2nd Gen R56 Cooper Most liked posts in thread: Headlights

Generally speaking, you won't find anything that reliably outperforms the stock headlights, except for OEM Xenons.

 

My suggestion...
Toss in a new set of halogen bulbs.....
They DO get dimmer and more yellow as they age....
Heck aged halogen bulbs will even look black on the insde rather than clear....look at an old pair...they do say to replace in pairs for a reason....
Then if you find they still suck, polish the lenses, and check the aiming.....

Most aftermarket lights are pure junk...made to "look cool" and create more glare, pumping light out everywhere but where you want them.....
If I had a 1$ for every car that drives up next to meet, passes me a bit, then drops next to me for a bit cause they cannot see infront of them even though they have headlights that were so bright it looked like a supernova was gonna pass me.....kinda feel bad for folks who paid big $$$ to "upgrade " their lights, only to have them be much worse....unfortunately this holds true for "upgraded" non OEM xenon AND aftermarket halogen light kits...
Unfortunately the same is true if the lenses get dor bad, or the car gets wrecked, and non-oem halogens are installed....
My wife's 2003 Toyota Highlander got new housings (we had lived in Colorado for the first 3 years of ownership) due to the fact they become opaque and yellow, even with polishings.... The dust and grit got to them...
To save $$ I tossed TYC® branded oem style replacement units in...these are units usually used in antibody repair ..and they were better than the aged OEM, but not by much....did make the car look newer...we got rid of the Highlander a couple months ago, was time with nearly 250,000 mostly trouble free miles...
But the lesson here..
My 2005 MINI Cooper S, had clear film applied to the factory headlights when about a year old...cost me about $60...and at 10 years old, they were still crystal clear.... So I would suggest, if you live in an area with lots of dust and grit, see if you can polish up the headlights, then maybe consider a clear film to keep them clear if you plan on keeping the car.

 

P.S.
if you have "fog lights" they have a broad flat beam....about HALF the range of the lows cause they are MADE THST WAY....to make driving in fog and heavy snow easier...typical MINI OEM units are HELLA, both for headlights and fog, and are usually amoung the best made. Period.
"Driving lights" are MADE, with narrow high pointed beams, and are like high beams+, but are of iffy use unless you live in a very rural area with few cars and you can use your high beams for long periods without encountering traffic...pretty rare...

 

This is helpful in visualizing the different light types.

 

I haven't been in an R56 at night, but my 05 Cooper S has the factory xenon lights. I was so looking forward to having xenon lights to be utterly disappointed in them. It lit up the road like nobody's business for a short distance, then nothing. Every R53 and R50 I've ever been in whether or not it has xenon lights (and most BMWs) has the headlights aimed squarely at the ground. I took my car out onto a deserted country road and re-aimed them, and the difference was night and day. We took two cars and tried driving back toward the MINI to make sure I wasn't blinding oncoming traffic, but a slight adjustment made the lights live up to the hype.

My theory is that BMW aims these lights straight down because they expect that these cars are only bought by urban dwellers who only need headlights so that oncoming traffic can see them. NO MINI or BMW I"ve ever ridden in has had properly adjusted headlights from the factory.

Polish the lenses and aim them before shelling out any money.

 

On Dave's recommendation I got the DDM Tuning HID conversion for my wife's Focus ST for the head lights and they made a significant difference. Very easy to put in and no problems.

 

I've been thinking the same thing on my R56. Especially since the left light was suddenly throwing light at the ground. Turns out that one had a broken support within the light housing.

Some JB Weld putty and it's pointing better.

Still could be brighter though.

 

Pitted and faded lenses are the worst for cutting light output. I haven't seen your car in a long time, but quite a few around town could use a good refinishing. (I do it by wet sanding the lenses down and clear coating them, looks and performs like new, and doesn't fade or yellow)

But if the lenses are still clear and good, spend the money and get a new set of bulbs... The old bulbs (Silver Star Ultras) I pulled out of the rat's high beams were totally black on the inside, but still functioning.

At the Dragon, when we went to Out Motoring HQ, I picked up a set of the yellow bulbs for the high beams, and even with the yellow light it made a big difference.

 

Just let me know, all of you guys still get my discounted pricing on stuff to. [emoji6]

 

Not really, because you can get a ticket for turning them on on the street... Not that it stops all those big diesel pickups around here from blinding people on the highway with their 20+ inch LED bars.

 

I'm always available for a friend in need, you know that... Just like last weekends Crank pulley, S/C pulley/ tensioner job for Tristan (R53 junkie).
[emoji41]

 

Not to use instead of main lights. Driving lights are designed to function like an additional set of high beams. Their light do not have a cutoff like standard low beams.

 

You can get the LED fogs straight from the MOL parts counter... They are like $500 IIRC though!

But yes everything on your list looks right. [emoji41]

 

We lifted the aim point of the lights up the other night, but they still aren't very bright. So next step is bulbs, then refinishing the lenses. [emoji6]