Hey everyone,

I tried to search for a similar issue, but I had no luck. I had the clutch replaced on my Mini about two weeks ago. When I drove it to the shop, the Xenon lights worked perfectly. I haven't driven at night a lot lately, so then about a week ago I drove at night and noticed that both headlights were directed toward the ground, providing minimal light. I went back to the repair shop two days ago, and they noticed that the front left level sensor was hanging down and was not bolted on as a result of the clutch repair. They bolted it back on, and then I tested it a few hours later and the level sensor was still not working. Here are some of my questions:

Is it possible that, since it was hanging down, that they forgot to plug it in at the other end when doing the clutch change? If so, where does the other end of the level sensor plug in? Is there a photo or diagram of that? (Not the end by the front wheel, but the other end of the front wheel level sensor.)

Is it possible that they didn't bolt it on correctly when I took it in, causing it to malfunction? If so, is there a photo or diagram of how it should be bolted on?

Is it possible that the level sensor would have been damaged by hanging down for two weeks? I drive roughly 250 miles a week (mostly interstate driving), although I drove more during this past holiday weekend before they noticed it was hanging down.

Thanks in advance for your help on this!

 

You have a R50/R53 correct?

 

Well, it's a 2007 R52 MCS.

 

OK, just wanted to make sure you had a Gen1 car and not a Gen2.

Have you checked out the below thread relative to fuses and relays? I am wondering if by driving around with one end of the cord not plugged in whether a fuse or relay was blown.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nd-wiring.html

 

Thanks for your help. I should clarify that the sensor was still plugged in, but it just wasn't bolted on. I did check the fuses and relays while trying to diagnose the issue, but I can check again just to make sure. The mechanic I took it to couldn't get any error codes to pull up (apart from the hall sensors on the top, but that's a whole other issue), but I did manually aim them so that I can at least drive at night while I figure out the issue with the auto-leveling.

 

Check to see if the ball and socket inside the headlights popped loose causing them to point down. Closing the hood too hard is usually why this happens. It can also happen if you hit something like a large pothole.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I didn't check those, because they were both pointing down at the same time and because the mechanic accidentally left the sensor unbolted (not unplugged) when changing out the clutch. The lights worked perfectly well before, and I don't think they would have opened the hood to work on the clutch. However, I'll still check them just to eliminate the possibility. I'm not trying to say you're wrong, just explaining my logic as to why I hadn't check it yet. It's raining where I'm at, and I only have a driveway to work with, so I may not have an answer for a couple of days on the fuses or the light sockets. My mechanic might let me take a look at them in his garage though. However, I have a feeling it's something with the sensor.

Does anyone have any suggestions with regards to the questions in the original post? Any help is greatly appreciated, and I'll try as many possibilities as I can to get this resolved. If nothing else, I can take a road trip to the Mini dealer. Thanks everyone!

 

No problem, just throwing out a possibilty to check. I don't think you can change the clutch on a MINI without opening the hood, but then I'm not sure if you would have been able to manually adjust your headlights like you did if they were popped loose.

 

Ah okay. I thought everything was done from underneath, but that's one of the many parts I won't mess with on my cars. That's a good point about the manual adjustment part, though. I hadn't thought of that. This problem is driving me nuts, because I spend over $2k for the clutch and flywheel replacement, and the car is still not quite fixed.


I did forget to mention that I tried to wipe off the sensor, because it had a bit of grease on it. I don't know how the sensor works, so I'm not sure if that would have helped, but it didn't help in this case. I tried to trace the wiring, and it looks like it's plugged in correctly on both ends, but I don't know for sure. It's possible that the sensor is fine, but my assumption is that it isn't since it was left hanging. Is there another way to test the sensor to see if it is working or not working? It's clear that something isn't connecting right, I just don't know where.

 

Need to see of one of the electrical wizards will chime in. Would assume through either voltage or resistance one could figure out if the sensor is bad.

 

The projectors pointing down and not leveling is exactly what happens when the sockets pop loose so it's still could be the problem. Not a lot of people know about this and the whole headlight usually gets replaced when it happens. I think all you need to do is remove the cover on the back for the bulb and you can see if the ball is still attached. I'll look at my spare and try to post a pic.

Besides the ball and socket joints, I don't know how good it is to jar the xenon bulbs and igniters when closing the hood like any other car. Because of this I gently set the hood down then latch each side by pushing right behind each headlight when I close my hood. Those parts are expensive so I'd rather go through the extra steps than deal with an issue later.

Not sure if you got any replies to these from your original post.

 

There are three ball and sockets for the projector. The ***** at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions are attached to the black adjustment screws with the directional arrows below the silver posts at the top of this pic.


Remove projector bulb cover to access ball and sockets for the projector.


Projector adjustment popped loose at the 9 o'clock position causing the headlight to point down.


Projector adjustment connected at the 3 o'clock position.