2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Driving lights for R56

I've got a set of Hella 500 driving lights on my MINI. They really do add to the safety of back road driving at night.

Running solo'sat night you may want to your driving lights aimed out toward the side or even fog lights for their wide beam. Not sure the long beam of a driving light is going to help you spot gates in the dark.

Outmotoring sells a nice set of brackets that would work with any light you choose.

Out Motoring Driving Light Brackets R56 2007 MINI Cooper

 

I am currently modifying some PAR 46 lamp housings to fit my MINI. They will go where the brake air ducts are, in the lower grill, on the 2011 and newer MINIs. My 2010 MINI has no brake air ducts, so I will make brackets to go behind the lower grill where they can't be seen.

There are a lot of different PAR 46 lamps available in 12v, for about $15 each. They can be floodlights or narrow spot lights and are available in a wide range of wattages. I'll be able to change out the lamps to suit my needs.

I'll post photos when I get them mounted.

Dave

 

:cornut: Are they Raccoon and Feral Hog repellent certified? There's a need for those in my neck of the woods.:lol::lol::lol:

Jason

 

No they aren't, I had a damn squirrel dive bomb my front bumper this spring. No damage to the MINI. Sure don't want to hit any feral hogs. We now have them in our state. According to wildlife officials they have been transplanted here by hunters. ut:

 

Isn't that what the shotgun is for?

 

:cornut: When one is not in a vehicle, not on or along a road, has a current hunting license, and standing on terra firma with owner permission, then yes. Other wise(in Texas) you get a very expensive ticket, your weapon forfeited to the state, and/or go to jail.

Jason

 

Who goes to jail? The raccoon or the feral hog??

 

I hit a cat in my TT years ago and the damned bumper exploded. Considering the alternatives, either trees or an oncoming car, the cat was sadly the cheaper option. I was even able to pick up a bumper from the dealership cheaper than any shop in town could. OhioVW used to get a sweet discount from the Byers dealership.

Long story short, hitting animals sucks.

 

:cornut: Couple of years back(it's in the old threads) I hit 35lbs of raccoon. 2 lane road at night with no shoulder. Raccoon(hiding in the bushes until the last second) does a suicide 2 and 1/2 gainer under the passenger bumper. Takes out $5,000 worth of bumper, fog light, radiator, inter cooler, oil cooler, and a/c condenser. Luck was with me, USAA took care of it.

Jason

 

In my Acura RSX I hit a raccoon, that I swore was a med sized dow. And I swear that I was up on two wheels for a second. Surprisingly, the damage was minor. Mostly just cracked the paint on the bumper and a few scratches along the bottom.

But we are supposed to be talking about driving lights. I love the ones on my MCS, but other drivers don't like em. They are the factory ones, but damned bright. If I turn all my lights on I swear I can see for miles out in the country, lol.

 

Has anyone replace the bulb in the factory driving light? Mine aren't much brighter than my Zeon's.

 

It's not worth the trouble to replace the bulbs. To do any good, the wattage would have to be increased a LOT, and if you do that, you'll need to add a relay to the circuit. The answer is to replace the lamps with something intended to actually work, not just look cool. I went with Cibie Tangos. Hella makes fine driving lights also, and I'm sure there are other brands that work well. I mean the un-named brands no slight.

Mine are chrome plated, round, and almost identical to the OEM lights in appearance. They are the same wattage as well, but they put well over twice the usable light out in front of the car. Read through Daniel Stern Lighting's website. It's well worth your time.

 

The trouble with adding a higher wattage bulb is two fold. One is the wiring may not take kindly to the added current draw & two since those lights are wired to be on with the low beams you may blind oncoming traffic. At least I believe MINI has them wired that way.

I have the Hella lights on my MINI wired to come on & switch off with the high beam switch so I don't bother other traffic.

 

I have a pair of par 46 250 watt aircraft landing lights ready to go on my MINI.

I modified some steel lamp housings so I can mount them in the lower grill, just inside the fog lights, without a visible lamp bracket. I relocated the mounting swivel to the rear of the lamp, instead of the bottom, so the mounting will not visible from the front of the car.

I wire them in with 10 gage wire, through a big relay directly to the battery. They draw 20 amps each are about 400,000 candlepower. I have had these lights on other cars and they really light up the world. I'll post photos, when I install them.

Dave

 

Here is a good DIY for relaying your lights....

Relaying your Headlights at Timbo’s VWC Technotes

 

Thanks, that's an informative website.

On the other cars that I've put these lights on, I've used a Ford starter solenoid for the relay.
I think a big old bakelite Ford solenoid would look out of place under the MINI's hood, so I'll probably go with a couple of Bosch relays.

The Ford solenoid does make a satisfying "CLACK" that can be heard inside the car, when it energizes.

I want to wire them so that they only work when the high beams are on, but so I can still turn them off, when I want to only use the factory high beams.

Dave

 

Humm sounds like a new fresh source of BACON to me. :lol: