Hello All-

New mini owner here. I just bought an '05 S that is lightly wrecked. It is going to need a new hood and radiator.....and some small bits.

Anyhow, the car has factory Xenon / HID headlights. I do not like the look of these headlights and would like to convert to "standard" headlights.

Will I have to change the wiring harness?

Since I'm buying a new hood for the car anyway, I have the option of buying a W/Xenon or W/O Xenon hood and I prefer to go W/O.

Can anyone enlighten me on what I will need to do other than the obvious hood and headlight unit change?

Thanks,

Chad in Tulsa.

 

Think you need to research the hood more....same hood.
There is a physical wiring change....and a programining change...
There is a retrofit kit for halogen to xenon...not reverse...so you would be in new terriority there.......
Carefully look...."lightly wrecked " is usually totaled...the subframes bend...especially if the top of the motor got wacked if the front of the car struck something....

 

Yep....you're correct on the hood. I was looking on used parts websites and they made a distinction between W/Xenon and W/O. Appartently that was just for hoods complete with lights.

It did take a light hit above the bumper. The radiator is toast but the A/C condenser is fine. It was such a light hit the bags didn't even blow. I would be very surprised if the subframe suffered any damage but we'll see.

Chad in Tulsa.

 

It seems the subframes are readily available and not that expensive. Even if it is bent....shouldn't be impossible to change. Anyone BTDT?

Chad in Tulsa

 

Pre-facelift Xenon headlights look different and wouldn't require wiring modifications on your car.

 

Sorry I'm so new to the mini scene but does pre-facelift mean pre '07?

Will the standard headlights plug right in?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Chad in Tulsa

 

Wrong....they share the same EXACT wiring....the new ones are plug and play in older cars and viseversa....
The 2005+ xenon are projectors... Have replaceable ignitors, and are actually cheaper from the OEM maker hella on amazon....

 

The pre 2005 xenon's are reflectors....
And if the ignitor fails....they are junk...some have found ways to open them up and use salvage parts...but still iffy....
New oem hella units are about $350 each from Amazon......
Like I said above, the 2005+ are actually $25 cheaper each to buy new....are superior in light output and reparability..... Going with the older units is a poor choice IMO.

 

Facelift refers to a update that occurred in 2005....mostly better parts that were usually 100% retrofit able for a $$ to older cars...the 2005 facelift cars were a bit better....more power, less creaks and rattles...generally an evolution to the same design.....

 

Exactly. He doesn't like the look of the projector headlights. One option is to switch to pre-facelift Xenon reflector headlights. He'll ditch the projector look without doing any wiring modifications to his car. A poor choice, maybe, but still an option.

 

After having xenon's I can never go back...
but perhaps you dont drive at night...

 

Whoa... you want to decrease your ability to see safely at night??

That's a first. After driving w/ Xenon's (and now with LEDs) I'd NEVER buy another car again without having them.