1st Gen R53 Cooper S Making the Xenon headlights brighter

The early first gen xenons were not projector headlights. Not much you can do with them other than replace. The later first gen xenons are true projectors for the low beams, still halogen high beams, but are pretty effective. I believe you can retrofit them, but it's not cheap.

 

Moar voltage!

They won't last as long though.

 

From the research I've done, I don't think even retrofitting is possible. You'll run into complications with the self washing and self leveling. Maybe get the best possible bulbs you can get. Throw in some super bright fogs and be happy with the result.

 

Buy a newer car? Don't drive at night? :biggrin5:

Please, please please, do not buy a "super bright set of fogs" and run them all the time.

There's no difference between doing that and driving with your brights on all the time. Either way is annoying as hell to other drivers and makes you look like a dork who's too stupid to figure out how to turn his fogs off.

If you car truly has Zenons, they should look pale blue when you start the car, and they should "jump" one time immediately after you start the engine as the self leveling cycles, if they don't you don't have Zenons, you have halogens. Replacing the bulbs with new ones will help your halogens, but getting actual Zenons is what you'll need to do to get the lights you're after.

Converting means getting an aftermarket kit which will not have the self leveling feature - which means you have to be very accurate about your aiming or you'll be blinding oncoming drivers constantly - or buying a newer car with actual Zenons.

I noticed a difference in the color of the Zenons between my 2003 Cooper S and my 2009 Clubman S, the newer ones are warmer, less blue...and actually give a better light pattern. But pretty much any factory Zenon is way better than any halogen.

The Gen 3 car you saw may have been running LED lights, the next step above Zenons.....I expect LED conversion kits will be out soon, but they will be spendy. Zenons were a $500 upgrade on my 2009 Clubby, LED's on a new F56 are $1000!

 

I think those are only problems if you don't already have xenons. Going to face lift projector xenons from old xenons is supposed to be plug and play.

 

The first thing to do is properly aim your headlights. The adjustment screws on the MINI are VERY sensitive. 1/4 to 1/3 turn is a huge change. My 2005 MINI had the lights aimed too low when I bought it. I took it out on a dark country road and aimed them properly and about doubled their effectiveness. My buddy had a 2003 with Xenons and his were aimed too low as well. Once I aimed his lights, they were equally effective compared to the 2005-6 lights. (I know the Xenon headlights are self leveling, but there is a static aim adjustment just like old cars.)

A quick question...

Are you comparing the Gen 3 MINI to the Gen 1 by the view from the driver's seat, or by the glare you see from oncoming headlights? Those don't necessarily correlate.

 

^Truth

Mine were aimed too low on my 2006, also. Fixing that made a huge difference.
Same thing on my 2011 328i.

 

If you don't have xenons then I would look to replace the bulbs with this HID kit.
DDM-HID-Kit-Slim-Ballast-35W-or-55W

I have them on the wife's car and they work great. She doesn't get people flashing at her and they are aligned right.

 

Impossible to work correctly.... "IT'S SCIENCE"

Halogen optics aren't designed to work with a HID bulbs... They aren't interchangeable.... Yes, light will still come out when it's converted.... BUT....

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

 

I love Daniel Stern's site. Bought my 65w halogen bulbs from him years ago. Served me well in Locutus Mk1. Which reminds me... I have one of those bulbs in Locutus Mk2, and one normal 55w bulb...

 

That article has some valid points.

The difference is the light down the road. When compared to the stock halogen lights on the same stretch of road there is more light, for a farther distance, and a better quality of light.

Funny how "science" keeps getting corrected. It's only right until it's not.

 

I'm seeing LEDs for sale now.....

[ame=http://www.ebay.com/itm/2015-New-Ultra-Bright-6000K-White-H4-9003-HB2-ETI-40W-6000LM-LED-Headlight-Kit-/252041238440?hash=item3aaed417a8%3Ag%3AspcAAOSwMmBVuQEB&vxp=mtr]2015 New Ultra Bright 6000K White H4 9003 HB2 ETI 40W 6000LM LED Headlight Kit | eBay[/ame]

 

Holy heatsink Batman!! There goes any hope of making your H4 headlight waterproof. Not that you'd see a puddle coming with those for bulbs.

 

Are we sure those aren't MINI flux capacitors?

They sure look like flux capacitors....

 

I've got the same problem with my '02 MINI with xenons. Frankly, even when adjusted correctly, they were never that good. As technology has moved on, they appear worse in retrospect to more modern xexon-equipped cars.

So, to recap, if you have a earlier Gen 1 MINI and you are fed up with these xenons...


...the best (but not necessarily the cheapest) solution, is to replace them with these later Gen 1 xenon headlights. Sure, you'll have to put with the art deco Buck Rogers ray-gun styling :wink: , but they work better at lighting the road because they are projector beams.




From what I understand, these later headlights are plug and play for earlier cars, right? By that I mean a factory-equipped xexon car to start with, so it would have the headlight washer system and the headlight self-leveling features already.



.

 

That is the best solution. Just not the cheapest.

Sometimes the reflector design is so bad no bulb can fix it.

 

or just buy a used Mini for your son that has the better lights, and then one night, the lights magically swap cars and voila, my 05 has the HIDs I always wanted.