BartMack,

I spoke with the MINI tech at MINI of St Louis today. He took my vin # & put me on hold for a long time. What he found out was that my Sept build 05 MINI cannot be retro fitted at this time due to programming issues He said MINI USA is working on a solution. So I guess we are "out of luck" until they figure it out. How dumb that they didn't think of that when they built our MINIs

Lois

 

I completely agree with you - great car, lousy communication from MINIUSA (corporate to dealer). By the way, does your Sirius work? I bought the antenna from my dealer today (he says it is the 2005, although it has the 2004 part no. on the box - apparently MINI marked a number of the 2005 antennas with the wrong part no.). I hope he is correct. I'm waiting for the rest of the kit from Classic in Ohio because they were close to $100.00 cheaper for the entire setup (minus the antenna) than my local dealer. I got the tuner, installation bracket and H/K extra wire for $287.00 including shipping.

 

Great! I just got mine installed by myself, but I did not use the fog light as fog light, I hooked it to the brake light and used as an additional brake light. Here is the thread I just started at M2 ...

New Light on my MCS

Maybe I did not take the pictures far enough, or because I tap it to the brake wire, it seems not as bright as yours, but it is bright enough as a brake light in person.

 

Well, as I said earlier, I think there is some glare inside the camera lens that makes the fog light seem brighter in the photos than it really is. But in the flesh, the fog light is brighter than the brakes.

Yeah, I think hooking it in series with the brake lights would make it dimmer. I've been toying with the idea of doing a thing like the diode mod on the earlier cars, so the light comes on with the brakes OR independently as a fog. How did you hook yours up? Did you tap directly into the taillight connectors? Or did you splice into the wires somewhere in the harness?

P.S. Just went to your post on Mini2 - I really like those orange & red taillights!

 

Thanks. I spliced to the wires about like 5 inches before the connector to the lamp, so it will be flexable to remove the connector.

 

Is MINIUSA the 'Ministry of Misinformation' or what?? When I was at the dealer at about 6pm last night picking up my car the answer came back from MINI, which is different from what your tech said, but consistant with the rest of this thread:

Early 05s can be retrofitted with the fog, but not as easily. It requires running 2 wires fron the toggle bank to the controller in the passenger footwell, then running a power wire from the pass footwell to the fog light, and then a ground wire to the existing wiring at the rear.

When I dropped the car off with them I told them there was an issue with early 05s, that the wiring for the foglight was not present, and if they couldn't enable it then just put the full toggle bank in and put the light in place of the blanking plate and leave it not working and I would be happy. But did they listen to me at all? No, not listen, not listen at all. Just like the last time with the crack in the plastic intake duct, not listen, not listen at all.

 

Well, on a positive note, YES, the Sirius works! I was able to get it turned on right there in the parking lot by calling Sirius on my cell phone and giving them all my info and the receiver ID. oh, it is soooo nice to hear music coming through those speakers instead of endless commercials and on-air personalities!!
There's even a 24/7 Elvis channel.... all Elvis- everyday

 

ok, update... my dealer called this morning and they are comping the whole fog light install, wires and all, for all the trouble they put me through..
(and I do appreciate that, that is the difference between a good dealer and a bad one IMO, when the inevitable problem does happen, they go out of their way to make it right)

so tomorrow, it goes back in and the saga continues.....

 

So, it can be done! Why is it we all get different answers from our dealers So maybe I should print what needs to be done & take it over to the tech & show him. It's all very annoying Please keep us informed, BartMack:smile:

Lois

 

i just found the answer to my question. I'm stupid :-) i'll read over the toggle switch diy's and if i have any other questions for you "veterans" of the process, i'll post again.

 

another delay... ... and it's getting wackier

So I dropped the car off this morning and they began the install and then realized.... they don't have the actual foglight itself (you know, that red thing with the bulb in it that's not on 05s-? ) so they have to order it...

...which of course leaves me wondering, when they were trying to program the fog light toggle last week, what exactly were they expecting to light up that wasn't working -?? the blinkers?

 

The rear fog option can actually be programmed even if it's not installed. Once the switch (and lamp assembly on '05s) gets physically installed, it will operate.

 

That's what I said to them, but did they listen? no, not listen, not listen at all. so they took the switch panel back out again...

 

I gotta know, is this Checkered Flag in VA Beach that you've been playing with?

 

yes

 

Just read this entire thread and boy what a mess! My 05 MCSC was built 1 day before the rear fog lights were available as a factory option. I had specifically asked my MA to add it to my order as soon as the factory released this option. Since my car was produced without one, my dealer was able to install it just before I picked it up. I agree that getting rid of the black blanking plate in the rear bumper is reason enough to install the rear fog even if it doesn't work. I sure hope BartMack gets things straightened out. Sounds like his dealer tries hard but they aren't getting good information from MINIUSA. It's snowing like H**L here today so my car is inside the garage and I'm sitting here watching the Speed Channel and reading about MINIs.

Randall Morin
Hagerstown, MD
05 MCSC

 

Yeah, I'm really not upset with the service guys at CF, they always look out for me and I appreciate that. I am convinced however, that MINIUSA is as flaky as a fresh-baked southern biscuit though....

 

Over the weekend I was detailing the MINI and putting some Zaino on it as well. Still perterbed by this whole fog light issue I decided to look just one last time to make sure that the wire that I could see running by the fog light hole wasn't for the foglight. I found where the wire came to the bumper from the passenger acess compartment in the boot. I then followed it across the back of the car to the drivers side where I saw a loop. I got excited thing it was just a bare wire waiting for the fog light connector end. After some more digging I eventually figured out it is the wire for the corner marker light in the black trim on the drivers side . So for all you 7/1 - 10/14 '05ers, that is not the fog light wire. Bummer...

-Andy

 

I have the parts on order for my 05 MCS rear foglight retrofit. Before ordering anything, I popped the goofy cover off the rear bumper where the light goes and in fact, the connector is there, taped up against the wiring harness.

When I had the alarm programmed, I asked Dominique at Hendrick MINI if the car foglight could be programmed at the same time, and he informed me the parts had to be installed.

I am hearing differently from those who have actually had it done, and have to say Dominique could be letting me down, though the other Hendrick MINI guys have been right on the money every time.

This is in Charlotte, NC.

 

The parts arrived for my rear fog lamp retrofit yesterday, and took about 15 minutes to install in my pre-wired 05 MCS. I could install the switch panel quicker the next time now knowing the easiest method of removing the downtubes.

When ordering the part, the dealership service bulletin specifies a housing and connectors which probably won't be needed. The existing pre-wired connector is exposed to the elements behind the rear bumper, and the TSB provides the part numbers needed to replace the connector if the stock one is corroded.

As my car is less than 2 months old, there was no corrosion on the connector.

That being said, I would recommend everyone with the rear fog light pre-wiring to do something to the connector to KEEP it from becomming corroded, such as insulate it with dialectric grease and wrap it up with electric tape.

That way, should you ever wish to install the rear fog lamp retrofit kit, you won't have to cut off a corroded connector and crimp on a new one, nor need the extra parts (albiet the housing and crimp-on connectors are cheap enough--under $5.00 for the 3 pieces). Wrapping it up could prevent the housing developing a short if allowed to corrode.

You can easily get to your connector by reaching your fingers up between the gap between your exhaust tips and the bottom of the rear bumper (it flexes so you can squeeze your fingers between the gap) and pop out the blanking cover for the rear foglight by pressing from the backside. Using some long needle-nosed pliers, pull away the masking tape bundling the pre-wired rear fog light housing from the rest of the wiring, and it will give you plenty of slack to work with. Smear some dialectric grease into the housing and wrap it up with electric tape to prevent corrosion.

Better yet, even if you don't do a complete rear fog lamp retrofit, at the very least buy the rear lamp assembly and install it in place of the blanking cap in the rear bumper. With M2C2 discount at Hendrick MINI, the lamp assembly was $18.68 plus tax. It won't be functional without the switch panel and programming, but for less than $20 bucks you'll get rid of the blanking plate and prevent the wiring housing from corroding. Plus, the rear fog lamp (it has a red lens) looks better than the blanking plug.

By the way, the part number for the lamp assembly is:
63-24-6-933-275

 

I have a 2005 MCS and didn't like the covered center spot where the backup light used to be on previous models. I removed the cover (1st photo), bought a 2004 (& older) backup light assembly (2nd photo) for about $11 from MINI. I wired a 4" blue flourescent light (found in most auto parts stores, $16) and 3 purple high brightness LEDs ($6). All of this wired to a 3 amp fuse and switch, routed through the venting directly below the bottom of the boot. I connected the positive and negative wires to the 12V lighter outlet located in the boot area to the left. The light glows blue only when the ignition is on. If I want to turn it off, I switch it off using a small toggle switch located near the rear cigarette lighter plug.

Note that this project requires some knowledge of DC electricity in cars, soldering, etc. I had to remove the cover below the boot to pass the wiring to the light assembly, but no holes were drilled and everything is carefully insulated. I think it looks much better than the plain cover. Note also that there was no pre-wired connected behind the blank panel, only the thin, pair of tape wrapped wires travelling from side to side, described by AAAMINI in previous posts.

 

Back in today... what's that saying..? the fourth times a charm

 

ok, so they kept it overnight again... and when you guys hear the bill your jaw is going to drop


The install cost (incl parts) for a pre-10/14/05 rear fog retrofit comes in to be... (drumroll) $668.23

However, much to the credit of CF service, they are honoring their original estimate of $230, which minus a $150 gift certificate means my cost will be $80.00.

I think CF service deserves a round of applause for sticking to their word and maintaining integrity. Thank you Checkered Flag