signals). Just about any standard wedge bulb should fit the parking lights (194, 168, 158, etc) Hope this helps.
PY21W = 7507
P21W = 7506
And now to get on with my life! :smile:
_________________
ssssshhhh . . . don't wake the sleeper!
PY21W = 7507
P21W = 7506
And now to get on with my life! :smile:
_________________
ssssshhhh . . . don't wake the sleeper!
4th Gear
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 397
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From: SF Bay Area
Originally Posted by Scheinwerferantwortmann
He even told me why I should NOT buy yellow ion H11s, and when I did some homework to check if he was BSing, I found exactly what he said I would find.
2nd Gear
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 70
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hey what you can do to make it fit, is grind off one of the tabs and it will work perfectly, thats what i did and have super bright white PIAAs as turn signals
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