I couldn't take the big red cheeks on the end of my MINI any longer! I acquired a set of stock tails from 2perCooper [Thank you very much] and the work began. We removed the lens covers and disassembled the rest of the tail assembly. We painted over the grotesque red reflective area between the "lights" with black mat. Then we lightly tinted the lenses on the inside. Put everything back together and voila! I managed to crack one of the lenses during the process, so I will have to pick up another pair, but its no biggy, we have the steps down, just need to refine the technique. Whatcha think?

http://www.iniw.com/images/DSC03131.JPG <-- Full Rear shot
http://www.iniw.com/images/DSC03134.JPG <-- Closeup
http://www.iniw.com/images/DSC03136.JPG <-- Turn Signal On
http://www.iniw.com/images/DSC03137.JPG <-- Running Light
http://www.iniw.com/images/DSC03138.JPG <-- Brake lights

 

I hope these pictures don't end up as evidence against you.

Stylin' is fine, but it seems to me smoking out tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals is just not a good idea. Been riding motorcycles for a lot of years and have suffered personally and known a lot of friends who've suffered and some who've died of the "I didn't see him" syndrome. Reducing your visibility is just not a good idea.

I presume, though that if you do get rear-ended you're not the sort of person who'd deny any culpability and sue the person who hit you. You wouldn't do anything like that, would you?

 

Well done, looks great! I've got to go out and take a look at my MCS... a baboon had never come to mind before... I'll take another look.

Dogspeed.

 

Actually that had been a consideration. I am pretty sure a car stuck to the rear of my MINI will look a LOT worse than the red cheeks! Since these are one-offs, we are going to do some testing with LEDs. Going to barrow my friend the photographer's light meter and do readings stock, tinted w/ stock bulbs, and tinted w/ LEDs.

 

There is a company called Clear Corners that does LED conversions for Headlights, Turn signals, Parking lights and Rear light. Right now they offer a rebuild for the rear of the MINI but haven't had very much demand so the price is a little high. They said they will work up some side markers and turn signals if they get some interest and someone can afford to be a guinea pig. They also so some tinting but is is limited to blacking out anything in the housing that does not affect light output similar to the Hella Blacklight kits available overseas or the Helle Blacklight Aux lights sold here. I like them but just can't afford them yet.

 

Sorry meant to add link, here it is.


http://clearcorners.com/products/BMW/mini1/

 

Thanks for the info. I had seen these guys when I originally started this project, just couldn't justify the $800+ for tail lights! I am currently working with a couple of guys who do this sort of thing on other cars, and it looks like we will be able to come up with something that increases the output, looks good, and costs less then $100. That I can afford.

 

yeah, what he said! IMHO anything that reduces rear facing visibility is tantamount to a death wish.

 

Have you thought about maybe getting the wiring kit from the clear lights? It makes all the brake lights brighter...in the case of the clear ones its to avoid the pink color...but it might help you get a little more light past the tint, just an idea

Is the black mat paint on the inside or the outside of the reflector? If its on the outside, how did you remove it from the lense?

 

It works well with your color scheme. :smile:


But I wonder about the visibility issue too.

 

"Clear lights" <-- aftermarket? Got a link?

The tail light assembly is actually made up of 4 pieces; the base, the chrome, the light cover/reflector, and the lens. We taped off where the bulbs shine through the light cover and painted the outward facing portion with the black mat. That made quite a difference in the look right there. Does that answer the question?

 

That Looks Awesome!! Would you consider doing it for somebody and how much would you charge?

Last question, how did you get the lens apart? (i'm guessing very carefully)

 

I'd be really interested in seeing the results when you have them. I'm not trying to denigrate your work; I like the way it looks alot. I'd just hate to see you get pranged 'cuz you weren't seen.

 

I agree with holdenontoit, not a good thing to reduce the light output at the rear of the car. If someone does read-end you and your insurance company finds out you did an illegal mod to the lights, what do you think they would do.
Charles

Edit:
If the State you live in requires a motor vehicle to meet NHTSA 108, you may be in violation of your state law. Also, your insurance company may have clauses in the policy about modifying your auto.

 

How are they illegal if they sell tails that are identical and say *street legal*.. Or they sell blackout vinyls which would reduce light visibilty even more. Sure it could be hazardous but i don't see how they are illegal. I'm sure he took legality issues into consideration.

 

He has done the brake light mod, I don't see what the problem is with his tails.

We have our lights tinted on the outside, and they still are very bright. If a dumb motorist can not see not 2 but 4 bright brake lights, then the accident was bound to happen.

 

Disassembly is a real bear. We are still trying to work out the technique. I am going to use the current set to work on the LED portion and then purchase a new set to refine these techniques. I would be willing to consider doing it for others if I can get things so they look professional. I don't even know what something like this would be worth to others, it was more cause I really disliked the cheeks.

These are darker than mine:


http://www.rspeed.net/mini/item.asp?...6&prod=M20-400

These look about the same as those:

http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NMA3028/InvDetail.cfm

And these have elminated the reflectors:

http://www.mossmini.com/Shop/ViewPro...eIndexID=39772

It's subjective. I will be happy to post the light measurements once I have them for anyone who is intersted.

 

Looks great. I would definately consider having this done if i had a MINI. Have you thought of blacking out the headlamp housing? Maybe some MINI enthusiast have been looking for an inexpensive way to black out the headlamps...I know i would if i had DS or Blk

 

We were just looking at the head lights at lunch! They don't look like they would be too bad to do something simular to. The problem with the head lights will be getting donor units to play with.

 

The Moss mini ones have reflectors though...notice the smallest red "dot" is actually just a reflector...so it still reflects....but lots of people are running around with just the clear lights...so they have no reflectors either...

By clear lights i meant the ones that MINI sells...they are all white. They also sell a special wiring kit that makes the lights brighter...check it out...they have it on moss somewhere too

 

A couple of people on my team started to fiddle with the headlights a long time ago (a year or so?), and came to the conclusion that the disassembly was really really tough...it had something to do with the fact that you were unable to melt the glue as in most headlights, and the shaping of the plastic made removal hard....Lots of people would love to see this happen...although since we now have projector lights as an option on 2005s aftermarket companies may begin to offer black projector housings as they do for other cars..

 

Agreed, the RSpeed, Mini Mania, and others do not eliminate the reflector.

From Moss MINI:

"Installation without the wiring kit requires splicing and soldering into your factory harness. For a clean and professional installation we suggest using the wiring kit below."

http://www.mossmini.com/Shop/ViewPro...eIndexID=36688

I don't see the part about making the lights brighter.

 

Considering this is what happened to the car I had just before the MINI, I think I'll pass on tinted taillights...

 

I read somewhere that the kit was to brighten the lights so they were red instead of pink...

EDIT: Here it is... found this over on mini2...apparently they increase the light output and do the fog-brake light conversion that you already have...

 

I think we all get the point about "diminished visibility" from the rear. We can find stories or post pics all day like this one:



which btw does not have tinted tails, to support or refute our points. I should have been more explicit when I asked my question, please allow me to rephrase "What do you think of the appearance of my MINI with these modified tail lights?"

Thanks RallyMINI, I will look more into the harness.