As I found very little info about the not homologated illegal retrofit from China, I decided to give them a try. The box just arrived, so first of all, you have to get a little less than a grand and have indefinite patience. Some hints about them will follow.
You can buy them from various sources on Aliexpress, with the price around 700 USD. Check however, some offer free shipping, and I believe they all come from one factory. I think also that buying via app is cheaper than on the website. Be aware, that there might be some taxes or duties when you import from China.

From what I understood when talking with different Aliexpress sellers, they are all direct retrofit for halogen car. Should be plug'n'play. If you are looking to retrofit LED in the car with latest headlamp model, it's better to use OEM and code them.

Be aware, that there are different versions - one is with white let ring and orange turn signal, but there is also a milticolor ring version. I don't know how you set it up and use, I was not interested in the disco version

Even if I think that they will work properly in terms of lighting condition - they even recognize that there should be different set for ECE and US, as well as RHD. Keep in mind that the product is not homologated (and probably that's needed to use on public roads in your country), the same was as are Xenon or LED bulb retrofits.

But I will give them a try once the car will be ready for mounting and will place here the feedback for all of you that might be interested risking.

 

The lamps look average in quality. It's not that bed externally, but you feel that plastic is not the expensive one
There is no any MINI or NIMI logo on them.
Some glue from safety foil still on, they are clear and not scratched.


The lamps look average in quality. It's not that bed externally, but you feel that plastic is not the expensive one
There is no any MINI or NIMI logo on them.


Due to the fact that my lamps were repacked in Singapore by my friend, they were not secured properly. I had to solder one wire. I had to open one lamp, because there was some loose component inside, so I found one module with small not connected white sockets. Still don't know what's that for
Inside one lamp, there was a loose module. Inspecting that I discovered that it was attached with double side scotch tape. As there were some revision holes in the bottom where it should be placed, I used some glue to secure it there. So in terms of construction, they are not that solid. We will see how they will survive on the car in driving conditions.



Be aware that the glue used to close the lamp is the hard type. You will be not able to heat and open them, if you will be trying to do any repairs. Only cutting is possible. That came to my mind, when I was thinking what will happen if one of the lamps will have some electronic problem in future. In short - not easily repairable. And as you import from china, it will be difficult to apply quick fix or replacement if something will go wrong with one of the lamps.

So in short, if I consider the quality that I see - they may work well for years, but there is a risk of short life as well. I will update that once mounted with lighting quality as well.

 

What exactly makes them a “non-homoligated ‘illegal’ retrofit from China”? Are you one of these “everything from China is bad” people or is there something else? I have a set of similar lights on my car that I installed nearly two years ago. They work flawlessly and the materials are of the same quality as the OEM lights. They installed without incident and were literally plug and play.

 

Hi ASKthereach. I'm not the one, you got me wrong. If I would be, I will never place the order for them. And as you see I paid for them and they arrived.

Referring to not homologated, I believe that there are other countries, not only EU ones which require some equipment on the cars to get homologation to allow the use on public roads. When it comes to lights, they need to be, as it's a part of so called safety equipment of the car. Those lamps doesn't come with any homologation stamped on, so I believe they doesn't get homologation.
I also called them illegal, which may be not correct in this case. They don't have any trademark of OEM, which means that producer doesn't try to fake the market. I believe however that some components are 1:1 copy, which means that they are violating some of legal rules.

In any case, I didn't saw any review of them here, so decided to write one - from buying tips, threw install process, to use opinion.

 

They dont have DOT (US) or ECE (EU) approvals stamped on them.