39 replies to this topic

[jaydee]

Use Halogens and decent headlamps, like wipac freeforms, lucas 700, cibie

Dont waste your money with angel eyes or these useless (and illegal) HID conversions that will make other drivers blind and wont even light the road in front of you.

[Mighty made]

I think they'll be the sealed beam units, and I found them rather poor compared to more modern lamps

 

I replaced them with :

http://www.minispare...S4276.aspx|Back to

 

and all was much better.

[rickb8585]

That looks like the solution! How difficult are these to fit?

[newenglandmini]

I've used kits similar to this to upgrade from sealed beam lamps.  Very bright and they appear to be properly focused.  I installed relay circuits to power them.

 

http://www.ebay.com/...a72a5aa&vxp=mtr

 

http://www.ebay.com/...=item417ac74a13

 

 

 

[Dan]

In terms of light output and pattern the Quadoptics are IMO the worst of the H4 lenses available. Lots of other lenses are out there, Cibies are the best but Lucas lenses and the clear glass Wipacs are also good as Jaydee says above.

[invisible_kid]

The cibies are the best aftermarket lenses. I have them and was the first thing I changed on my car. Think mini sport sell them. More than the wipacs but worth it. It is like having normal lights plus I have night breaker bulbs.

[rickb8585]

Well I went for the quadoptics, purely because I had 30 quid in mini spares vouchers and they only cost 29! Went and picked them up this morning, fingers crossed i'll get to fit them tomorrow depending on the weather! On another note, I also bought a downpipe clamp for an extortionate 24 quid! Got home and fleabayed one for less than a fiver so will return the other one.

[splintercat]

I would go with a sealed beam conversion. Hella housings with a good H4 bulb. But if you do go this route, please install some relays. It will be a higher amp draw than what the stock harness had. And if that's not enough, you could always invest in a set of driving lights.

just about to change mine BACK from HID   got Hellas and am going down the route of using decent H4s  can you elaborate on " fit some relays"  as not too sure how to do that and how it will help ????

[1984mini25]

.... 

 

Edited by 1984mini25, 08 February 2014 - 11:27 PM.

[tiger99]

NO! NEVER, EVER PUT ONE FUSE IN THE HEADLIGHT CIRCUIT. IT IS ILLEGAL ABD DANGEROUS, as I have said here many times.

 

You need FOUR relays and FOUR fuses, or maybe two fuses, if you are not going to greatly increase the risk of headlight failure. (Been there, not on a Mini, in about 1972, and it is not something that you ever forget, potentially fatal. With modifications like this, safety MUST be considered above all else) You need two or four fuses fed directly from the permanently live terminal of the solenoid (bunch of brown wires). The new brown wires must be kept short and well protected, as a short here may cause a serious fire. Don't share one wire between fuses.

 

The fused feeds then go to the relay contacts, you can use one fuse for left, feeding the main and dip beam relays, similarly for right, but it is preferable to use 4 fuses, each feeding one relay. The two main beam relays are then fed from the existing blue/white wire, and the dip relays from the blue/red. Ensure that each relay, and each headlight, has a seperate earth return, which should be black. It is very important that no common failure points are introduced, such as sharing an earth for left and right relays or headlights.

 

The outgoing contact of each relay then goes to a single headlight filament.

 

And don't, under any circumstances, ever use a cheap, nasty crimp tool, or try crimping with pliers.

 

Edit: For the correct colours (strongly recommended, to ease future maintenance) of wires from the fuses/relays to the left and right main and dip headlights, see KernowCooper's article here:

 

http://www.theminifo...ng-codecolours/

 

Another edit: Throw away the dim/dip relay and its resistor, as it is not required and will not work with this set-up. Securely join its blue-red and blue-brown wires and insulate the others.

Edited by tiger99, 07 February 2014 - 03:36 PM.

[1984mini25]

...

Edited by 1984mini25, 08 February 2014 - 11:26 PM.

[splintercat]

Phew getting confused here ........1984mini25 .can you please draw me a circuit diagram   using your set up mate  appreciate it bud will pm ya just to make sure   havent got that dip dim relay anyway   come to think of it would appreciate any one sending me a diagram  

 

okay this is an edit to see if i have got it....

 

I use my original output from the lighting switch to feed a relay.........ie term 86       85 is earth       click click    NOW the relay closes and the NEW FUSED FEED goes to 30 and then out at 87 to feed me lights   thus keeping low stuff on the switch side and the high consumption stuff   thro the relay...... if this is right do I therefore have to split the output from the original lighting switch                         if so how ?    ie 1 feed to the mains 1 to the dips ? or do I go left and right ?

Edited by splintercat, 07 February 2014 - 08:15 PM.

[Mr Joshua]

Why not use the hid conversion with the profiled reflector light units like angel eyes or the ones you can get from mini spares? The beam pattern would be correct as it would be created by the reflector and not the glass.

[splintercat]

because it s    cheaper to just stick in a couple of relays and fuses and good bulbs rather than buy complete angeel eyes at 45 squid a pair plus                            wiring sounds such fun   

 

:)

Edited by splintercat, 07 February 2014 - 08:23 PM.

[Dan]

Why not use the hid conversion with the profiled reflector light units like angel eyes or the ones you can get from mini spares? The beam pattern would be correct as it would be created by the reflector and not the glass.

The reflector pattern of a complex reflector unit is still designed around the radiance pattern of an H4 and still generates the same beam as lens focused H4 units do. It still won't be right. And you would still be using an H4 HID conversion which I believe are an MOT fail and are certainly illegal.

Edited by Dan, 07 February 2014 - 09:47 PM.