Has anyone had problems with their xenon auto-level sensors and super low ride heights? I haven't checked mine closely yet, but I was curious if anyone knew whether there was a maximum range for their movement or not.

If so, has anyone made extensions for the sensor arms? It looks like it'd be pretty easy to make.

 

Rally have we seen a thread about your MCC on NAM yet? I only think I've seen it on M/U. Cause when you say your slammed I doubt people really understand to what extent. As to your question sadly I am of no help, I am not sufficiently lowered nor xenoned yet. One day if all goes to plan.

 

hahah I've posted a little about it in the clubman forum. I was just hoping that someone out there knew a little about the sensors and their limits. This is the first car I've ever had with xenons so the sensor system is totally new to me.

For the record though, this is in regards to a car that is really really lowered...probably upwards of 6 inches lower than stock.

 

wow, thats really low...

 

Please post a pic! I'd love to see how that looks!!!

 

Bumper rests on the ground, jack points are about a finger gap off the ground. Still working on getting it lower. I've got some plans to machine some custom mounts and lower it another 1-2 inches. The 6 inch lowering number that I threw out there will be where it sits AFTER these mounts are installed. Right now, it sits about 4-4.5" lower than stock based on the arch->ground measurements.

 

Bump for answers to the question. Anyone know anything about how these sensors work?

 

You might check or ask on the 1st Generation / suspension forum as they have a lot more slammed MINI's.

 

What the heck have you used to slam it that far, i want them, i need them, i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

how does that thing drive? it looks like theres no travel left at all!!

 

hahahaha what makes you think that suspension is fixed at that height?

 

I hope it doesn't rain in your area. There is a thread somewhere here on NAM that talks about hydrostatic lock of the engine from water ingestion when traversing puddles 4"-6" deep.

 

They're custom struts. They have quite a few inches more travel than the OEM or aftermarket MINI struts/coilovers My rears have have 5.6" of travel which is a far cry from the 1.5" of travel that a non-lowered OEM MINI has

Somehow missed that thread. Where is the water getting in?

Either way, deep water is no issue...

 

off-topic discussion aside........does ANYONE know about the xenon sensors/servos????

 

On topic: the thread on water ingestion indicated the air intake is located low. The OP for the thread stated they had slowed down to walking speed to traverse a puddle that did not swamp the cabin after the car had died mid-stream and the door was opened. A poster observed that the door sill in a MINI is 6 inches above the roadway and that the MINI manual said it could cross 6 inches (I think-haven't looked myself) if done slowly. Ergo, the hydro-lock shouldn't have happened.

Still, the result, was a hydro-locked engine. Another poster gave a similar story. Both were out $8k for a new engine since this is not covered by warranty.

Off topic: No. But am interested since I have same headlights.

 

Regarding leveler operation, it's much more a matter of front/rear rake than overall suspension height. If you can set the beam cutoff to perfectly level and still have room to adjust it further, you should be okay. As a general rule, you can't aim the beam cutoff much higher than level because at some distance it will glare into rear windows. Here are detailed instructions for aiming headlights: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

 

Thanks RKW.

My aim is perfect and my rake while driving is just about the same as stock. My main concern is just that the arms are too short and it's gonna break them if I go any lower. The servos/sensors are attached at the body/subframe while they're connected to the front and rear lower control arms. Mine almost look like they're straining since the angle of the control arms has been altered so much.

 

Rally: The levelers, as RKW stated, work relative to each other. They are potentiometers, and present an impedance delta to the HID levelers which determine if the beams need to be raised or lowered. I would imagine you should be able to extend the lever arms, and as long as you do so equally [proportionally] to the front and rear arms, the levelers will operate identically to stock. If I were in your shoes I may try to relocate the leveler boxes to be centered within your suspension travel similar to stock, as that may be easier than fabbing new arms.

If you want to go nuts, you can remove both leveler boxes completely. I did this on my '02 when I installed tubular control arms front and rear. What happens to the leveler motors is they park full down [at least on the R50/53 HID], and from there you manually adjust the headlights as desired. Since you probably plan on using your airbags actively, you probably don't want to go this route, as you actually want your levelers to work, right?

 

Thanks for the insight ryan I would like to keep them working so I'll fool around with some longer arms. They shouldn't be too hard to fab up and test out