1/27/13: I haven't seen a MINI LED guide besides one for the Countryman so I thought it could be useful to create one for the Hardtop. I hope to get info from members here on what has, and has not worked for them so that others don't purchase something that won't work.


1/26/13: So after countless pages, threads, and hours of reading... I have come to the following conclusion: If you have an earlier 2nd generation (guessing '07-'10) MINI you need to have a resistor installed so your indicators do not hyper-blink. For the later 2nd generation MINI (guessing '10+), they switched to the CAN bus type indicator bulbs...

Is this correct?

Only thing I do know is bulb socket is a 7507 (BAU15S)...

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

The term "CAN bus type indicator bulb" makes no technical sense. Bulbs have nothing to do with the CAN data bus and are not connected to it. The term was probably fabricated by an LED marketer.

The turn indicator bulbs are the same for all years of MINI (both 1st and 2nd generation). The bulb did not change in later 2nd gen models. A 7507 bulb is used where an amber bulb is needed (behind a white lens), or 7506 (1156) clear bulb is used if the turn signal lamp already has a colored lens. In both cases, they are regular, standard filament bulbs. If you swap in an LED bulb, something is needed to fool the car into thinking that the bulb isn't burned out. A resistor will do the trick, but some LED bulbs have a circuit built into their base so that the resistor isn't needed. I think some LED vendors are calling this circuit "CAN bus" but technically it is a wrong description.

 

Thank you for clearing that up.

I purchased these prior to posting here: http://www.carid.com/2007-mini-coope...s-3131728.html

They hyper-blink... so I'm pissed. I feel like I've been swindled.

I only did try one bulb so far because is was 5º F outside, but before I return them I'm going to try all of them because on their website there were different ones for the front and back? :/

Could anyone one link some proper LED turn indicator lights have worked for them with out the hyper-blink? Wasn't sure if these would be good: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TWO-AMBER-No...-/221076959783

I am also just tossing back and forth the idea of purchasing the Clear LED Rear Tail Lights from Out Motoring and having them smoked. But that one would take care of the back lights and not the front :( I thought this video displayed them nicely. The blinking from the taillight is being picked up from the camera, and the to human eye I don't think this would happen.

Anything we confirm here, I will update the first post for others in the future. Maybe turn this into an LED type guide, I haven't seen one in my searches. One for a Countryman.. but didn't us MCS types.

 

Thinking about it some more, there could be some truth in what you suggested in your first post.

MINI hasn't changed the actual turn signal light bulbs through the years -- that much is certain. However, what might have changed is how the car detects a burned out bulb. There is a simple old style hyperblink circuit that has been used for decades on most cars. This type of hyperblink requires a good sized external resistor to be defeated. On some newer cars, the bulb check is performed by the computer and could be defeated by a much smaller resistor inside a bulb base. I think this newer system is what LED vendors are calling "canbus" (a misleading name). Perhaps MINI was still using the old hyperblink circuit up until the 2011 refresh, but I don't really know.

In any case, your new bulbs are not performing as claimed on the website and you should be entitled to a refund.

 

One of my brake lights has died and so I was wondering if there is an LED bulb that would work in place of the existing halogen bulbs. I like the idea of an LED bulb simply because it will not need to be replaced as often. What would y'all recommend? Should I try replacing the current halogen, or whatever they are, bulbs with LEDs or stick with normal bulbs that will need to be replaced every 4ish years? I was looking at these online: http://www.carid.com/2009-mini-coope...-10264563.html, but it appears that blueginx197 may have had a bad experience with their product. If I make the switch to LEDs, I plan on replacing all four brake lights and the two signal lights to keep the look consistent. Since only one out of the four brake light bulbs has burned out I have a little time to decide what I want to do but I would like to get this fixed soon before the alarm drives me crazy.

 

Sign me up for any info on compatible blinkers or otherwise. I just ordered a couple pairs from Amazon to try out in my city/parking lights (above the fogs) and my reverse lights to help me see through my tinted windows in the dark. Pretty cheap at $9 with free Prime shipping. If they work i'll let you know. Supposedly canbus/error free :P


What I really wanted to try were the 5w Cree LED projector bulbs, but they were a lot more spendy for canbus ones, and I couldn't quite tell and didn't feel like going out of my way to look to see if the bulb "pointed" in the right direction to work properly. When I install these guys I'll find out and maybe try the Cree later.

 

I replaced the rear turn bulbs in my 2010 clubman with LED bulbs. Now I have the hyper blink problem. I ordered load resisters to fix this, but I'm not sure what color the turn signal wires are. If someone could help me with a pin out, i would appreciate it.

 

On the Clubman, it looks like the left rear turn signal is blue w/ brown stripe and the right rear turn signal is gray w/ violet stripe. Here is a snip of the wiring diagram:

 

Any "CANBUS" type LED bulb (with proper fitment) is what is needed for all exterior lights the Gen 2/3 cars. The interior lights don't need to be CANBUS (resistor) equipped.

Rather than hacking wire harnesses to work with LEDs, just get the right bulbs and be done with it.