I am getting ready to order lights and am debating whether to get factory or aftermarket lights. The ONLY thing stopping me from PIAA lights is the frequent complaints from forum readers about vibration. (I love the look of larger lights.) That could possibly drive me nutz! I assume this vibration is just what you "see" and not something "heard"..correct?

1. There seems to be improved brackets available. Do they really help?

2. Those of you with PIAA and have vibration...is it really a problem worth worrying about? Or are we all just picky?

3. Can the lights be "extra" supported in any way?

4. Do the regular factory lights vibrate at all?

Thanks in advance for the help.

My Pepper White MCS is on it's way!

 

Welcome Future Mini Owner! I've got the factory driving lights and really like them. No vibration that anyone would notice except for when you drop the bonnet into place. Kinda sounds like Wile E. Coyote just got it with the frying pan.

 

Thanks, Beagle!

Would still love to hear from others with Aftermarket lights. Thanks!

_________________
Mini Owner in waiting!
Present stable: '00 Audi S4, '96 Porsche Carrera C4S, '72 BMW 2002tii

 

Hey BradB,
I have the factory lights also. i do not hear or even notice any sort of movement unless the lights are focused on one single object (like a sign) and I am stopped. All that you can tell while driving is that the lights are extremely bright!! I love the lights, I am sorry that I don't know anything about the PIAAs.

 

I've got large Cibie's on mine and yes they did vibrate. On a road with bumps they'd give you a nice strobe effect. I figured out how to reinforce the brackets by welding on some extra metal and now they're solid as a rock. I've heard that one or two of the aftermarket companies have made heavy duty brackets to eliminate the vibration.

All they need to do is use a heavier gauge metal for the brackets themselves.

And yes, the factory lights vibrate (a visual rather than aural vibration). While they don't do it as bad as the larger lights, they still do. It may not be as noticeable, but the trouble is these constant vibrations are going straight to the mounting points. Using the silly pop-rivets MINI recommends, it can eventually cause the rivets to work loose. As can be seen in the backside picture, I used machine bolts and nuts to avoid this problem down the road.

 

Moorlockx,
Thank you very much for the insight! Very creative. I might look into what the aftermaket folks have done in regards to ready made brackets but your welding solution looks super sturdy and I do have access to equipment if I end up needing to go that route.

BTW, Moorlockz, how did you hook up your electrics? Do the lights work anytime? Or with the high beams only, etc? Thanks again.

Any other solutions or thoughts are welcome.

 

>>> I might look into what the aftermaket folks have done in regards to ready made brackets but your welding solution looks super sturdy and I do have access to equipment if I end up needing to go that route.

BTW, Moorlockz, how did you hook up your electrics? Do the lights work anytime? Or with the high beams only, etc? <<<

If you decide to go the same route let me know and I can give you some more details on how I did it. You can either PM me or drop an email to moorlockx@aol.com.
The lights are wired in using the "Euro" style wiring, with the exception of splicing a switch into the harness to control them. They're powered by the high beams, but can be turned off if I don't want to run them (like when I have the covers on).

 

In a word... Yes, they do. Not so much as to cause eventual metal fatigue but mine do vibrate a bit. I have to get the old wrenches out and tighten them up every now and then.

 

BradB,
I have the PIAA 580s mounted - and as you probably know these are larger than the factory driving lamps. As mounted on the factory bracket, the beam does jiggle when driving over ever so slight imperfections of the road. That could be annoying if you're using the lamps a lot. Close the bonnet and the lamp fixtures wobble a bit like jello.

However I too have heard there are stronger prefabricated brackets available that solves the problem, and there's the reinforcing technique that Moorlockx shared. (I unfortunately don't know how to weld or have the tools to do so, and haven't looked into places that do that, yet.) The key is to have a solid mounting solution - doesn't matter what kind of lights you get. I'm still searching for such solution...

Other than the beam jiggle, I am very happy with the PIAAs. They are very bright, the beam color nearly matching the xenons, and the fixtures solidly built. I too like the larger, more substantial look. Plus my dealer wanted $700 for the factory lamps, installed! I saved myself half of that by going aftermarket.

 

I just cut and shaped the pieces to be welded on. A guy in a muffler shop actually did the welding since I don't have a MIG setup. He charged me $20.00 to do it. The metal I used was just a piece of scrap angle iron and a short piece of flat stock.


>>I have to get the old wrenches out and tighten them up every now and then.

Try using some blue lock-tite on the bolts. That should solve your problem.

 

I bought aftermarket brackets from MINI-MADNESS.
They are stiffer than OEM brackets but in my opinion,
THEY DO NOT FIT. They are not interchangable with factory parts.
They were $75 plus shipping.

 

>>>They are stiffer than OEM brackets but in my opinion,
THEY DO NOT FIT.<<<

Just curious, how did they not fit? Were the legs too long? holes in the wrong places?
Please, could you clarify your comment?

 

>>>>>They are stiffer than OEM brackets but in my opinion,
>>THEY DO NOT FIT.<<<
>>
>>Just curious, how did they not fit? Were the legs too long? holes in the wrong places?
>>Please, could you clarify your comment?

OEM bracket has piece that goes through grill slats and below that piece there
are two tabs that fit under the bottom edge of sheetmetal grill opening. Pop rivets are used to attach bracket tabs to sheetmetal.

The MINI-MADNESS brackets have pop rivet holes in the piece that goes through
the grill slats and therefore the bracket is on top of the sheet metal grill
opening and there would be plastic parts between the bracket and
sheetmetal.

The OEM part that goes through th grill slats is cut out so that it "goes around" plastic parts while the MINI-MADNESS part is not cut out and therefore would not fit in same place as OEM part.

It looked to me like someone redesigned the OEM bracket without knowing
how the bracket fits in the car.

 

>>.....therefore the bracket is on top of the sheet metal grill opening and there would be plastic parts between the bracket and sheetmetal.<<

Even using the factory brackets, the lower mounting rivets pass through plastic and metal. The one benefit I see is that you have metal on both sides of the plastic for the rivet to grab onto.

>>It looked to me like someone redesigned the OEM bracket without knowing
how the bracket fits in the car.<<

Actually it sounds like they were made with ease of manufacturing in mind. Working woth a heavier gauge metal, it may be too difficult to bend the brackets exactly like the OEM ones. However, from what you said I think I like the OEM system better as it hides the mounting points a bit more.

Thanks for the info!

For twice the price ot the OEM one's, I'm glad I came up with the reinforcing idea I did. I saved myself $15 or $20. :smile:

 

I just bought the moss mini badge bar (had a classic one on). It mounts in 4 different places, and I added the "mini" driving lights and two hella 150's. Along with that, 4 classic british badges. Not ONE thing vibrates. I recommend this bar (moss), to everyone. I used classic Lucas spot lamp clamps (avail from TRIPLE C) for the hellas.

I'll take pics tomorrow.

Danny